《Silent Reading》


 Chapter 74: Macbeth Fifteen

    Chapter 74: Macbeth Fifteen


    9.15.2020


    "When my mother married Zhou Junmao, she was already pregnant with me. I am her son with the previous husband. Of course, they imed it as a ''premature birth''." Zhou Huaijin smiled bitterly, "Everyone thought Zhou Junmao to be a virtuous, capable, assiduous, and even patriotic man --- a moral saint. Mr. Fei, I don''t suppose that you thought so too?"


    Fei Du looked up at him in surprise.


    "Oh. I heard that Mr. Fei Sr. had stayed single after Mrs. Fei passed away." Zhou Huaijin obviously misunderstood why he was surprised. He shrugged in self-ridicule, "What, are these kinds of affairs so iprehensible for you?"


    Fei Du asked quietly: "So you''ve done a paternity test yourself?"


    Zhou Huaijin shrugged again: "Isn''t it unnecessary? I''ve known it since I was very little. After all, Zhou Junmao himself can''t be mistaken in this matter. If he had any doubts, he must have done a paternity test with me already. I know him all too well: Huaixin was his true blood-heir yet he was so cold and practically absent in his life, let alone me. To be honest with you, the fact that he didn''t poison me to death is already the oue of many parties'' arm wrestle."


    Fei Du''s hand still trembled uncontrobly so he had to forcibly mp onto the cold bottled water. Meanwhile, he peeked at Zhou Huaijin pensively --- although Zhou still looked very young, ording to his official ID, he was already thirty-eight years old.


    Zhou Huaijin was probably unaware of the fact that close to four decades ago, the technology of paternity test wasn''t easily essible yet.


    "Are you suggesting that Zhou Junmao would..." Fei Du carefully picked his words, "...resort to some uwful means?"


    "Otherwise, how do you suppose that my birth father died? Was it really a simple heart attack?" Zhou Huaijin replied coldly, "Zhou Junmao''s right hand Zheng Kaifeng was a lowborn gangster. ''Birds of the same feather flock together''. There is nothing they wouldn''t dare to do."


    "How did you know?"


    "My mother told me before she passed away. When she was younger she couldn''t stand my birth father''s control obsession and his...certain habits. But she didn''t have the guts to give everything up and leave him. Eventually she started an affair with Zhou Junmao. The two, Zhou and Zheng, persuaded her to do the dirty business for them. Hah...was the adulteress hoping to get a happily-ever-after?" The ever-so-gentlemanlike Zhou Huaijin exposed his acrimony hidden under the skin for decades, "How funny. Before long, she realized that this man was even worse than her first. But unlucky for her, she was already pregnant with me. Zhou Junmao always thought that she had the evidence of their murder of Zhou Yahou. Because of it - and thepany''s stocks that she held - he plugged his nose and pretended that I did not exist."


    Fei Du''s cloud of suspicion grew thicker and thicker: "He thought?"


    "My mother kept a secret safe in a private bank. Other than herself and her own appointed heir, no one else could open it. The key to that safe was what she used to tie Zhou Junmao''s hands. Then the key was passed down to me." Zhou Huaijin sighed, "In any rate, Zhou Junmao is dead now so I can speak the truth: there is only a bottle of expired cardiatric medicine. Otherwise I would have pull him down the pedestal long ago. Why else would I have to keep low like this?"


    "So, you''re saying that you are the son of Zhou Yahou." Fei Du asked slowly, "who else knows it?"


    "Although Zhou Dalong always pretended to be virtuous and gentle, deep down he saw himself as a wolf. How could he allow others to know the color on his head (1)? Besides Zheng Kaifeng, everyone must have been kept in the dark. But Huaixin..." Zhou Huaijin looked up at the light of the operating room again. After a short pause, he continued artuously: "Huaixin has always been more sensitive than the other children. I think he must have guessed it, but he never talked about it. This kid...he grew up under my wings. My mother suffered from the trauma of that murder for the rest of her life. She had Huaixin when she was older, and the postpartum depression worsened her emotional problems, so she practically had no energy to take care of him. In the Zhou family, besides my mother - that stupid murderer - he was the only blood that I had. He was so young, and so innocent. Although that man''s blood flowed in his veins...he only had me, and I only had him."  639K102K 25.8M841K 45.8M1.6M 2.4M100K 227K8.1K 128K22.2K 2.2M110K


    (1). Color on his head: If it''s green that means the person was cheated on by his/her partner.


    They were a pair of brothers that grew up in a crooked family. They had all the reasons in the world to hate each other, yet with the flowing river of ''time'', they learned to lean on each other for survival.


    Zhou Huaixin folded his hands on top of his forehead: "If there really were bad karma, why would it fall on him and not me?"


    Fei Du knew that ording to the social etiquette, now was the time to pat on Zhou Huaijin''s shoulder and say words of sympathy. However, he could feel nothing but cold annoyance in his heart. Like a cold-blooded animal with slow metabolism, he was toozy to reach a hand out.


    Staring at Zhou Huaijin with a tilted head, he continued to question in an indifferent voice: "You said that Huaixin was the old man''s "only son". That means that you already knew Yang Bo and Zhou Junmao were unrted?"


    "So you''ve tested the paternal rtionship between Yang Bo and Zhou Junmao already? Wow, the local police are really efficient." Zhou Huaijin replied in a coarse voice as he blinked his eyes in an effort to keep calm. He continued: "That Yang Bo...he''s only a shallow, insipidd whose ambition far outweighed his ability. He boasted of being Zhen Kaifeng''s protg. But in reality he only learned the forms, not the essence. Why else would such a boy of mediocre credentials and family, whocked experience or ability, be promoted to such a high position? People talk. The gossip about him being the ''other son'' came out around that time."


    "The rumor was quite loud for a time, but no one, not Zhou Junmao, nor Yang Bo''s patron Zheng Kaifeng, ever sought to clear it up. In time, thed probably believed in it himself, thinking he was really a "returning pearl prince" (2)." Zhou Huaijin mped on the stic water bottle as he shook his head, "He secretly collected Zhou Junmao''s DNA sample, and went to a sketchy paternity testingpany behind the back. It appears that some folks really are sneaky from the bones and don''t deserve a seat on the table.


    (2). Referring to the Chinese period drama "Returning of the Pearl Princess" starring Zhao Wei and Lin Xinru.


    Fei Du followed up: "But you found out --- that he went for a paternity test secretly."


    "I happened to know the runner of that gray business via golfing." Zhou Huaijin answered, "A stereotypical ''white trash'', a fraud. He knew many people''s secrets. He may look like a gourd with a sealed mouth that can keep a secret, but arrangements were constantly being made -- as long as you''re willing to pay his price."


    "So he sold this one to you ---"


    "Strictly speaking, he gave it to me for free." Zhou Huaijin said, "What I paid for was the follow up service: I asked him to swap in Huaixin''s sample."


    Imagine Yang Bo, a poor boy with nothing in his pocket, suddenly getting attention from the big boss. He must have felt immensely proud and grateful, and perhaps a tad bit undeserving for the unearned limelight. While by the side of the man who ''discovered'' him, he must have tried his best to look less mediocre. He might even have considered that legendary man to be his role model.


    But what if one day he discovered that what he received was what he deserved all along, because he was the rightful heir of his ''role model''?


    At first, there must be shock and contempt, because that meant that his mother had betrayed his father and their family, while his role model had betrayed his trust.


    Yet the cowardice in his nature eventually won over the contempt, and then a different thought emerged: the thought that he was supposed to be an equal to those silver-spoon ''young elites'' who rode on their fathers'' shoulders.


    <i>Zhou Huaijin, Zhou Huaixin, and their snobbish friends, what right do they have to look down on him?</i>


    <i>Why wouldn''t Zhou Junmao legitimize him?</i>


    <i>He was his son, and the apprentice of Mr. Zheng. Meanwhile, everyone knew Zheng was not on good terms with the eldest son of the Zhou''s. Then, as a fellow blood heir, why did he have to earn his sry rather than sharing the profit of the corporation?</i>


    <i>Or in another word: why isn''t the Zhou''s corporation his?</i>


    "It was you who gave him hope." Fei Du murmured, " <i>''He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ''bove wisdom, grace, and fear...''</i>"


    Zhou Huaijin closed his eyes and continued in an almost inaudible voice: " ''.<i>..and you all know, security is mortals'' chiefest enemy.''</i>"


    "Hectate," Fei Du looked at him scornfully, "so you''ve used your influences to let Yang Bo believe he was a son of Zhou''s. You gave him immense hope, but what for?"


    "Yang Bo was on Zheng Kaifeng''s side. " Zhou Huaijin said, "I don''t know why Zheng liked him so much, but he really did treat him like one of his own. He promoted Yang Bo to the position despite a lot of opposition. Even Zhou Dalong was not a fan of the idea --- though heter epted it. It was a gamble. The odds weren''t on my side, so I had to work on disalliancing the enemy. I wanted to blow up Yang Bo''s ambition, and use him to nt a thorn between Zhou Junmao and Zheng Kaifeng. I want to make all of them pay."


    Fei Du watched him emotionlessly.


    "It''s all true. I really don''t have a reason to keep on lying at this time." Zhou Huaijin massaged his nose bridge, "Mr. Fei, even though my tactics weren''t honest, I did notmit any felony or drag down an innocent soul in my revenge. So you may criticise me morally, but you have to admit that I did what I have to."


    "Mr. Zhou, " Fei Du talked slowly, "Whether you should just lose your reputation or be punished more severely is not my decision to make. You''ll need to wait for the nature of your ''show'' -- wasting police manpower to stage such a farce -- to be determined. It also depends on how the investigation on Zhou Junmao''s car ident is concluded."


    "I didn''t expect Zhou Junmao''s car ident at all. If it went ording to my script, Yang Bo would hear the paternity test result from that testing center. Then I would "identally" receive the result and confront him with it. I''ll first make him angry, then say things like "father will never acknowledge you." From what I know about Yang Bo -- how shallow and hot-tempered he was -- he''d most likely be too furious to mind his words and if I were lucky, I''d get some useful slip of tongues from him on record. And hopefully Yang Bo would want to somehow make father acknowledge him to prove me wrong. If he does, then I have follow-up steps for him. But now...well, vi: the death of Zhou Junmao was too inconvenient, and my n had to be cut short."


    "When you heard about Zhou Junmao''s death, you immediately realized that although the original n wouldn''t work anymore, it provided another opportunity. So you allowed Zhou Huaixin to call the police so you can use them to attract the public''s attention. Then, with Yang Bo as your shield and people''s left-over interest towards the car ident, you directed and acted in your own abduction, making Zhou Junmao''s death even more convoluted. By framing Yang Bo for the abduction and then coaxing the police to investigate the Zheng Kaifeng''s Charity fund, you could''ve easily beaten down both of your enemies. What''s more, Zhou Junmao''s reputation would''ve been destroyed too."


    Zhou Huaijin''s throat jittered but he didn''t speak. With no more exnation, he admitted to Fei Du''s usation in silence.


    Fei Du: "Aren''t you worried that the Zhou''s Corporation would be destroyed in the turmoil too and never recover again?"


    "The current Zhou''s is the ''Zhou'' of Zhou Junmao." Zhou Huaijin murmured, "It is tied to his reputation and his blood, alive or dead. I needed to break his golden statue. As for what else that would bring...well, aren''t they all worthless worldly possessions? Mr. Fei, if you had a deeply buried thorn in your heart, would you be afraid to risk your whole fortune just to pull it out? Money, stuff...to men like us, they aren''t that attractive anyway."


    When Fei Du heard him say "deeply buried thorn", his fingers unintentionally tightened and almost squeezed the water bottle cap into the bottle. Right then, nurses rushed into the operating room with bags of sma in their hands. Their footsteps seemed weirdly foreboding.


    Zhou Huaijin shot up: "Doctor, my brother..."


    The Zhous were the biggest patrons of Heng''ai Hospital. One nurse-looking staff spoke with tactful euphemism: "Please rest assured. We will do everything we can."


    Zhou Huaijin understood her unspoken meaning. His steps faltered.


    Fei Du helped him up by the elbow: "Mr. Zhou, is Huaixin a ''worthless worldly possession'' to you too?"


    Zhou Huaijin jumped as if his tail had been stumped upon. Fei Du pushed on: "He''s figured it out since you and your wing man Hu Zhenyu started your little performance. But he kept quiet and yed along. Do you know what he said to Hu Zhenyu?"


    "I don''t..."


    "He said he couldn''t care less about your affairs. All he wanted was for you to be safe." Fei Du''s words were short but sharp like a dagger, piercing through Zhou Huaijin''s ear drum, "Earlier when I bluffed him, he even tried to cover up for you by confessing to have nned the ''abduction'' himself. Mr. Zhou, here''s a question for you: All along you have been telling me a Hamlet story, but nowhere in your narrative mentioned the woman who tried to stab you. It''s as if you weren''t surprised by her rage at you at all. Could you tell me --- "


    His words were interrupted by the sudden opening of the operation room door.


    The galloping clock hands on the wall seemed to have paused momentarily. Zhou Huaijin looked at the doctorsing out of the door in dread. At the same time, Fei Du felt his pocketed cell-phone vibrate. He took it out, and saw a terse text message from Luo Wenzhou: "Dong Xiaoqing died."


    Surprised, Fei Du let go of Zhou Huaijin and immediately dialed back: "Are you alright?"


    What came through was only noise. Before he heard him respond, Fei Du saw Zhou Huaijin dropped onto his knees and heard the doctor saying: "I''m sorry Mr. Zhou, we really..."

 Chapter 1: Prologue Part 1

    Chapter 1: Prologue Part 1


    TL: QuantumC


    5.7.2019


    Truth, such harsh truth. -- le Rouge et le Noir


    Some said that the area around the Yan-cheng City''s North Nanping Avenue - the <i>Huashi</i> districts - was like a phantom with only half a face of makeup.


    A multine dual carriageway cut the Huashi district into two halves. The Eastern district housed one of the city''s busiest CBDs, while the Western district hid the long-forgotten old town - the pits of the poor.


    Although divided, the Eastern halve''s sky-rocketingnd price in the recent couple of auctions still visibly affected the shabby old town of the West: it pushed up the relocation fee benchmarks and scared away many perusing real-estate developers, fencing off their greedy capital like an invisible trench around the dingy alleys.


    Those residing in their humble abodes dreamed everyday that the relocation fees would make them millionaires overnight. Spiritually, they were already basking in a sense of superiority from theforting assumption that "my house is easily worth a millions dors".


    Of course, these slumdog-millionnaires-to-be still had to get in lines every morning, in their slippers, to empty their chamber pots.


    The evenings in the early summer can still be quite chilly. The bit of heat umted during the day had quickly retreated. In the Western district, most of the barbecue stands that upied the roads sans-permit were closed for the day. The residents were wrapping up their post-dinner small talks with neighbors and getting ready to head home. asionally, a street light or two blinked from unsteady voltage - probably a result of too many unauthorized wire-splicing done by the nearby tenants.


    In the meantime, in the morous and bustling neighborhood only one block away, the night life has just begun --


    Under a dusk sky, inside a street-facing coffee shop in the heart of the Eastern district, a waitress was just about to take a break after sending away arge group of guests. Before she could rx her stiff facial muscles from constantly smiling however, the little bells hanging above the ss door rang again.


    Time to put the professional eight-teethed-smile back on. "Wee!" She greeted.


    "A decaf vanitte, please."


    The guest was a tall and slender young man. His hair almost reached the shoulders. He wore a finely ironed suit and metal-framed sses whose narrow frame pressed against his chiseled nose. As he lowered his head to look for the wallet, much of his face was shaded by the long hair. His nose bridge and lips were pale as if zed by the luminescent lighting, making him look cold and aloof.


    It was only human nature to appreciate beauty: the waitress couldn''t help butnding her eyes on him longer than usual. She tried to guess what he likes: "Should I switch the vani syrup to sugar-free vani?"


    "No. Actually, more syrup please, if that''s okay." the guest handed over some cash. When he raised up the head again, his eyes caught those of the waitress.


    Out of politeness, he smiled. As soon as the corners of his eyes curved delicately behind those sses, a gentle - and ambiguously inviting - smile rippled through his mask of solemn seriousness.


    That was when the waitress realized that although his face was good-looking, it wasn''t an earnest and sincere kind of handsomeness. Rather, she could almost see temptatious peach-blossoms (1) from his eyes. Her face blushed, so she quickly avoided those eyes by looking down and pretending to focus on the order.


    Luckily, a delivery boy arrived at that time. The waitress was very relieved to have the distraction. She greeted him loudly and asked him to unload the milk and coffee in the back.


    Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K The delivery boy looked very young, hardly over his twenties. As he bounced in, his youthful liveliness immediately filled the room. On his shoulders was the day''sst string of golden sunset. He had a very dark skin tone and a mouthful of little white teeth. He replied cheerfully: "Hello Miss! You look fantastic today. I bet the business was good?"


    The waitress didn''t really care about how good or sloppy the business was, since it had nothing to do with her sry. She shrugged at his off-target sweet talks:"Just so-so. Go put the packages down. I''ll pour you some iced water."


    The delivery boy nodded with an exuberant smile while wiping away the sweats on his forehead. On the corner of his forehead there was a small scar in the shape of a crescent - like that of Bao Qingtian (2), except in the wrong ce.


    Before she finished making the coffee for the guest, the delivery boy had already unloaded all packages and checked off the inventory list. Leaning against the counter to wait for his water, he casually asked: "Pretty Miss, do you happen to know where Cheng Guang Mansion is? Is it in one of these buildings?"


    "Cheng Guang Mansion?" it sounded familiar, but she didn''t know exactly where it was. She shooked her head:"I''m not sure. Why?"


    "Um..." The delivery boy looked down and scratched the back of his head: "Nothing. I heard they were hiring delivery men."


    The waitress didn''t pick up the cues of his nervous reservations at all. She replied half-heartedly while capping the coffee: "Maybe I can ask around for you...Sir, your drink is ready. Careful - it''s very hot."


    The guest - probably too bored and had nothing to do - looked at the delivery boy and chipped in drowsily: "Cheng Guang Mansion isn''t part of themercial buildings. It''s a private club on the back. I had no idea that they hired delivery men...I can show you the way if you want."


    The waitress finally saw what was strange too. She looked dubiously at the delivery boy: "A private club house?"


    Busted, the delivery boy grimaced awkwardly, and fled with his icy water and delivery list.


    Behind the CBD aze with light and color, there was arge reserved green space covered with nts and decorated with intricately designedndscapes. One mile or so into the greens, you start to see some luxurious high-end apartments, arrogantly taking up the space amidst the staged ''naturalistic'' scenery -- obviously they had to build it here, because "quietness" and "tranquility" in themselves weren''t worth anything. Rather, it''s the "tranquility" in the middle of the hustle and bustle that''s worth bragging about.


    The park-apartmentplex was surrounded by a variety of "happy ces" of different levels and tastes. They were more or less arranged by "taste": the higher-ssed and more expensive ones upied the inner circle, while the cheaper ones were closer to the streets.


    Among these venues of entertainment, the one with the finest "taste" was definitely the Cheng Guang Mansion.


    The owner of the Mansion was not only rich, but also well-versed in how to be ssy. The mansion''s small garden was built in a neo-ssic style. Its authentic details emte those in a historic preservation site, when in reality the mansion was only recently finished. Tonight, the owner invited many friends over for a soft opening party -- needless to say they were all elites in the society and big-shots of their own fields. Some came to socialize; some came to talk business; some simply wanted to show support to a friend. There were also ones who weren''t directly invited, but sniffed the opportunity and showed up hoping to use either the face or the body as a ticket to the party, and to the upper society. The parking lot was stuffed with all kinds of extravagant cars, propping up a stage for the uing ''vanity fair''.


    Fei Du finished his sickly sweet cup of coffee while strolling to the Mansion. Before arriving, he heard the music and the loud chattering from the courtyard from hundreds of feet away. Then, right when he was throwing the empty coffee cup into a trashcan by the park trail, someone whistled at him from afar: "President Fei! Over here!"


    Fei Du turned his head and saw a group of people by the courtyard. They were all what''s called the "second-gen riches" - idle yboys living on daddy''s stic. The young man in the front dressed very... ''stylishly''...with essories that''s a little over the top. It was one of his good buddies, Zhang Doni.


    Fei Du walked over: "Ridiculing me already?"


    "Who would dare?" Zhang Doni hugged around Fei Du''s shoulder with one arm, "I saw your car parked here long ago. I''ve been waiting for you. Where have you been? And WHAT in the world is with your outfit? Did you juste from signing a bteral trade agreement with the president of the US or something? "


    Fei Du didn''t even raise his eyes: "Fuck off."


    Zhang Doni obediently shut his mouth for one minute, but quickly ran out of self-control: "Nope. I can''t see you in this look any longer. I feel like I''m walking around with a dad. How am I supposed to pick up hot chicks like this?"


    Fei Du''s steps slowed down. He removed his sses with one finger and hung it over Zhang Doni''s shirt cor. Then he stripped off the suit jacket, casually rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and started loosening the shirt buttons.


    He undid four buttons altogether. Some abstract tattoo marks lurked through his half-exposed chest. Finally, he messed up his hair a little, and grabbed three thicker-than-thimble rings from Zhang Doni''s paws and shoved them onto his own fingers: "What about now, my son?"


    As worldly as Zhang Doni was, he still found this dramatic transformation jaw-dropping.


    Fei Du was the alpha of this group of second-generation rich boys, because the others all still had their fathers to kiss up to. As for Fei Du, his mother passed away when he was little and his father was turned a vegetable by a car ident shortly after he came of age. In other words, he had already imed the throne -- essentially at a different level than all the other "heirs".


    He was full of money and free of parenting, so quite naturally he became the prodigal of prodigals. Luckily, he had no interest in ying the role of a "business prodigy": when it came to making big decisions for his business empire, he kept some senses and stayed away from any crazy shit investments. Therefore, simply a spendthrift at thevish-life-style level, it looked like he wouldn''t be wasting away all of his fortunes any time soon.


    However,tely, out of blues, he stoppeding to the parties or hanging out with his old princeling friends altogether, as if he''s decided to wash his hands off the old dancing days.


    Fei Du took a couple steps forward, with hands tucked in his pockets: "Honestly, I''m only here to show my support today. I''ll be on my way before mid-night."


    Zhang Doni: "C''mon, Sir Fei...Don''t do that..."


    For their group, what fun was there to leave before 12? Might as well just not show up at all.


    Fei Du remained silent.


    Zhang Doni asked: "But why?"


    "I am currently courting my future wife, very seriously." Fei Du said, not-at-all seriously, "Is it Okay to keep messing around while pursuing someone? I didn''t think so. It''s not a cultured thing to do."


    Zhang Doni watched Fei Du''s shirt and long hair dance in the night breeze and saw no culture, only coquet. He caught up with his steps, andmented: "obviously you''ve lost your mind...throwing away the big forest for one single tree? Not to mention it''s an old and poor..."


    Fei Du suddenly turned his head and nced at Zhang Doni coldly.


    Something about Fei Du was quite paradoxical. When he smiled, he was a moving peach-blossom tree. But when he kept a straight face, he could seemlessly turn into someone sharp and serious, with a pair of soul-piercing eyes that''s almost intimidating.


    Zhang Doni killed his sentence mid-way. He gave himself a light p on the face: "Fuck me. I really need to watch my tongue. Let me apologize to dear sister-inw in person someday, how is that?"


    The words "sister-inw" somehow pleased Fei Du. The corner of his mouth softened. He casually waved his hand, suggesting to Zhang Doni that this unpleasant page was considered "turned".


    Zhang Doni rolled his eyes at the sky: "Looks like his majesty Fei has been enchanted by the witch. s! The kingdom is in peril!"


    His Majesty Fei was a man of his words. When the clock stroke twelve, he was ready to leave the party like cindere hearing the bell.


    He walked past some scattering drunks, went around a retard who raised a ss of champagne and chanted at him, and entered a small grove to look for Zhang Doni.


    Zhang Doni was exploring the "ultimate harmony of life" (3) with a beautiful girl. They were both passionately indulging in the exploration as if no one else was around.


    Seeing Fei Du approaching, the drunk-head murmured: "Wealth... status... and a dead daddy. Man... you are really the winner in life!"


    "Thanks. But my dad hasn''t died yet." Fei Du politely nodded, and asked Zhang Doni: "Busy?"


    Zhang Doni was also a shameless man. He whistled, then said: "Why Master Fei... you are free to join."


    "I''d better not." Fei Du did not slow down his steps, "What if you lose it too quickly when seeing these abs? We wouldn''t want that to happen, right my Belle? Later~"


    He continued walking, leaving Zhang Doni''s noisyints behind. He followed the stone pavement back to the parking lot. His steps were so steady as if the man drenched in alcohol all night was apletely separate person.


    By the time that he arrived at the parking, he already buttoned up and called for a substitute driver like anyw-abiding citizens would. Under a giant pagoda tree, he waited for the driver.


    The tail-end of Spring in Yan-cheng city was always filled with the fragrance of silk flowers. Traces of the scent seeped out from the most unexpected corners and lingered around persistently. Although easily overwhelmed by the stinking exhaust of cars, it always came back stubbornly.


    The music and conversations from the Cheng Guang Mansion in the distance could still be heard vaguely. Fei Du peeked with his half-closed eyes, and saw arge group of girls ying a game with a couple of bald "seasoned fresh meats"(4) with beer bellies.


    At this hour of the night, most shops have already closed, including the ones in the Eastern Huashi district. The gentlemen at the party, real or fake, who came to extend their socialworks mostly left before 12. Those that stayed were staying for the afterparty of lush and lust.


    Fei Du picked some little white flowers from the pagoda tree, blew away the dusts, and chewed on them to pass time. He flipped through the address book of his phone. His swiping fingers hovered briefly over the name of "Officer Tao". Then, remembering that it was already prettyte, he gave up.


    He stood there quietly and savored the hint of sweetness from the flowers. Absentmindedly, he started to whistle, and whistling gradually formed a melody.


    Ten minutester, the substitute driver arrived. He extremely carefully started Mr. Fei''s mboyant sports car, and drove onto the Nanping Avenue.


    Fei Du sat back in the front passenger seat, eyes closed. The App in his phone was ying an audio book. A calm and clear male voice read: "......''Incedo per ignes,'' replied Julien..." (5)


    The sub-driver was a cynical college student doing part-times to pick up the extras. He was determined that Fei Du was either a good-for-nothing daddy''s boy or a 18th-tier celebrity who lived on stic surgeries. Suddenly hearing the audio book, he casted a surprising look at him.


    At that time, a car approached from the opposite direction with its fog lights on. The sub-driver was almost blinded by the sudden brightness. He cursed: "What a retard." while intuitively turning the wheel to the side of the street. The car with the "search light" whooshed past them.


    His eyes still hadn''t adapted so he didn''t see what kind of a car it was. Consequently, he had a hard time picking between the two silent grumbles: "Stupid bragger - yeah you''re rich and so what " or "poor scumbags should never be allowed on the road". "What a pity." He thought. Then, he heard a "thump". Looking to his right, he saw that the passenger''s cell-phone had fallen off from his hand.


    The audio book kept going: "...Is a road any worse, because there are thorns in the hedges on either side of it? The traveller goes his way and leaves the wicked thrones to wither where they are..." (5)


    Fei Du was deep in his sleep. Turned out that he was using the audio book as a sleeping aid.


    The drive looked away apathetically.


    "Hah, no different from the rest of them after all." he thought, "Fair without, foul within."


    The young sub-driver let his mind wander, while driving smoothly along the straight and uninteresting Nanping avenue. In the mean time, the car that briefly blinded him kept going in the other direction, but now with the fog lights turned off. Shortly after, it made a silent turn into the hushed Western district, deftly picked its way and disappeared into the crooked alleys.


    It was now close one AM. The street light that had been flickering all night finally died. A wild cat jumped onto a fence as it patrolled its territory.


    Suddenly, it "meow-ed" in a frenzy. All of its hair spiked.


    Under the faint moon light, a man was lying on the ground. His face was bloody and swollen to the point that it''s unrecognizable. On the corner of his forehead there was a small scar in the shape of a crescent. The rest of his forehead was covered by a pieced of white paper, torn from somewhere roughly. It was like the paper amulet used to cast away the zombies.


    The man was long dead.


    The cat was so scared that it fell straightly off the fence. It quickly rolled over onto its feet and scurried away into the night.


    ==============================================


    (1). peach-blossoms: this ismonly used to describe romantic feelings and encounterings in Chinese.


    (2). Bao Qingtian: He is a historical figure, an official in the Song dynasty who is know for being just and always guarding thew. He famously has a crescent moon shaped scar in the middle of his forehead, as is portrayed in many Chinese period TV dramas.


    (3). "The ultimate harmony in life": refers to consummating the love. This expression was first coined by Gu Long, a famous Chinese Wuxia writer.


    (4). seasoned fresh meat: fresh meat is used to describe someone who is youthful and good looking (in a slightly mocking, yet ttering way) in Chinese. Here, "seasoned" fresh meat means that these bald guys were actually not young and fresh any more. They didn''t have the pretty face of a youth, and they boast of being wise and seasoned with invaluable life experiences, hence the "seasoned fresh meat".


    (5). This is a quote from the book le Rough et le Noir (Red and ck)

 Chapter 2: Julien One

    Chapter 2: Julien One


    5.7.2019


    Bureau of Public Safety, Yan-cheng City. Eight-o''clock sharp.


    It was the time when staffs of each department trickled in to report to their posts. The yawning little Sun, a logistics clerk from the administrative office, was on his way to deliver a barrel of purified water to the Chief''s office. He pushed open the office door, only to find that Chief Zhang had already poured himself the first cup of tea and was taking a phone call with a very serious face.


    Their old chief was in his 50s and looked very thin for his age. He was a quick-tempered old fossil - one who brought his own tea cup where ever he went, used a non-smart phone with half a month of battery life, and only wore the uniforms to work all year long. There was a deep furrow in the middle of his forehead like the third eye of Er Langshen (1) - possibly from frowning at those who crossed him, which was pretty much everyone. His smile was as rare as a flowering iron tree.


    The old office-phone was a bit leaky, so as little Sun kneeled to tear the wrappings off of the water barrel, he over heard the voice from the other side of the phone: "Boss, listen, I know that this happened in my jurisdiction and it was indeed a result of my negligence. But..."


    Little Sun sneaked a peek at Chief Zhang''s twisted brows, and thought: "What is it now?"


    Yan-cheng City was currently hosting a very important international conference. Many world leaders and the press from across the globe were attending. Many local schools and small businesses were temporarily closed to yield to the conference. All private vehicles were operating under the odd-even te number restrictions (2). All security departments were under extreme pressure.


    Little Sun witnessed the <i>perfect storm</i> forming on the chief''s neck and above. He tried his best to suppress the rage, and talked in a lowered voice: "North Nanping Avenue, merely three kilometers from the main conference venue. What did I say before the conference? that we have to guarantee safety no matter the cost. Clear up all the food trucks on the street if that''s what it takes. And YOU...you present me with a murder case? Lao Wang, you''ve ''overachieved'' big times..."


    "But boss, it was in the middle of the night..."


    "Didn''t the order arrive months ago to fortify the nighttime patrolling? Were you expecting the criminals to stick to the eight-hour work day schedule?"


    "Yes...NO no...I mean...I''m not trying to shirk responsibilities here. But as you know, the Western Huashi district had always been a pain. With those immigrants..."


    Chief Zhang had put the famous temper of his on leash in order to reason with the head of the Huashi Sub-Bureau, only to find that the man had no intention to repent, onlyme excuses. Outraged, Chief Zhang''s suppressed anger bursted into a roar: "The hell do I know!! Isn''t the Western district your jurisdiction? Your territory? Now you tell me that it''s a pain. Where the hell were you before?"


    Little Sun and the Sub-Bureau head on the other side both froze there.


    Chief Zhang took a sip of the tea from his cup to quench the fire, but identally bit on a tea stem. He spat it back into the cup.


    Then, he used only the index finger to press down on the dusty keyboard, and typed "garrote". The news photos and screenshots on the intr immediately flooded his desktop.


    In the early morning, a male corpse was discovered in a back alley of the Western Huashi district. At first, a forum thread was started online as a piece of local gossip. But since much more eye-grabbing stuff had long existed on the inte, this one didn''t particrly draw much discussion in the beginning. However, the heads of the Huashi Sub-Bureau were terrified to have any uncontroble factors during this sensitive period, so they did something stupid --- They tried to quiet it down by first deleting the forum posts. Then when words got out, they released a statement saying that the body was of a homeless person who died from an unknown cause.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Little did they know that the punks who first discovered the body actually took pictures. Later they posted those ghastly pictures in the most attention-seeking way online. The pictures, coupled with the fishy doings of the Sub-Bureau earlier, ignited the imaginations of Yan-chengers who were bored on their ways to work on the buses and subways. The story exploded. Even the city''s municipal office called to inquire about it.


    Chief Zhang put on his reading sses and opened the forum post that had the highest clicks before it got deleted. It was titled "Robbing and garroting gang suspected in the downtown". Apparently it was a catchy title. AND there were pictures. When the page finished loading, a shocking, un-pixted picture of the appalling body filled the screen.


    Chief Zhang: "..."


    Now he thought that he had raged too early. However, at his age it was impractical to yell any louder, so he resumed the normal volume: "Frankly, I think your talent is being wasted here. You should''ve gone to the advertisingpanies! Look what brilliant publicity you''ve attracted. "


    "Those little bastards... they''d feast at the world''s end... What wicked people would take selfies with a corpse? Boss, worry not. I''ve locked them up already. We''re purging the pictures and the posts as well. I promise you that it is under control!"


    Chief Zhang leaned back on his chair and pinched his nose bridge: "The most important thing right now is to solve the case and find the murderer. Deleting posts? Who do you think you are? An inte police? This case need to be dealt with properly as soon as possible. Tell your men to keep their mouths tight. I''ll send someone over to be your consultant. Wang Hongliang, I''ll give you one week, and one week only. If you don''t give me something solid, then give me your resignation letter."


    Chief Zhang''s infuriated spits almost traveled through the telephone line to Wang Hongliang''s face. He hung up the phone. Little Sun hurried to move the empty water barrel out of the way and took out a notebook - he knew that the Chief was about to give some orders.


    As expected, Chief Zhang gestured at him: "Go get the Criminal Investigation Team."


    "All of them?" Little Sun asked.


    Chief Zhang thought for a while, eyes falling on theputer screen -- the face on the picture was bloated and the facial features were distorted. But it was clearly a young man''s face. His mouth was slightly open; his eyes looked into the camera lens with a hint of surprise and disbelief.


    "Get Luo Wenzhou. Tell him to take his men and go to the Huashi sub-bureau in person. " Chief Zhang replied, "it''s not necessarily aplicated case. Tell him that after this month, I''ll take care of that cunning old fox Wang Hongliang. He knows what to do."


    Little Sun: "..."


    Chief Zhang''s inquiring eyes looked through the thick reading sses at Sun.


    "Ch...Chief, " little Sun forced a dry smile, "Captain Luo...he...he isn''t here yet."


    Luo Wenzhou always arrived at work exactly on time. As long as he was not on night shifts, he refused to show up at Eight Twenty-nine since the require time to report to work was Eight Thirty.


    Moreover, today his car was restricted ording to the odd-even number rules. Luo Wenzhou didn''t want to take the bus, so he dug out an ancient museum-worthy Er-ba bicycle from his basement, fixed it up, and wobbled to work on it.


    He was a very handsome man with a youthful-looking face. However, his manners and temperament were unmistakably those of a mature grown-up. He wore a pair of plugged-in earphones, sleeves rolled up, muscles hiding under the well-fitting casual shirt. He had a pair of long legs that could easily touch the floor even when sitting on the old-fashioned gangly bicycle. On his left handlebar hung a dozen breakfast pancakes, while on the right handlebar hung six, seven cups of soy milk. Luo Wenzhou''s hands lightly rested on the obviously overloaded bike head, and glided gracefully through the main entrance into the Bureau''s courtyard.


    Upon entering, Luo Wenzhou saw that the guard was arguing with a flower delivery girl.


    "No. Sorry. No entering. You ask why? Miss, this is the Bureau of the Public Safety, not the flower-fruit mountain (3), Okay? All mails and packages stay in the mail room and need to be registered and screened."


    "But how could the flower stay in the mail room? It will droop. "The flower girl looked around and pointed at Luo Wenzhou: "You won''t let me in. Then howe a food delivery guy can pass?"


    Guard: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou looked up and smiled at the girl, showcasing a mouthful of coquettish white teeth: "Because, the food delivery guy is too charming."


    The guard was now full of worries for the public image of the Bureau: "... Good morning Captain Luo."


    "Morning. Have you had breakfast? If not, help yourself." Luo Wenzhou bnced the bike with one foot on the ground: "Miss, who''s the flower for? I can take it in for you."


    The flower girl was a bit embarrassed, and hurried to find the card: "Um...it''s for...the Criminal Investigation Unit, an officer...Mr...Tao Ran."


    At exactly half past Eight, Luo Wenzhou entered the office and dropped the flower onto Tao Ran''s desk: "You..."


    Before he could say more, the messenger sent by the angry Chief Zhang caught him. Luo Wenzhou had to swallow the rest of his question. Instead, he pressed hardly on Tao Ran''s shoulder and said: "We will talkter."


    The whole investigation squad was in shock. They stared at the fresh and pretty flower bunch in front of Tao Ran as if staring at a timed bomb.


    Policewoman Lang Qiao took out the magnifying ss and a disposable glove from her drawer, and scooted over from the neighboring desk. After carefully examining the flower from head to toe, she pulled out a simple scented card on kraft paper.


    The brave girl solemnly flipped it open in front of everyone. In the card there were some quotes written in the standard Kai font: "The wind is howling. My limbs are cold, but my heart is warm. My heart is soft and tender, I know not why. I want to be close to you. Only then can I ease the sorrow." (4)


    "The signature says ''Fei''." Lang Qiao said, "Fei what?"


    Tao Ran yanked the card back: "Okay that''s enough. Give it back."


    "A gift from your girlfriend? I thought Boss Luo was going to confess his love to you in public."


    The coworkers all patted their chests.


    "Phew...thank God."...


    "My heart was literally pounding in my throat."...


    "Don''t scare us like that."...


    The relievedments came from all around. Before long, the single dogs (5) quickly reformed their alliance to use Tao Ran of treason, all while dividing up the food on Luo Wenzhou''s table.


    "Vice-Cap, since when did you break away from the mighty FFF (6)? Did you submit a petition? Did themittee agree?"


    "Tao Tao, Hummm... where is your team spirit? That was kind of mean of you to not tell your camarades..."


    "Vice-Cap Tao, I only have thirty-seven point six dors left on my paycheck this month. Not enough for dog food (5) I''m afraid. What say you?"


    "Knock it off." Tao Rao tucked the card away and moved the flowers to an inconspicuous corner. "Where did the girlfriende from? I want to know it too... Alright alright...enough messing around already."


    In face of the big bulk of in evidence, this guy was still trying to cover up? The crowd boiled and cornered Captain Tao, ready to squeeze some truth out of him.


    At that time, Luo Wenzhou, who rushed off to hear the orders just now, returned to the office. He knocked on the hollow door frame: "There is a new murder case in the Western Huashi District. I need two of you toe with me. Speed!"


    ==================================================


    (1). Er Langshen: a deity in Chinese Taoism mythology. Famously has a third eye between his eyebrows.


    (2). the Odd-even te number rules: To regte the number of vehicles on a given day (especially during major national events, or when the air quality bes unbearable), some mega-cities in China would adopt this regtion such that the te number that ended with either odd or even digits take turns to roll.


    (3). the flower-fruit mountain: existed in the book Journey to the West. It is the home of the Monkey King.


    (4). This is a quote from a famous Chinese writer: Shen Congwen


    (5). Single people, men and women, mockingly call themselves "single dogs". Seeing couples unting their love for each other is called "eating dog food".


    (6). FFF: the union of single people. Leave FFF means not single any more.

 Chapter 3: Julien Two

    Chapter 3: Julien Two


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC: Noa</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: I have been observing him for the past seven years.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    The area around Nanping Drive was the hardest area formuting; the busy hourssted from 6am to 10pm.


    The white cors going to the Eastern District always ran into moped riders running around; if a slow bus also joined, together they could hold a "No one will be able to escape" party.


    The road condition of Western District was particrlyplicated. The wide roads and narrow ones interlocked with each other.


    Building private construction without authorization had be amon practice among the local residents, and thus the man-made dead ends were everywhere. Motor vehicles that encountered them were like bugs caught on a spider''s web- they had to struggle to move in all directions to bring themselves to the light again.


    Luo Wenzhou poked his head out the car window, rang the sirens once, and called out: "Hey Mr Handsome, we are performing our duties, and not able to go through now. Could you move that BMW by the door?"


    An old man came out from the yard of a small cottage besides them, as a response to what he said. The old man nced at him with a crumpled mouth, and pushed his elderly mobility scooter back to the yard trembling.


    On the left side of the elderly mobility scooter, a piece of paper was stuck with the words "dedicated for picking up grandson", while on the right side was another piece of paper which said "Urging will only make me slower. I am kick-ass!" As the old man walked away, the police heard a bark. Luo Wenzhou lifted up the sunsses on his nose in surprise. He lowered his head and saw a big yellow dog dart out from behind the mobility scooter.


    The big yellow dog strolled to the police car. The dog and Luo Wenzhou looked at each other, and the dog raised its back legs towards one of the wheels tantly.


    Luo Wenzhou whistled at it, said kindly: "Little baby, if you do your business there, I will cut off your penis and make a pancake from it."


    This kind of food was really outside the mainstream, the big yellow dog had never heard about it. It was frightened by the experienced hoodlum smell of Officer Luo, so it barked and ran away with its tail between its legs.


    Lang Qiao used a tablet to block her face: "Chief Luo, have you noticed that there is an unmarried young woman in the backseat? The Sub Bureau has sent all avable information to us."


    "Then I will ask this womanrade to briefly talk about the objective information." Luo Wenzhou drove the police car out of the cleared narrow alley slowly. "Ignore all subjective assumption. Wang Hongliang, that bastard only knows kowtowing. When those above behave wrongly, the ones below will follow. The Huashi Sub Bureau is full of good-for-nothings."


    "Oh, the dead man''s name was He Zhongyi, male, 18 years old, a non-native worker, a delivery boy in a chain cafe. The groove on his neck points to the cause of death as suffocation... Or alternatively, strangtion. ording to initial spection, the lethal weapon is something like a ribbon of cloth. The time of death was probably around 8 to 11 o''clockst night, we still need to wait for more details from the legal medical experts- Oh, yeah, the corpse was found somewhere behind but not far away from the ce he had rented, therefore his identity was verified immediately."


    Luo Wenzhou was a skillful driver. He managed to move in the narrow alley that was only a few millimeters wider than the police car, and was still able to interrupt her and ask: "From where did the rumors of robbing and garroting gangs start?"  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    "They said that it was because the belongings of the dead were all robbed. His phone is gone, and his wallet was emptied and left beside him, but it is not concluded if those belongings were taken away by the murderer." Lang Qiao quickly nced over the mail. "Oh yeah, the reporter said that there was a piece of paper left on the corpse''s face, and it was stuck on his hair by tape, the side facing inside read ''Money''."


    Tao Ran turned off the navigation: "Take a right turn here and we will be there."


    "Got it." Luo Wenzhou drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "This is Sub Bureau''s case, and has not been transferred to Bureau. Do you know what we''re supposed to do here?"


    Lang Qiao replied tentatively: "Guidance and supervision?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Do you know who generally used to do the job of ''Guidance and supervision'' in the past?"


    Lang Qiao suddenly understood: "Eunuchs!"


    Sitting in the front passenger seat, Tao Ran turned back and stared at her.


    "This is what young women in your vige think about all day long?" Luo Wenzhou grinned as if he had a toothache. "Putting this aside. I am serious- there are only few years left before Director Zhang retires, and all the deputy directors are just a few years younger than him. All other people in our bureau eitherck experience, or soak themselves in tech and don''t bother to speak to anyone like Head Zeng. Therefore, it is highly probable that some people from the Sub Bureaus will get promoted."


    Luo Wenzhou avoided hitting a pile of rubbish at the roadside, and lowered his voice: "Our old director wants to get rid of people like Wang Hongliang, so that we won''t have a son of a rum puncheon as our leader in the future- Now, do you know what our main task is?"


    He had just finished his sentence, the police car had already turned at the crossing.


    That was an empty space among old tube-shaped apartments and small rough casas. It was very deste, and built on the side of an area of privately built small warehouses. Weeds grew here and there, but people didn''t frequently visit here. There was water under the corner of the wall. There was a resilient, awful smell in the air.


    The police had already cordoned the scene. The legal medical experts were busy surveying the scene.


    In order to meet Luo Wenzhou and hispanions, the leader of Huashi District Sub Bureau, Wang Hongliang, was waiting at the scene.


    He was a middle aged man who was losing his hair, even his depressed eyebrows were so sparse and unclear. Sweating, he walked over to Luo Wenzhou, and shook his hand three times: "I am so sorry to intrude on the leaders in Bureau, and make youe here."


    Luo Wenzhou smiled with a pleasant demeanor: "Old bro, why do you persist in thinking of me as an outsider?"


    Wang Hongliang was proficient in establishing rtionships, though he was poor at his work. Hearing what Luo Wenzhou said, he immediately followed the idea, and called Luo Wenzhou his bro, and immediately spouted hisins to his new "younger bro".


    Luo Wenzhou pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and gave it to Wang Hongliang. At the same time he tipped Tao Ran a wink, letting him and Lang Qiao check the scene first.


    "The murderer must be someone the dead knew." Wang Hongliang kept talking about nonsense with Luo Wenzhou until he finished that cigarette, then started to talk business. His tiny eyeballs kept moving around. "Look at this ce, it''s soplicated, outsiders couldn''t even figure out which direction is north. And people live so close to each other, if you fart at home, the neighbors can tell what you ate for lunch. How dare outsidersmit crimes here? Younger bro Luo, you are an expert, do you agree with this?"


    At this sensitive time, thest thing Wang Hongliang wanted to see was a thieving murderer moving around in an area under his jurisdiction. Therefore, he wanted to make the case a "killed by acquaintance due to personal grudge" one desperately.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t answer him. He took off his sunsses, clipped it to his cor, and squinted at the busy legal medical experts, then he answered casually: "I am just an official who only wants to get meals to eat. How could I dare to call myself an expert in front of you?"


    "Only wants to get meals to eat? Who is not like that?" Wang Hongliang spread his hands out with a sigh and groaned. "Let''s go take a look as well."


    The newly formed "only wants to get meals to eat two people team" entered the scene together and saw a spectacled young man with a crewcut, foaming at the mouth, briefing Tao Ran and Lang Qiao.


    The young man was tall and his face was filled with pimples. Standing with a straight and stiff gesture, like a human shaped piece of coffin nk. His speed of speaking was amazingly fast.


    "This is our new hire Xiao, Xiao Haiyang." Wang Hongliang stretched out a finger, pointed, and introduced him. "He was a top student, and ranked first in writing tests of our entrance exams. Xiao, this is Captain Luo from our Bureau."


    Xiao Haiyang raised his hand without thinking, and adjusted his gesture of standing like he was following someone''s order. He looked at Luo Wenzhou and with his jaw tightening, greeted him with only the necessary words: "Captain Luo."


    "Don''t be too polite," Luo Wenzhou smiled at him. "Go on."


    It seemed that the just now quiet Xiao Haiyang was turned on by this sentence, words came out from his mouth like a heavy downpour of rain, drowning the people talking to him: "There are no bruises caused by struggles on the body, but there are traces of being hit by a blunt object on the back of his head. ording to the preliminary inspection, he was first knocked out by a blow to the back of the head and then strangled with a strip of soft cloth. After he died, his belongings were taken away, and his forehead was covered by a piece of paper. Since the dead was strangled when he was unconscious, there are no traces of struggling on the scene. Neither the soft cloth, which strangled the dead, nor the weapon used to hit the dead on the back of the head was found. There is no conclusive evidence showing that this ce is the crime scene at present. Reportpleted."


    Everything was fine at the beginning, but as soon as he finished thest sentence, Wang Hongliang''s face turned green: "Why are you talking nonsense without evidence? If this is not the crime scene, then where is? Are you suspecting this is a body dumping case? Why did the criminal choose here to dump the body? What good can this do? Don''t make wild guesses to create confusion!"


    Xiao Haiyang looked at him nkly: "I am just saying it is probable..."


    Wang Hongliang wanted to say something again, but Luo Wenzhou stretched out a hand to stop him: "The newly graduated generally have many opinions, it is interesting to hear them sometimes."


    He raised his head to look around and checked the environment. The whole Huashi Western District gave people an impression of grey. There were many chaotic electric wires above them, dividing the rare blue sky of Yancheng into pieces. The whole environment was depressing.


    "Ask the people around here, perhaps someone heard something." said Luo Wenzhou. "Besides, I think Director Wang''s general idea is correct. Let''s not think about extreme cases for now, try to investigate the case under the assumption that the criminal is an acquaintance. Old bro, what''s your opinion?"


    Although Younger Bro Luo came with hostility, Wang Hongliang liked his way of talking and working. They reached a consensus quickly, and saved a lot of effort onmunication.


    After that was endless investigation and interviews. These were the tasks of the criminal police of Sub Bureau, and had nothing to do with "technical guidance". Their main task was to go back to Sub Bureau, sit down, drink tea, monitor the progress, and look for any mistakes made by Wang Hongliang.


    Tao Ran, nevertheless, said to Luo Wenzhou in a low voice: "Leader, you go first, I still want to investigate more here with them."


    Tao Ran had a quiet graceful name and a pretty appearance, he had never quarreled with anybody, and had never used badnguage either. He treated bothrades and enemies nicely, and looked very affable. But Luo Wenzhou had been his partner ever since they graduated together. He knew him.


    Tao Ran was very serious and persistent, which was ipatible with this era. He didn''t care much about anything else, Luo Wenzhou would take care of everything even if the sky was falling. In terms of the crime cases, however, as long as there was one doubtful point, he would not stop investigating- regardless of whether he was in charge of that case or not.


    Luo Wenzhou: "The dead was knocked out from the back. If it was robbing, the robbers didn''t need to strangle him. It is highly probable that this is a personal grudge. Wang Hongliang''s basic judgement is correct- What questions do you have?"


    The body had already been put inside a body bag and carried away by the legal medical experts. Tao Ran quietly said: "It is his shoes- Nobody does cleaning here, and you get mud under your shoes easily. But just now I opened the body bag and checked the corpse. That child''s shoes are very clean."


    Luo Wenzhou lifted his eyebrows slightly.


    "Of course, it is probable that the dead lived near here, and was very familiar with the environment." said Tao Ran. "However, I still have a feeling that that small sses guy of Sub Bureau was correct. We cannot rule out the possibility of here not being the first scene. Besides, the paper stuck to the head of the dead was strange as well. Wenzhou, in any case this is not as simple as it seems like. I am afraid that Director Wang just wants to close the case quickly to avoid digging into it."


    "Afraid?" sighed Luo Wenzhou. "Obviously he wants to close the case quickly."


    As long as one suspect appears, Wang Hongliang could immediately announce to the public that this was a case caused by personal grudge, and not some ''garroting killer'' as people talked about online. Without public stunts, people would forget about this case in days. After people stop talking about this case, they can again say that "Huashi District Sub Bureau have made great contribution for the city''s sess in holding XX meeting."


    As for the case, they would send a few criminal police to investigate. If they find the murderer they will catch him/her, if not, they will just hold the case. After a while, the case could be closed without conclusion.


    This was what Wang Hongliang had always done, otherwise Director Zhang would not be against him.


    Tao Ran said: "Anyway, a child came all the way here, died in this city far from home. We should be conscientious on his case."


    Luo Wenzhou gave him a sidelong nce whichsted for two seconds.


    Tao Ran added quickly: "I am just a bit concerned so I want to go with them. I won''t create extra branches on the tree."


    Luo Wenzhou smiled: "All right, anyway all these years the extra branches created by you were always taken care of by me, but still you haven''t pay me back with your body."


    Tao Ran did not care, he jokingly cursed: "Go away."


    Finishing this sentence, he was about to go. Luo Wenzhou stopped him: "Wait. Is Fei Du the one who sent you flowers in the morning?"


    Tao Ran didn''t care much about that, and said: "Who else would do that?"


    Luo Wenzhou put his two hands into his pocket, nced at his tiptoe as if he was looking for something to say: "If I say to you ''Keep yourself away from that fellow'', does that sound like a dog chasing mouses? (1)<i>"</i>


    "Are you serious?",ughed Tao Ran. "He always does this. This is a joke to him. He''s not my type, even if I were as curved as a ball..."


    Luo Wenzhou cut him off in a low voice: "If you were curved, that kid wouldn''t even get a chance."


    Tao Ran''s brain was nk after hearing this. But before he could consume the information in the words, Luo Wenzhou said: "I am not saying that he keeps racketing around, or he is not ountable... Not that level. I always have a bad feeling about Fei Du, do you understand what I am saying?"


    "I understand," nodded Tao Ran. He was thin and frail-looking, seemed to be one of those guys who don''t dare to fight for himself when being bullied. Therefore, he always wore uniforms at work. The sunlight in the morning prating the parapet and moss, gave him a fine edge. "I have been observing him for the past seven years. Fei Du is a good child, you don''t need to be rmed- although he is indeed a bit overcorrected now. He is too vivacious."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t answer.


    Tao Ran changed the topic: "And, there was an unknown someone, who was so shy that he didn''t even give his name when sending a gift. I recall that he had spent great efforts to get a game machine from some foreign country, but asked me to..."


    "Go away.", Luo Wenzhou cut him off with a cold face. "Do your work. Don''t keep talking about nonsense!"


    =======================================================


    (1) a dog chasing mouses: Meaning mind others business


    =======================================================

 Chapter 4: Julien Three

    Chapter 4: Julien Three


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC: ISALEE</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: The three military inspectors looked up together.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "I saw that news too. I heard it happened close to us, didn''t it?"


    "Drive past Nanping Drive and continue in that direction for a while and you will be there. Sometimes, if I am going to my parents'' but don''t feel like going all the way up the bridge, I make a detour by passing through there. I always felt it was chaotic before, didn''t expect... Ah!"


    The two white-cors in the pantry were too dedicated in their conversation to notice that someone behind them was listening to their live webcast. When they finally noticed the eavesdropper, one of the woman''s hands trembled from shock, and the hot water in her cup nearly spilled in the ground.


    "Be careful." Fei Du stretched out one of his hands, supported the cup in her hand, took it over, and put it aside. "Don''t get water this hot next time. Your hands are so delicate, what if you get scalded?"


    Fei Du generally did not speak loudly, and whatever he said was generally no more than normal things that people would usually say. Nevertheless, once these normal sentences came out from his mouth, they immediately seemed to get infected with some secretive form of intimacy, which frequently seduced people to tter themselves to think that he liked them. But the good thing was, he would generally leave immediately after speaking, which left enough time for people to snap out of the bubble he had created.


    "President Fei, you shocked me!" The white cors in tea room were frightened in the beginning, but when they found out it was him, they rxed.Compared to the former tough-minded President Fei, this Young Buck Fei, who had the right of session of all his life was basically a likeable mascot.


    He didn''t bring his failings of yboy to thepany and acted good enough to be a seemingly "prudent" person. He seldom wielded his decision-making power and generally did notply with his job duty.


    He teased girls asionally, but only in a measured way. He followed the principle of "Rabbits do not eat the grass around their burrows", and never crossed the line.


    Fei Du wiped up the spilled hot water with a tissue, returned the cup, and asked thoughtlessly, "What news were you talking about just now?"


    "We were talking about the Western District on the opposite side. Yesterday a robbery and murder case urred there. Apparently the criminal has not been arrested yet. Perhaps it would be prudent for us, the personnel department, to send out a group mail to everybodyter? To remind people to be careful whenmuting."


    "Nice," Fei Du said seriously. "If it is too dangerous we should have a vacation, and onlye back to work after the bad guy has been caught. How can work be as important as your safety?"


    Although the two girls knew his words were all talk, they were still ted and went back to work happily.


    A whileter, Fei Du received the group email from the personnel department as expected.


    He added more than half a cup of hazelnut chocte syrup into his cup of coffee, nning to sweeten every molecule. He had nothing better to do, so he watched the attached video in the email while stirring his coffee.


    "Late night yesterday, behind this residential area in the Huashi Western District of our city, a vicious murder case happened. Up until now, the police have not made any official statements about the case. As reported, the dead man, He, lived in a rented house somewhere near the scene."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    The video came from a online press that was famous for "pleasing the public by announcing something they like", the prudish aide had just managed to talk for about two or three minutes when a burst of loud noises suddenly came from somewhere off-camera.


    Immediately, as if they were afraid ofcking chaos, the shaky camera moved and a food stand appeared in the video.


    A middle-aged woman wearing an apron, probably the shopkeeper of the food stand, pushed a boy with her elbows and straightened her spine: "Bloke, are you not able to calcte or was your conscience eaten by a dog? Stealing this small amount of money? What can you do with them? Bring them home to buy a coffin for your mother?"


    There were several idle middle-aged and senior people sitting beside them and eating huntun (1) in a food stand which upied the road illegally. This group of people couldn''t stop talking even when they were eating and drinking. They volunteered to exin the situation to the camera.


    "Do you know how this bloke tried to buy shaobing (2)? They told him to put his money there and take the change himself. Obviously they trusted his conscientiousness. He paid 10 yuan and took 15 yuan from the change box. I saw it just now."


    "Eat five yuan and make five yuan, good boy, he''s now very close to bing rich."


    "He deserves thisif he starts stealing things at such a young age, who knows if he will trade drugs ormit murders in the future? Once it bes dark, we all don''t dare to stay outside. In my opinion, it is the fault of these scums from other cities."


    "We reported these matters many times, but we were brushed off. Now see? Someone was brutally murdered. They should''ve listened to us."


    The effect of middle-aged and senior cheerleaders'' intentions to make trouble was not trivial. The contradiction was sharpened quickly.


    The fiery food stand shopkeeper''s arrogance grew to 2.2 meters. She started to beat the boy. The thief boy covered his head with both his hands and curved himself into a ball. His neck and ears were bloody red. He didn''t make a sound, and only kept backing away.


    Several people on the sidelines couldn''t stand this and they came over to try to separate the shopkeeper and the boy, but they unexpectedly ended up joining the fight.


    The conflict, in the blink of an eye, eventually escted into bing the official indiscriminate fight in between the Western District natives and renters from other cities.


    The scene could be described as chicken feather flying in all directions; things kept on colliding into the camera lens, which nted several times. Fei Du was done stirring coffee and felt that this conflict involving trifles as "three mouses or four eye (3)" was extremely boring and had no ornamental value, so he was about to close the video.


    Suddenly, someone in the video shouted: "The police areing!"


    In themotion, several people in uniforms made their ways in with difficulty and tried to separate the clustered people hurriedly, their movement seemed to indicate they wished to have seven or eight hands and legs. But they soon drowned in the ocean of people. The sses of one of the young policeman even got hit and dropped to the ground.


    Fei Du saw a familiar figure among them, and his hand which was about to close the window stopped.


    That afternoon, in the Huashi District Sub Bureau, Wang Hongliang extracited himself with the excuse of "having a meeting", and escaped like he had polished his shoe soles with oil.


    Luo Wenzhou put his hands behind him, bent down, and got close to Tao Ran to look at him: "Last time we assisted our brothers in the narcotics squad to chase those drug dealers, we got into a fight for about 20 minutes, but still none of us got ''heavily injured'' like this. I knew that. As soon as you leave me, you will get yourself in trouble. Don''t forget to take a shot of rabies vine after going home tonight."


    There was a deep, hair-raising wound on Officer Tao''s jaw which was the result of dueling in the martial art of Jiu Yin Bai Gu Zhua (4) with some unknown hero.


    It was chaotic in Sub Bureau, the people who took part in the group fighting were consumed by their bloodlust. They didn''t want to stop even when they were all in public safety bureau. Several police officers had to repeat monotonous sentences such as "Squat down" or "don''t make trouble" in the verbal battle consisting of many mouths and tongues, which made their vocabry seem limited. Those police reinforcements which were temporarily transferred there from several local police stations were standing aside nkly, unsure of what they were supposed to do.


    Upon entering, Luo Wenzhou raised his hand and hit the door heavily, stupefying the two armies pitted against each other. Everyone was startled by this huge noise, and immediately turned their heads to look at him.


    Luo Wenzhou leaned against the door frame: "Who attacked the police?"


    Nobody responded.


    "Do you think thew does not punish offenders as long as there are a lot of you?" nodded Luo Wenzhou. "Fine, I''ll have to detain all of you then. Don''t forget to ask your family to bail you out. Those who don''t have family here can ask your managers toe. I heard that some of you have taken part in illegally upying street sides and running shops without a license? Just wait, in time, you will receive severe and heavy punishment. Punish them as we should, I will tell colleagues in police stations in the vicinity to pay special attention on people who have previous convictions like you."


    Before he could finish, a man in his 50''s shouted: "You said people who have previous convictions? What gives you the right to use us for attacking the police? Do you have any evidence? Detention without evidence? Let me tell you, I have a heart disease!"


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t raise his voice or eyelids: "Do you know what Site Enforcement Recorder is? You illiterate."


    Lang Qiao walked towards them at the right time. She handed over a printed document to Luo Wenzhou. He took it casually and scanned it, then gave the riot leading middle age man a meaningful look: "What a coincidence."


    After he said that, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed: "Weh, President Han, I am Wenzhou... No no no, just busy without ns- Is there a campus security guard called Yu Lei at your school?"


    The middle-aged troubler was puzzled at first, then his face swiftly turned pale. Now he really looked like someone who had heart disease.


    Luo Wenzhou raised his cell phone and smiled at him: "Please check. The ''Yu'' is the one that consists of two horizontal strokes and one hook stroke (5), and the ''Lei'' is the three stones one (6). Male. 53 years old. It is not a big deal. This uncle is senior but vigorous, he fought with people and got caught by our colleagues in the police station here. After he got caught, he imed to have a heart disease. What if that disease acts up here? If that news gets out, won''t it bring us trouble? We are not able to take that responsibility now. Aunt Han, I beg you, send someone here as soon as possible, and bail this porcin-shing (7) high risk man out."


    "I... I, I, I was protecting the safety of our neighbors!" Before Luo Wenzhou had hung up the call, that middle-aged man whose name was Yu Lei, had lost his nerve quite obviously. "What I did was self-defense."


    Luo Wenzhouughed: "You even know what ''self-defense'' is?"


    Yu Lei stretched out a hand to point to several young men that were clearly on the opposite side since they sat separately as River Jing was clearly different from River Wei (8): "What I did was purely self-defense. The murdererst night is among them! I heard everything!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Nobody expected that a public security farce would somehow evolve to seperate interrogation.


    All criminal police that were interviewing and investigating outside came back temporarily, for the urgent task of extracting the testimony of the witnesses.


    "ording to Yu Lei, that old hooligan, after he turned off the light and got into his bedst night, he heard the noises of people quarreling when he was half asleep. He heard two men, both with foreign ents talking. Because of the ent, he could not understand what they were talking about, but he felt that they were people he had met before." Lang Qiao stroked her hair and put them behind her head. "We verified that the home of this Yu Lei was very close to where the dead was foundless than 50 meters in linear distance. He lives in a bungalow. If he kept the windows on the back of his home open, he should be able to hear sounds from the scene."


    Luo Wenzhou: "What was the time?"


    "Not sure, but he said he went back to sleep at around nine, and he does not have insomnia. So, half asleep... should not beter than nine thirty, which agrees with the inferred death time. Besides, there were several others who lived close to him who said they heard the noises faintly. However, there are often some people who get drunk and fight in this area. They encounter so many strange noises, and are used to them already. So they didn''t take it as something serious, and would not mind other people''s businesses to go out to check."


    "Leader Luo." With a band-aid stuck to his jaw, Tao Ran stretched his head out into the room. "There is a person here,e and take a look."


    In the Interrogation Room, Xiao Haiyang was sitting opposite to a skinny boy. His pair of sses was glued with scotch tape.


    "This child is called Ma Xiaowei. He dered himself to be 18, but I think he''s underage. The group event that happened around noon today was because he stole five yuan." said Tao Rao. "He is the rental house roommate of the dead He Zhongyi, and it''s highly probable, that he is thest person who met the dead."


    Luo Wenzhou nodded, pushed open the door, and entered.


    Ma Xiaowei swiftly red at him. Perhaps Captain Luo had an overly strong personality aura; the boy''s face showed a bit of trepidation.


    Xiao Haiyang: "Nothing. Continue."


    Ma Xiaowei twisted both his hands, spoke with his voice as low as a mosquitoes'' "weng weng" noise: "He... He Zhongyi came from H Province, same as another roommate of ours. But they are not from the same vige. It is said that H Province is quiterge, and Zhongyi older bro came from somewhere more remote. He came herest year and he was a very nice person. He was very extroverted. He was quite diligent when we lived together, often did the cleaning... and did not have a feud with anybody."


    Xiao Haiyang asked a question again: "Do you know if he had any other rtives or friends locally?"


    Ma Xiaowei''s jaw dropped down a bit, then he appeared to recall something and shook his head swiftly: "No. Don''t know. Haven''t met any."


    Luo Wenzhou interjected: "From 8 o''clock to 11 o''clockst night, where were you?"


    Ma Xiaowei''s throat moved. He still did not dare to look at Luo Wenzhou. He said in a low voice: "...at, at home."


    "What were you doing at home?"


    "Nothing... Nothing special, just... watched TV."


    Luo Wenzhou: "By yourself?"


    It seemed that Ma Xiaowei finally realized his meaning. His facial expression suddenly changed.


    "Don''t worry boy." Luo Wenzhou pulled a chair out, sat down in front of Ma Xiaowei, and smiled with a pleasant demeanor. "This is the Felony Division, which is only in charge of criminal cases. Unaplished stealing of five yuan will not result in criminal penalty. Don''t be nervous."


    Ma Xiaowei was nearly not able to remain sitting.


    Luo Wenzhou''s words then turned: "But apparently for those who steal again and again, despite repeated admonition, even if the money involved does not reach a ''huge number'', it will still lead to criminal penalty. Are you not doing this for the first time?"


    Ma Xiaowei suddenly froze, his pale face nk.


    Luo Wenzhou knocked the desk lightly: "You were watching TV by yourself? How about those who live with you?"


    "Yesterday aftering back from work, He Zhongyi changed his clothes and left. Zhao elder bro... the man who came from the same province as Zhongyi returned to his hometown for a funeral. Some other workmates went out to y cards. Only, only me... but it was not, not me..."


    "Didn''t say it was you." Luo Wenzhou cut his incoherent justification. "Some local residents reported that they heard somebody quarreling in the vicinity of the crime scene. Based on the distance between where you live and the scene, you should have been able to hear that. Did you hear anything?"


    Ma Xiaowei heavily bit his own lips.


    "If you heard something just say you heard something, if you did not hear anything just say did not hear anything. Do you need such a long time to think about this question?"


    "Pro, probably did hear some noise, the volume of the TV was..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Approximately what time?"


    Ma Xiaowei blurted out: "A quarter past nine."


    As soon as his words were out, both Xiao Haiyang who was looking down to take notes, and Tao Ran, who was standing at the entrance listening, looked at him.


    Luo Wenzhou squinted his eyes: "You just said ''probably heard some noise'', didn''t you? Now, how do you remember the time so clearly?"


    Ma Xiaowei: "..."


    "Little Ma, you need to tell the truth," said Tao Ran in a low voice. "How did you know it was exactly quarter past nine? You heard something or were you somewhere close to the crime scene at that time? What do you know?"


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t give Ma Xiaowei time to respond and followed up immediately: "If you don''t get your words clear today, you will be suspected ofmitting the crime."


    "I believe that it was not you." Tao Ran and him yed the good cop and bad cop respectively, "If it was not you, you don''t need to be scared. Say whatever you know. This is a major case concerning a death. You know what is more important, don''t you?"


    Ma Xiaowei instinctively looked at him for help.


    Luo Wenzhou pounded the desk: "Who are you looking at? We''re asking you to exin!"


    "Not me... I heard, heard." Ma Xiaowei was about to cry. "A quarter past nine, somebody had a quarrel downstairs. And the voice was familiar, so I wanted to go downstairs and have a look..."


    "What did you see?"


    "Nothing." Ma Xiaowei widened his eyes. "I didn''t see anybody, not even a ghost, as if all I heard was just illusion, and the street, streetmp was broken. I... I..."


    Luo Wenzhou scoffed once: "Kid, are you telling us a ghost story?"


    Ma Xiaowei''s eyes turned red. He looked at Luo Wenzhou with eyes full of fear. One by one, blood streaks wrapped his eyeballs.


    They kept questioning him over and over. The interrogationsted until it was time for them to get off work at dusk. Ma Xiaowei was nearly questioned till he was ready to copse. The boy, however, didn''t confide anything useful after that. He kept repeating that badly plotted night ghost story.


    "I think he doesn''t like the murderer," Lang Qiao said aftering out from the Sub Bureau. "The mental quality of this kid is not that good. He said whatever he knew when he was frightened. If there was really something, he could not stand being questioned by us like this... But that ghost story is strange."


    Luo Wenzhou responsed with an "em".


    Tao Ran: "How?"


    "Not necessary," said Luo Wenzhou. "He probably told us part of the truth. He could have concealed something else. Let''s continue tomorrow. Where are you two going? Return to the Bureau first or..."


    He was cut off by a whistle before he finished talking.


    The three military inspectors looked up together and saw a two-meter high huge SUV parked at the street side. A man leaned against the car: "Officer Tao, you''ve had a long day. May I drive you home?"


    =======================================================


    (1) Huntun: a kind of food simr to dumplings


    (2) Shaobing<i>: </i>Chinese style baked cake


    (3) Three mouses or four eye: Means something trivial.


    (4) Jiu Yin Bai Gu Zhua: A kind of martial art in Jin Yong''s novel, the main way of attacking is scratching with long and sharp fingernail.


    (5) The ''Yu'' is the one that consists of two horizontal strokes and one hook stroke:


    (6) The ''Lei'' is the one that consists of three ''Shi'': ''Lei'' is  which consists of three '''' which means stone in Chinese.


    (7) porcin-shing: A kind of fraud. Someone brings a piece of porcin and hit someone else, then throw that piece onto the ground, make it break and im that it was the other guy who hit him first to ask for apensation. Here Luo Wenzhou use this metaphor to indicate that that middle-aged man was pretend to be sick to get benefit.


    (8) River Jing and River Wei: Two rivers crosses at Xi''an. River Jing is very clear while River Wei is muddy. So they are used as metaphor to indicate things that could be clearly distinguished or divided.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 5: Julien Four

    Chapter 5: Julien Four


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC: ISALEE</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: If the international society gave awards for being a yboy, Young Master Fei would have already received the Nobel Prize.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    That person was tall and slim. His ck shirt was paired with crisp suit pants. He put his hands in his pocket and crossed both of his legs in front of him rxingly. His long hair was draped over his shoulder. His eyes were like two bowls of smiles, doled out freely to anyone who gazed into them.


    In her entire life, Lang Qiao had never seen a man who deliberately flirted with people at the entrance of Public Security Bureau before: "Vice Captain Tao, your friend?"


    Tao Ran felt like he had a toothache.


    Lang Qiao was very sharp, she immediately sensed something wrong in the atmosphere and asked doubtfully: "Is something wrong?"


    Tao Ran was about to go over and talk to that man when Luo Wenzhou, who was silent until just now, suddenly stretched out one hand to grasp Tao Ran''s elbow. Raising his jaw towards that man, he said, "Fei Du, what are you doing here?"


    Fei Du curled his legs, and lifted his eyelids to nce at him: "Oh, sorry, I didn''t know this area ofnd had the family name Luo (1)."


    Luo Wenzhou squeezed his eyes shut, his expression nk. Fei Du looked at him. His expression was hard to tell if he was smiling or not. Lang Qiao, who had no knowledge about their rtionships, felt killing intent from both of them, like they had swords out and bows drawn, for seemingly no reason that she could discern.


    A short whileter, Fei Du smiled like he was asking for a beating, then moved his eyes away first. He looked at Tao Ran: "Tao Ran, get in. If we don''t leave immediately Captain Luo will give me a ticket."


    Before Tao Ran was able to respond, Luo Wenzhou cut him off coldly: "Have I dismissed you? The two of you return to Bureau with me now. We need to report the progress to Director Zhang as soon as possible and have a case discussion meeting."


    Lang Qiao: "..."


    You said "Let''s continue tomorrow" just now!


    Fei Du sighed drowsily: "Having a boss in menopause is one of the tragedies in the world. Well then, Tao Elder Bro and this pretty policewoman Elder Sister, let''s go in my car. I''ll drive you back to the Bureau. You have had a long day already, you need to sit in a wider car so you can stretch your legs."


    "Oh, our police car is not wide enough for you? President Fei, then you''d better not experience our prisoner transport vehicle. You''ll not even be able to stretch out your hands."


    "Thank you for your reminderTao Ran, I''ve reserved seats in a western restaurant near the Bureau. Even if you need to work overtime, you need to have dinner first."


    "We public servants don''t go out for dinner. The murderer has not been caught yet. How can we have the audacity to go out for dinner?"


    Lang Qiao still had not figured out whom she had offended.


    Tao Ran was not able to interrupt them, and finally his patience ran out: "Alright. God, you two just never stop!"


    Luo Wenzhou turned around and said to Lang Qiao with a sneer: "Follow up- Lang Big Eye, what are you looking at? If you want to look at little white face (2) then go home, don''t waste our time here!"


    "Ze, beauty, why don''t you consider ourpany?" Fei Du faced Lang Qiao and tilted his head like an "arrogant president" (3). "It is a huge waste for you be to a policewoman, I will pay you five times the sry you have now."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Tao Ran turned his head towards him and stared at him: "You too, please speak less."


    Fei Du nced at him, nodded extremely elegantly, and of course, ignited a fire at the same time: "Okay, for your sake only."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Tao Ran, why are you so slow!"


    Officer Tao could not afford to offend either of the two men, so he had no choice but roll his eyeballs towards the innocent night sky, and then he quickly caught up with Luo Wenzhou.


    After he walked away for a few steps, he turned his head back subconsciously. As expected, he saw Fei Du standing there without moving, watching him leave. Seeing him turn around, Fei Du suddenly smiled as if he had expected this scene to ur. He stretched out two fingers, put them on his lips, and blew Tao Ran a kiss.


    Tao Ran: "..."


    If the international society gave awards for being a yboy, Young Master Fei would have already received the Nobel Prize.


    Luo Wenzhou drove the police car as if he was driving Chang''e 3 (4). The car kept flying close to the ground, like pigs and dogs running, until they arrived at the Bureau. That cumbersome big SUV, however, always managed to hang on their backs easily.


    Lang Qiao held her words for a long time, eventually she couldn''t help but ask: "Who is that little fresh (5)? He is really good at driving."


    Tao Ran turned his head and a veiled warning in his eyes, his expression telling her not to mention this unwee topic, but it was toote.


    Luo Wenzhou saw Fei Du park his car at the entrance of the Bureau in the rear view mirror and called the Traffic Police group directly: "Someone is parking illegally at our entrance. Quickly go give him ticket. That guy has lots of money, you can charge him more money."


    A whileter, a young traffic police called him back timidly: "Captain Luo, I gave him a ticket and I told him ''200 yuan fine for illegal parking''."


    Luo Wenzhou: "What happened then?"


    The young traffic police said: "Oh, he gave me 1000 yuan and said he would park for 800 yuan more."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Lang Qiao nced at him cautiously: "Leader, are we still going to have a meeting?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Of course!"


    Nevertheless, it was impossible for Luo Wenzhou to stop Tao Ran from leaving forever. The result of their one day of work was very clear, and indeed there was no need for so many extra working hours.


    Fei Du folded a small ship with the tickets. With the air conditioner operating, he leaned against the back of the driver''s seatfortably. Putting an English song on repeat, he breathed in the scent of the vehicle-mounted fragrance. When the song was ying for the 8th time, Tao Ran came out from the Bureau.


    Tao Ran was one of those kind of men who didn''t care much about his appearance. He carried a crossbody briefcase, his hair was in chaos, and it was hard to tell how long it had been since hest polished his leather shoes. There was a band-aid on his jaw and he look exhausted from the day''s activities. This was really not an image of a Helen of Troy. He walked towards Fei Du''s car and knocked on the window: "You still haven''t moved?"


    Fei Du rolled down his window. The sound of the song "<i>You Raise Me Up"</i> broke out from the gap of the window, flew into the darkness, and dispersed mellifluously.


    Tao Ran''s face changed somewhat when heard this song. However, before he could say anything, Fei Du turned off the sound as if he hadn''t noticed anything.


    "A video of you trying to stop a fight was uploaded online, I saw it coincidently," Fei Du got off the car, stretched out his hand and pointed to the band-aid on Tao Ran''s jaw, "I was worried about you. Are you okay?"


    Tao Ran forced a smile- it was less tiring for his heart to deal with a group of ten people fighting than to deal with Luo Wenzhou and Fei Du.


    "All right, I will avoid that menopause next time, is that okay?" Fei Du took over his bag. "Would you like to drive or to ride?"


    "Excuse me, but that ''menopause'' graduated the same year as me." Tao Ran pulled the door and entered the driver''s seat. "Why did you change cars again?"


    "You didn''t like the cars I had because they were too loud, didn''t you?" Fei Du walked around the car to the front passenger seat after theck of attention. "I brought a new one. This one is cheap and dignified and will be dedicated to picking you up."


    Tao Ran''s hands, which were fastening his seat belt, stopped moving. Then he looked at Fei Du and said solemnly: "If I had a higher sry or less working hours, I would have already gotten married. I might even have had a kid old enough to walk."


    "I know." Fei Du put his elbow on the car window and turned his head to smile at him. "Look at those starstruck kids, they keep wasting money and time all day. They don''t have any particr goals, they just want to be happy. Being good to you is also the best enjoyment in a day for me. You have loved me dearly for so many years already. Just take it as bearing with me."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    "Seeing you makes me full already." Tao Ran freed one of his hands, and pressed Fei Du''s head down. "Who''re you calling ''Tao Ran''? Show some respect to our elder."


    "I..." a sentence filled with love was already in Fei Du''s mouth, but suddenly the tone of the words changed. "What the hell is this!"


    The papers fell out since Officier Tao Ran was frugal with his money; his bag was very old; it looked like it was made in the Qing Dynasty. It was truly in a state of disrepair. The closed zipper often splitted off on its own ord. Fei Du didn''t pay much attention to it and he couldn''t even distinguish the head or tail of that broken bag. So, when the opening of the bag idently faced the earth, a folder leaked out from inside and several photos dropped pell-mell onto his legs. The face of the corpse looked exceptionally hideous in the dim light.


    Fei Du let out a gasp. If he was not restrained by his seatbelt, he might have jumped straight up. "Is this the picture of the dead man? Why does he look so terrible?"


    "Those are important documents. Don''t mess around with them. Quickly put them back for me."


    Fei Du stiffened his neck, resolute to not look at the dead man in the eyes again: "No, No. I have blood phobia."


    "There is no blood." Tao Ran sighed, his heart tired. "You are not even afraid of Luo Wenzhou, who can even depress ghosts. Why are you afraid of a dead man?"


    Fei Du fumbled around for the photos and material, which were all over the ce, and tucked them into the folder. Covering his eyes with one hand, he nced at the photo cautiously and really didn''t see any blood. Then, he finally felt slightly relieved. He pinched the scattered material like he was removing mines and put them back where they belonged.


    This arduous task made Fei Du quiet for five minutes. After a while, he suddenly asked: "Is it homicide?"


    Tao Ran responded: "Em. But it is still under investigation, so I am not supposed to leak the details of the case."


    Fei Du responded with an "Oh", and stopped asking as expected. He put the folder back, closed it again, lowered his head to check the broken zipper with the gleam, and said casually: "Pitiful."


    Tao Ran: "Em?"


    "Visiting someone with a longing heart, but the other person unexpectedly prefered him dead." Fei Du examined the zipper for a while, then started to y with it.


    Tao Ran was puzzled: "How do you know that?"


    "Em." said Fei Du, "You have taken a picture of the dead person''s coat haven''t you? It still has the price tag on it."


    "We investigated that coat. It was bought in a shop near there. Both the shopkeeper and the monitoring system proved that it was the dead himself who bought the coat."


    "I am not saying it was the murderer who put it on the corpse. Do people need to give a coat to the dead after killing them?" Fei Duughed. "He wore a coat without cutting off its tags, probably because the coat wasparatively more pricey than what he could afford, but he needed to wear it on some asions. Therefore he nned to wear it once and before returning it. This is what some poor students who have just started to go for interviews do- Is he left-handed?"


    Tao Ran didn''t respond immediately. Since he had been to He Zhongyi''s rental room once, he quickly reviewed the positions of everything and said: "No."


    Fei Du shuddered: "His left shoe has significantly more signs of wear and tear- There are people whose dominant hand and dominant foot are not at the same side. However, I think it is more probable that the pair of shoes he wore was borrowed."


    Nevertheless, ording to the testimony of that campus security guard, the person He Zhongyi met before his death was probably a male acquaintance, most likely from the same county, or a rtive- otherwise they would not speak the same dialect.


    They arrived at their destination right at that moment. Tao Ran parked the car: "You mean... the dead deliberately dressed up before his death, so it is highly probable that he met a woman?"


    "Not sure. Although he gave some thought to borrow the coat and the shoes, but his attire was rather reserved and formal. I think he looked like he was going for an interview, or meeting someone he revered. If he was really meeting a girl, it''s probable that this was the first time they were meeting." Fei Du opened and closed the zipper of the old briefcase. He then dragged it slightly, and as expected, it didn''t open. He passed the briefcase to Tao Ran. "The zipper head was loose. Re-tightened it for you- If I wasing out to meet you, for example, I would not wear a three-piece suit. I would merely wear a bit of perfume."


    Fei Du''s pupils were not pure ck. The color was lighter, it made his pupils seem brighter in the dark. When he looked at somebody, his eyes always looked like they had something to say, making people lose themselves in his eyes.


    Unfortunately, Vice Captain Tao was somewhat blind.


    He just thought about Fei Du''s words, concentrated for a while, and then asked as if he was onto something: "Then, what purpose do you think the murderer could have for attaching a slip of paper on a person''s forehead after killing him?"


    Fei Du moved his eyes away uninterestedly: "Oh, probably to prevent him from turning into a jiangshi (6)."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    "It could also be the murderer regretted killing him, and subconsciously took the action that shows esteem and sadness to the dead."


    Tao Ran thought for a while, and continued to ask: "If that was not covering the whole face? Like that was only a paper strip attached to the hair of the dead, which only covered the area around his forehead and eyes."


    "Forehead? Elders disciplining children, powerful people bullying weak people, punishing pets... people hit forehead when doing all this- And the paper could also probably stand for abel, something shops use for selling things. What was written on the paper strip?"


    "Money."


    Fei Du lifted his eyebrows. They were long enough to nearly incline into his temples, which gave him a cool, handsome look.


    "Have you found any clues?"


    "No, one character is too few. Over-interpretation will easily mislead people." Fei Du smiled. "Tao Ran, you are home."


    Tao Ran came back to himself and finally realized he had discussed too much with Fei Du. He pushed open the door of the car, but as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something and turned his head back and asked: "Did you have dinner? Go up and wait for a while, let me make you a bowl of huntun."


    Fei Du was taken aback obviously, his eyes slid over for an instant: "You''re inviting me inside your home? Aren''t you afraid your pace is too quick?"


    Although he purposely said something ambiguous, he stayed in the car without moving.


    "If you don''t want toe just say you don''t want toe. Anyway you are not short of this mouthful of huntun." Tao Ran held the door of the car, slightly bent towards Fei Du. "Stretch out your hand."


    Fei Du stretched out a hand in doubt. Tao Ran pulled out a handful of things and tucked them in his palm: "When you want to immerse in the sea, your best choice is to dress up and go swimming yourself, not holding a life buoy firmly and soaking your feet- You don''t really want to make me gay. Don''t be mischievous any more. Your bro is home. Drive more slowly when you go back."


    Fei Du silently watched him walk into the somewhat old tube-shaped apartment, then lowered his head to look at what he got from Tao Ran. That was the card he put among the flowers he had given to Tao Ran in the morning. The smell of perfume was not yet totally dispersed, and there was also a handful of toffee.


    The toffee was from a very old brand, which he had not seen in the market for several years already. Fei Du thought that manufacturer had gone bankrupt. He had no idea from where Tao Ran had found them...


    They were probably just expired sugar packets. There was no manufacture date on the wrapper.


    Fei Du opened one and ate it-it was old, cheap, tasted rough and sticky, however it was good that it was sweet enough.


    He turned on the audio, put the song that Tao Ran frowned at when heard it on repeat, and sat there quietly for a while.


    Only after he finished the handful of sugar did he stand up and move to the driver''s seat. Right when he moved, he found one more photo in the car.


    That was a very small ID photo, which had dropped into the gap between the seats; therefore he didn''t see it when he packed up.


    Fei Du turned on the reading light and picked up the ID photo of the dead.


    The man in the photo looked quite different from the hideous corpse in the other photo he saw just now. This time, he clearly saw the dead''s appearance.


    Fei Du stared at the scar in the shape of crescent moon at the corner of the young man''s forehead and slowly frowned.


    =======================================================


    (1) This area of ofnd has a family name Luo: This area is owned by someone whose family name is Luo.


    (2) Little white face: Derogatory term. Generally mean a man who is financially depend on his lover or spouse. Here, instead, it means a man who is very pretty in appearance so that he is a bit feminine.


    (3) Arrogant president: A kind of popr protagonist in certain modern romance novel. They are generally tall, rich and arrogant.


    (4) Chang''e 3: A lunar rover


    (5) Little Fresh: ng. Young boy.


    (6) jiangshi: A type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 6: Julien Five

    Chapter 6: Julien Five


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Puissansa, QC: Lady Blue</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "Fei Du? I told you before, it''s better not to involve him in this kind of stuff."</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Early the next morning, Luo Wenzhou first returned to the Bureau, spoke to Director Zhang for a bit, then headed towards Huashi District Sub Bureau with Tao Ran. Lang Qiao, who arrived earlier, came out to wee them as soon as they parked their car.


    Lang Qiao passed them two cups of coffee and said in a low voice: "Why are you sote? They arrested Ma Xiaowei and used him ofmitting murder. He was stuffed into the police car early this morning and was driven here directly. Cars of online press followed them all the way here, and were scattered just now."


    Tao Ran was immediately anxious: "What?"


    Luo Wenzhou stretched out a hand and pressed his shoulder: "Did they follow the right procedures?"


    Lang Qiao sighed, and said with a voice that was nearly too soft to be heard: "Captain Luo, Wang Hongliang, that old thing, was monitoring. They will not have made this kind of mistake."


    Luo Wenzhou asked in a low tone: "What is their evidence?"


    "It''s a cellphone," said Lang Qiao swiftly. "This is extremely fishy. The cell phone of the deceased, He Zhongyi, was with his roommate Ma Xiaowei. The official story is that the police who were in charge of this case in the Sub Bureau received a reportst night saying Ma Xiaowei was seen holding a new cell phone, which seems very simr to the one He Zhongyi lost. The Sub Bureau then summoned him for interrogation immediately, and not only found the cell phone, but also found fingerprints of both Ma Xiaowei and the deceased on it."


    Luo Wenzhou frowned.


    Tao Ran continued to ask as if he was nning to pursue the root of the issue: "Who reported it? How did the person who reported this figure out that the cell phone Ma Xiaowei carried was He Zhongyi''s?"


    "It was said that that cellphone is a new model, and the brand is quite expensive. Not many people in this area use it. It seems like this one was given to He Zhongyi by some rtive. Everybody here saw it when he just brought it back, so they have a very deep impression of it."


    "Who reported it, or why he reported it, is not important. Even if Wang Hongliang and his fellows broke into the room and searched it out by force, they can still make up a non-existent case reporter." Luo Wenzhou waved his hand. "The crux of the matter is that cellphone. Ma Xiaowei being in possession of the victim''s cell phone doesn''t mean that Ma Xiaowei is the murderer. Using this as evidence is not watertight. Did Ma Xiaowei say anything else that he should not have said? Did anybody extort a confession by torture?"


    "You''ve guessed it," Lang Qiao nced around like a thief After verifying that there was nobody around, she said: "I think they didn''t torture him, but that kid lied about his age in order to start working earlier. I asked somebody to investigate himst night. His ID card has been modified. He just reached 16 recently. I think he confessed when he got frightened. They asked him how he came to possess the cellphone; he hesitated for a while and then said that he picked it up."


    "And he picked it up at the crime scene," Luo Wenzhou shook his head. "Then they asked him when did he pick it up? Did he say that he picked it up sometime around quarter past nine, after he heard noises and went downstairs to have a look?"


    Lang Qiao threw up her hands.


    In the situation where other witnesses have already given coteral evidence of the time and ce, he said that he picked up a cellphone at the crime scene at the time.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Who is the murderer?


    I didn''t see him.


    Luo Wenzhou was speechless. He forcefully rubbed his chin: "It has been years since thest time I saw such an honest ''murderer''."


    Before Lang Qiao managed to respond, she saw Wang Hongliang striding towards them triumphantly: "Yesterday, I held an area security meeting, so I was absent for just a short while. You know what? As soon as I got back, they told me that the suspect was caught already! The little leaders from the Bureau are really devoted to their work! Look at the efficiency!"


    Luo Wenzhou''s darkened face warmed up forcibly. He responded with a perfect smile: "Big Bro Wang is pretending to be courteous, you are probably secretly scolding us for robbing all the credit."


    Wang Hongliang smiled so widely that his eyes were invisible while he exposed his teeth. His two front teeth towered out of his lips: "All of us are serving the People, there''s no credit to talk about."


    However, just before he could im credit for himself, Lang Qiao chipped in out of the blue: "Director Wang, the chain of evidence is notplete, is it? The murder weapon is missing and Ma Xiaowei has not admitted that it was him. There are still a lot of points for suspicion. Do you need our help for the following work?"


    Lang Qiao was a genuine "big eyemp". Zeng Guangling, an expert of the Bureau Legal Medical Department, had appraised this in person. He imed that her eyes were even bigger than the eyes of "Xiaoyanzi" (1) in the TV drama. Normally, in order to prevent wrinkles around her eyes, Lang Qiao was reluctant to smile. However, under special circumstances when a smile is necessary, she would keep the corner of her eyes rigid and only move her mouth. Over time, she had developed the art of the skin-deep smile. Although she was an idiot in nature, she somehow still looked extremely noble and cold.


    She could easily fill certain evil roles, such as the interrogator of criminals or the bad cop, without acting overmuch.


    Lang Qiao was saying "help", but her voice sounded more like she was cursing him. At the same time, her somewhat terrifying eyes focused on Wang Hongliang and stared until Director Wang, who is "serving the People" retreated his front teeth back into his mouth, like the head and legs of a turtle returning to its shell.


    Wang Hongliang changed his facial expression: "What does that mean, Little Lang?"


    "Ai, Little Qiao, how could you say things like that?" Luo Wenzhou stretched out his hand and restricted her, cing her behind him, and scolded her with a sentence that sounded neither heavy nor light. Then he looked down onto Wang Hongliang from his higher vantage point where he stood taller than him, and passed him a falsehearted smile. "Director Wang, we have not been able to help in the work previously. If in any case, you would use us for any following work, please feel free to ask us."


    Wang Hongliang had misgivings about him and didn''t dare to offend him openly. Instead, he pretended not to understand those agreeable words, and responded with a simple "hm", turned around and left.


    Lang Qiao nced at Wang Hongliang''s back with her hands on her hips, "I''ve heard that letters reportingints against that old thing has already umted enough to fill up a shoe box. How can he still be that arrogant."


    Luo Wenzhou held a cigarette in his mouth and nced at her: "What if we are not able to drag him down this time? Are you not afraid that he will climb up to be your boss in the future and make your life difficult?"


    "Ha!" Lang Qiao rolled her eyes. "In the worst case scenario, I will just quit and sell my beauty for a living after that."


    "You are ady, don''t be so shameless." The almost imperceptible smile on Luo Wenzhou''s face appeared and disappeared swiftly. He then said: "That Ma Xiaowei is either the murderer or dimwitted. I personally tend to believe thetter because if it was me who killed somebody, I would definitely think up stories that make sense after it. Even if he''d said that he "stayed at home watching TV and didn''t hear anything", that would be better than telling a ridiculous story to the police. Up until now, not a tiny trace of the murderer was found out at the scene. This person is bold, careful, cool-headed, cruel and has a very obvious sense of anti-reconnaissance. I don''t believe that he can be so stupid."


    "I also don''t think so." Tao Ran then summarized and rted to them what Fei Du had saidst night in the car. "Based on all these, I think we should start our investigation from He Zhongyi''s private rtionships. For instance, we can start from finding out who gave that cellphone to him. And I think we perhaps could ask about the man who lent him the shoes."


    Listening to what he said, Luo Wenzhou responded with an "em" and said hesitantly: "You say his shoes were borrowed? This opinion is very..."


    Tao Ran said, "This is not my opinion."


    Luo Wenzhou was puzzled at first, then, as if his thoughts were connected to Tao Ran, he instantly identified the source of those words. His brows frowned swiftly: "Fei Du? I told you before, it''s better not to involve him in this kind of stuff."


    "I know. It was an ident yesterday," Tao Ran cut this topic short, switched the topic and asked: "What do you think of this train of thought?"


    "Possible. Let''s try investigating starting from those shoes," Luo Wenzhou had the final say. "Tao Ran, continue to investigate this case. Lang Qiao, keep your eyes on the special group examining Ma Xiaowei. There are still a number of doubtful points about Ma Xiaowei; see what else he knows. Also, beware of little tricks from Wang Hongliang''s subordinates. I will repress Fatty Wang for you. When necessary, at any time, contact each other by phone. Now let''s go,dies and gentlemen. Today we will work extra hours, without the extra pay."


    Lang Qiao had piled up her curiosity to the height of a mountain in her heart. As soon as Luo Wenzhou left, she ran quickly to catch up with Tao Ran: "Vice Captain Tao, who on earth was that handsome boy yesterday? Why did Big Boss Luo say not to get him involved?"


    Tao Ran: "Of course it isn''t appropriate for him toe into contact with the case, he''s not even a policeman."


    Lang Qiao didn''t stop there: "Then why did big boss immediately agree with you when he heard that it was his opinion? Is that boy Conan (2)?"


    Tao Ran sighed and turned back to look at her. Lang Qiao forcibly opened her already-very-obvious eyes wider. Those shing eyes focusedpletely on him.


    Tao Ran: "Your stare has produced wrinkles."


    Lang Qiao hurriedly stretched out her fingers to support the corners of her eyes and her forehead.


    Tao Ran stayed silent for a while, then said briefly: "Fei Du is the... person who reported a case that Wenzhou and I solved together. It was seven years ago."


    Both Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran were one of those newly graduated youngsters who didn''t have hair around their mouths and who couldn''t do their jobs properly.


    These characteristics were especially obvious in Luo Wenzhou. He was the son of a cadre, therefore very arrogant and willful when he was young. He refused toply or obey others, since he thought himself full of talent and the cleverest person in the world--the second cleverest was that English guy Holmes.


    He was always under the illusion that he was not going out to work, but to save the gxy, therefore he couldn''t do his job with propermon sense. During the first days of his internship in the base units, if someone had randomly asked him to mediate a conflict among themunity, he would definitely turn the conflict into a fight.


    At nightfall of that day, the police in various units united to catch a gang of wandering robbers. People in the Bureau and the Sub Bureaus of all districts went out on the raid. Only Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran--the two young men who "did not have sufficient sesses but more than enough failures"--were on duty.


    "A guy who answered the emergency number 110 (3) called in and told us that a child in the area under our jurisdiction reported a case. The boy went back home after school in the weekend, and found the body of his mother at home. That child was Fei Du, a middle school student."


    Lang Qiao''s mind was empty for a while.


    "We then found out that his mothermitted suicide. Wenzhou told him personally, but he didn''t believe him... they haven''t liked each other ever since then." During the course of the conversation, Tao Ran reached the entrance of the Sub Bureau. "You should have already figured out that Fei Du''s family is rtively rich. His father is a workaholic who was always away on business trips. Even when that event happened in the family, he did note back for days. Fei Du was a bit isted as a child. His father had hired and switched out several housemaids to take care of him, but he couldn''t get along with them, so he stayed alone in that house where a death had urred. This was the first official case that we took care of, so it had special meaning to us. We both constantly think about it. That kid was so pitiful, there wasn''t anyone there to take care of him, so I brought him to my home for a few days and during festivals sometimes. In that period of time, we got in touch with him frequently. As time passed, we found that this kid had a very special talent."


    Lang Qiao: "For?"


    After a while, Tao Ran answered lightly: "Crime."


    Lang Qiao immediately noticed that he used the word "crime", instead of words like "reasoning" or "investigation". However, before she could ask further questions, Tao Ran had stopped talking. He waved at her and walked away with hurried steps.


    =======================================================


    (1) Xiaoyanzi: The protagonist of both the novel and TV drama series <i>My Fair Princess</i>. Her actor Zhao Wei has a pair of big eyes.


    (2) Conan: The protagonist of manga and anime series <i>Case Closed</i>. He is a very smart young detective.


    (3) 110: The police emergency number of China.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 7: Julien Six

    Chapter 7: Julien Six


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi95, QC: Lady Blue</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "The night before yesterday, were you in Cheng Guang Mansion?"</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "Vi-Vi-Vice Captain Tao!"


    As soon as Tao Ran looked back, he saw that little sses, Xiao Haiyang, who was surprisingly good at "Guankou" (1) running towards him.


    Xiao Haiyang''s sses were broken yesterday, however, he did not manage to find time to get a new pair. As a result, the sses were crooked and fell under his cheekbones. He breathlessly stopped in front of Tao Ran and inhaled acutely with an abnormally severe expression. Even Tao Ran felt his chest tighten a bit when looking at him.


    Xiao Haiyang''s face was stretched as if he just had a face-lift. He wiped the sweat from his palm onto his pants and corrected the position of the sses that were lingering about.


    Then, he deliberately cleared his throat, pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and opened the memo: "Vice Captain Tao, I want to report a situation to you."


    Tao Ran waited amiably until Xiao Haiyang''s breath evened out: "Don''t hurry, tell me slowly."


    "When we visited the Western District yesterday, I found that the poption there consisted of different groups, and was quite transitory and seasonal in their lifestyle. It is not umon for tenants to change jobs or move out. In fact,pared to normal rented shared ts, that ce is more simr to a small or medium-sized hostel with poor conditions, so generally speaking the people there are not very close to each other, except for those who are from the same province and take care of each other. Yesterday, our colleagues were busy for the whole day but didn''t find much useful information."


    Tao Ran nodded slightly to encourage him: "Mm."


    "But among the people who lived with He Zhongyi, one came from the same province as him. This man, called..." Xiao Haiyang checked his memo, "...called Zhao Yulong, had a good rtionship with the deceased. It was said that He Zhongyi got his delivery job by his reference. Mao Xiaowei said he went back home for some affairs these two days."


    Tao Ran slightly lifted his eyebrows in surprise; he was about to contact this man.


    Xiao Haiyang: "Last night I found the person in charge of the distribution point of that chain coffee shop, and got the contact number of this Zhao Yulong. After Zhao Yulong heard what I said, he agreed to take thest busst night to return to Yancheng emergently. I scheduled a meeting with him today."


    Tao Ran looked at him thoughtfully: "I thought the investigation focus of the Sub Bureau is now Ma Xiaowei."


    Xiao Haiyang tightened his face, subconsciously pulling the lower hem of his shirt: "I... I have a feeling that there is something wrong about the mysterious figure who gave a phone to the deceased. There are still too many doubtful points to conclude that Ma Xiaowei is the murderer now... I have also informed our captain of this situation... he said that I should not always be self-righteous and ask for more trouble."


    When Tao Ran heard this, his face darkened and his gentle smile disappeared: "What''s the time of your appointment?"


    "Oh," Xiao Haiyang looked at his watch. "If the coach is not dyed, it should be just an hour from now."


    Tao Ran made his decision quickly: "I will meet him with you, let''s go!"


    When the criminal policemen of base units were walking down the street under the sun, Mr. Fei was leaning against the soft leather of the swivel chair in his office.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    One of his fingers gently supported his forehead. Theptop on the desk next to him showed He Zhongyi''s brief and insignificant life on its screen. Fei Du singled out someone in his contacts list and made a call.


    "Hi, Bro Chang, it''s me." Listening to what the person on the other end of the phone was saying, Fei Du smiled and continued, "Well, I''m sorry to trouble you but I indeed do need your help on something."


    In less than half an hour, Fei Du smoothly got what he wanted--all nearby surveince camera records of Cheng Guang Mansion''s opening night.


    It was the time for lunch break; Fei Du heated a jar of hot milk using the microwave in the pantry, praised Miss Secretary''s figure casually, asked her to eat well and stop losing weight, and then locked the door of his office, put on headphones, put the song he looped in his car on repeat, and pulled out a single A4 size paper.


    He sketched a simple topographic map on that piece of paper with some abstract painting skills that only he himself could decipher, then kept the pen rotating in his hand, thought for a while, circled a few ces on it and wrote "20: 00-21: 30". Then, he stopped moving the nib for a moment, then changed "20:00" to "20:30".


    Fei Du picked a few from that whole bunch of surveince records and split the screen to show them all together, selecting the time period between half-past eight to half-past nine and watching in fast forward mode.


    On the screen, several groups of records forwarded rapidly at the same time. He rested on the back of the chairzily. The spirit of his whole body seemed to be concentrated in his eyes which were staring at the screen with no movement.


    In the same instance, Luo Wenzhou, while sandwiching a briefcase between his body and his hand and wearing his attention-seeking sunsses, strolled around a traffic hub in the Huashi District, waving at the pass-by taxis from time to time. However, all taxis passed by were not avable. Seeing this situation, the special local product of Huashi District--a bunch of illegitimate taxi drivers parked on the roadside made invitations to him.


    "Hey handsome, want a ride?"


    "Hey handsome, where are you going?"


    "It''s cheap and faster than taxis!"


    Luo Wenzhou reviewed the illegitimate taxi army, picked and chose, then finally stopped in front of a young man with short hair.


    The young man was very clever. He immediately drew the door open for him: "Get on please, where are you going?"


    Luo Wenzhou did not say anything, turned his body and sat in the car.


    The young man with short hair turned on the air conditioner for him and drove the car smoothly out of the car queue: "Handsome, you haven''t told me where you want to go."


    "You can just go straight ahead." Luo Wenzhou took his sunsses off. His sharp eyes looked into the driver''s eyes through the rearview mirror. The driver suddenly was taken aback for a moment and felt inexplicably uneasy.


    "I have an anonymous report here." After they drove away, Luo Wenzhou calmly opened the briefcase, took out a copy of some document and readily flipped open a few pages. The driver''s facial expression changed immediately. Their car almost hit a car next to them and as a result, received a long whistle. Luo Wenzhou kept his facial expression steady. "I''m not from your Sub Bureau. Don''t panic, keep going straight ahead. I have a few questions for you."


    Tao Ran and Xiao Haiyang met Zhao Yulong, He Zhongyi''s fellow from same the province sessfully, and the three of them went to a noodle restaurant together.


    Zhao Yulong, who was middle-aged, had worked hard in Yancheng for many years. Although he was still not able to find his ce in the city, he still had it much better than the youths who kept running into walls.


    His face wore the tried look produced by a dozen hours of the long-distance bus trip. He blinked a few times, his wide-brimmed eye bags crumbling: "I really did not expect this would happen to him--Sir, may I smoke?"


    In such a small noodle restaurant, nobody enforced the ban on smoking. There were men smoking everywhere. Zhao Yunlong forced two mouthfuls and rubbed his face: "Zhongyi was a good child. There are a lot of people who go to the billiard room or chess room whenever they are free, but he never did. He worked hard to save money, said that the money would be sent home to his mother for her to visit doctors. He didn''t steal, didn''t rob and didn''t gamble, much less make troubles. Why is it him who''s gone!? What do you two want to know? As long as I have the information, I will not hide anything."


    Tao Ran observed Zhao Yulong and found that he used his right hand to hold chopsticks, but left hand to hold cigarettes. Besides, his tea handles pointed to his left--in the olden times, parents were afraid that children would "fight" when eating at the table, so they would forcibly "correct" left-handedness. This kind of situation was quitemon.


    Tao Ran pulled a photo out of his wallet. The photo was of the pair of shoes on the deceased''s feet: "May I ask if it was you who lent this pair of shoes to He Zhongyi?"


    Zhao Yulong looked down and the frame of his eyes almost turned red. He nodded as if his spirit was not in his body: "They are mine. He... was he gone wearing this pair of shoes?"


    "Yes. These shoes are very crucial," said Tao Ran. "Do you know why he borrowed these shoes?"


    Zhao Yulong was a bit dazed and thought for a while: "He said he wanted to meet somebody in a high-ss ce, called... Something Guang... Cheng Guang Building or Vi?"


    Xiao Haiyang suddenly sat straight: "Cheng Guang Mansion!"


    "Yes yes." Said Zhao Yulong. "It''s that ce."


    "Who was he going to meet? Why he meeting him?"


    Zhao Yulong shook his head: "He didn''t tell me. I asked him, but that child had very firm ideas and kept his mouth shut."


    Xiao Haiyang asked hurriedly: "Mr. Zhao, He Zhongyi had a new cell phone, hadn''t he?"


    "Ah, there was one," said Zhao Yulong. "You are talking about that white one, aren''t you? He usually wasn''t willing to use it, so he was still using the old one. He just looked at the new phone sometimes, but had already put severalyers of screen protector on it."


    Xiao Haiyang: "Then, do you know who gave him the phone?"


    Zhao Yulong slowly frowned.


    Tao Ran asked: "Why?"


    "In the beginning, he said it was given by a fellow from the same province. At that time, I already felt very strange because I had never heard him mention he had any local acquaintances. I was afraid of himcking alertness and encountering some bad people. Buying those expensive things for you for no reason is just like offering courtesy for nothing, isn''t it?" Zhao Yulong flicked off the tobo ashes. "I kept asking him so he finally told me that one day when he was delivering, he had a small conflict with someone. That person beat him up a few times, but he didn''t fight back. Then he didn''t know if it was because the other side felt regret or some other reasons, that phone was given to him as an apology."


    Tao Ran and Xiao Haiyang looked into each other''s eyes - They never heard about this when they visited that area before.


    Had a conflict with other people, then the other party apologized; why were such things worth concealing?


    If it was the truth, then why didn''t He Zhongyi tell the truth, but im that it was given by an acquaintance?


    He Zhongyi lived together with so many people but no one found out that he was beaten, which indicated that the physical conflict was not serious. Then why did the other party "apologize" and give him valuables?


    Suddenly, this case, seemingly with just the investigation of the private rtions of the deceased, made it impossible to identify the murderer.


    Zhao Yulong did not know where exactly the mysterious mobile phone came from, but he provided the approximate time when the conflict had urred. Tao Ran and Xiao Haiyang had to follow this lead and searched the distributionpany where He Zhongyi was working for to find more other clues.


    Afternoon, the previously sunny weather suddenly changed its face without any signs. The arrogant sun was surrounded in all directions by the dark clouds that came from nowhere. The wind carried suppressed moisture. It could be seen that there would soon be an abrupt shower.


    Luo Wenzhou got off the car near a metro station but did not leave. As he reached out to the door, he nced around. A van which originally stopped along the road suddenly moved when his line of sight passed through it. It was driven slowly away as if the driver had a guilty conscience.


    Luo Wenzhou bent over slightly and drew his mouth close to the driver''s ear across the half-open window: "Someone is watching you. Be careful. If there is any abnormal event, contact me at any time."


    Although the illegitimate taxi driver was enjoying the air conditioning, his head was still covered in sweats. He nodded quickly.


    Luo Wenzhou took a deep look at him and turned away to go to the metro station. Right after he went through the security check, his cell phone rang.


    "Tao Ran, what happened?" He said as he swiped into the station, then suddenly he stopped moving. "What? Repeat that name again."


    The windows in Fei Du''s office which were not locked properly made a "pa" sound, and were closed by the wind. A few sheets of paper fell to the ground; right at this moment, his hand which was holding the mouse suddenly moved.


    Fei Du froze one of the surveince camera records, erged it and dragged it back, and found that the time was at about 8:50 pm.


    It was a very peripheral camera, which was positioned almost out of the scope of Cheng Guang Mansion. It was monitoring a stone path.


    Since the area was located in the proximity of a river, there were still abundant mosquitoes even in early summer. There were very few people passing by after it got dark. Even if there were some asionally walking by, they were all in hurry--there was a shadow, nevertheless, that lingered and hesitated under the streemp for a long time.


    In the camera, he could only see that the person was wearing a rough and uncoordinated suit. The figure was not tall and a bit thin. He stood there and continuously smoked several cigarettes.


    He held a kraft paper bag tightly in his hand, looked up towards one direction and waited for a moment from time to time. After a while, he seemed to answer a phone call, said a few words to the person on the line, and then hurried out of the camera''s view.


    Fei Du watched this part of the video over and over again for several times, but he was still unsure whether that was the deceased, who he had met only once. He grabbed the car key, closed hisputer and went out.


    40 minutester, Fei Du came to the coremercial area of Huashi District.


    He looked up at the sky that was getting more and more gloomy, grabbed an umbre from the car trunk, and walked towards thendscape area around Cheng Guang Mansion.


    Fei Du had an excellent sense of direction, he almost made no detours before he found the location of that surveince camera.


    The water vapor in the air was so concentrated that it was about to drop. He carefully observed the location of the surveince camera, searched his memories for the direction in which the person in the camera has been looking towards, and turned around. At the end of his line of sight, he could see the shadowy Cheng Guang Mansion.


    Fei Du''s gaze fell on the trash bin beside him--on the stone for killing cigarettes, there were some lonely cigarette butts lying there.


    This ce was away from the beaten track, so the trash bin was clean. There was hardly anyone throwing anything into it. The cleaners generally came for clean-up every ten days or half a month. Fei Du pulled out a piece of silk handkerchief from his pocket and carefully pinched a few cigarette butts.


    At this moment, his cellphone suddenly rang.


    Fei Du wrapped the cigarette butts calmly, then he pulled out the phone, took a look at the caller ID, and smiled before saying: "Why? You are suddenly so eager to see me, that only one day without meeting me makes you feel like many seasons have passed, is it?"


    Tao Ran''s voice was quite serious: "The night before yesterday, were you in Cheng Guang Mansion?"


    "Yes." Fei Du stopped for a while and asked. "What happened?"


    "Were you with a man called Zhang Doni?"


    Fei Du suddenly felt surprised for a moment. Before he was able to respond, there was a sudden loud crash of thunder and the heavy rains dropped down with a <b><i>"H"</i></b> sound, as if water from inside a basin was being poured down.


    =======================================================


    <i>(1) Guankou</i>: A way of performance in Chinese popredic performing arts <i>Xiangsheng</i>, in which one actor continuously speaks.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 8: Julien Seven

    Chapter 8: Julien Seven


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC: me3</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: When Luo Wenzhou heard his remark, which goes against allw and morality, he couldn''t help but feel his palms itching to pick up this scum Fei and beat him soundly.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Lang Qiao carried a folding umbre and ran into the office building by using two steps to cover three steps distance, leaving a long trail of wet footprints.


    When she was climbing up the staircase, she slipped and almost fell into the ground. She hurriedly grabbed the balustrade, looked up and saw Luo Wenzhou walking down from the floor where the office of the Director was.


    Luo Wenzhou looked into her eyes wearing a rare dignified expression.


    Lang Qiao stretched out her hand to twist the bangs affixed to her forehead: "Big Boss, what on earth happened? You are so serious. I am a bit nervous."


    "Today, ording to the clues given by He Zhongyi''s roommate, Tao Ran and that little sses in the Sub Bureau deduced that He Zhongyi may have contacted a mysterious figure," Luo Wenzhou whispered. "It is said that for some reason, that man has had conflicts with He Zhongyi during his working hours. After that, in order to make an apology, that man gave him the phone."


    Luo Wenzhou was tall, had long legs, and walked very fast. Lang Qiao had to trot all the way to keep up. Heard these words, she felt like her brain was about to evaporate along with her wet hair. She repeated sort of stupidly: "Has had conflicts? And... and gave a cell phone? Then I have conflicts with people in the metro everyday, why isn''t there anyone giving me one?"


    Rarely, Luo Wenzhou didn''t reply to her joke with banter: "Tao Ran and that boy re-investigated the delivery spots where the deceased worked. They visited all spots along his delivery route, and finally found a witness in a chain coffee shop. The witness said that when He Zhongyi was ready to leave the store after delivery some days ago, he indeed had a physical confrontation with someone near the entrance of the store. The store''s surveince camera recorded the license te number of that person."


    As they were talking, they moved to the outside of the interrogation room. They looked across the ss from one side and saw Tao Ran sitting opposite to a young man.


    The man was in his early twenties. His hair was dyed in xen color and everything worn on his body carried name brand. He was trying his best to subdue his anger, but he was extremely furious to the point that his hostility was obvious on every part of his face.


    "Yes, I may have beaten this pleb, so? I have beaten a lot of people, but I really yed no role in this case. If you don''t believe me, you can always ask Fei Du if I was with him that day. I tell you, Officier Tao, if not for the sake of Mr. Fei, you dare to arrest me like this, I fuck... I already..."


    Lang Qiao stared nkly at the arrogant young man inside: "Is he the second suspect? Why bring him back to the Bureau deliberately?"


    "Early at that night of the case, the deceased had said he would go to a ce called Cheng Guang Mansion and this man was inside Cheng Guang Mansion that night." Luo Wenzhou sighed. "This man is called Zhang Doni, he is the son of a prestigious local entrepreneur."


    "Oh, a descendant of a rich family," Lang Qiao winked. "So?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "And he is also Director Zhang''s nephew."


    Lang Qiao: "..."


    Before she could restart her crashed brain, a police officer on duty ran to them, and whispered to Luo Wenzhou: "Captain Luo, someone called Fei came and said he wanted to meet Vice Captain Tao."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Fei Du politely expressed his thanks to the officer on duty who brought him a drink. Then he took a sip and put it aside--unbelievably, the coffee they brought him was some kind of instant coffee with a bizarre sesame oil vor.


    He looked around and observed the interior decoration of the Bureau, and felt worried about the taste of whoever was in charge. Beside, the decoration being shoddy, there was still some paint spots at the corner of the desk. Probably because it was newly painted. One could still smell the paint if they tried.


    Luo Wenzhou came in and saw that Fei Du was examining the textures on their tables seriously. He frowned and looked very gloomy--if the table was not hollow, Captain Luo might have suspected that there was a body hiding beneath it.


    Fei Du raised his eyelid and found that it was Luo Wenzhou, but didn''t seem to be taken by surprise and just briefly nodded to him: "Take a seat."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    This boy acted like this was his home!


    Fei Du stirred sesame oil voured coffee with a stic spoon and asked: "Where''s Tao Ran?"


    "He''s busy." Luo Wenzhou pulled out a pen, spread out a notebook and without any nonsense greeting, went straight to the point. "In the evening of the 20th, that is, the day before yesterday, were you together with Zhang Doni? Think carefully before you answer."


    Fei Du leaned on the back of the chair, raised his head slightly and sit with his ankle on his knee. Although his sitting posture did not qualify as "improper", it inexplicably made people think that that space was too small for him.


    He stared at Luo Wenzhou with a half smile, and asked: "Captain Luo, am I a suspect?"


    Luo Wenzhou nced at him coldly.


    Fei Du threw up his hands in a casual manner: "Then you''d better be polite to me. I am not a suspect and an interrogation summon is not mandatory, therefore if I am not happy I can leave at anytime."


    "Oh," Luo Wenzhou put his pen aside. "I have to coax you so you''re happy first? Okay, tell me how do I do that. Should I sing you a song now or go out to buy you a bag of sugar?"


    Fei Du who had just been issued a toffee card by Officer Tao: "..."


    The wind and rain outside hit the window and produced a burst of noises. In the room, two people who disliked each other sat in silence.


    After a while, Luo Wenzhou, thought he was probably being a bit childish, scoffed at himself. He pulled out a cigarette case, gently knocked it on the corner of the table, and then was about to light up a cigarette.


    "I do mind." From the side Fei Du answered without being asked. "I''ve had a bit of pharyngitistely."


    Luo Wenzhou said with a skin-deep smile: "If you are sick, we are not far from achieving world peace."


    However, he still put the lighter down, held a cigarette which was not lit, and rotated it a few times in between his fingers: "Zhang Doni said at about eight o''clock the night before yesterday, he met you at the entrance of Cheng Guang Mansion, and you didn''t leave until midnight. So, you can testify for him for that period of time."


    "I arrived there before eight o''clock, left at ten past zero, and I did greet him both times." said Fei Du coolly. "However, the host arranged a very ''rich'' event. If I told you he was within my sight for the whole night, it would be illogical and you will not believe it. "


    Luo Wenzhou teared the cigarette paper as if his hands were bored and had to do something: "Why? Aren''t you two always fooling around together?"


    Fei Du supported himself with his elbows on the table and leaned forward slightly. As he did this, the smell of his cologne, swept by the rain and mixed with moisture, overwhelmed Luo Wenzhou: "Because I don''t like sharing a partner with another man--Captain Luo, if you keep asking these boring and pretending-to-be-pure questions, I will have to say goodbye to you."


    "It''s hard to tell that you are quite particr about it." Luo Wenzhou did not even raise his eyebrows, just mocked as if it''s a requirement for his job to be humorous and then added: "In other words, you can''t prove that Zhang Doni didn''t kill someone at Cheng Guang Mansion on that day."


    "I can''t, but someone can. If it''s necessary, I can get everyone, who had been in touch with him that night, within two hours. I think one handbag per person should be good enough as payment for running an errand."


    Luo Wenzhou poked his pen nib on the table: "Are you implying to me that you intend to use fiscal and sex trade to forge testimony of witnesses?"


    "What? Will your elites worry about whether they cannot tell if several young models perjury or not?" Fei Du shook his head. "No, I''m telling you why it is impossible for Zhang Doni to be the murderer."


    Fei Du leaned against the back of the chair again, pulled himself away from Luo Wenzhou and said with his peculiarzy tone: "For Zhang Doni, it is obviously unwise to do it with his own hands. Instead he can find someone to kidnap the deceased, and then either detain him illegally or secretly killed him. Anyway, the West District is filled with floating poption and there are countless people leaving without telling anyone everyday. Nobody will notice that one single person has disappeared. And even if someone calls the police, no one will really care about it."


    When Luo Wenzhou heard his remark, which goes against allw and morality, he couldn''t help but feel his palms itching to pick up this scum Fei and beat him soundly. He expended a lot of effort to withhold it. As a result his pen nib teared the paper with a <i>"s"</i> sound and left a hole filled with anger: "Murderers are not often ''wise'' whenmitting murder."


    "Oh, you mean killing in the heat of passion," Fei Du paused. "Are there other blunt wounds on the deceased other than the one that knocked him out?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Is it me questioning you now or you questioning me?"


    "That sounds like a ''no''," Fei Du said in a rather calm tone. "In a murder in the heat of passion case, the murderer''s emotions are explosive. The rage of the murderer rises to its zenith in an instant, and it''s usually followed by an outburst as the murderer works off his anger on the victim. A victim who fell to the ground without resistance should have had his head smashed like a rotten watermelon - but strangled?"


    He held his elbows on the arms of the chair, supported his chin with his fingertips andughed: "Strangling is a slow, steady and enjoyable way of killing. Sometimes it evenes with a little bit of the sense of ''that aspect''. Will someone who is so thirsty that his throat is smoking willingly sit down and carefully ''taste the tea''? I personally think this process is unnatural."


    Luo Wenzhou''s face darkened: "You think killing is ''tea-tasting''."


    "Just an analogy," Fei Du shrugged, and avoided the crucial point. "Zhang Doni will not kill anyone. Even if he did kill someone, he will not dump the body. Even if he did dump the body, the body will not be thrown into the narrow alley in West District with which he ispletely unfamiliar. This is the analysis from a rational point of view. From an intitutive point of view--Zhang Doni, that coward is hopeless. When he''s angry-at most he will curse. He doesn''t have the nerve to kill someone."


    Since the beginning of Luo Wenzhou''s conversation with Fei Du,, thest sentence is the only one that sounds rtively like human words.


    Zhang Doni is the son of Director Zhang''s elder brother. Since he was born when his parents were already past the age for giving birth to kids and the family was in a good condition, he was spoiled to the point that he turned out to be both fragile and useless. Luo Wenzhou had met him several times and he didn''t think Zhang Doni had the guts or psychological quality.


    For other information, they could only rely on the police to verify. Since there wouldn''t be much useful information that Fei Du could give, Luo Wenzhou closed hisptop, stood up and was about to go.


    "Hey." Fei Du suddenly called him from behind.


    Luo Wenzhou looked back and saw something small flew towards him. He subconsciously reached out to catch it, and then, he found what Fei Du threw to him was a USB sh disk.


    Fei Du said: "Among various criminal cases, there are several situations that would easily draw public attentions. Firstly, the scale of the case is huge. One example of this is terrorist attacks. This is news. Secondly, the means used are particrly weird and brutal, or the case itself is simr to an urban legend such as serial killer. This is novelty seeking. Thirdly, the victim belongs to a low-risk group, such as students and office workers who have regr patterns of life or middle ss who keep their noses clean. This is the group panic caused by substitution into the victim. Fourthly, the case involves something that has long umted grudges such as social elites event involving public power, privilege, andck of morality. This topic--this case doesn''t fit any of the situations, yet it attracted unusual attention from the beginning."


    The sound of thunder, which was going to cease its'' activity, came from a very far away ce vaguely, added an endless tail to his words.


    "After a brief period of unusual concern, people should lose their interest in it quickly. But, right at this moment, Zhang Doni is dragged in." Fei Du stood up and walked to the side of Luo Wenzhou. Passing him, Fei Du said lightly: "Is it a coincidence or is someone manipting you?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s eyes froze.


    "There''s no need to thank me. I am doing this for Tao Ran." Fei Du picked up an umbre, and left without a backward nce.


    "Fei Du." Suddenly, Luo Wenzhou said. "It''s next week, isn''t it? It''s been seven years already, and it''s time for you to make a new start."


    Fei Du ignored him and left at a uniform pace. He didn''t turn his head back and Luo Wenzhou lost sight of him.

 Chapter 9: Julien Eight

    Chapter 9: Julien Eight


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC:me3</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "So..." Wang Hongliang smiled, "he''s lucky!"</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Wang Hongliang was in the summer of his life, but since he spent half of his life in drowning in alcohol and sex, there were already signs of aging on his face. The fat on both cheeks was ckened and grew at its own will to the point that it reached his chin. At first nce, he looked like a shar-pei dog plotting to subvert mankind.


    He leaned forward and observed Ma Xiaowei, who was detained while holding a cigarette and smoked to create some part of the North Gate of the heaven (1).


    Ma Xiaowei was so thin that he looked pitiful and clumsy. And he was tense even when alone. His pair of eyes, which looked like they were about to jump out from their sockets, seemed to have difficulty on focusing on the same spot for longer than a moment, so that it had to look everywhere up and down.


    Wang Hongliang stared at him with head inclined, and said to those next to him: "So, they brought him back to the Bureau in dejection?"


    Standing next to him was the head of the Sub Bureau Criminal Investigation Team, who kept a low profile when investigating cases--He gavemands basically by following the trend and always relied on the leaders to make conclusions, which was exactly like a microphone for reporting things to higher level and passing on messages to lower level. He picked up an ashtray beside him, holding it to catch the cigarette end dropped by Wang Hongliang: "Xiao Haiyang reported so."


    "I didn''t expect this, really! It doesn''t even look true--How can there be such a coincidence in the world?" Wang Hongliangughed with "haha" sound. His eyes were invisible while his teeth were exposed. Now he became a shar-pei dog singing like a serf, who had won a war with higher status people. "No wonder the fortune-teller said that although I will have a hurdle this year, I will eventually meet someone who will bring me luck. A 30000 dors talisman is not totally useless. In addition tocking sess but having more than enough failures, that Xiao Haiyang is even of a little use."


    Someone standing next to him asked respectfully: "Director Wang, what do you think we should do now?"


    "Luo Wenzhou stretched out his hand too fast," Wang Hongliang gathered his sparse hair together with hands. "Otherwise, the major suspect being a rtive of a leader in the Bureau is already a good reason to ask them to disappear from my sights."


    Saying this, he turned around in circles several times, then waved his hand: "Never mind, give them. Luo Wenzhou is not afraid of others scolding them for favoritism. What am I afraid of? Now that the second suspect has appeared, it just shows that the case is a lot moreplicated than we imagined, and it is a murder and body dumping case at first--we should me the misleading testimony of the people around that area, they disrupted the investigation direction and the noise they heard is not rted to the case. They can investigate anywhere as they wish--may it be Cheng Guang Mansion or any other ce--as long as it is not in the ''West District''. We fully support the work of the Bureau."


    "Director Wang is bold but cautious," the head of the Sub Bureau Criminal Investigation Team apple-polished him with a smile, and added. "Please refer me to the ce you got the talisman, it''s really too efficacious."


    "Sure. When you visit there just tell them you are referred by me, then things will be a lot cheaper," Wang Hongliang patted the shoulder of his subordinate. "As a normal person, when you reach my age, you will find that there are a lot of things you have to believe. Things like getting promoted and getting rich always rely on your fate--Oh yes, the family of the deceased areing, aren''t they? Send them to the Bureau together with the suspect."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    When he was walking towards outside after finishing talking, he suddenly remembered something. He looked back at Ma Xiaowei, and said meaningfully: "Look at this kid. He''s inconspicuous at the first nce, but if you observe him carefully, his face is actually very auspicious. He has a really full forehead and a fleshy chin. (2)"


    The subordinate beside him didn''t get his meaning.


    "So..." Wang Hongliang smiled, "he''s lucky!"


    When the whole Huashi District Sub Bureau was studying theology, the Yancheng Bureau revealed a heavy depression.


    When Tao Ran came out from the interrogation room, he was so tired that he leaned against the wall and slowly took a deep breath. ording to what people said, this Zhang Doni had a fever when he was a child which burned his brain, as a result, he grew up to be a pure and cute sucker. One had to forgive him eight times every minute to let the conversation continue-- it was good that it was the good-tempered Tao Ran who interrogated him, if it was someone else, the table would have already been flipped.


    Luo Wenzhou was waiting for him at the door. He held a USB sh disk in his hand and was unconsciously rotating it back and forth among his fingers.


    Xiao Haiyang, who was listening to the interrogation, stood far away and maintained a certain distance with him--this boy seemed to be a little afraid of him.


    Luo Wenzhou raised his eyes: "How was it?"


    "Zhang Doni said he may have drunk a little bit of wine that day, and saw an unemployed youth was badgering his younger sister. So he thought that young man was a rogue and beat him on impulse. And afterwards, he didn''t remember which unemployed youth he beat. I showed him the photo of the deceased. He said that it seems to be a bit familiar but he was not sure. Besides, he said he has neither given anyone any gift as an apology nor has he given anyone a phone--I think thetter is true. Even now that boy didn''t feel that beating someone was wrong." Tao Ran pinched his nose. "By the way, has Fei Due?"


    "He left already," Luo Wenzhou responded, then he remembered something. He stared at Tao Ran and said, "That little bastard is getting more and more bastardly. It''s all because of you pampering him."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    He always felt that thisint sounds weird.


    Luo Wenzhou reached out a hand and threw the USB sh disk in his hand to Tao Ran: "Take a look at this. There may be something useful in it."


    Tao Ran caught it doubtfully: "What is this?"


    "I don''t know, but I guess it''s the surveince camera record inside and around the Cheng Guang Mansion." Luo Wenzhou nced at the grumpy Zhang Doni in the surveince camera. "I''ve met his sister, a pretty normal girl. Make a phone call and confirm with her whether what Zhang Doni said is reliable or not. I will tell Director Zhang about this."


    However, when Luo Wenzhou went to the office of the director for the second time, he didn''t see the old director.


    A tall, sturdy man looked up and nodded at Luo Wenzhou with a pleasant facial expression: "Come in."


    This man was almost at the same age as Director Zhang. There was an old scar above his right eyebrows, which extended from the forehead to right above the eyelids. But that didn''t make him look fierce. The person still looked very kind.


    Luo Wenzhou stared at this unexpected person: "Director Lu?"


    Director Lu, named Lu Youliang, was Director Zhang''s deputy and an old criminal policeman. Back when various kinds of technologies were immature, he participated in solving arge number of major cases, arrested countless vicious prisoners, and was one of the legends in Yancheng City Bureau. Even those who never took things seriously had to restrain themselves in front of him.


    "Ah, if you need to report something talk to me for now, Director Zhang is currently staying home to avoid arousing suspicion--you really shouldn''t bring him back. If someone is suspected, he should be taken away and investigated on the spot. What do you mean by bringing him back here? Do you want to y favoritism and cover up for him or do you n to tell a very poor lie which actually reveals the truth?" Director Lu sighed and reached out to point to Luo Wenzhou. "Wenzhou, everything about you is good, except that sometimes you think too much. You are too tactful."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t change his facial expression, looked out, swept his eyes through the empty corridor, and then carefully closed the door: "Uncle Lu."


    Director Lu was puzzled.


    "There is a criminal policeman of the Sub Bureau downstairs, whose name is Xiao Haiyang," Luo Wenzhou kept his voice very low. "When he reported the details of the case to us the first time, he said ''cannot rule out the possibility of here not being the first scene''. At that time it sounded a little unnatural to me because whether it was the first scene or not had to be judged ording to the forensic and physical evidence. In the condition where obvious features are absent and the evidence is not yet obtained, few people will discuss whether it is the crime scene there or whether it is a body-dumping case. Wang Hongliang also reacted. He immediately scolded Xiao Haiyang when I was there. I didn''t take it seriously and just thought that this Xiao Haiyang may have a different way of thinking than ordinary people."


    Director Lu said in a low tone: "I don''t quite get what you mean."


    "Director Zhang asked me to investigate Wang Hongliang," said Luo Wenzhou. "I just received the informant''s report and suspect that Wang Hongliang has colluded with drug gangs in Huashi District."


    Director Lu frowned: "But Huashi District is an outstanding anti-drug district."


    "Yeah. Are you not curious from where they grabbed so many useful informants?" Luo Wenzhou spoke quickly. "The reporter said they have an ''officially franchised'' drug traffickingwork. Those who are not in this organization will be immediately uncovered once they enter the area under the jurisdiction of Huashi District."


    Director Lu: "Evidence?"


    "We are collecting," said Luo Wenzhou. "Let''s go back to the case. Yesterday, we identally got testimony from nearby people, which says that around nine o''clock, some people were heard quarreling near the crime scene. Wang Hongliang then promptly arrested a juvenile suspected of being at the scene when the case urred. The boy was thin, kept drifting his eyes, spoke incoherently, was always in fear, and gave testimony full of loopholes. However, no matter how we interrogated him, he insisted that he didn''t see anyone in the crime scene--and now we do have evidence to show that the body may have been moved after death.Then questionse. If the quarreling noises residents heard has nothing to do with this murder case, why didn''t the juvenile dare to tell the truth in the beginning? Why did the criminal policeman Xiao Haiyang imply to us at the very beginning that that ce is not the first scene? Is it possible that he knew from the beginning that no murder urred there?"


    Director Lu could not help but stand up and made a few circles.


    "Uncle Lu," said Luo Wenzhou, "There are many mixed clues in this case and a lot of things are very ambiguous. I suspect that these are two cases entangled together. Tao Ran and that Xiao Haiyang found out that this case is rted to Zhang Doni very coincidentally. If I didn''t bring him back here immediately at that time, Wang Hongliang would probably use this issue as an excuse to stop Director Zhang and us from intervening this case. The kid who was arrested earlier may die of ''excessive drug use'' in the Sub Bureau tomorrow morning, and all his testimony can be attributed to nonsense spoken after taking drugs. The suspected murderer will be an arrogant rich second generation."


    Director Lu asked: "What are you going to do?"


    "For the time being, Zhang Doni should be regarded as a key suspect," said Luo Wenzhou. "As long as we appear to move our sight away from the Huashi West District, and separate these two intertwining cases, Wang Hongliang will probably use this opportunity to hand over the murder case to us like pushing the boat with the current."


    Since the criminal investigation team worked overtime to investigate the surveince camera record video provided by Fei Du, when Luo Wenzhou arrived at home it was alreadyte night. As he just opened the door, he heard a "meow". A Chinese garden cat poked its head out.


    Luo Wenzhou gently pulled it into the room with his feet: "Meow meow for what? I haven''t eaten as well... ah?"


    He found a new parcel in the mailbox at the door. He picked it up and observed it. On it, there was a line written with a familiar Regr Script Style handwriting: "To Luo Wenzhou".


    Luo Wenzhou opened the package. There was a sealed evidence bag inside, which contained a few cigarette butts.


    =======================================================


    (1) the North Gate of the heaven: An entrance to the heaven in Taoist legends, which is surrounded by fog and smoke.


    (2) a really full forehead and a fleshy chin: In fortune-telling, this means rich and noble fate.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 10: Julien Nine

    Chapter 10: Julien Nine


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC:me3</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Suppose you were a woman, who would you want to marry-- Fei Du or me?</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Luo Wenzhou picked up the package and held it upside down. There was nothing else in it. Right at this time, his cell phone vibrated notifying a photo was sent to him. It was a photo of a remote, narrow stone path, solemnly surrounded by water and nts. Standing in the middle of the photo was a single trash bin with a message below it. The message had neither recipient nor sender and consisted of only three words: by the way.


    Luo Wenzhou stared at the photo for a while as if he was thinking, yet the Mr. Cat next to him was unhappy.


    Mr. Cat''s formal name was "Luo Yiguo". It was a seven-year-old middle-aged cat with round face, big eyes, and glistening hair--the only problem with him was his bad temper.


    Luo Yiguo first patted Luo Wenzhou''s legs with one of its paws, went to the corner of the wall with its buttocks twisted, crouched down with its heart filled withints, and showed his empty cat bowl to the feces shoveler (1).


    Unexpectedly, that silly big guy just nced at it, and was not touched at all!


    The tragically ignored Luo Yiguo became extremely furious. Therefore, it rushed over aggressively, stood with its hind feet, held Luo Wenzhou''s leg, and bit his trouser legs, whining and shouting.


    Luo Wenzhou bent down, pinched the cat''s nape, and lifted him up from the ground: "Are you bored of life?"


    ws hanging, Luo Yiguo grumbled two <i>"ao"</i>, and proudly stuck its tongue out towards him.


    Luo Wenzhou rolled his eyes. As soon as he let go, the cat broke out of his hand lightly, rolled in the air elegantly, andnded on the ground with all four feet. It soon got enough cat food, which included an extra can, as it wished.


    Luo Yiguo satisfied, and found that the famous line "spare the rod and spoil the child" was really not deceiving cats--feces shoveler had to be bitten to be well-behaved.


    Luo Wenzhou squatted on the ground, stroking the cat carelessly for a while before he suddenly remembering something. He looked down at the standing up big bushy tail of Luo Yiguo--this ancestor (2) was bought by Tao Ran for Fei Du several years ago when he strolled around in the morning market. Fei Du seemed quite like it at the beginning, but somehow get annoyed only a few days after he brought it home, and refused to raise it any longer.


    Tao Ran''s home was outside the city. He could not afford to buy an apartment when he just started working, so he rented different rooms and couldn''t predict when he would have to move, which was really inconvenient for keeping pets. Therefore, the cat had to be raised in Luo Wenzhou''s home.


    Luo Wenzhou hated cats, dogs, and children under the age of 16 to the point that he would be crazy around them. He delivered an ultimatum to Tao Ran as if he was vowing something: if the next home was not found within a month, he would stew the four-legged troublemaker.


    Eventually, seven years passed in a sh, however, the next home was still not found. Luo Wenzhou had changed from a cursing meat-eater to a hard-working feces shoveler. On the other hand, Luo Yiguo had changed from the grain reserve to the master of the home.


    So, we can see that the world is indeed unpredictable.


    Luo Wenzhou thought for a while with the cat in his arms. He suddenly stood up, pulled out a half loaf of leftover bread from the refrigerator, turned away and went out.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    The traffic was already light on the street. Captain Luo, who was always vexed at not being able to check in and check out for work right at the required time everyday, went back to the Bureau. As soon as he entered the office, he found that other than the person on duty, there was someone in the office, watching the monitoring record, again and again, rubbing his eyes.


    Luo Wenzhou stopped walking and sighed: "I knew you hadn''t left."


    Tao Ran stretched himself: "There is nothing to do after going back anyway--why did youe as well?"


    "I saw that you were working overtime in the midnight alone, so I''m here to give you warmth (3)," Luo Wenzhou strolled to him and stood at his desk. "Working model, what did you find out?"


    "All surveince cameras of Cheng Guang Mansion are outdoors. Our technicians have just investigated the record from 8 o''clock to 12 at the night of 20th. Outdoor cameras clearly filmed Zhang Doni four times. We tracked him ording to his body and facial features and found that in the whole night there were about 40 minutes in which he was neither in the area monitored by the surveince cameras nor in the clubhouse, but this ''40 minutes'' is the total number. Each individual period is rtively short. There were only two times he actively avoided the surveince cameras. One was around ten, he left for about 10 to 20 minutes with a girl. Before that, he deliberately looked up to locate the cameras. The other time was about 12 o''clock. After midnight the cameras in the courtyard of the mansion were turned off, so we don''t know when he came back."


    Luo Wenzhou rubbed his chin: "10 to 20 minutes?"


    Tao Ran nodded very seriously: "Yes. But if that girl is found, she could be a witness."


    Luo Wenzhou shook his head: "Tut, so fast."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    Before he could respond, Luo Wenzhou turned his voice and asked like a gentleman: "Was He Zhongyi filmed?"


    "No. They picked about 20 to 30 scenes suspected to have photographed He Zhongyi this afternoon, but they didn''t catch his face and some were shot further away. I just watched them repeatedly, but I think none of them looks like He Zhongyi. In your opinion, if the murderer killed He Zhongyi in Cheng Guang Mansion, will he be so careless to be filmed?"


    "He Zhongyi was not filmed by any of the cameras at several entrances, so it''s also possible that he himself avoided the cameras." Luo Wenzhou stood up and turned around in circles several times behind Tao Ran. "However, if there was really nothing, Fei Du will not have sent them to us."


    Tao Ran: "More than four hours and so many shots. How can he watch all of them himself? Maybe he gave them to us only for reference?"


    Luo Wenzhou shook his head. After a while, he suddenly remembered something: "What did you say just now? Their surveince cameras in the courtyard were turned off after twelve?"


    "Well, yes. Only those located near the parking lot or on several trails outside the clubhouse are on all the time."


    "Surveince cameras were turned off probably because they''re afraid of shooting the ugly performance of a gang of drunk guys. The few that were left on, on the other hand, were there to ensure safety." Luo Wenzhou reached out and supported himself on the back of Tao Ran''s chair. "The cameras inside the courtyard should all be installed at where the guests can see. They are easy to avoid if they wish, but for the area outside the club, in order to prevent unidentified people froming in, sometimes the cameras are installed in the darkness... Find the records of those cameras that were on overnight."


    Before he finished talking, Tao Ran had already found them.


    Luo Wenzhou turned on the phone and nced at the photo he just received: "Is there a camera installed near a small stone road beside a water system?"


    Tao Ran was a little puzzled: "There is indeed one."


    The monitoring records showed the scene at 8 o''clock. The whole scene was in still darkness, but as they fast-forwarded, the dark shadow in the middle of the screen jumped out, and the camera was exposed--it was a bird at first.


    The four corners of the monitoring record are ck with only a small piece of the scene in the middle. From time to time, it was blocked by the passing-by birds. It probably is a camera hidden in a tree house. When they fast-forwarded to around eight fifty, one shaky figure appeared in the vicinity of the trash bin under the camera. Tao Ran immediately paused the video.


    The man should being to the trash bin in order to smoke, so he didn''t notice the camera on the tree.


    "Wait a minute, this person... indeed looks a bit like!" Tao Ran carefully looked at the screen for a moment, then sighed, "If the cigarette butts are still there,paring the DNA should be able to help us determine. But that heavy rain in the afternoon... So now we--why are youughing?"


    Luo Wenzhou pulled out an evidence bag containing cigarette butts from his pocket: "Gopare."


    Tao Ran was shocked: "How did you...where did you..."


    "Shhh--quiet." Luo Wenzhou put a finger on his mouth, said in a low voice that was nearly impossible to be heard. "A very annoying young man sent it to me."


    It seemed like Tao Ran was shocked deeper: "You two made a truce?"


    Luo Wenzhou pressed on the back of Tao Ran''s head and turned it back in its original position: "Is there any other clue in the vicinity?"


    "Oh, wait a minute," saying this, Tao Ran pulled out a marked map. "This road has only two directions. One side is Cheng Guang Mansion, while the other side is a public area. Clearly, after leaving this man didn''t go towards the direction of Cheng Guang Mansion, but towards the other side... after leaving this road there is the main road and a bus station."


    "I like public areas," Luo Wenzhou smiled. "We can investigate them at any time without being hypocritical with the rich."


    They immediately came out from the Bureau and went straight to the traffic police station near the bus station.


    It waste night and dark. Dew was about to form. Luo Wenzhou turned off the air-conditioning in the car and drove with the window open.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Don''t talk about any clues found tonight with anyone else, including colleagues in the team."


    Tao Ran was puzzled: "Why?"


    "Nothing. I think in a few days, the Sub Bureau will hand in the report for transferring the case." Luo Wenzhou said. "From then on, you focus on this He Zhongyi case, and don''t need to care about any other things... before the real culprit is found, let Zhang Doni be ''suspected'' for a few more days. It''s good to let him remember."


    Tao Ran heard a bit of unusual seriousness from his words and could not help but turn his head and look at him.


    Luo Wenzhou raised the corners of his eyes: "We''re both unmarried men; if you keep looking at me like that, I will turn into a beast."


    "Am I free to tease?" Tao Ran was unaffected and waved his hand. "Oh, yes. It''s been a long time since Ist saw you go out with someone. How was the one who yed billiards with usst time?"


    Luo Wenzhou said: "Oh, that person went to study abroad. He''s learning chinese in Italy."


    Tao Ran almost choked to death on his own saliva: "Why so unreliable?"


    Luo Wenzhou shrugged, his face expressionless. Putting one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the half-open window, he said: "Where can we find many reliable ones? Besides, my dad has not retired yet. Although he didn''t say anything, there is a bad influence. Let me wait for a year or two until he retires to consider looking for one seriously; and once you get used to being alone, it''s quite good. That old thing is indeed addicted to work...I really cannot understand it. I wish to retire for a long time already."


    Tao Ran sighed: "Be content. Your family quite open-minded already."


    Listening to him , Luo Wenzhou caught the deeper meaning in his words, so he asked immediately: "Your family is urging you to get married?"


    Tao Ran: "Not really, but kind of."


    Luo Wenzhou nced at him: "My problem is the minority preference. What''s yours?"


    Tao Ran thought for a while, and answered briefly and forcefully: "Poor."


    Luo Wenzhou failed to hold back hisughter.


    "What there sough about? My poor sry is just enough to pay the house loan. Poor is an objective fact," Tao Ran did not care much about it and pulled his hair, which now looked like a bird nest. "But I can put all sorts of things together for the down payment now, so at least I qualify for a blind date. I think this life is already good enough and I don''t necessarily have to marry the goddess."


    Luo Wenzhou used the headlights to see the traffic signs and found that they were not far from the destination. He looked at the road ahead calmly: "You have a goddess?"


    "A high school friend in the ss next to mine, who looks like Angie Chiu (4)," said Tao Ran, "It''s been many years sincest time we contacted each other. She probably got married already. Even if she hasn''t, I won''t stand a chance--almost there. Wait a minute, I will call the buddy on duty first."


    Five minutester, Luo Wenzhou parked the car. When Tao Ran was about to get off, Luo Wenzhou suddenly turned to him and said: "I have a very serious question for you."


    Tao Ran ask doubtfully: "What?"


    "Suppose--I mean suppose, you were a woman," said Luo Wenzhou. "Who would you want to marry, Fei Du or me?"


    Tao Ran: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Suppose."


    Tao Ran thought for a long time and concluded: "If I was a woman, I should be too busy to deal with you two now. I must be worrying about how toing out of the closet to my mum all day long."


    Luo Wenzhou: "There is no closet. All women are dead."


    Tao Ran: "Then other..."


    "All the other men are dead, too." Saying this, Luo Wenzhou himself couldn''t help butugh first. "Only the two of us."


    More than six billion people disappeared like smokes and ashes in Luo Wenzhou''s few words. A corner of Tao Ran''s mouth twitched and he said in a have-nothing-to-live-for tone in the end: "Then you."


    Although Luo Wenzhou tried his best to withhold it, he still could not help but let out a smile like a thief who just stole chickens: "You choose me? Are you sure?"


    Tao Ran pinched his fingers to count and said: "You are the only choice. It seems that there is still two months left for Fei Du to reach the marriageable age...what are you doing?"


    Luo Wenzhouughed, as if he had achieved a major victory, while leaning against the back of the seat.


    Tao Ran did not understand what he was so proud of. He recalled the conversation for a moment, and got goosebumps all over. Shaking his head, he got out of the car.


    ...he did not see Luo Wenzhou being so cheap to the point that he had this conversation recorded.


    As long as it was not a private property, like Cheng Guang Mansion, it is very simple for the Bureau to get the surveince records.


    The monitoring record of the bus stop failed to capture the time when the person suspected to be He Zhongyi came to the area around Cheng Guang Mansion but gave them a great surprise--at around nine o''clock, the camera filmed that that man came out from the path and went straight to the bus stop. After waiting for a few minutes, he boarded bus No.34.


    During his stay at the bus stop, he looked up to read the stop board. This was good enough for Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran to recognize that he was indeed He Zhongyi.


    At the same time, a psychotherapy clinic reached its closing time, thest visitor stood up, said goodbye to the counselor, and gave her a box of beautifully packaged choctes: "Thank you for your hard work, Ms. Bai. I think you might like this taste so I bought it for you to try."


    The psychologist had be ustomed to this. This guest, who was called Fei Du, was good at making people like him. He spoke sugar-like words as if they were free, was neverte for no reason, never lost control, and often brought some exquisite--but not too expensive--little gifts. Therefore, even the cleaners of the clinic knew him. Before she could express her thanks, the cellphone of the guest vibrated twice.


    The psychologist swallowed her words, smiled, and gave him a sign to let him look at his phone as he wished.


    Fei Du made a apologetic gesture, and found two new messages on the phone.


    The first one was very short: "Thanks."


    The second came with an audio attachment and the message was: "Courtesy demands reciprocity."


    Fei Du put the receiver closer to his ear.


    "Suppose you were a woman, who would you want to marry, Fei Du or me? All the other men are dead, too. Only the two of us."


    "Then you."


    "You choose me? Are you sure?"


    "It seems that there is still two months left for Fei Du to reach the marriageable age..."


    Fei Du: "..."


    =======================================================


    (1) Feces shoveler: A humorous way to call those who raise pets since they have to do the cleanup job.


    (2) This ancestor: The cat needs to be treated and taken care of very carefully like an ancestor of someone.


    (3) Give warmth: A kind of activity that Party A sends some gifts to or simply visits Party B so that the Party B feels happy. Generally speaking the Party A is more superior in social status than Party B.


    (4) Angie Chiu: A Hong Kong actress.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 11: Julien Ten

    Chapter 11: Julien Ten


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Lady Blue, QC:MochiMochi</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Fei Du nodded: "Yes. Recently, I feel like slowly moving away from where I was, and I am also trying out new ways of life. Thank you for so many years of help."</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    The psychologist looked carefully at Fei Du. For a moment, the young man''s face was shed with a speechless and irritated look which made him look unusually young and fresh. This finding somehow almost amazed her.


    Fei Du had been introduced to Ms. Bai a few years ago. Hisst psychologist was one of her juniors, who specialized in adolescent problems. Before that, how many psychologists he has visited was already untraceable--perhaps even Fei Du himself could not remember clearly. By the sound of this, he was quite the troublesome "prickle" (1).


    Of course, to introduce the patient to her, her junior was required tomunicate to her in advance. The first thing Ms. Bai wanted to know clearly was the main reason for the kid to ask for psychotherapy, and why the whole process could not continue.


    "I couldn''t really figure out his problem," said the junior. "He''s quite cooperative. Whatever you want him to tell you, he will talk about that with you. I tried to talk to him about issues likeck of care in his childhood, his mother''s idental death, and so on. He didn''t evade any of my questions. His attitude is very sincere, and sometimes he is considerate enough to bring you a topic when you cannot find one. Do you understand that, Big Sister Bai?"


    Ms. Bai immediately figured out the implied meaning of her junior''s words--the patient was not cooperative.


    During more than 10 years of Ms. Bai''s career, she had seen various visitors who didn''t cooperate with them. Some of them started to make things up from the moment they filled in the diagnostic tests; some, forced to visit the psychologist by their family, insisted that they had no problem; some believed themselves to be knowledgeable and taunted the psychologists in turn. This process was a battle of wits and courage.


    Psychologists are not omnipotent. They will meet with people who, for various reasons, fail to establish mutual trust with psychologists till the end. Eventually, the entire consultation process is unsessful. The patients are either introduced to another psychologist or slowly give up on psychotherapy and stop visiting them.


    It is no doubt that Fei Du was a special case among special cases.


    He belonged to the ss that started to make things up since filling in the diagnostic tests; and the stories he made up were wless. In conversations, he was rather talkative and seldom evaded topics. At first nce, he even looked like an open and clear-minded person who believed there was nothing he needed to hide from others.


    At a younger age, he was also very good at self-control. Even when he met a very sensitive topic, he would not show any sign of intention to defend against or offend the psychologist. His emotional feedback had always beenparatively positive.


    The only problem was that it was too positive.


    No matter how healthy and powerful a person is, it is impossible for him/her to always maintain the rational calm when talking about a deep sorrowful experience--after all, the great AI only needs charging. They don''t need psychotherapy at all.


    Ms. Bai used countless methods but still failed to establish an effectivemunication channel between the psychologist and the patient, so she had to admit to him frankly: "I had done everything I could do for you--I might not be able to help you. If you still think you need help, I will try to introduce you to a better psychologist."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Unexpectedly, Fei Du refused. And after more than one month of ineffective treatment, he doubled the consulting fees as if he was stupid and rich. He bought Ms. Bai''sst two working hours of every Wednesday night. Besides, every time before he left, very sweetly he would give her such lines like: "Your working ce makes me feel veryfortable, and it''s a great help to me."--if she didn''t think herself old enough to be his mother, she would tter herself by suspecting this yboy was there to hook up with her.


    If there was not much to talk about in his daily life, Fei Du would borrow some books from her, return them when he came a weekter, and then chatted with Ms. Bai about the books he borrowed. It seemed like he was noting for consultation, but instead to be her graduate student. Yet slowly, she found out that although the effect was very weak, this method sometimes exposed a bit of his real self. Though he would slyly avoid it once questioned.


    Like a man living in a closed castle, he was surrounded by walls of iron and bronze among which there was only a transparent window. He silently observed the outside world from behind the window. One must not bat an eyelid when getting close to it in order to make him cautiously open up a tiny gap in the window.


    Ms. Bai looked very cautiously at Fei Du and asked: "A friend?"


    "Well, a mischief-maker that returns kindness with ingratitude," Fei Du gently ground his teeth and put his cell phone back in his pocket. "Then I will go now and bother you next week."


    Like what she usually did, Ms. Bai walked him to the door.


    Fei Du ced one hand on the door and pushed the other back in the air to signal that she didn''t need to bother going any further. Suddenly he remembered something, and added: "Ah yes. Ms. Bai, next week will probably be thest time Ie. I think it''s better to tell you in advance so that you can schedule the time for others."


    Ms. Bai felt a bit surprised and asked subconsciously: "Do you think your problem is solved? Don''t need toe anymore?"


    Fei Du nodded: "Yes. Recently, I feel like slowly moving away from where I was, and I am also trying out new ways of life. Thank you for so many years of help."


    Ms. Bai smiled bitterly: "But I still don''t know where you were."


    "It''s good enough if I know it myself," Fei Du smiled at her, "Let''s talk againter."


    The next morning, the odd-and-even license te rule of Yancheng, which wasined about around the city, was still continuing...


    when a man with a few sticks of cat''s hair on his trousers, riding a clinking tinkling broken bike like a delivery guy, met with his love rival who was driving a luxury sedan--


    We do not know about the case of others, but we know that Captain Luo had gotten used to being shameless, so his psychological state was quite stable.


    He rode the bike with a momentum as if it was actually an aircraft carrier. After he stuck the bike with "foot brake" at the roadside, he raised his chin towards Fei Du: "Local tyrant, you came to give warmth (2) to the traffic police group again? I will let them give you a dozen of VIP ticketster."


    President Fei opened his mouth to make a response calmly: "Someone has to receive a ticket when he apanies the younger sister of a friend here for a police investigation? Captain Luo, that famous line really suits your bureau--''The doors of Yamen look like the character <i>ba</i> when they are open. If you are on just grounds but have no money, you are unwee''(3)"


    After he finished talking, he looked up and down at the door of the Bureau and hung the three words "Tut, so poor" at the corner of his eyebrows clearly.


    Luo Wenzhou looked behind him and saw a young man and a young womaning out from the car. The girl had a pair of red eyes. When he looked carefully, he found that her eyes and eyebrows looked a bit like Zhang Doni''s.


    Luo Wenzhou leaned to one side to get off from his "Er Ba (4) Aircraft Carrier": "Zhang Ting?"


    Zhang Doni had a sister, whose name was Zhang Ting.


    Luo Wenzhou was not familiar with her--after all, the girl behaved herself, unlike her wild brother who got locked up in the small ck house (5) of the local police station because of illegally driving a car at top speed.


    Zhang Ting was about to reply, but the man next to her reached out to stop her.


    The man stepped forward, handed Luo Wenzhou a business card, and spoke before Zhang Ting: "Hello, police officer. I am awyer hired to provide service for my client Zhang Doni, and I would like to know more about the investigation status of the case."


    Luo Wenzhou frowned and scratched his eyesight across thewyer''s face.


    When he was neither speaking nor smiling, there was a kind of arrogant indifference in his eyes.


    Luo Wenzhou did not take the business card. He nced at Fei Du first. Fei Du was leaning against the car door, his head lowered, ying with his cellphone as if it was none of his business. Luo Wenzhou, passing thewyer, turned to Zhang Ting: "Have you talked about hiring awyer with your family? Does your uncle know?"


    Zhang Ting was puzzled.


    Before she answered, Luo Wenzhou took thewyer''s business card with one hand and said with a fake smile: "Really in time--it hasn''t even been 24 hours yet."


    "In this kind of situation, the sooner thewyer is involved the better, isn''t it?" Thewyer, reluctant to show weakness, replied with a simper, "Our job is to protect the rights of our clients."


    At this time, a weak greeting came from behind: "Good morning, Captain Luo."


    Luo Wenzhou turned around and saw Xiao Haiyang standing in front of the entrance with a dozen files in his arms--he was brought back to the Bureau by Tao Ran the previous day. Today he was so self-conscious that he came by himself.


    "Good," Luo Wenzhou looked at him andughed. Reaching out his hand to point at him, he said to thewyer, "Talk to ''the guy in charge of this case'' yourself--you,e here."


    Xiao Haiyang was inexplicably thrown over to awyer by Luo Wenzhou. Before he could react, he was entangled by thewyer and received a bunch of questions first. He became totally confused: "Where''s Vice... Vice Captain Tao?"


    Luo Wenzhou smiled at him very steadily: "There is a small issue at Tao Ran''s home today, so he''s taking today off. Little Xiao, after all, the case is still under your management. You should know it most clearly."


    Only after sending Xiao Haiyang and thewyer away, did Luo Wenzhou, with his face darkening, turn to Fei Du and say: "What does this mean?"


    Fei Du raised his eyebrows: "I don''t know, I''m just a ''not-reached-the-marriageable-age-yet'' driver who drove them here on the way."


    Luo Wenzhou rolled his eyebrows at Fei Du. Moving his eyes across the puzzled Zhang Ting beside him, he pulled out his cell phone, clicked the screen a few times and showed her a photo of He Zhongyi: "I will make it short. Have you met this person?"


    Zhang Ting was caught off guard by the face. Scared, she stepped back a bit and hid behind Fei Du instinctively.


    Fei Du raised his hand to block Luo Wenzhou''s wrist: "Could you please be polite to a girl?"


    "Zhang Ting," Luo Wenzhou stared at Zhang Ting and said in a light but severe voice, "This man was killed the night before yesterday, and now your brother is a major suspect. This is a murder case, and your every line as testimony is important. What do you want to do by hiding behind an irrelevant person?"


    Zhang Ting shivered and grasped Fei Du''s sleeves.


    "It will be alright," Fei Du bent himself slightly, moved closer to her ear and said. "Tingting, just tell the truth. Captain Luo has the same opinion as mine--we both think it''s impossible that your brother is involved in this matter."


    Perhaps she wasforted by him, Zhang Ting hesitated for a moment and then took over Luo Wenzhou''s cell phone. She was not able to calm down to think carefully for a long time. When she was about to bite off a patch from her thumbnail, she nodded: "The photo is a little bit distorted... but I should have met him before. I was an intern at the trade center. And one day when I came downstairs to buy a tea, I ran into someone strange."


    She pointed to the photo shown on Luo Wenzhou''s cell phone: "It was this man. He grabbed me and asked if I knew someone called ''Feng Nian Ge'' (6)."


    =======================================================


    (1) prickle: The prickles of nts are often used as a metaphor for people who are hard to deal with.


    (2) give warmth: A type of activity in which Party A sends some gifts to or simply visits Party B so that the Party B feels happy. Generally speaking, Party A is more superior in social status than Party B.


    (3) The doors of Yamen look like the character <i>ba</i> when they are open. If you are on just grounds but have no money, you are unwee: Yamen was the administrative office in ancient China. When its doors are open they have the shape of Character (ba). This line was an old ng, which means if people want the Yamen to help them (even if they are really on just grounds), they needed to give bribe.


    (4) Er Ba: An old style bike brand.


    (5) small ck house: A humorous way to call the room for confinement.


    (6) Feng Nian Ge: Since Zhang Ting didn''t really know the characters in He Zhongyi''s line, these three characters are written as pinyin only. Please note that the first character ''Feng'' could either be a family name or simply a character in a given name, while thest character ''Ge'' could be either a character in a name or the way He Zhongyi refers to a man who is elder and more senior than him.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 12: Julien Eleven

    Chapter 12: Julien Eleven


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi, QC: Lady Blue</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "I do not ept your conclusion, Police Officer Luo."</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Luo Wenzhou stared into her eyes: "Family name is Feng. Was the full name ''Feng Nian'' or ''Feng Nian Ge'' (1)?"


    "I don''t know... it sounded like that. He had a light ent so I don''t know which character it was, nor do I know if thest character was a title or a character in a name," said the perplexed Zhang Ting, "It was already veryte, he suddenly jumped in my way with a very ttering smile and said some inexplicable words. I thought he was somewhat like a psychopath. I didn''t have anyone with me, so I was a bit scared and kept saying ''I don''t know''. I wanted to walk past him..."


    Luo Wenzhou asked: "When was this?"


    "A while ago," said Zhang Ting. "For a short while, a psychopathic exhibitionist kept walking around ourpany. Many people said they had seen him before, so our boss didn''t dare to let us work overtime. That day, however, I had some work to finish, so I stayed at thepany after office hour for a while. There were very few people downstairs, so I was a bit scared at first... otherwise I wouldn''t have asked my brother to pick me up."


    Thinking about the delivery man he met at the cafe, Fei Du suddenly felt puzzled and could not stop himself from chipping in: "Then the man badgered you?"


    Zhang Ting nodded: "Then I saw my brother, so I wanted to walk past the man and cross the street, but somehow he followed me. At the time, I was somewhat rmed so I nervously ran ahead for a few steps and said in a loud voice, ''Who are you? I don''t know you.''. They heard that and probably thought he was a rogue, so they beat him up."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Did He Zhongyi, this man on the photo, strike back?"


    "No," Zhang Ting''s eyes drooped as though thinking about that scene was something against her conscience, "He just held his head and dodged, only then did I realize that he looked quite young. Thinking that maybe I was too sensitive, I hastened to stop my brother."


    Fei Du raised his eyes gently: "They? Who else was there other than your brother?"


    Zhang Ting said: "It was my boyfriend who was driving that day since my brother had a few drinks."


    Fei Du responded with an "Oh". Then an expression carrying just the right amount of disappointment appeared on his face as though he was sincere about it: "Why does every good girl have a boyfriend? Who already reached out so promptly?"


    He said such an irrelevant and improper line at such a time. Luo Wenzhou frowned but did not tell him to shut up.


    Zhang Ting was stirred up by his ambiguous line and blushed a bit: "It is Zhao Haochang of Rong Shun. You know him as well, don''t you?"


    "Lawyer Zhao of Rong Shun Law Firm?" Fei Du passed over her and shot Luo Wenzhou a seemingly unintentional nce. "No wonder this time thewyer came so promptly."


    Luo Wenzhou asked another question: "After that, did you see this He Zhongyi again?"


    Zhang Ting shook her head, and looked at Luo Wenzhou with indecisiveness: "Captain Luo, it is impossible for my brother to kill."


    Luo Wenzhou rxed his facial expression, and said to Zhang Ting: "If your brother is really not rted to this case, we won''t wrong him. Even if we were unreasonable enough to want to casually pick someone to wrong, it wouldn''t be a rtive of our old director. Don''t worry, since it is impossible for your brother to kill, it is impossible for him to get into trouble here."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Zhang Ting heard those lines, but they were not that helpful--Zhang Doni was really not a fuel-efficientmp. She said "impossible", but deep in her mind, she was actually not very confident.


    "First go in with them to take some notes," said Luo Wenzhou. "I will tell Lang Qiao to do it. Just tell her the truth, it''s okay."


    He barely finished his lines when Fei Du lifted his feet and walked in front of Zhang Ting. Waving at her as if coaxing a kid, he whispered: "Don''t be afraid, I will stay with you."


    He took care of someone else''s sister, and offered service at all time as though he was the "brother-inw". Luo Wenzhou hated seeing this conduct, always osting girls whenever one was free, of the rotten bourgeois life. He wanted to sneer but was afraid of inciting Zhang Ting again, so he had to give up.


    Fei Du apanied Zhang Ting into the City Council. During the course of taking notes, he sat outside with a paper cup and waited.


    A momentter, Luo Wenzhou strolled over and sat next to him: "You guys are always hiringwyers and making us be very passive."


    "It wasn''t me who proposed awyer," Fei Du said. Just when Luo Wenzhou was surprised at the fact that he actually defended himself like a normal human, he quickly added another line that was not so human-like, "If Zhang Doni really killed someone, I wouldn''t need uselesswyers; I would give you another murderer."


    When talking to Tao Ran, Fei Du was always healthy,w-abiding, and positive. When talking to Luo Wenzhou, on the contrary, he was always bastardly, gloomy, andwless. Anyway, it seemed that neither side was the real him. They could never tell if he was lying or telling the truth.


    "Money is everything," Luo Wenzhou''s expression was cold, yet his voice soundedzy. His tone joking and serious at the same time, he continued, "Comrade, your argument is very dangerous."


    "It is not everything just because you don''t have enough of it," Fei Du switched the conversation with his expression unchanged, "Where''s Tao Ran?"


    "We are indebted to President Fei for showing us the direction," said Luo Wenzhou. "Only the method of showing remains to be discussed. Since we can''t use that as evidence in court, I had no choice but to send him out to find some usable evidence. Otherwise,ter on, when thewyer you brought here asks us to let Zhang Doni go, should we let him go or not?"


    He did not speak of any details in thesements as though they were talking using some secret signals. Even if there was somebody listening in from behind the walls, he probably would have been confused. Fei Du, however, knew that he was talking about the butt--although the cigarette butt was picked up in time, it was of unknown origin after all. Even though Luo Wenzhou was willing to believe him, the collegial panel would not. Therefore, the police had to follow this clue to find other traces.


    "Even if I hadn''t touched it, still it would have been toote for you to take it back. In that case, you couldn''t even verify if that person was the deceased." Fei Du shrugged. "Somebody once told me that ''everything that happens in the world will leave a trace'', but whether you can get it or not depends on the luck of both sides. How''s your luck this time?"


    Luo Wenzhou was suddenly confounded. The suggestive, jesting and subtly defiant expressions were immediately gone from his face. For a moment, his mouth was even somewhat tight.


    He subconsciously touched the cigarettes in his pocket, but he recalled something and put them back.


    Silence suddenly ensued. Neither of them was looking at the other. They were only sitting side by side with one meter in between like they were strangers who didn''t know each other at all.


    "Doors and windows were all properly locked. All rooms had no signs of forcible entry. At the time, the state-of-the-art security system was not triggered at all." Luo Wenzhou suddenly spoke. His voice was low, but the speed of talking was fast. It seemed like these words had been recited many times so that they could be uttered without a single mistake like a jingle.


    "She put on makeup, changed clothes, and even yed music. The scene looked like a space for some kind of ceremony. A note was left on the desk. Forensic identification showed that the handwriting belonged to the deceased. It was clear that the person who wrote down that letter had depression, which was consistent with the fact that she took antidepressant medication on a daily basis. The deceased herself was an adult, who had no major injuries or diseases that could have resulted in the loss of body autonomy. No drug that could causea was found in the body. There were no bruises from resistance at all--these are all the evidence we had gathered at that time. You were the informant. You came into contact with the scene earlier than us. Unless you want to tell me that you hid some evidence at the time, otherwise there is no doubt that it was a suicide case."


    Fei Du did not speak. His sitting form looked very rxed--his two legs ovepping with each other and his upper body leaning slightly forward. One of his hands was casually resting on his knees, while the other was carrying a paper cup that was no longer steaming. One of his slender fingers was tapping at the cup with a certain rhythm, as though the air was filled with some musical piece that others could not hear.


    "I said to you back then, ''everything that happens in the world will leave a trace, as long as it is real. If there is no trace to support your idea, no matter how much you believe in it, it is only a surmise''. Fei Du, you probably have some kind of intuition, but we can''t work relying on intuition alone. My instincts tell me every day that I can win five million yuan.". Luo Wenzhou''s gaze stopped at Fei Du''s fingers, and then he spoke in an almost brutally objective tone, "And do you know? There is a theory abroad that if one wants tomit suicide, she may suddenly confess to her family in some way--you also heard her confession at that time."


    Fei Du''s fingers suddenly froze in mid-air.


    Luo Wenzhou stretched his arm, pulled out the paper cup from Fei Du''s hand and put it aside: "If you want to talk about that case, I still insist on my own judgment--but none of our judgments matter anymore. It''s been seven years after the death and the final conclusion had already been made. All rted evidence has been destroyed with time. This may seem unpleasant, but she should be a primary school student by now if she has reincarnated. You should always remember her--keep your feelings alive, but there is no meaning in obsessing over it."


    Fei Du maintained his original sitting pose. He was motionless, as if he had turned into a statue.


    At this moment, Zhang Ting and thewyer came out side by side. Finally, Fei Du''s eyes gently moved. A sign of life emerged right where they were.


    "I do not ept your conclusion, Police Officer Luo." Fei Du said.


    Luo Wenzhou heard thisment but didn''t feel surprised. He just shrugged.


    Fei Du put his shirt in order, and then stood up to greet Zhang Ting and thewyer. Meanwhile, he lowered his head to look at Luo Wenzhou. There was no trace of a smile on his face. In fact, his eyes even looked gloomy: "However, your advice is not unreasonable."


    Luo Wenzhou was taken aback, but after finishing these words, Fei Du once again masked himself with his usual graceful bearing. Apanying Zhang Ting, he left without exchanging any further words or expressions with Luo Wenzhou.


    Right when Fei Du opened the car door for Zhang Ting, he saw a bus bearing police license stop in front of the entrance of the Bureau. The driver got off the bus first, pointed at the Bureau and said something. Then, a thin and small middle-aged woman, her mouth open with a mixed expression of fear and confusion, staggered out of the car.


    She pressed her fingers tightly against the door, and the cotton print trousers, which drooped down along her two thin legs, were slightly quivering.


    After closing the car door, the driver supported and pushed the woman towards the Yan Cheng Bureau.


    Clutching the man beside her like she was grasping a life-saving straw, the woman walked a few steps staggeringly before suddenly crouching down and sobbing like she could not breathe. After a short interval, she burst into a surge of tears hysterically. Seeing this, all passersby stopped walking without exception. Some even took out their phone.


    Fei Du frowned as he heard thewyer kept telling Zhang Ting: "Their so-called ''major suspicions'' have no supporting evidence at all. Don''t worry, Miss Zhang; I will stay here and watch them. Once time is up (2), they must let him go!"


    "He Zhongyi''s mother is suffering from uremia and has been on dialysis for years. He was the only source of ie for the family," Lang Qiao quickly said to Luo Wenzhou. The woman''s cry was echoing and boring into the Bureau. Lang Qiao frowned as though this was against her conscience, "Can she survive crying like this? She is sick already. She be careful and not worsen her own condition."


    Luo Wenzhou did not have the chance to answer her.


    Another policeman of the Bureau came running over from the side: "Boss, Huashi District Sub Bureau reported. On the grounds that the murderer was suspected to have dumped the body and make the crime scene unclear to us, as well as the Sub Bureau having limited authority, they want to transfer the ''520'' case to us."


    "Boss, there''s a call from Yancheng media online. They want to know if the news that we have caught the suspect is true."


    "Captain Luo, thewyer brought by Zhang Ting has been questioning our arrest procedures all this time. We don''t have sufficient evidence to take Zhang Doni into custody! Do we have to let him go or not?"


    "Cap. Luo..."


    Luo Wenzhou stretched out his hand and pushed down the noises.


    He picked up the phone in the vague cries of He Zhongyi''s mother: "Speak, Tao Ran."


    "Wenzhou, I got the monitoring record of bus No. 34."


    =======================================================


    (1) Feng Nian or Feng Nian Ge: Thest character ''Ge'' could be either a character in a name or a way He Zhongyi refers to a man who is elder and senior than him.


    (2) Once time is up: Byw, the police are only allowed to keep suspects in the Bureau for 24 hours without convincing evidence.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 13: Julien Twelve

    Chapter 13: Julien Twelve


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi, QC: Me3</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "Have you ever heard of the Golden Triangle Area, then?"</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "Around ten past nine He Zhongyi got on a No.34 bus at the East Nanping Drive Stop. About 20 minutester, the No. 34 bus arrived at the Wenchang Intersection Stop. He Zhongyi got off and the surveince camera near Wenchang Crossing captured his figure from the back. A few minutester, he walked out of the area covered by surveince and became untraceable."


    Luo Wenzhou grew up in Yancheng, so names of the ces were enough for him to figure out the approximate location.


    "Wenchang Road" was located in the area southeast of the Central Business District of Huashi District. Meaning, after the deceased left Chengguang Mansion, not only did he not go home but he also went further in the opposite direction.


    "I''m at the Wenchang Intersection right now," said Tao Ran with a mobile phone in his hand, traffic noises all around him. "So at least between nine o''clock and half past nine, He Zhongyi was not at the Western District. The noises heard by the people around at the time were unrted to the murder. Ma Xiaowei was wronged. Why did Wang Hongliang capture him in such a hurry? Those who don''t know the details will think it was the police who killed and wanted to find someone to take the rap."


    "Captain Luo." At this moment, a criminal policeman ran over and tackled Luo Wenzhou with a pile of material. "Colleagues from legal medical sent over the report. It is estimated that the time of death of the deceased, He Zhongyi, was between nine o''clock and ten o''clock in the evening of the 20th."


    "From nine o''clock to ten o''clock," Luo Wenzhou took over the material and browsed through them, not answering Tao Ran''s question. "ording to this conclusion, it is highly probable that He Zhongyi was killed shortly after he got off the bus."


    Tao Ran apparently found a quiet ce so there was much less noise on the phone: "At about nine o''clock, dinner at Chengguang Mansion was just over. Zhang Doni came out of the room and was recorded by the surveince camera in the courtyard for the first time. He stayed in the courtyard for a while and then returned to the room. At around a quarter to ten, he was seen again by the surveince camera in the courtyard. He talked to a girl for some time and then they went to the grove together."


    Luo Wenzhou sighed: "I think Young Master Zhang has a really tight schedule and should be too busy to kill someone."


    "If Zhang Doni doesn''t have a twin brother, he is indeed cleared of suspicion. Do we have to let him go?"


    Luo Wenzhou did not express an opinion on this matter and asked: "What else have you found?"


    "Communication records," said Tao Ran, "Let me tell you, this is strange. The deceased made a phone call when he was waiting for someone outside Chengguang Mansion, didn''t he? I got his number from his roommate and checked hismunication records. In the evening of the 20th, He Zhongyimunicated several times with an unregistered number by phone."


    "Hmm?" Luo Wenzhou raised his eyebrows. "How is this strange? We have deduced that the deceased and the murderer should know each other, haven''t we?"


    Tao Ran said: "The strange part is not the phone calls - around ten to ten that evening, He Zhongyi received a text message from another unregistered and untraceable number, which reads ''Checkout location was changed to the Golden Triangle Area, May 20th''. What do you think this means? Checkout? Checkout for what? With whom? And what is this ''Golden Triangle'' Area? I sort of feel that this name is a bit..."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Luo Wenzhou suddenly interrupted him: "Before that, Wenchang Road is the core area of the old city and is heavily popted. Nine o''clock to ten o''clock is not toote. Take a few brothers there, ask around to check if anyone there saw him."


    Tao Ran was puzzled. Before he could say anything, Luo Wenzhou had already hung up in a hurry. He could not help but frown at his mobile phone. Before this case, Tao Ran thought that Wang Hongliang was simply just a bug in the system; all he wanted to do was shift his responsibility to others and enjoy all the privileges without doing a stroke of work. Therefore, in order to prevent him from doing anything that goes over the line, breaks the rule or obstructs the investigation, it was better to find an excuse and kick him down.


    It was not until this moment that Tao Ran was finally aware, vaguely, of the fact that there was more to this case than just politics.


    The Criminal Investigation Team of the Bureau worked very efficiently. In less than an hour, the criminal police were all in position. They were divided into four groups and began to ask around with a detailed close-up photo of the deceased, He Zhongyi.


    Generally speaking, this kind of work was one of the criminal police''s daily activities. It had to be done, but it was extremely time-consuming and boring. It was about as painful as handing out leaflets along the road. They had to exin the same thing to countless people many times over, but whether they could find any clues or not still depended on luck.


    Because the human eyes are not surveince cameras, it is impossible for them to keep a record of every passer-by.


    And the city was toorge. Everyone moved round and round in the torrent of dailymutes - most of the neighbors were just bowing acquaintances to each other. There was nothing but arge nket of lowered heads in public transports. With just a palm-sized screen, one could watch the farce happening at the other side of the ocean, dive into the tales of the north and south poles, and participate in the discussion of all the major events happening in the 9.6 million square kilometers area (1). People were busy every single minute. Of course they had no time to remember a trifling, inappropriately dressed worker.


    Because he was too ordinary and too boring, he was not good enough for others to look at, nor good enough to be kept in anyone''s memory even for a short time.


    Living or dead.


    This time, the police''s luck had run out. Tao Ran and other policemen carried the sun with their heads, but even until they had managed to push it on track to go down, they found nothing.


    "Vice captain, the people we asked all said they had not seen him."


    "Vice Captain Tao, we visited the road in the west, and watched through the surveince videos of the shops along the street. Guess whatnothing."


    "An old man said he might have seen this man. I asked him where the man was going, then he pointed me to a construction site."


    At this point, the clues to find where He Zhongyi went to after he got off the bus, and where he was killed was once again untraceable.


    This less-than-20-year-old young man had just stayed in the huge Yancheng for less than one year. He walked around the center of the city for more than half ap in the silent film recorded by the surveince cameras, disappeared and died in an unknown corner.


    However, even after death, the body still refused to rest. Strangely, he surprisingly went back to the Huashi Western District from a great distance - returned to where he came from, without affecting the city buildings around the bustling urban area.


    Tao Ran had run out of resorts. He had to disband the criminal police who had been roasted by the sun to the point of greasiness and briefed Luo Wenzhou on the progress of his failed work.


    "I guess there would be no more progress on this side," said Tao Ran. "I still have to go back and make a victim analysis... Are you outside?"


    Luo Wenzhou seemed to be in someone''s car since the road conditions reported via the vehicle-mounted radio could be heard on the phone, and the host was using the "exhaustive method" to describe the "Nowhere-in-the-city-is-not-congested" evening peak.


    Luo Wenzhou responded ambiguously, then paused and turned off the vehicle-mounted radio: "Or you can think of ways to get some clues from Zhang Doni."


    "Zhang Doni?" Tao Ran had already been speaking continuously for one day, his throat smoking and his brain dull, so he inquired with a nk look in his eyes, "He is basically cleared of suspicion, isn''t he?"


    "Zhang Ting said that He Zhongyi once stopped her and asked her for a mysterious person, who had a family name ''Feng''. If He Zhongyi had not been mistaken at the time, the mysterious figure might have certain rtionships with Zhang Ting. Besides, I don''t know if you have noticed that He Zhongyi left the area near Chengguang Mansion at just about the same time Zhang Doni came out from the clubhouse and went to the courtyard for the first time. Obviously, at that time, Zhang Doni was not intending to leave Chengguang Mansion, so apart from catching his breath outside, what was he there for?"


    Tao Ran was initially puzzled, but then figured his meaning at once: "The dinner ended and some people wanted to leave first, so he came out to lead the way - you mean, it was highly probable that the person He Zhongyi wanted to meet was in the group of people who left at that time?"


    "Earned ten points but no bonus - the suspicious phone. Why did we investigate Zhang Doni yesterday in the first ce? It was because of the cell phone. With the characteristics of Zhang Doni, he may not even know how to write the word ''apologize''. If the cell phone had no connection to him, however, was it the person who gave He Zhongyi the cell phone who had done that in the name of Zhang Doni, or was it the deceased who had lied to his friend about this matter? Why did he tell such a lie?"


    Luo Wenzhou said all of this without a break, then took a breath and told him, "Let''s go about it this way. Now you get off work first ande earlier tomorrow. Let''s re-interrogate Zhang Doni before the 48 hours time limit. I will ask Lang Qiao to lead a team and investigate He Zhongyi..."


    Before he hung up, Tao Ran suddenly said: "Are you at the Huashi Western District now?"


    Luo Wenzhou, who was sitting in an illegitimate taxi, said with a faint smile on his face: "In the world, only my wife can monitor my location. Tao Tao, are you sure you want to ask?"


    "Are you investigating Wang Hongliang?" Tao Ran ignored his nonsense and whispered, "I don''t want to get promoted or make a fortune. I don''t care how Director Zhang nned to deal with Wang Hongliang. And I don''t want to know who will be the next director. If anyone hasmitted crime, however, catching him is our duty regardless of his status."


    "Your current duty is to catch the murderer who killed He Zhongyi," Luo Wenzhouughed, "OK, wild kid has so many questions, let me tell you - at the moment I only suspect that something is rted to Wang Hongliang. It is rather perfunctory to put a ''criminal'' hat on him (2) only based on a report even though he is a ''Mediterranean sea'' (3). I will fight the initial battle first. Then once there is evidence that really points to him, you''d better wait to work overtime. I will not exclude you."


    Luo Wenzhou hung up the phone and turned around to look at the illegitimate taxi driver, who was sitting properly with his clothes straightened.


    The illegitimate taxi driver refused to tell Luo Wenzhou his full name and simply imed himself to be "Little Zhen". His whole body was so rigid that it seemed like he did not trust any animal with two legs in the world. Once his eyes collided with Luo Wenzhou''s in the rearview mirror, he quickly averted his eyes and pretended that he did not care about the topic of the phone call.


    Luo Wenzhou said: "This is a case under investigation. After the case is closed, it might be permissible to disclose the details of the investigation depending on the circumstances. However, it has not been closed yet. Therefore, we need to trouble you to keep the secret."


    Little Zhen''s eyes flickered: "What are you talking about, I don''t understand."


    Luo Wenzhou quietly stared at the young illegitimate taxi driver through his sunsses: "Last time, you told me that your elder sister was murdered by Wang Hongliang and his drug trafficking gang. However, I went back to check the records and found out that your elder sister was arrested for prostitution, andter, died of excessive drug consumption. Chen Zhen, this case involves a public security officer in charge of a district along with many of his subordinates. We cannot file a report and start the investigation with only your statement."


    When heid bare the full name of Chen Zhen, the young man stepped on the brake and stopped the car on the side of the road.


    Luo Wenzhou did not turn a hair: "Illegal parking, I will not plead for you in the submission of fine."


    Chen Zhen was pale with humiliation and anger intertwining on his face. He red at Luo Wenzhou fiercely: "My sister is not that kind of person."


    Luo Wenzhou remained unmoved, reached out and knocked at the window, stressing every syble: "E -- vi -- dence."


    "My sister wasn''t able to tell me anything in time," said Chen Zhen, "During those days she was not able to fall asleep night after night. Everyday she seemed to be afraid of something. If I asked her, she would lose her temper at me, and told me not to put my finger in her pie. I... I overheard her call with someone..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Who?"


    Chen Zhen lowered his head, wiped his eyes and shook his head quickly.


    Luo Wenzhou pulled out a piece of tissue from beside him and handed it to Chen Zhen: "Have you ever heard of the Golden Triangle Area, then?"


    Chen Zhen was puzzled.


    At the Fei building, the secretary knocked on the door of Fei Du''s office: "President Fei, Rong Shun''s Lawyer Zhao came."


    Fei Du nodded: "He has an appointment, wee him."


    The secretary had never worked overtime ever since she started to work for her current boss, Fei Du, nor had she seen him meet a work-rted guest at this hour. Therefore she could not help but feel a sense of novelty.


    She smiled and led the guest to Fei Du''s office. After that, she served the tea and sized him up stealthily. She found that this Lawyer Zhao was well-dressed, tall and handsome; there was, however, a special air of youthfulness in his eyes and eyebrows, both of whichbined and produced a special pure temperament.


    The secretary always knew that this Fei guy was always fine with both man and woman. Particrly, he liked the type that was gentle, quiet, pure and rtively not one to take the initiative. Therefore, she was suddenly "enlightened". Before she could figure out everything, her eyes met with Fei Du''s eyes and faint smile. With her tongue sticking out, she quickly picked up the professional conduct of "Imperial Pce Steward" and left with her eyes looking at her nose and her nose looking at her mouth (4).


    Rong Shun was the legal advisor they employed for a few special projects. Fei Du supported his chin and listened to Lawyer Zhao describing several documents in detail as if he was really absorbing. And then he cut in with the gloves off: "How is Ting Ting?"


    Lawyer Zhao was puzzled. Apparently he did not expect that this trust fund baby, who wascking in both learning and practical ability, would not even bother to pretend to understand things for a while. He quickly reacted, however, remaining calm andying down the materials he had prepared for a long time: "I heard from a ssmate majoring in penalw that the evidence of the police is not enough to carry out the arrest. President Zhang should be released tomorrow. It''s nothing serious. Ting Ting was falsely rmed. Thank you for your concern."


    "Ting Ting is not my only concern," Fei Du smiled ambiguously like he had said a thousand word without speaking. "It seems that at crucial times, it is really useful to know a few young talents like Lawyer Zhao - would you indulge me by staying here for dinner together?"


    Lawyer Zhao frowned and was about to reject. However, Fei Du had already stood up without allowing him to speak and gave him a "please" gesture.


    Fei Company was Rong Shun''s biggest client. The two parties started the cooperation even before Fei Du became the president, so it had always been a big source of Rong Shun''s revenue. Zhao Haochang had to give face to Fei Du, so he had no choice but to stand up.


    "I don''t know if you avoid certain food, so I let them prepare something random," Fei Du walked in front of him and asked seemingly without intention, "By the way, Haochang, where is your hometown, are you a native?"


    This should be a normal, very-easy-to-answer question. However, Zhao Haochang was suddenly stuck. Not until Fei Du felt something was wrong and looked back at him inquiringly, did Zhao Haochang finally avoid Fei Du''s gaze and block him off with an "mm", neither affirming nor denying it.


    =======================================================


    (1) 9.6 million square kilometers: The area of China.


    (2) Put a ''criminal'' hat on him: Means to put a ''criminal''bel on someone.


    (3) Mediterranean Sea: Since Mediterranean Sea is almostpletely enclosed bynd, this phrase is used as a metaphor for people who''s bold at the top of the head but has hair around that area.


    (4) Her eyes looking at her nose and her nose looking at her mouth: Buddhists believe when we concentrate on our nose, we could somehow see things through it. So this sentence basically means only focus on herself.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 14: Julien Thirteen

    Chapter 14: Julien Thirteen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Originally, Luo Wenzhou wanted to pack up these demons and threw them out, but when his eyes fell on the old gaming device, he suddenly rxed his facial expression.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    It was May 24th and it had been four days since the death of He Zhongyi, a juvenile in the Huashi Western District.


    With his gloves on, Luo Wenzhou was leafing through an old album--which he got from the illegitimate taxi driver, Chen Zhen.


    Chen Zhen and his elder sister Chen Yuan were twins, who were brought up locally by their grandparents. After the old couple passed away in session, Chen Yuan, the elder sister, was admitted to a university while Chen Zhen gave up on education earlier and went out to make money since his academic performance was not good enough.


    The girl in the photos was very delicate. She was grinning and showing two small canine teeth that were not very symmetrical in every photo.


    This was the only thing she had left behind. She died mysteriously. Due to the fact that she did not have a decent death, the police conducted several searches over her personal belongings on the ground that she was suspected to be involved in drug trafficking. Chen Zhen was not able to keep Chen Yuan''s second-handputer and mobile phone.


    Luo Wenzhou flipped through the album from beginning to end, and his eyes stayed on several photos that appeared to be taken during university club events. In these photos, there was a girl who was very intimate with Chen Yuan. On the back of one photo, a date and a line of note were written in pencil: "Joined Tea Arts Club with Little Cui. Thank you for being there with me."


    "Little Cui." Luo Wenzhou opened themunication log he obtained -- about half a month before her death, Chen Yuan had a call with a user named "Cui Ying".


    At that moment, Lang Qiao knocked on the door of his office and waved at him listlessly: "Boss,e out to take a look at a brain-damaged man. Ten yuan for a ticket. If he is not brain-damaged, you don''t have to pay."


    The Yancheng Bureau Criminal Investigation Team collectively experienced the extraordinary features of Young Master Zhang. Nine out of ten of his sentences were bullshit. The 48-hour detention in the Bureau dried up his brain and nobody knew what still remained in that empty shell. The level of verbal intelligence it produced was deeply touching (1).


    "''Feng Nian Ge''? Never heard of that. I don''t know anyone with the family name Feng. Is this a man or a woman? Or tell me about how this person looks like. Maybe I have slept with him or her but I don''t remember the name."


    "Do I know any person in the Chengguang Mansion on the evening of the 20th? I know all of them... what, who are they? Well, uncle policemen, master policemen! They made me take a pound of white spirit that night. And who knows how many cups of red wine I drunk. And they also gave me half a dozen Champagnes! That''s a Trinity! It was already excellent for me to still rememeber who I was. How could I remember who I met."


    "I haven''t had any conflicts with anyone recently. I''m very gentle. Ah? Even beating someone up counts? Oh, then that''s hard to count... I just beated someone up, what harm can that do? Do they dare to take revenge? Better go inquire about who I am first!"


    "How many times have I repeated? That cell phone was really not given by me. I have never given any gifts to anybody other than my lovers. Besides, even if I wanted to give him something, I would not give him a cheap cell phone, right? That''s too disgraceful!"


    In addition to spending money and sleeping around, Young Master Zhang''s daily life was full of chaos. All great events and minor matters were just fleeting clouds. None of them would leave any trace in his heart. The state of his mind was qualified to be called "outside the dust" (2).  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Luo Wenzhou stood there, listened for a while, and then made an assertivement on Zhang Doni. He said: "This kid must have been thrown over and got hit on the head by his father when he was a child."


    Tao Ran had with him the patience of the whole world and tried to repeatedly ask questions from various aspects. However, he was still not able to fish out any useful information from Zhang Doni''s memory that was constantly being formatted.


    Once the 48 hours passed, thewyer hired by Zhang Ting blocked the entrance of the Bureau and asked the criminal investigation team to release Zhang Doni based on thews.


    "I really can''t do anything anymore." Tao Ran breathed out twice and shrugged at Luo Wenzhou.


    Luo Wenzhou thought for a moment and slightly lifted his chin: "There is no sufficient evidence, let him go."


    "Captain Luo!"


    "Boss!"


    Lang Qiao grabbed Luo Wenzhou: "Boss, He Zhongyi''s mother wailed outside yesterday and was photographed by some busybodies. Many people are there waiting for the excitement and are prepared to act on hearsay now. If you release him, what will they say?"


    "We can let Zhang Doni go." Tao Ran thought for a moment and suggested, "ording to the time of death and the whereabouts of the deceased before death, his alibi is rtively clear..."


    "No, don''t mention anything else first, just say that there is no sufficient evidence," Luo Wenzhou cut, "Don''t announce the details of the investigation to the public and release him first."


    Lang Qiao listened to his dictatorial practice and could not help but say: "Boss, have you gotten infected by Zhang Doni''s disease? It can even spread through windows. This mental handicap must be a fulminating infectious disease."


    Luo Wenzhou knocked at her head once: "So loquacious, be careful with the nasbial folds."


    Tao Ran, on the other hand, muttered to himself for a moment and thoughtfully said: "You want to..."


    "Mm, from now on, no one is allowed to leak the investigation progress and any rted details of the case. Just tell them that ''There is insufficient evidence, therefore we have noment. We are re-investigating the social rtions of the deceased from childhood to now.''" Luo Wenzhou nodded at Tao Ran, then said inly, "This is discipline, I will punish anyone who vites. Dismissed."


    A migrantborer died bizarrely and the culprit was a nephew of the director of the Bureau. He would soon be released because of "no sufficient evidence" -- this news travelled even faster than what the Lang Qiao gang had worried. The procedures for the release of Zhang Doni had not beenpleted yet, but the entrance of the Bureau had already been blocked by various physical and online media.


    As if the telephone number of the criminal investigation team had turned into a hotline, it rang again and again with one call after another. Even Director Lu, who was there in ce of Director Zhang temporarily, was rmed and called Luo Wenzhou to his office for enquiry.


    From the other side of the window, Director Lu took a look at the people standing outside the reception and asked Luo Wenzhou with a rather dignified look on his face: "Are you sure you can handle this?"


    Luo Wenzhou smiled at him unconcernedly: "You don''t even feel relieved when I am in charge?"


    Director Lu stared at him: "Be careful when you want to go fishing with bait. Don''t put yourself in trouble -- the leaders of the city will certainly give us pressure. I can handle them for you for at most two days. Carefully consider what to do."


    "Thank you, Uncle Lu." Luo Wenzhou thought for a while and lowered his voice slightly. "Don''t worry about Wang Hongliang. He managed to keep all those things under wraps only because no one has investigated him for years. I don''t believe anyone can hide the truth from the masses."


    Director Lu smiled and looked at him with a severe countenance: "As long as we can verify that the situation reported is real, no matter how deep his roots are inside the system and who is protecting him behind, as long as Old Zhang and I am still here, we can handle him -- But you still need to be careful. Do you understand?"


    When Luo Wenzhou went downstairs, he met with Zhang Doni''s "friends and family" identally.


    In order to reduce social repercussion, Zhang Family didn''t send anyone other than Zhang Ting to pick him up. Obviously, they wanted to keep a low profile as far as they could.


    Unexpectedly, things went athwart. The children were all debts. Zhang Doni''s disreputable gang somehow heard of this and rushed to the Bureau as if they desired to see the world plunge into chaos. Several luxurious cars parked at the entrance of the Bureau and several gaudily dressed men and women rushed to the stage. Nobody could tell whether they came to show off or to lose face.


    Thewyer rolled up his sleeves and went to get Zhang Doni while Zhao Haochang followed Zhang Ting closely -- among Zhang Doni''s group of shameful friends, this couple appeared to be unusually fresh, pure, kind and simple.


    Of course Fei Du was also there. This time however, he, the leader of all yboys, was there apanying Zhang Ting with a low profile like a pure outsider. Luo Wenzhou saw him and found that he dressed formally, wore headphones and devoted himself to ying a very old "PSP".


    Originally, Luo Wenzhou wanted to pack up these demons and threw them out, but when his eyes fell on the old gaming device, he suddenly rxed his facial expression. For the first time in forever he didn''t pick a quarrel and instead, quietly walked to Fei Du''s side. At the same time, he took a deep breath and mentally created a state of mind -- he decided to keep his emotions stable even if he saw this kid ying a restricted bloody violence game.


    Unexpectedly, after a long moment of building up his psyche, Luo Wenzhou leaned forward and saw a group of charmingly naive "big-eyedmps" running on the screen of Fei Du''s old PSP -- the overbearing chief was actually ying "Patapon" (3) enthusiastically.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    When Fei Du was fighting all the way though, Zhang Doni, who was yelling, finally came out. He walked with the wind and eximed loudly before actually stepping out of the Bureau: "Everybody who hase today is my brother. From now on, if anything happens, just tell me! Your brother, I, will help you even if I have to let knives stick into my ribs (4) -- even if my ribs will turn into a knife holder!"


    Fei Du''s big-eyed army had been advancing and retreating properly, but a mistake was made after he heard this bloody im. Once a wrong move was made, they routed like andslide.


    Luo Wenzhou kept silent until he saw "game over", and then spoke slowly: "I have been puzzled for a while. Why are you mingling with Zhang Doni''s gang?"


    Fei Du nced at him and put his gaming device into his pocket unhurriedly: "Because I think he lives a particrly philosophical life."


    Luo Wenzhou was not able to figure out whether thisment wasmendatory or derogatory.


    Fei Du waved at Zhang Doni who was running over to him, turned his head to give Luo Wenzhou a false smirk, and then went to talk with Tao Ran.


    This group of young masters swaggered their way out of the Bureau. One could use his toenails to figure out (5) how excited the media outside were.


    Lang Qiao seemed to see the hot topics appearing in future weeks. She could not help but cover her eyes and whispered to Tao Ran: "I don''t dare to look."


    Tao Ran: "Don''t look. Go work."


    Just when the young masters arrived at the entrance, a figure suddenly popped out of the way and rushed into Zhang Doni''s gang.


    The figure had thin body and withered hair, who was no other than He Zhongyi''s mother.


    Several yboys leading in front inexplicably looked at each other with the funnily dressed woman for a moment, and one of them whispered: "Who is she?"


    He Zhongyi''s mother''s blood-stained and dry eyes brushed over the faces of several people. Her lips had twitched a few times. The voice like that of a baby cat came out of her throat: "Who killed my son?"


    She could not pronounce the words clearly and her ent was heavy, so she had to ask repeatedly for about three to four times before people could figure out what she said.


    Zhang Doni''s face darkened slightly. He said as though he had encountered something that brought him bad luck: "Who knows? Anyway it''s not me."


    After he finished saying these words, he lowered his head to avoid the woman''s eyes, took the lead to step out and walked past by rounding her. His friends and rtives followed him closely, scattered to both sides and avoided the woman as much as possible, as though they were eluding gue.


    "Is this woman mentally abnormal?"


    "Let''s keep our voice down a bit. She is also very pitiful."


    "Is it not pitiful to be arrested and locked up in a small dark house for no reason?"


    "Let me tell you, I was wronged more severely than Dou E (6). I don''t even know her son..."


    The woman stood still, stared nkly at those who walked past her sides indifferently: "Who killed my son? You...you can''t go..."


    Seeing that the group of people was about to leave before her eyes, the woman was anxious. She aimlessly reached out in the air to catch something and identally got entangled with a girl''s long hair.


    The girl immediately screamed as if she was a cat whose tail got stepped on, grabbed her hair, pressed it to her own chest, jumped to the side and hid behind apanion. The young man next to her instinctively reached out and stopped the old woman: "What are you doing, are you ill?"


    The woman bumped into the young man''s hard arm, fell to the ground and happened to hit Fei Du, who came out at the end of the gang.


    Fei Du was originally saying goodbye to Tao Ran. He was shocked by the person who came out of the blue, and stepped backward due to the ident.


    Before he could react, the woman stretched out her chicken-w-like hands, grabbed Fei Du''s valuable trousers desperately as if she was clutching a life-saving straw, and said incoherently: "You can''t go! You can''t go! You need to give me an exnation... You can''t go..."


    Several policemen were going to pull her away. The young man who pushed the woman down also frowned and walked towards them: "Mr. Fei..."


    Fei Du got shot even when he wasying down (7). He frowned at the woman on his body and patted her on the shoulder awkwardly: "Would you like to get up first?"


    The woman suddenly raised her head and looked into his eyes for a short moment. She then cried with dropping tears. The image was indeed not very decent. Her deep sorrow had turned her into mud.


    Fei Du was suddenly stunned as though he saw someone through her eyes.


    He bent down, held the shoulder of the woman very softly, supported her to help her stand up, and then waved at Zhang Doni''s gang: "You guys go first."


    =======================================================


    (1) The level of verbal intelligence it produced was deeply touching: Sarcastic way to say someone is stupid.


    (2) Outside the dust: A Taoist concept. The state of mind that is free from worries and all matters in the world.


    (3) Patapon: A cute video game (as imed by the author of this novel).


    (4) Your brother, I, will help you even if I have to let knives stick into my ribs: A idiom about friendship, means "I will help you at the loss of my life".


    (5) One could use his toenails to figure out: Means something is very obvious.


    (6) Dou E: The protagonist of the famous Yuan Dynasty Chinese y <i>The Injustice to Dou E</i>. She was wronged and executed. This injustice touched the heaven and earth and in order to prove her innocence, a heavy snowfall happened in the midsummer.


    (7) Got shot even when he wasying down: Means got into troubles / got med for no reason.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 15: Julien Fourteen

    Chapter 15: Julien Fourteen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Expectedly, these two mental retards were only able to maintain the peace for only three minutes before they started the damn war again.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "I hate analyzing the victim." Lang Qiao pouted and put a pen under her lips and nose. "For those victims who are injured for no apparent reason, I feel like I need a long time before my heart to ept that. Why? Why does someone who is so good have to end up like that just because of bad luck? Why should someone who struggled to live for many years have to be killed by an unprovoked attack from a scum? But for those victims who are not innocent, or those that even deserve what they got, I feel that it serves them right. And... our action of finding the murderer on his behalf is no different than holding the candle to the devil, I... oh!"


    Luo Wenzhou had rolled the paper into a paper drum and knocked the back of her head, sessfully stopping Lang Qiao''s long speech.


    Lang Qiao held the back of her head: "What did you hit me again for? What I said is what people feel! The police are also people!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Want your sry or not?"


    Lang Qiao: "...Yes."


    "Then just do your job. From where do you get so many feelings?" Luo Wenzhou grabbed a white board with one hand. Below the photo of a boy who had a small crescent scar on his forehead, he wrote down "He Zhongyi, male, eighteen years old, deliveryman, H-province" and other basic information.


    Then, with his height advantage, from above the small white board, and through the clear ss windows of the office, he took a look at Fei Du who was apanying Mother He.


    Mother He probably heard something from someone and felt very desperate for Zhang Doni to be released from the Bureau. As she believed that her action would lead to nowhere, she cried until she copsed, to the point that she could barely walk upright. As a result, she came back with Fei Du''s support.


    She was either instinctively grabbing a life-saving straw, or she firmly believed that Fei Du was one members of the Zhang Doni gang and so she "could not let him run away". While Mother He''s mind was nk, she subconsciously and firmly grabbed the corner of Fei Du''s clothes.


    Fei Du was forced to stay there, and therefore Luo Wenzhou saw this scene outside of the window.


    Fei Du was a young man after all--it would be easy for him to forcibly get rid of the sick woman who was not even taller than his chest. However, he unexpectedly did not lose his temper and just quietly sat together with this old and ugly woman.


    At this time, He Mother had recovered from the exhaustion from her copse and retrieved some of her wisdom. Luo Wenzhou saw Fei Du hold one of her hands, lean over, and whisper to her. Luo Wenzhou did not know what rhetoric he had said, but Mother He slowly calmed down. She even asionally nodded or shook her head to respond.


    Luo Wenzhou looked through the window and asked, "Has Ma Xiaowei been released?"


    Tao Ran hung up the phone: "No. The Sub Bureau sent a message to me and said that Ma Xiaowei''s drug addiction broke out. The people''s police had found out bulks of drug from his residence, so he was detained."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Can we call him in for an interrogation?"


    Tao Ran shrugged: "No. It is said that he is very unstable. If anything happens, the Sub Bureau cannot take responsibility. If we really want to have an interrogation, we have to send people to the Sub Bureau."


    Wang Hongliang seemed to have made up his mind and would not allow them toe into contact with Ma Xiaowei alone. For this reason, he treated the boy as a museum artifacts--only allowing others to take a look at him through the window. Take him away from Sub Bureau? No way.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    At the time, two policemen on the criminal investigation team came in with a cardboard box: "Boss, we brought back all of He Zhongyi''s personal belongings. After the investigation, we can return them to his family. There might be something useful."


    He Zhongyi did not have many personal items. There were several pieces of clothing--most of them were uniforms that were given to employees by delivery points--basic daily necessities, a mobile box that he reluctantly could not throw away, and a diary.


    Well, it was a diary without much content. It was basically an ount book with memos.


    In addition to being a delivery person, He Zhongyi apparently also did temporary part-time jobs from time to time. There were always scattered ie of small amounts. Summing all those up, his monthly ie wasparable to that of a young white-cor worker.


    The ount book had very detailed records, even events such as spending 2.5 yuan for breakfast was noted down. Luo Wenzhou flipped through a few pages and suddenly said: "What does the note that was attached to the head of the deceased look like? Let me take a look at it."


    Someone next to him immediately brought out the close-up photo and handed it to him.


    That character "Qian" was written in an askew form--a "kid style" handwriting that was far from decent. The hook on the right was sorge that it was about to upy half of the entire world of the character, which looked very uncoordinated--Exactly the same as the handwriting of the character "Qian" in He Zhongyi''s ount book.


    "This character was written by the deceased himself." Tao Ran was puzzled, "Wait, I remember when He Zhongyi appeared in the Chengguang Mansion that night, he was carrying a kraft paper bag in his hand. Was there a note in the bag? That kraft paper bag went missingter on. What was inside?"


    Luo Wenzhou read through He Zhongyi''s notebook ten lines at a time: "Was it possible that it was cash? Look at this."


    Outside the window, Fei Duo nodded with eptance: "It really costed a lot for the treatment of this disease, but he had just arrived in Yancheng at the time, didn''t he? He just started working. From where did he get so much money?"


    Mother He whispered hoarsely: "He said that his GongJia (1) had given him an advance."


    "Gongjia?" Fei Du was not that familiar with the term, so only reacted after being puzzled for a short while. "You mean the ce where he worked?"


    Mother He''s body was not in good condition. She was a rural woman who rarely came into contact with the outside world, so she did not know the short-termborious employment rtionship of the manualborers and their employers--Many people got paid on a daily basis. Both the boss and the worker suspected the other party would run away at any time. The boss who was willing to pay wages in advance was basically doing charity.


    And even if the boss did do charity and wished to umte virtue to offer help in emergency, it was very kind enough already to pay for one or two months worth of sry in advance. Nheless, the amount of money spent on Mother He''s treatment was probably equivalent to several years worth of sry of a delivery man.


    Such a great favour was absolutely impossible to pay off by offeringbor. Offering himself was more appropriate.


    President Fei, who was also very experienced with men, objectively recalled when he once met He Zhongyi. He concluded that based on the appearance, the boy was not worth the price.


    So who gave him the money at the time? Why did he not tell the truth to his mother?


    He Zhongyi''s ount book held a record of a debt of RMB 100,000. This mysterious debt came from nowhere. In order to investigate this, the criminal police of the Bureau all set off and spent most of a day''s worth of time to interrogate all people at He Zhongyi''s workce and all people around him. People who were asked all looked inexplicable; not only did they not admit to have lent him money, but they also imed that they did not even know that he had borrowed money.


    When Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran returned to the Bureau, they found Mother He curled up on a few chairs and was asleep. Fei Du got a nket from somewhere and covered her.


    Tao Ran walked over and whispered: "Why is she sleeping here?"


    "I offered to book her a hotel, but she refused. She insisted to wait here until you catch the murderer." Fei Du raised his head and saw Tao Ran sweating. He frowned and handed out a tissue from his pocket. "Do you usually work so hard? Looking at you like this makes my heartache."


    Before Tao Ran managed to respond, Luo Wenzhou, who was standing next to him, said coolly: "That''s the life of the People''s Police. If you feel heartache, you should pay more taxes and cause less trouble. But President Fei, are powerful businessmen like you not generally busy? Why are you always be so idle?"


    Fei Du smiled: "I am not paying a bunch of professional managers for them to talk. I am really grateful of Officer Luo for worrying about my financial security. Actually, you don''t have to. Even if I throw away all of my family''s savings and keep only some pocket money in the bank to earn the interest, it''ll still be more than the sry that you will earn for the rest of your life."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    Expectedly, these two mental retards were only able to maintain the peace for only three minutes before they started the damn war again.


    He held each male gamecock in each of his hands and forcibly separated them. After that, he dragged Luo Wenzhou into the office with one hand, and warningly pointed Fei Du with the other.


    Fei Du was totally undisturbed and pinched his finger.


    Luo Wenzhou red up into a fury: "This..."


    Tao Ran closed the office door and said very helplessly: "After you get offter, you two can happily make an appointment for a fight when you are outside."


    Luo Wenzhou caught the meaning beyond the words: "Mm? Do you have something to do after you are off today?"


    Tao Ran turned around and looked at him: "I''ll be going to a blind date."


    Luo Wenzhou was stunned.


    Tao Ran patted his shoulder: "Your brother, I, am old enough. I can no longer be a single nobleman with you."


    Luo Wenzhou darted his eyes toward the ground. A momentter, he smiled and pointed to Tao Ran: "You traitor, you didn''t even warn us before you betrayed the organization. Our forever ''Go Die Gang'' will not let you off (2)."


    Tao Ran thought for a moment: "Then I will bribe you. In the future when I have a kid, you will also be a father."


    "Don''t do that," Luo Wenzhou waved his hand. "A Luo Yiguo is already enough for me. I don''t have the desire to be a ''dad''. The future of the mothend still relies on straight people like you--Alright, you can go if you have something else to do. Anyway, just sitting here will not give us any clues. If the murderer is following Zhang Doni and is concerned about the progress of the case, I think he will do something within these two days. Let''s wait while we investigate."


    Tao Ran shook his head and picked up his things to leave. Luo Wenzhou suddenly stopped him from behind.


    "Now that you have betrayed the organization, I really feel a bit disappointed in love," said Luo Wenzhou. "Yes, Apartment ve (3), do you need to borrow a car?"


    Tao Ran: "Go away!"


    On the evening of the same day, after Zhang Doni knew when and how he entered and exited the small dark house from Zhang Ting. He believed that thewyer yed an important role in this; therefore, just after he returned home and took a shower with grapefruit leaf, he offered to have dinner with only thewyer on the same day.


    Compared to those colleagues who were doing non-litigation legal services for various gold providers (4), the criminalwyers'' jobs were high-risk, pressurized, and not very profitable. It was very difficult to meet such cases where the litigant was stupid and rich where the case itself was notplicated. If he was not Zhao Haochang''s ssmate, it would not be his turn to enjoy this kind of benefit. Thewyer was pleased and went for the dinner.


    Zhang Doni politely gave him a red envelope (5). In the beginning, he offered to drive thewyer back. However, right after they left the hotel, they happened to run into a beautiful woman with perfect body proportions. She greeted Zhang Doni with familiarity and entered Zhang Doni''s car with a natural attitude.


    Thewyer consciously felt that it would not be very good to stay with them. He would be an annoyance. So he sensibly sat down in the back seat and said that he would like a ride to the nearest metro station.


    In the car, the beautiful woman and Young Master Zhang were talking shamelessly, which made the audience feel as though he was sitting on pins and needles. Thewyer was not so cheeky, so he had to pretend that he was only air as he leaned behind and yed with his mobile phone. When passing a crossing, Zhang Doni mmed on the brakes. As a result, thewyer leaned forward. At this moment, he saw something at the corner of the car.


    Thinking that something on the car seat was thrown off because of the sudden stop, thewyer wanted to pick it up. When he bent over, he was suddenly stunned.


    He saw that it was a silver-gray striped tie with a bigbel on the tail. It was well-crafted, but seemed to be rubbed forcefully and the shape of it was changed. It looked like a salted fish and was curled up in the gap of the back seat.


    "There is a scar from the blunt instrument that was used to hit the back of the deceased''s head. The deceased was suffocated to death. The weapon was some kind of soft cloth. Scarves, ties, soft cords, and simr objects are all possible..."


    Thewyer was drunk in the beginning. At that moment, the alcohol evaporated from his open pores with a "hu" sound.


    At this time, Zhang Doni seemed to suddenly remember that there was a living creature in the back seat. While he was restarting the car, he looked back at thewyer: "Lawyer Liu, why are you bending over? Are you drunk or ufortable?"


    Thewyer hurriedly straightened up, and the blood in his entire body rushed to the top of his head. His limbs were cold and his ears creaked. He forced a smile: "I... I was a bit dizzy."


    Zhang Doni looked through the rearview mirror at him. Probably influenced by the light, Lawyer Liu felt that he saw indescribable haze in between Zhang Doni''s eyes.


    Fortunately, Zhang Doni did not put him in his heart. After briefly looking at Lawyer Liu, he again devoted himself to chatting with the beauty sitting next to him. Lawyer Liu rigidly kept his sitting posture, opened his cell phone camera and secretly filmed the area around the tie. Then, he stretched one of his feet little by little, picked up the tie with his toes, and quickly put the tie into his briefcase with the cover of his sleeve.


    Just before he could get his hand out, Zhang Doni looked through the rearview mirror again: "Is that station correct? Lawyer Liu?"


    Thewyer was scared to the point that his heart almost stopped functioning. Hepletely lost hisnguage function and could only nod.


    Zhang Doni raised his eyebrows: "How sweaty is your face! Is the temperature of the air conditioner too high?"


    The woman partner sitting shotgun opposed the suggestion: "Don''t make it lower, I am cold."


    If not for the silly girl who did not know the truth as she just sat in the car and talked, Lawyer Liu believed that he must have already been scared to death. He could not recall how he got off Zhang Doni''s car. Zhang Doni leaned forward from inside the window: "Lawyer Liu, are you really okay? You really don''t need me to send you home?"


    Thewyer tried to pull his facial muscles: "Really."


    Fortunately, Zhang Doni was obsessed with beauty and he did not really want to send a short man home. After he got confirmation, he immediately stepped on the elerator and left.


    The night wind blew over and Lawyer Liu found that his back was soaked.


    =======================================================


    (1) Gongjia: An old fashion Chinese word of pany".


    (2) Go Die Gang: ng. Refers to the "organization" of single people, since they want all people who are not single die. Betraying this organization means someone has found a girlfriend/boyfriend.


    (3) Apartment ve: ng. Refers to people who pay housing mortgage.


    (4) Gold Providers: g. Refers to very rich clients.


    (5) Red Envelope: Traditionally, Chinese people give out money inside red envelope when there is something to celebrate.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 16: Julien Fifteen

    Chapter 16: Julien Fifteen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee, Kittsune</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: What attitude is that? I invited you for dinner only because you are so pitiful to be defeated in love.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Tao Ran went out and saw Fei Du waiting at the door for him with his hands in his pockets.


    The noisy "woodpeckers" (1) at the entrance had not yet dispersed. The Bureau was just forced to release a rich second-generation who looked very suspicious. Fei Du could visualize the pressure floating over the Criminal Investigation Team. Therefore, he prepared himself for waiting until the end of the world. Unexpectedly, Tao Ran was very active to go off for the day. When he was in a daze, Tao Ran took the lead to start up the conversation: "Fei Du,e over. I have a few words to tell you."


    Fei Du blinked and moved his eyes to the woman huddled in the chair: "What should we do with her?"


    Tao Ran got stumped.


    "It''s okay." Luo Wenzhou came out, leaned against the door and nodded to Tao Ran. "I will ask for her consent after she wakes up. There is a guest house near the entrance. People whoe here for business trips generally live there. It is safe and cheap. If she agrees, I will ask someone to reserve her a room over there. In case she is not willing to leave, let the attendant set up a cot for her."


    Tao Ran hesitated and said: "This doesn''tply with the rules, right?"


    "I can handle this with a few words." Luo Wenzhou waved his hand. "Just go, no one can be so worried as you."


    Fei Du heard this and wondered: "What? Tao Ran, you have a n in the evening?"


    Tao Ran did not answer but said: "Come with me."


    Luo Wenzhou watched Tao Ran pull Fei Du to a side. Because they just had a fight, he forgot about the gaming machine which was filled with tender feelings.


    He examined Fei Du''s back with a picky gaze, feeling that every spot on this guy''s body was bursting with the word "Coquettish". If he was a character in a spy drama, he would be a ssic traitor even without the makeup.


    But what benefits did being coquettish bring to him? He would still end up being dumped.


    Luo Wenzhou suddenly felt inexplicable gloat and shared the same predicament, refused to leave, and stayed around the entrance of the office. He wished that his neck could grow three feet longer so that he could watch the whole process of the rich second-generation meeting a rebuff closely.


    Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran had known each other for many years and went through storms and floods together. They searched for lost children together, fought with criminals who were extremely vicious together, won honour together and were punished to write self-criticism together. They were close friends.


    Although Tao Ran was impoverished, he was nice, silently nice. With the long-timepanionship, it inevitably caused the "gender-male, hobby-male"panion to have a few improper feelings. However, in terms of sexual orientation, Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou "were walking on different roads, so they were not able to travel together". He was so indomitably straight that it was mean to force him. Therefore, Luo Wenzhou braked in time and only asionally teased him verbally within the proper limit.


    Tao Ran''s response was always so broad-minded and didn''t contain any bashfulness, anger or anything that crossed the line. For certain thoughts to be "romantic", a secretive fermentation process was required. If it were exposed to the sun without any cover, it would be easy to get sterilized by the ultraviolet rays.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    At this time, Tao Ran clearly expressed that he was about to embark on another stage of his life. Luo Wenzhou also epted the fact and removed this ultraviolet radiation-treated pollution-free part from his heart. Expect for a small amount of regret, it did not stir up any waves. Instead, it turned out to be a feeling like a fruit falling off when ripe.


    Although a lot of emotional writers who knew humanity wrote articles to warn the world by saying, "Don''t show off to others, some might not want to see you live well," Luo Wenzhou still felt that there were always a few people around him that were in the category of "seeing them live well made him happy" - even if that person might drift away from himself after seeding in life.


    But then again, for someone like Tao Ran, the only way to seed in life was to probably buy lottery tickets.


    Fei Du had a strange and keen sense. Often, only with a gaze from someone, he could figure out what the other party was about to say. At that time, when pulled aside by Tao Ran, he suddenly behaved like he had a sense of foreboding - He stood up straight and kept his always drifting amorous eyes still. Now he somehow looked like a decent person.


    Tao Ran thought for a moment but didn''t know where to start - he had to start from the beginning.


    He reached out in the air, made a hand gesture and said to Fei Du: "When I first met you, you were just as tall as this. You crawled into my car with your bag. When I called your dad for the third time and the line was still busy, you looked up at me... At that time, I felt that I had to take care of this kid."


    Fei Du''s eyelids shook slightly. He looked at Tao Ran.


    His current image was indeed very different from the pitiful kid who "crawled into a car with a bag". Tao Ran coughed: "In a blink of an eye, you''ve grown up."


    When he found it hard to pick a word, Fei Du suddenly called him in a long-lost way: "Brother."


    Tao Ran felt puzzled and heard Fei Du ask, "Did I bother you too much?"


    Tao Ran never expected that he could "understand" to such a point, that he could see through a brick wall and know before being told. That therefore made Tao Ran dumbfounded.


    But Fei Du suddenly smiled. He decided his words for a moment and said very thoughtfully: "I''ve been thinking about this since a few days ago. After one or two years, you''re going to get married and you will have a wife and children; I cannot keep troubling you all the time like now. My psychologist said that things like a friend entering a family or moving away, and family members aging and dying are not idents but natural things like clouds, rain, and snow. They are objective and perpetual. They hold no meaning in themselves, and excessively indulging in them is just as meaningless as shedding tears over the changes in the seasons. The world is changing, people are changing, and I am changing. It is not logical to refuse changes and separations - not to mention that I already said earlier that I didn''t really expect to pursue any results from you. Anyways, you are my brother."


    Everything Tao Ran was trying to say had been taken away, and there was not even a punctuation mark left to be said. Since there was really nothing to add, Tao Ran had to ask dryly: "...you visited a psychologist?"


    Fei Du raised his eyebrows: "Aren''t us ''bourgeois'' regrly meeting with psychologists something as fashionable as people gathering to taste the mineral water of 1982?"


    Tao Ran was just like the employees in Fei Du''spany - although he knew that Fei Du was speaking nonsense, he was calm because of the words.


    Fei Du: "You suddenly found someone, or you are about to go on a blind date?"


    Tao Ran: "Blind date."


    Fei Du''s mouth moved silently. Apparently he swallowed ament "so rustic" that he nearly blurt out of his mouth. Then he sighed: "Well, how are you going? You are not going there on foot, are you? Are you wearing <i>that</i> to a date? Do you need to borrow my car?"


    The house ve Tao Ran suffered two hits in ten minutes, and did not know if he shouldugh or cry. "Enough, you two, have you discussed the lines in advance?"


    Fei Du subconsciously looked up to his voice and met with Luo Wenzhou''s gaze. Then, the two men''s expressions became very difficult to describe at the same time, and they both took their eyes off immediately.


    After Tao Ran left, Fei Du did not follow him. He waited until Luo Wenzhou called the policeman on duty to properly arrange the residence for Mother He, gently putting a business card in her hand and then leaving promptly.


    Luo Wenzhou did not know what was wrong in him--perhaps he saw Fei Du turn around and felt this person seemed to be lonely; perhaps because of a lovelorn alliance, he felt a bit of a sympathetic emotional connection with that dude. Anyway, he called Fei Du on impulse: "Hey, there isn''t anybody to have dinner with you tonight, is there?"


    Fei Du took a deep breath and turned around. The formerly somewhat "free from human desires and passions" figures were suddenly blown away by the poisonous words. "It''s rare to be the same as ''seniors in an empty house'' (2) like you once every hundred years. "


    Looking at Fei Du''s expression, Luo Wenzhou felt his hand begin to itch again. He hated the fact that he was not able to transmigrate back to five seconds before and pped himself in the face - why did you open your big mouth.


    However, the words had already been said and it would be too petty to swallow them back. Therefore, Luo Wenzhou said nkly: "You pacified the victim''s family member today so that she would not talk nonsense to the social media. It was helpful to us. I can take you to dinner here as a representative of the Criminal Investigation Team."


    Fei Du stopped walking with surprise.


    In fact, Luo Wenzhou was just polite, he did not expect that President Fei would actually loosen his respect and degrade his honour to stay there... Just like how Fei Du also did not expect that the Captain Luo''s so-called "take you to dinner here" was literally what it meant - the location was the Bureau''s dining hall.


    Fei Du was standing in the doorway of the dining hall in silence. He smelled the mysterious smell inside, looked at the red and green ceiling, then the oily floor tiles, the red, yellow, and blue stic chairs, and finally his gaze fell on a decorative painting on the wall.


    The painting said: "Food is never too refined."


    Fei Du was shocked by this fanfaronade statement and thought that the Bureau''s dining hall was as shameless as Luo Wenzhou.


    When Luo Wenzhou didn''t want to cook, he often took food home from the dining hall. At the time, he walked to the window deftly and casually asked Fei Du: "Anything you want to avoid?"


    Fei Du answered unceremoniously: "YesI don''t eat uncooked green onions, cooked garlic and cooked or uncooked ginger. No sour, no spicy. No animal oil. No nt stems. No eggnt or tomatoes with skin. And I don''t eat anything below the knees, above the necks and inside the body of animals."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Fei Du calmly looked back into his eyes, thought carefully, and added: "And I don''t eat boiled egg yolk and brine tofu... Well, I can handle the gypsum tofu.


    Luo Wenzhou had never seen a primate who was even more difficult to deal with than Luo Yiguo. He felt that he was fighting hard and barely managed to hold back the phrase, "Go out and eat shit."


    Captain Luo overdrew all his patience for the rest of his life, ordered the dishes from the stir-fry dish window, told the cooker not to have this and that, and went back to feed the troublesome "Fei Yiguo".


    Eventually, Fei Du examined everything on the table, picked and picked, and finally took only a sugar bun with brown sugar filling. Then he ate it with hot candied apple.


    Luo Wenzhou said: "You didn''t tell me you don''t eat seafood."


    "I do." Fei Du answered without raising his eyes. "I just don''t bother peeling."


    Luo Wenzhou took a deep breath and once again had a deeper understanding of Tao Ran''s father character - Tao Ran had endured this dude for seven years and managed to not strangle him.


    Luo Wenzhou knocked on the table: "Is what you said to Tao Ran your true feeling?"


    Fei Du did not make a sound but nced at him half-mockingly as if he had asked a stupid question.


    "What attitude is that? I invited you for dinner only because you are so pitiful to be defeated in love." Luo Wenzhou pulled out a pair of disposable stic gloves, pretended to feed the cat and peeled the whole te of shrimp. "Why did you stay today?"


    Fei Du''s chopsticks paused and picked up a shrimp. As an equivalent exchange, his next sentence was not sarcastic: "Nothing - you suspect that the murderer is someone around Zhang Doni who has always been concerned about the actions of the police, so you release Zhang Doni as bait?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "You have a different opinion?"


    "The idea is almost the same," said Fei Du. "In fact, if you start from the deceased in the beginning, it should not be difficult for you to find the person. He should be an old acquaintance of the deceased. He probably has changed his name, but in this society where everyone has an ID card, it''s impossible to change it without any trace. It''s only that nobody has investigated. If you want to investigate inside your system, he will soon be exposed. Therefore, he wants to shift your sight desperately."


    Luo Wenzhou: "You think that the deceased knew the murderer beforeing to Yancheng instead of him secretly doing any dirty business for some people."


    "The money for the medication for his mother," Fei Du said. "That hundred thousand yuan was sent back home less than one month after he first arrived in Yancheng. If I want to do anything illegal, I will not let someone whom I am not familiar with to join. A criminal gang that makes such a big profit must have a higher threshold than the entrance exam for your bureau."


    Luo Wenzhou automatically ignored hisst sentence: "What if he had a mysterious fellow from the same hometown who introduced him to a criminal gang? The introducer and the murderer were probably not the same person."


    "His mother said He Zhongyi - is this name correct? He Zhongyi has not mentioned anyone other than an elderly man named Zhao Yulong who introduced him to his work," said Fei Du. "When people travel to a distant ce ande across someone from his hometown, he would mention that to his family."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Even if they do illegal things together?"


    "Especially if they do illegal things together," said Fei Du. "He knows it is unsafe, so he will subconsciously seek a sense of security. Saying ''I am with XX'' to the family and himself is a kind of likepensatoryfort - why do you think that there is such an unwarranted ''gang''?"


    Luo Wenzhou stopped to move his chopsticks and stared at his bowl for a moment: "I can''t speak too much - because at the night of the death of the deceased, he received a mysterious text message on his phone. He was probably killed in Dongfumen District but was dumped in Huashi Western District which is more than a half hour drive away. Besides, we happened to receive some information about the Huashi Western District."


    Fei Du frowned and finally looked a bit surprised.


    Right at this moment, Luo Wenzhou''s cell phone suddenly rang. It was a number not in the address book.


    Luo Wenzhou picked up: "Hello?"


    There were slight noises apanied by a person''s violent breathing.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Who is there?"


    As he suspected that <i>that</i> was a harassment call, a sudden scream rushed out: "Help! Save..."


    Then the line went dead.


    =======================================================


    (1) Woodpeckers: Reporters. Quoted from Bai Yansong, a famous Chinese newsmentator: Good reporters are woodpeckers.


    (2) Seniors in empty house: Senior people who live alone generally because their children have already left the family and their spouses have passed away.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 17: Julien Sixteen

    Chapter 17: Julien Sixteen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: The sharp and short cry for help from the earpiece pierced the quiet canteen and even Fei Du sitting on the opposite side heard it.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    The sharp and short cry for help from the earpiece pierced the quiet canteen and even Fei Du sitting on the opposite side heard it. Luo Wenzhou redialed the number, but he could not get through.


    Although there was only one sound, Luo Wenzhou still figured that it was Chen Zhen, the illegitimate taxi driver.


    Chen Zhen reported Wang Hongliang because he had overheard Chen Yuan''s phone call, and he had some spections based on hearsay evidence. He was never able to produce real evidence.


    Probably because Chen Yuan was afraid of pulling her family down so as to leave nothing useful after Wang Hongliang murdered her, he took all the evidence in the name of the "anti-drug". In the end, the only evidence Luo Wenzhou got from Chen Zhen was an old photo album of his sister.


    When they departed, Luo Wenzhou could obviously feel the young man''s dissatisfaction. He had to explicitly tell him, "Don''t tell the others we have no evidence now, and don''t attempt to look for the evidence by yourself. If you recall anything at any time, call me - Even if you take the risk and find some evidence, it may not be useful. We may consider it ineffective."


    Luo Wenzhou thought that this sentence had made everything clear, and it should have been good enough to steer Chen Zhen away from trouble. However, it was hardly one day after their conversation and he was already in trouble.


    Immediately, Luo Wenzhou ced the shrimp te in the front of Fei Du: "Enjoy yourself, and when you are done with the food, please take care of the tes. I have something to do and have to leave now."


    Fei Du did not answer yes or no. Instead, he slowly poked and opened a box of lemon ck tea and took a sip. He found it to be very sour and bitter and concluded that it was not suitable for a human to drink it; thus, he threw it aside. After this, he thoughtfully stared at Luo Wenzhou''s back.


    Luo Wenzhou had Chen Zhen''s contact info. However, the number he saw just now waspletely unfamiliar to him. While driving toward the downtown area, he ced a call to Director Lu.


    "Uncle Lu, it''s me. I am in a hurry so I am not able to apply for approval now. Could you think of a way to ask someone to locate two numbers for me?"


    Director Lu received such a call after he went off without any reason, but surprisingly he was not startled: "What number? Where are you?"


    Luo Wenzhou quickly told him the Chen Zhen''s phone number and the number that had called him just now.


    Director Lu hurriedly noted them down and asked before he hanged up, "What is your situation now? Can you ensure your own safety?"


    "My name is Safe." Luo Wenzhou smiled slightly, then he fiercely turned the steering wheel. The car turned to the ramp from Nanping Avenue, heading straight to the West District.


    It was sweltering hot without warning at that night, and summer was in the air. asionally, birds screamed through the sea of the cars with themselves almost sticking to the ground, suggesting that a heavy downpour was about to strike.


    The evening rush hour on Friday usuallysted longer. Fortunately, it was thest day of the traffic restriction. The central business district was warming up for the weekends. The huge open-air "Heaven Canopy" was full of eye-catching LED scrolls. Those lights chased the passersby. They went through the wide street and passed through Luo Wenzhou''s. Only when hepletely entered theplicated streets of the West District did they cease their activities.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Director Lu was very reliable and efficient. Not long after that, a technician called Luo Wenzhou. Chen Zhen''s mobile phone was located near West Vista Street in the West District. The location of the unknown phone should be very close to him. The number had been registered, and it belonged to a woman named "Wu Xuechun".


    "Wu Xuechun," Luo Wenzhou was surprised. "It is actually registered?"


    "Yes, it''s registered under this name," the technician confirmed. "Captain Luo, I will send her ID card information to your mobile pher."


    The navigation system showed that he had arrived near "West Vista Street". Luo Wenzhou slowed down the car - The reason that he dared toe over in the middle of the night was because he was sure that Wang Hongliang did not dare to hurt him.


    A jackass like Wang Hongliang was very used to dividing people into various statuses and treating them with very clearly different attitudes: he was good at pleasing the superiors but he loved bullying the subordinates. In his opinion, some people were ants that were not worth mentioning, and it was nothing if some of these people got crushed and died. Some other people, however, even if he hated them to death, he had to try hard to please them.


    Though Luo Wenzhou himself was not somebody important, fortunately, his father had not retired yet.


    If Chen Zhen encountered danger while calling him for help, the other party must have been aware of his existence already. The number had been registered and it was very easy to track. Wang Hongliang should have immediately realized that it was only a matter of time before Luo Wenzhou would arrive.


    Based onmon sense, Wang Hongliang would actively contact him, find out his intentions, and seek a private solution.


    However, this had not happened until now.


    Luo Wenzhou immediately realized that no matter what had happened tonight, Wang Hongliang probably had no knowledge of it. It could be his men making their own decisions.


    This was dangerous, but it was definitely an opportunity.


    Luo Wenzhou''s mobile phone rang, and Wu Xuechun''s ID card information was received. He parked the car at the entrance of West Vista Street.


    West Vista Street was a "pedestrian zone" that had various functions as an open-air barbecue, a night market and "big health care" (1)  this ce was only essible by pedestrians because the road was fully upied by illegal booths. Except for "a dog riding rabbit" (2), other motor vehicles were not able to get in at all.


    The air was filled with the smell of smoked and sizzling barbecue. A shirtless man sizzled the escargots in the iron pan. The "special service staff" whose faces were heavily powdered were standing at the corner of the street, eating barbecue while waiting for business. The smell of the sewers travelled with the wind. Besides, there were a few people who were brazenly bragging for gutter oil.


    Luo Wenzhou scanned around, and he was almost suffocated by the crowd. He pondered for a moment and walked towards an illegitimate taxi driver assembly point.


    The illegitimate taxi drivers "went off" early and were gathering together to gamble. A middle-aged man with good luck that day mmed the poker cards onto the cover of the car andughed out with the yellow teeth: "Fucks, how''s that? Satisfied? Give me the money!"


    As he was talking, he reached out and asked hispanion to give him a cigarette. However, before hispanion gave him any stake, a hand suddenly reached out behind him, handed over a cigarette, and lit it up for him.


    Several illegitimate taxi drivers turned back and saw a very seductive man with wide shoulders and long legs.


    That was Luo Wenzhou.


    "Buddy, I need some information." Luo Wenzhou gave out a cigarette for each man in the circle as he smiled and said, "Yesterday, because of the traffic restriction, I rode a brother''s car. However, due to myck of attention, I left the contract that was just signed in the car. The contract is just a few sheets of paper. For others, it is worthless, but if I can''t find it, I have tomit suicide for the sin - I won''t let you find it for me for nothing. Whoever saw it and tells me, I have a thank you present for you."


    Luo Wenzhou always did what he said. When he came to this, he did not rush to ask his questions. Instead, he opened his wallet first and handed a red bank note (3) to everyone: "Sorry to trouble you but please help me spread the news, I will be sure to pay you for this."


    He was a master at scamming - he gave a detailed description of the make, model, and shape of the illegitimate taxi, but he deliberately only ambiguously described the license te number. He talked about the first two letters and thest number, went over it quickly, and then described the driver''s appearance.


    The illegitimate taxi drivers had their own organizations and site divisions. This little bit of information was enough for them toe to the conclusion: "Is this Chen Zhen, the kid?"


    Luo Wenzhou closed his mouth in a timely manner. He kept his eyes t and hesitantly ran his eyes across several people to make himself look lost.


    With the motivation of bounty, the illegitimate taxi drivers quickly stopped the game and sneaked into the narrow alleys in all directions. Luo Wenzhou lit himself a cigarette. Before he could finish it, the news he wanted had arrived - Someone said he saw Chen Zhen''s car parked on the side of the road. He gave him the exact location and Chen Zhen''s phone number.


    Chen Zhen definitely could not be reached at that number. Luo Wenzhou quickly paid with cash and followed the man to the ce where Chen Zhen had parked - It was an open-air parking lot outside West Vista Street. The parking space was nned, but no one took care of it. Chen Zhen''s second-hand car was parked on the side of the road alone. There were many people near that area, but the owner did not appear.


    There was only one surveince camera in the parking lot. Half of it was broken by some kid. Obviously, it was dead.


    The person who provided the clue probably felt that his money was too easy to make and felt a bit apologetic. So he volunteered to go around and asked for the whereabouts of the car owner, Chen Zhen.


    Luo Wenzhou ran around Chen Zhen''s car alone and found some cigarette butts outside the door near the driver''s seat. The person who stood there was upset and left a footprint when he stepped on the ash.


    Luo Wenzhou stood near the footprints. He leaned against the door and looked around.


    Chen Zhen ignored his warnings and acted privately. He was most likely in an irrational state. Then what was he doing standing here alone and smoking a few cigarettes? Was it a sudden doubt in what he was doing?


    Or... Was he waiting for someone?


    At the time, the person who was just paid rushed back and whispered to Luo Wenzhou: "I think you might want to put a note on his car and let him contact you when he sees it. I just heard from the woman selling clothes there that she remembered Chen Zhen. He was strangely standing here for a long time, and then he went into ''Blessing Grand View''."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Blessing Grand View?"


    "It''s over there!" The guy raised his hand and pointed forward. There was a brightly lit entertainment center with a big sign that said "billiards, chess, massage, KTV" at the door just opposite of Chen Zhen''s parking lot. A series of cars were parked at the entrance.


    Luo Wenzhou quietly sent the message, "Blessing Building, East Entrance of Vista Street, Huashi West District, requesting support" to Director Lu. He got rid of the guy with a few words and walked around the Blessing building. After he was familiar with the surrounding environment, he scratched his hair and swaggered into it.


    The hall was covered with heavy marble. Some of the light bulbs in therge European chandelier were broken. It was a little dim. A few young people doodling around appeared to be hooligans. They patrolled and smoked in the hall. When someone came, they sized up theer with their eyes.


    Luo Wenzhou pretended as he had not seen them. He went straight to the front desk and knocked on the table: "One private room. A friend wille overter."


    After that, he picked up the wine menu next to him and quickly swept over the list that consisted of 50% more expensive than market price wines. It appeared that he was not aware of the fact and ordered a lot of them.


    The reception did not expect such a big and stupid customer to fall from the sky and he hurriedly noted down the list: "Sir, please talk slowly..."


    Luo Wenzhou suddenly closed his mouth.


    The receptionist looked up in confusion and saw the "guest" looking at her with deep meaning in his eyes. He whispered: "What is the minimum spend threshold to order the ''waiter'' here?"


    The reception paused for a while and smiled as if she "totally understood". She lowered her voiced as well as she gently took out an album from under the table and pushed it over: "You can look at the photos first."


    There were a lot of "artistic photos" in the album. They were very unartistic, and each of them was taken for a face with heavy makeup, like the sexy photos of areas in between the urban and rural areas.


    Luo Wenzhou scanned through the album twice from beginning to end and he deliberately showed a little impatience: "These photos were all photoshopped to a point that even their mothers cannot recognize them. Do you have anything normal?"


    The receptionist was about to answer when Luo Wenzhou leaned slightly forward. Apparently, he was unable to act anymore. He was impatient to reveal his real intention and asked: "Is there someone called Wu Xuechun?"


    =======================================================


    (1) Big health care: prostitution.


    (2) A dog riding rabbit: Tianjin ng. Tricycle. In the winter, a person wearing earps looks like a dog, and the tricycles look like rabbits.


    (3) Red bank note: In China, the only the red bank note is the 100 Yuan.


    (4) Fall from the sky: Appeared out of blue.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 18: Julien Seventeen

    Chapter 18: Julien Seventeen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Fei Du looked at her through the ss window for a while, feeling that she was a snail without a shell.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "Wu... Wu Xuechun?" The receptionist''s smile suddenly froze.


    Luo Wenzhou looked at her. The sharp gaze sliced out a seam from his fake ambiguity. He asked in a low tone: "What''s the matter?"


    The receptionist seemed to be stunned by his gaze and could not help but move her eyes off him. Then she forced herself to calm down and she smiled at Luo Wenzhou sweetly: "No, this is how it is. Our waitresses here usually use English names. Since you suddenly said a real name, I was not able to map the person immediately... Wu Xuechun... Is Wu Xuechun ''Linda''?"


    Luo Wenzhou leaned back and did not answer. He stared at the receptiondy for a while and asked coldly: "What? Do I need to show you my <i>hukou </i>(1) for ordering a waitress?"


    The receptionist hurriedly apologized, arranged a private room for him, and led him in. Luo Wenzhou was not sure if it was his imagination or if there were more people secretly observing him.


    After he walked away, the receptionist sighed heavily, took out amercial walkie-talkie on the side, and whispered: "The person you said is here. He''s in the ''Furong City'' room."


    The other side first responded with noisy conversation, then a man''s voice asked: "How many are there?" (2)


    "Ju-just one." The receptionist bit her lips. Her palms were sweating. She was almost unable to hold the big ck thing. "Can you please, next time, don''t let me do this, I..."


    She didn''t finish her words. A faint curse came from the other side. "Damn, it''s one person. He really thinks he''ll live a long life. If I had known that, I would have waited at the door, caught him with a sack, and killed him. What a waste of time!"


    The other party disconnected the line while cursing.


    At this time, a girl in a white dress was pushed in by two people. A badge with "Linda" written on it was hanging on her chest. That was Wu Xuechun.


    Wu Xuechun passed the front desk and helplessly looked at the receptionist. The two women looked at each other briefly and quickly moved their eyes away.


    A few minutes after Luo Wenzhou left, Fei Du did not bother to eat anymore, so he came out from the bureau''s canteen. When he came out, he saw that Mother He had already woken up. A police officer on duty was trying to persuade her to go out to stay in the hotel. Mother He kept her eyes wide open on her sallow face, firmly grasped her clothes, and she did not speak or nod.


    She did not understand anything outside her world, so she always suspected that others were lying to her. Therefore, she was always helpless.


    People who lived in rtively secluded environments all the year round with no connections with the outside world often had such timidity and stupidity. For this woman who had been ill for many years, her son was the only one she could count on. He was also the only source of protection and connection with this bustling world.


    Fei Du looked at her through the ss window for a while, feeling that she was a snail without a shell.


    He did not disturb Mother He as he quickly left the bureau and went to Huashi West District.


    "Furong City" was a private room in a corner. When Luo Wenzhou entered, he felt that something was not right in the room  it was not as dark as the other private rooms. He swept his eyes across the private room and found something worth noticing in a corner.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    While walking around Blessing Grand View just now, Luo Wenzhou discovered that for some construction reason, several windows around the four corners of the building were not sealed. It seemed that there was one in this room.


    The window of a KTV room should not be open, so a piece of ckout cloth was used to glue it with the wallpaper and it was sealed from the inside. It probably was glued a long time ago. Some ces were broken, and some roadmp light leaked through the gap.


    Luo Wenzhou nced at it as if he took no notice of that and quickly averted his eyes. He turned on the music casually and looked at the ceiling pretending he was looking for a smoke rm.


    It seemed that he did not see anything abnormal, so Luo Wenzhou fished out his cigarettes and lit one for himself.


    He held a lighter in one hand and naturally ced his other hand around the fire. Alongside this movement, he opened a piece of paper hidden in the palm of his hand.


    When the girl at the front desk pushed the album to him for the second time, she used the photo album as cover and handed him a note.


    There was a line of words written with a ballpoint pen in a hurry, saying: "Someone is waiting to corner you."


    Luo Wenzhou felt a bit out of ce.


    Of course, he knew that someone was waiting to corner him. Chen Zhen called him for help, so the other party must have expected him toe. Therefore, Luo Wenzhou deliberately mentioned "Wu Xuechun" at the door and simply came in. He behaved like he was very experienced but not so smart. He made himself look alert, but it was a confused alert.


    Therefore, the people hidden behind the scenes would think that they would definitely win the game. They would not do something desperate to fight him, thinking that they themselves were very clever.


    Luo Wenzhou intended to use himself to lure the enemy, and then yed as an oriole from behind (3).


    But he did not expect for a strange receptionist to actually secretly help him.


    Considering this, it was obvious that his arrangement to the "Furong City" private room was also the girl''s trick - in case something happened, there was a window in the private room, and he had a channel to escape.


    Luo Wenzhou stroked his chin with his hand and had an infinite amount of emotions in his heart.


    He thought: "Being handsome does have its benefits."


    At this moment, the door of the private room was pushed open from outside. Luo Wenzhou quietly put down the lighter, held the note in his palm of his hand, and looked up.


    A girl in a white dress stood at the door. Her dyed long hair looked a little dim, and her makeup was extraordinarily thick. The girl grinned at him and said with a delicately pretty voice: "Hello sir, I am Linda."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    This girl''s nose and eyes looked like they had been reorganized by cosmetics after being wiped out. He really could not tell if she was Wu Xuechun herself.


    Several waiters followed her in and arranged the wine he had ordered.


    Luo Wenzhou nodded at the girl: "Take a seat."


    Linda was full of service spirit. After entering the private room, she was not idle at all. While taking the initiative to talk with Luo Wenzhou, she put the wine on the table neatly and quickly. When Luo Wenzhou just wanted to get rid of the cigarette ashes, she was already standing in front of him holding the ashtray, waiting to pick up the ashes. And she asked him in a very lovely tone: "Handsome, you ordered so many drinks, there must be many guests. Would you like me to call a few more sisters?"


    Her tone was very delicate, but she could not help but leak out a little nasal sound. When Luo Wenzhou got closer and looked at her, he could see that her eyes were bloodshot - it seemed that she had cried just now, and the thick makeup was probably used to cover up the red nose and eye bags.


    Luo Wenzhou posed for a while, gently picked up her chin, and carefully looked at her from side to side. The movement was very simr to that of a satyricon, but his expression was very grim as if he wanted to find the little bit of simrity between her and the girl on the ID card. After a while, when he was about to retract his hand and talk about god-knows-what conclusion he had reached, Linda suddenly grabbed his wrist.


    Luo Wenzhou blinked his eyes softly.


    With his about-to-be-retracted hand, Linda made a false pushing action that looked genuine and chided: "Handsome, no! I''ve got ''that'' today so I can only drink wine with you."


    As she was talking, her whole body fell backwards softly and weakly, just right to turn over a bottle of wine on the coffee table. The bottle was about to fall, and the girl''s thick and colorful face showed a sh of tension.


    At that moment, Luo Wenzhou suddenly reached out behind her, caught the bottle, and put it into her hand without sprinkling it.


    Linda was stunned.


    Luo Wenzhou sighed silently. He had already figured out that there was a bug in the private room. It was either under the coffee table or at the base of the sofa - it now seemed like it was under the coffee table. The girl tried to pretend that there was an ident and used the spilled wine to destroy the bug. The action was too obvious.


    Luo Wenzhou shot a nce at Linda and said with double meaning: "Girls should be careful when doing things, don''t be clumsy."


    Thinking that he did not understand what she meant, Linda''s artless face immediately showed an anxious expression. On the other hand, Luo Wenzhou leisurely put the bottle back in its ce and said in the manner of chatting: "How long have you been here? Do you have a boyfriend?"


    Linda looked at him nkly and answered subconsciously: "More than one year. No."


    Luo Wenzhou stared at her eyes: "Haven''t thought about it?"


    Linda nodded.


    "You will have to consider it some time." Luo Wenzhou smiled. With his fingers gently knocked at the edge of the coffee table, he lowered his voice and asked, "Are there any boys who are close with you?"


    He had a pair of slender hands. When they were knocking regrly, they were very attractive. Linda nced at them instinctively and found that his fingers were not always knocking at the same ce. They kept moving in different directions... it seemed like a character: "Chen"!


    He knew that there were monitoring and eavesdropping devices in this room!


    Linda - Wu Xuechun''s eyes were covered with ayer of water vapor. She resisted her emotions and carefully chose her words: "There is... there is one who used to be my neighbor. I was harassed after work so he helped me, and he has been taking care of me all this time... But what is the use? I belong here, and he must hate me in his heart."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Hate you?"


    Wu Xuechun did not say "dislike", but she used "hate."


    In this sentence, she expressed her rtionship with Chen Zhen, and she said "belong here", and actually knew some inside information "here". That was probably was rted to Chen Yuan''s death.


    Luo Wenzhou paused and whispered, "Is the boy still in ''local area''?"


    Wu Xuechun nodded at him. "I don''t dare to face him. As long as he is still well, I am satisfied."


    Luo Wenzhou breathed with relief. It seemed that Chen Zhen was only locked up temporarily. This girl was more clever than he imagined.


    He leaned back against the sofa and asked, "What is he doing now?"


    Wu Xuechun always met and apanied visitors in her life, so she was very good at observing people. When seeing his slightly rxed bodynguage, she understood that Luo Wenzhou had understood her hints. The next sentence seemed to be asking the purpose for Chen Zhen''s visit to Blessing Grand View.


    Wu Xuechun forcibly restrained the desire to look in the direction of the surveince camera, organized hernguage, and said softly: "I don''t know. He''s probably busy. I heard that there is a ''kid'' in his family who left home a few days ago. I think he is looking for the kid all over the world. I heard that the ''kid'' has been here after school and was hanging around with a dubious boyfriend. He came to ask me for that a few days ago."


    "Missing child." Luo Wenzhou asked, "Why didn''t he call the police?"


    "It''s useless. Nobody will take care of this case." Hearing the word "police", Wu Xuechun trembled and replied softly. Then she remembered something and added: "The kid wrote the name of a ce on the homework workbook, and it is also a ce that is nearby. He lives very far away and so he also asked me about it."


    Chen Zhen was here to inquire about the "Golden Triangle Area"!


    The surveince camera and the bug sent the chat between the two to someone.


    On the second floor, a luxurious private room was filled with the smell of alcohol and something strange. A few men and women who were obviously unconscious from the drug began to have sex in various gestures in order to disperse as soon as possible.


    Several men sat in a circle on the sofa, staring at Luo Wenzhou through the cameras and headphones. Their leader was the captain of the official Huashi District Criminal Investigation Team. They were quite calm. They did not follow the others in taking drugs. They just drank a little bit of wine andpletely ignored the mess behind them.


    One of them poked the screen and said, "This Luo has been chatting with the woman for over ten minutes already. Why hasn''t it been done?"


    The captain said calmly: "Didn''t you see it? He is questioning the guy''s whereabouts. Now he knows that the guy is alive, and he dare not act rashly."


    "How do you know?"


    "The kid must have told him nothing." Captain Huang took up his tactical self. "If Luo knows what is going on here, he wouldn''t dare to break in here alone... By the way, this woman is really earning our money while leaking our secrets, let''s get rid of herter."


    "Captain Huang, how should we deal with this Luo person then? Will you report to Director Wang tomorrow?"


    "Director Wang? Director Wang is old and he has be soft. If you tell him about this today, he might bring cash to the kid''s home and ask him to leave tomorrow - Even if this Luo is sensible and gets on the same ship with us, the present that we have to give him in the future will be indispensable. Things will never be over in that case. It''s better to solve the problem now." The captain smiled ruthlessly. "But we can''t deal with him here. A murder just happened in the West District. It''s too sensitive now. We need to be quiet."


    "What do you mean by saying..."


    "Keeping the boy named Chen. After the problems are solved, use the little bastard as bait to hook him out," Captain Huang licked his lips. "If he meets a criminal he caught before on the way, it would be fun. After all, our job is dangerous, isn''t it? The premise is that the little bastard is obedient. Have we given him an injection?"


    One person next to him stood up immediately: "Yes. I will have a look."


    Captain Huang looked up and avoided a drugged girl with a look of disgust. He slowly took a sip of his drink and thought, the so-called "elite" of the bureau only had this level of skill. He leaked everything about himself only to get this bit of information. He was under their supervision during the whole process. It seemed that all industries or professions were the same. Whether one could be sessful only depended on one''s dad.


    He took a sip of wine with his face in a haze and he looked at Luo Wenzhou who was still exchanging code words with the prostitute. A feeling of detesting the world and society that could not be described rose in his mind.


    At the moment, the person who just went out suddenly mmed in: "Captain Huaaaaaaaaang... He... he... he..."


    The captain looked up impatiently and saw his man''s pale face. The person was in fear as if he was hit by thunder and said incoherently: "Died...died!"


    Captain Huang frowned: "You fucking silly thing. You can''t even speak. What died?"


    "That... that..." The man pointed in the direction of the locked room with Chen Zhen inside it with his tongue tied in a knot.


    Captain Huang suddenly understood the guy''s meaning, and he felt his scalp was blowing up. Standing up from the sofa immediately and smashing the person''s face with his own ss of wine, Captain Huang roared: "Died! Who told you to kill him?"


    The man put on a long face with wine on it: "No... no one killed him, we gave him an injection, just a little bit, just a little bit! Captain Huang, if this gang of bastards here took it, they would feel nothing. Who would expect that he would die because of it? Is this fucking porcin-shing (4)?"


    A one-time drug overdose could cause death, but how much was too much varied from person to person - There were people that died from allergic reactions because they ate a peanut or sipped some milk. Of course, there were people who died from a small amount of drugs, but those were one of the few extreme cases. No one expected that someone young like Chen Zhen would be so weak.


    Captain Huang''s brain screamed. He suddenly turned his head around and stared at Luo Wenzhou in the screen. While speaking to himself he said: "Now this is going to be hard to solve  we have to keep him here."


    =======================================================


    (1) Hukou: A household registration record issued to a Chinese family.


    (2) There is no singr/plural word form in the Chinesenguage. Therefore, the man was not able to figure out that it was only one person from the receptionist''s words.


    (3) y as oriole behind: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the sparrow behind. An old Chinese idiom. y as an oriole behind means to attack people when they are busy with other narrow gains.


    (4) porcin-shing: As exined in Chapter 4. This is a kind of fraud. Someone brings a piece of porcin, hits someone else, then throws that piece onto the ground, making it break and iming that it was the other guy who hit him first to ask forpensation. Now, this word refers to any kind of fraud that involves hurting oneself (or simply pretending to be hurt) and iming that this was a result of someone else''s action.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 19: Julien Eighteen

    Chapter 19: Julien Eighteen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Behind the half-open window, one side of a face with long hair appeared. The person did not look at Luo Wenzhou, but said, "Get on."</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Hearing these amazing words, the attentive people surrounding Captain Huang all stared at him in nk astonishment.


    Captain Huang ignored them all and paced around the house feverishly.


    At this time, someone whispered: "That''s the Bureau''s..."


    These people neglected their duties, bent thews for their own benefits, concealed crimes, and took filthy lucre in return. Of course, their hands were not clean, but keeping their mouths shut for money was one thing and killing someone on their own was another matter. Most people in this house were not involved in any specific crime. All they needed to do was to turn a blind eye to the crimes and wait for the hush money. They still went to work and earned their sries. The only difference was a little bit of gray ie and the asional social activities in some "ces of entertainment". No one thought of himself as a vicious and wicked person - not to mention that under the influence of Wang Hongliang''s way of dealing with matters, they all agreed that it was okay to let a few prostitutes or rogues die, but to kill someone of their profession? That was too much.


    These people had a pair of naked eyes under their foreheads, when they looked up or around, they often considered what they saw as people.


    When they looked down however, they often had a feeling that what they were seeing were animals. Most of those who were old, weak, powerless, drifting in life and struggling to survive belonged to this category.


    Speaking of animals, people usually thought that they also felt hungry, full, warm and cold, but that was it; death, to them, was only a death. After all, the idiom only said, "A human life is one of heaven''s concerns." Other lives, however, were not heaven''s business.


    The death of a Chen Zhen was an ident, but the death of a Luo Wenzhou would be a big deal - Everyone here more or less had this kind of feeling. Only Captain Huang, who had tremendous courage, was actually somebody.


    "Captain Huang, we cannot do that, seriously." Someone said, "In my opinion, that guy''s death is no big deal. Let''s deal with the body. If that Luo Wenzhou cannot find a live person or a dead body, what can he do?"


    "What can he do? He knows that the kid disappeared here," Captain Huang gritted his teeth, and the words that came out sounded as if they had breached the teeth. "Let''s say he will return without aplishing anything today, but how about tomorrow? How about the day after tomorrow? What are you going to do? Do nothing every day and wait 24 hours for him here? Can you guarantee that all the people in this ce will keep their mouths shut? It was only business, but now this is someone''s life! Not mentioning him, but for today''s matter, even if you tell Director Wang the truth, he might not be inclined to protect you!"


    The man hesitantly opened his mouth: "They...they are all on our side..."


    "Some fucktard on our side is causing trouble! Why did a dead person suddenly appear at ''that ce'' on the night of the 20th? You were all there. Who saw him? Even if it was only some bastard killing and abandoning the body, why did he so coincidentally throw the body right there? Just like... just like someone was deliberately ''marking'' us!" A shiver ran across Captain Huang''s body as he was speaking. He swallowed hard and added, "And that kid, he inexplicably came out to inquire about ''that ce''. Can any one of you tell me how he knew about it? If he was not caught by the monitoring system, or if I were not here, only God knows who will wear the handcuffs in your pockets tomorrow! When and how on earth did a kid who drives an illegitimate taxie into contact with the Bureau, ah? Do you know? You don''t know. You only know shit!"  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    The music in the room stopped ying. Those who had taken the drug were still dazed, but those who hadn''t were silent.


    "The ''520'' event must be rted to the things that happened today, and there must a betrayer among us." Captain Huang stared at the surveince screen, took a deep breath, and said one word at a time, "I wanted to keep the Chen guy with us and give him some ''sweets'' to get some information from him... Forget it. We have been pushed to the stage, We''ll have to use the simple and rude way. Just tell me, do you dare do this?"


    No one responded.


    Captain Huang sighed heavily: "Well, you useless things, go do whatever you love to do then. Go out and surrender yourself now. Go. Maybe you can get your sentence reduced."


    At this time, the person whose face had been sshed by him said, "I gave that guy that injection."


    Captain Huang turned around and stared at him.


    "I, I... I am in!"


    "You gave him the injection, and who else beat that kid? When he leapt away in fright, who stood behind him and hit him with a stick?" The corner of Captain Huang''s mouth moved unnoticeably. His eyes swept over the gang of people. "Who tied him? Who was the doorkeeper? Oh, speaking of the doorkeeper, I have to ask, Little Song said that he only injected a little bit, but why did the kid die? Hm?"


    One by one, people around him lowered their heads. No one responded.


    "Those who consider themselves to have nothing to do with this can go," Captain Huang smiled. "Just need to take care of your own mouth after going out."


    Everyone had a mouth, and once a person with a mouth left the room, he would be a potential betrayer.


    No one wanted to admit that he was a "betrayer" in front of such a ruthless person.


    No one made a sound.


    "Be careful when you do it," Captain Huang said with a nk expression. "Captain Luo died at his post when he was investigating the ''520'' murder case in the Western District, and he unfortunately ran into a mad addict."


    Luo Wenzhou nced at his watch. More than 20 minutes had passed since he called for assistance. The heavy soundproof material could not stop the musicing from the next room as it was attempting to drown the house down. He was sitting opposite a girl whose job was not very decent. The drinks that cost him half a month''s sry were all ced on the table next to him.


    The temperature of the air conditioner in the house was probably too low. A small smoldering wind swept over his neck. Luo Wenzhou suddenly had an ominous presentiment. He then picked up the big, thick ashtray on the table, looked at it, and said to Wu Xuechun: "I think you are very young. You still have many other opportunities. Do you want to switch to a different job?"


    Wu Xuechun shook her head and did not make a sound. She just lifted up the long sleeves of her dress and showed him a few pinholes on her thin arms and the bruises caused by improper injection techniques. Her skin was very bright - that made the bruises look more shocking and it looked like they would hard to remove.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    In this kind of situation, he should have behaved like a big brother and said a few words offort and encouragement, which would be more in line with social etiquette. However, some situations were extremely cruel. If he were in her shoes, Luo Wenzhou would not be able to do anything better than her. Saying those words was like saying, "drink more water" to a terminally ill person. It was easier said than done.


    He was speechless, so he had to close his mouth.


    At this moment, the "wall-pulling heavy metal" music next door just reached the gap between two songs and paused for a short while. Luo Wenzhou''s ear, which just regained consciousness, suddenly heard the sound of abrupt footsteps from outside.


    He made a subconscious reaction before he could think of anything. He asked Wu Xuechun: "Where is Chen Zhen?"


    Wu Xuechun was stunned by his sudden question, and she also blurted out: "The storage room on the west side of the second floor."


    As soon as she stopped talking, her whole body was dragged up by Luo Wenzhou with one hand. Luo Wenzhou violently pushed her towards the window: "Run away."


    Wu Xuechun walked a few steps back and she was kicked by her own high heels. She was still a little dazed at this time, and she trembled as she supported herself with the wall and stood still. She said: "I..."


    She was going to say, "I am fine. I am one of them. They will not hurt me." However, before this long sentence could leave her mouth, it was already interrupted by Luo Wenzhou: "Just run away. Take off your shoes and don''t talk nonsense."


    Before the sound of his voice faded away, the door of the private room had been kicked open, and a few brightly-dressed young people came in with an especially strong alcohol smell. Aftering in, they started their fight with Luo Wenzhou without saying a word.


    Luo Wenzhou turned around to pick up the luxurious ashtray from the table. At the same time, he saw some light through the corner of his eye. He reached out and blocked it with the ashtray. The metal mmed through the ss and produced a "ceh" sound. A kitchen knife pierced through the bottom of the ashtray and then slipped out.


    Luo Wenzhou pressed the ashtray down, mmed it on the man''s wrist, pressed the man''s arm towards his own back, and lifted his knee to hit the knifeman''s lower abdomen.


    The knifeman''s bile was almost forced out by him. The kitchen knife slipped out of his hand. Luo Wenzhou then took the knife away. He held the knifeman''s yellow hair, mmed him into the wall, and ducked to dodge another man''s attack. Then he took a bottle of god-knows-real-or-not-Remi-Martin from the table and pped the big, cakelike bottle against the knifeman''s head.


    These thugs were all hooligans from god-knows-where. Every face looked like that of a living ghost, showing that they were all addicted. Luo Wenzhou was experienced in streetfights; he was young and strong, exercised regrly, and he ate an extra egg with pancakes every day. So there was a strength disparity between him and these addicts.


    He looked back and found that Wu Xuechun really followed his words. After his shout, she took off her shoes and ran away from the window. Therefore, he took a deep breath and rushed to the storage room on the second floor - they were quiet for such a long time, why did they suddenly start attacking him?


    He was not able to think too much about it at this point and ran up to the second floor. A heavy and uneasy feeling filled his heart. A thought suddenly passed through his chest for no reason. He thought, <i>Has Chen Zhen experienced a mishap?</i>


    The little hooligans who had been beaten by him gathered their friends to chase him. A waiter who was delivering some drinks screamed and pressed himself against the wall. Luo Wenzhou pushed him away and saw the sign to the storage room: a mottled sign that said, "Employees Only."


    Luo Wenzhou took half a step back and kicked the door. The shock of the wooden door hurt him, so he immediately switched to his other leg and kicked it again. This time his calf went through the door. He had made a hole on it.


    Luo Wenzhou pushed the door open and saw a person lying there: "Chen Zhen!"


    He wanted to go forward and look at the man, but his legs were a bit numb, which stopped him for a moment. In this short moment, the brain that had been overheated because of the fight just now slowly cooled down with his calm breath. A thought suddenly came into Luo Wenzhou''s mind - <i>This is not right</i>. He had directly asked Wu Xuechun for Chen Zhen''s location. There had to be some people monitoring them through the surveince system. Why didn''t they move Chen Zhen away?


    The thought shed past, and Luo Wenzhou stepped back without thinking any longer. At the same time, the person lying on the ground jumped up without warning and poked a knife toward Lu Wenzhou''s neck. Luo Wenzhou was alert, so he immediately snatched the kitchen knife the knifeman, pushed the man''s wrist away, grabbed the man''s shoulder, and mmed him into the shelf on the side.


    The other side was also very experienced. He squeezed his shoulders to dodge the impact. With the rebound force, he hit Luo Wenzhou''s ribs. Luo Wenzhou missed one breath and his knife almost slipped out of his hand. He leaned sideways to escape the other''s attack. He then took the man''s arm, turned a half circle, and kicked the man''s knee.


    The man screamed and fell to the ground. Luo Wenzhou finally recognized who the man was with the help of the glimmer from the entrance. He did not know the name of this person, but he had seen the man following Wang Hongliang before.


    Luo Wenzhou held his hair and forced him to look up: "Where is Chen Zhen?"


    The one who was kicked by him - Captain Huang, squinted at Luo Wenzhou. He did not show signs of repent - he instead smiled softly: "He is waiting for you in front."


    Luo Wenzhou understood the meaning of the words in this statement, and his pupils shrank. At the same time, he heard the sound of wind from behind him. He instinctively leaned sideways and raised his arms to protect his head. With a "m" sound, both a bottle of wine and Luo Wenzhou''s left arm were hurt, and the people waiting for the sneak attack were swarming in. There were people holding knives, bottles, sticks, and iron chains. They greeted him with ps in the face.


    Luo Wenzhou had to dodge left and right, and his body was quickly wounded.


    When he left, he actually applied for a gun, but now when his life was at stake, he did not dare to use it. It was because he was not sure if these people from Wang Hongliang''s gang would honestly obey the "five bans". These people now thought he had no other weapons for self-defense and that they could use cold weapons to deal with him. They did not want to make noise in the downtown area, so they were willing to fight him.


    He was alone, and it was better to fight with fists than fight with guns. Besides, Blessing Grand View was not far from the downtown area. If there was a miss in the chaos, the result would be serious.


    A sharp siren suddenly rang, and the group of people froze at the same time. Only Luo Wenzhou reacted very quickly. He lifted a hand to press down on one of the men''s faces, and he hit him on the cartge of his nose. Then he quickly dodged a knife and a kick before striding into the corridor in two steps - he knew that the siren was fake. The road conditions in the West District were not good, and it was still less than half an hour since he had called - assistance could not have arrived so fast.


    Luo Wenzhou did not take the stairs as he feared an ambush. He rushed into the bathroom at the corner, opened the window, and jumped out.


    He had a knife wound on his back, not mention various sized chop wounds and bruises. He was not able to lift his left arm, and he not sure if it was fractured. Two hours ago he was still thinking that the murderer of the "520" case would bite the bait called Zhang Doni, and that he would be casually "feeding the cat" in the cafeteria. He did not expect to transmigrate to an action movie two hourster.


    Life was just as unpredictable as Luo Yiguo.


    Suddenly, someone called him from behind: "Big brother, here!"


    Luo Wenzhou turned back and saw Wu Xuechun, who was barefoot, waving at him. Luo Wenzhou''s hair stood up on his scalp: "Didn''t I ask you to run? Why are you still here?"


    "I just sounded the rm," Wu Xuechun said. "You are not familiar with this area. I will show you out. Did you find Chen Zhen?"


    Before Luo Wenzhou was able to reply, the chasers had arrived: "There, catch him!"


    Luo Wenzhou pulled up next to Wu Xuechun and came to a low wall behind Blessing Grand View with her incoherent guidance. Fortunately, Wu Xuechun was slim, and Luo Wenzhou was able to support her over the low wall. Then he quickly also climbed over.


    When hended, he felt the pain in his left arm which he just forcibly used change unceremoniously from numb pain to burning pain. Luo Wenzhou frowned and hissed, the back of his blood-soaked shirt blown by the cool evening wind, making him feel extremely cold.


    Wu Xuechun saw this bloody scene with the light from the streetmp. Frightened, and she almost screamed.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Which direction?"


    Wu Xuechun pointed a direction for him, and in the next moment, she was being dragged to run by the man.


    "It''s okay," Luo Wenzhouforted her casually. "My face didn''t get hurt."


    Wu Xuechun: "..."


    Two of them crossed a few small roads and saw an avenue after several turns. Luo Wenzhou''s tightened heart was finally untangled itself, and he spoke to Wu Xuechun who was out of breath: "Come back to the Bureau with me, then... "


    His voice stopped abruptly.


    On both sides of the road, the originally busy stalls had all moved a long distance away. The pedestrians had all disappeared, and several screaming motorcycles were stuck at the intersection. They had already waited for him for a long time.


    Luo Wenzhou nced at the watch through the corner of his eyes - ording to the time, he just needed to keep them busy for a while. His assistance would arrive soon.


    So he hid Wu Xuechun behind him and smiled at the leader of the motorcycle gang: "Man, I think we have a misunderstanding, how about we have a talk?"


    Unfortunately, that man did not have the "viin dies because of speaking too much" (1) problem. His eyes zed through the helmet as he stared at Luo Wenzhou. Then he forcefully twisted the elerator and the motorcycle charged toward them.


    Luo Wenzhou had no choice but to grasp the gun (2) in his pocket.


    Before he took his gun out, they all suddenly heard a car engine screaming even louder than the sound of the motorcycles.


    The motorcycle riders did not expect a brainless Mat Rempit to appear in this ce and they had to dodge hurriedly, so they end up in a hideous mass. A bright and colorful snake sports car appeared like lighting. The car performed a skillful drift there, and it just hit the rear wheel of a moving motorcycle. That motorcycle and the person on it veered off.


    Behind the half-open window, one side of a face with long hair appeared. The person did not look at Luo Wenzhou, but said, "Get on."


    =======================================================


    (1) "viin dies because of speaking too much": A ng. In many novels and TV dramas, the main viin usually has a chance to kill the main character. However, they generally spend a lot of time talking, and eventually the main characters find a chance to kill them.


    (2) We don''t know the original text due to censorship. Gun is just the trantor''s guess.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 20: Julien Nineteen

    Chapter 20: Julien Neen


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: After a while, Fei Du suddenlyughed - neither fake nor false, but he really could not help butugh.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    Fei Du appeared out of blue, Luo Wenzhou was just as shocked as the gangsters. However, the situation was urgent. Captain Luo did not suffer losses because of talking nonsense. He immediately took the opportunity to first put Wu Xuechun into the car before hopping into the front seat. Before he settled down himself, the car automatically closed the open doors and sped away.


    Luo Wenzhou was almost forced t on the back of the seat: "Why do I feel that you are not in a stable state... Hey!"


    Although Fei Du did not look at him, the bloody smell would not change ording to a person''s line of sight, and it continued to drift towards him.


    The car''s eleration was nauseating, and a moving blood bag at the side made it even more nauseating. As the the resulting effect of both, after the handsome drift, President Fei was driving towards the electric pole.


    Luo Wenzhou changed his tone. Blue veins stood out on Fei Du''s temples. He managed to turn the steering wheel at thest moment.


    Probably before the survived electric pole was able to feel at ease, it had already seen the whole body of the car jump up and down - President Fei carelessly drove it onto the curb.


    Luo Wenzhou buckled the seat belt with the fastest speed possible. He felt that he had entered the tiger''s den immediately after leaving the dragon''ske - He did not die from the gangster''s attack but probably would die in the hands of Fei Du, the suicidal driver.


    Luo Wenzhou shouted at him: "You driving is so bad!"


    Fei Du did not even dare to breathe too heavily, he would smell the blood once he breathed: "Who let you sit in the front? I am going to vomit!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Vomiting when facing such a handsome young man? What was wrong with him?


    Fei Du''s face was already covered in sweat. It was almost impossible to see the road. Finally, he was unable to maintain his graceful bearing and he spit out a curse at Luo Wenzhou: "I fucking fear blood, cover yourself!"


    Luo Wenzhou went nk for a short while  he always thought that Fei Du "fearing blood" was a joke, because he clearly remembered that Fei Du had no such problem when he was a child.


    Wu Xuechun then handed over an overcoat which Fei Du had left in the back seat. Luo Wenzhou shook the piece of clothing and put it on his own body: "Hey, I have car sickness, you... Fuck, are these people crazy?"


    Luo Wenzhou was about to ask him, "Why did youe here?" However, before he started, he nced at the rearview mirror, and found that the motorcycles had actually caught up with them!


    Although it was not in broad daylight, it was still on the street of a society ruled byw. This was already tant.


    Captain Huang''s gang did not expect that arge group of them could not catch a Luo Wenzhou in their own nest. However, there was no way to stop the arrow after it had left the bow. They had already started this - in for a penny, in for a pound - they had toplete the task.


    Perhaps it indeed only took three steps for a normal person who considered himself as "ordinary" to change from promising with reality" to a "desperado".


    In theory, a group of motorcycles would not be able to chase a top-ss sports car. Yet the actual road conditions had always been the case, especially in the Huashi West District which was very simr to the fringe area that linked the city and town. The road conditions wereplicated - the roads were long and filled with obstructions. In some ces, even the rockets were notparable to a "dedicated to picking up grandson" elderly mobility scooter.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Fei Du was not familiar with this area in the first ce and it was toote to turn the navigation on already. Plus, it was dark so that he could only rely on his feelings - And there was a source of pollution sitting next to him, which made his feelings much worse than usual.


    This route was really filled with danger.


    Fei Du''s hands and feet were cold, his heart rate began to fluctuate, and his stomach seemed to be rebellious. He firmly held the steering wheel as he gnashed his teeth and said, "Tell me you did note here by yourself."


    Probably because of too much blood loss or something, Luo Wenzhou really did have a little motion sickness. In order not to stimte the unstable driver, he did not hesitate to answer: "I did note here by myself, there is back-up... You don''t need us to reimburse the cost of repairing the car, do you?"


    During the conversation, Wu Xuechun screamed. It turned out that a motorbike had caught up and hit the window beside Fei Du with an iron rod.


    The window lingered and did not break, but it split into a spider web.


    Luo Wenzhou looked at it and thought that it was not going to survive: "Your car is such a shy but useless car. It would be better to buy a bulletproof one with that budget."


    Fei Du nced at the rearview mirror, turned the steering wheel, and skillfully pushed the rider who wielded the iron rod to the side of the road. The motorcycle rider was not able to react quickly. He twisted the front wheel, but he still hit the curb of the road. He then struggled a few times, trying to keep the bnce, but he eventually turned over with the motorcycle.


    Fei Du finally opened his mouth while pinching his nose: "I am not the president of a country, who will give me bullets?"


    One of them must have been a crow. Before Fei Du had finished his words, they heard a "ta" sound from the rear window, and with his hair standing up, Luo Wenzhou quickly reacted: "These rotters even use guns. Girl, get down!"


    Wu Xuechun said nothing and curled up herself with her hands covering her head. At the same time, another motorcycle rushed to the side. The rider raised his hand to reveal the ck hole of the muzzle, and fired without a word.


    Fortunately, there were not so many omnipotent bad guys in the world. This guy''s shooting skill was nothing. He was basically shooting without aiming  but with so many shots, one or two would always identally hit the target. A bullet broke the window next to the front passenger seat. Luo Wenzhou suddenly moved his own body to cover Fei Du and pressed Fei Du down at the same time. The bullet rubbed his shoulder and copsed on the front windshield.


    Fei Du had no feeling toward this dangerous moment. His brain was about to die from the smell of blood, so that he had no time to feel or think about the danger. He reached out with one of his hands and grabbed the car perfume as if he could not bear it anymore. Without even a look, he sprayed the perfume on Luo Wenzhou''s face.


    Luo Wenzhou received a fragrance for no reason. He was almost knelt down because of President Fei''s fearlessness and troublesomeness.


    Fei Du saw a small path with nobody in it, stepped on the gas, turned the steering wheel, and made a turn while rubbing the right side, not giving any room for the motorcycle rider with the gun to catch up.


    Then, he suddenly braked the car just after he sessfully made a turn at the corner - at the end of the path, several motorcycle riders were waiting for him there.


    The roar came from behind. They were pinched, blocked, and stuck in the path.


    Fei Du looked around nkly, his face was a little cold and fierce. He firmly held the paddle shifter behind the steering wheel. The engine screamed with a violent roar. The car was like an irritated giant beast, scarred as it stayed at the same ce, ready to attack.


    Fei Du said softly: "If I crush them one by one, would it be considered as over-defense?"


    The vehicle was too noisy. Luo Wenzhou only saw his bloodless lips moving, did not hear a word, but inexplicably understood Fei Du''s expression. His heart beat heavily as he subconsciously seized Fei Du''s hand - the one that was holding the paddle shifter.


    That hand was very cool and hard with cold strength, like some kind of metal with a faint color.


    At this moment, a siren sounded for the second time. Red and blue shing lights illuminated the sky.


    Assistance had finally arrived.


    It took Luo Wenzhou a lot of effort to remove Fei Du''s hand from the paddle shifter. The sound of the engine slowly subsided, and the inside of the riddled sports car remained utterly quiet for a while.


    The assistance was very reliable. Upon arrival, they immediately took control of the scene and neatly disarmed several motorcycle riders. Besides, they were thoughtful and the ambnce was behind them.


    Lang Qiao was the first one to run over and lean against the car door. She gasped out loud: "Boss, are you okay? I was so scared!"


    Luo Wenzhou smiled at her. Before he could talk, Fei Du hurriedly rolled out of the car, walked to the side of the road without saying a word, and vomited.


    While telling Lang Qiao about the follow-up matters, Luo Wenzhou was interrupted by Director Lu who hade in person and was escorted into the ambnce. He thought the old man was making a big fuss because this little injury was nothing, and after he was taken into the ambnce, he continued issuingmands through the car door: "Chen Zhen might still be alive - I don''t think they have a reason to kill him immediately. Go to Blessing Grand View and search for him again. Besides, you must immediately get Ma Xiaowei from the Sub Bureau before Wang Hongliang gets the news. Damn, they might have received the news already... Ok, doctor, right away, let me tell you thest point..."


    Inparison, his "mate" was much more well-behaved - although President Fei had not lost a single strand of hair, he inexplicably spit himself out half-dead and copsed afterwards.


    This night was as long as a century, and for some people, every second was infinitely elongated.


    It was silent at the Huashi Sub Bureau. Xiao Haiyang, who was on duty, clenched the mobile phone in his hand. His partner was asleep. He carefully avoided a lot of eyes and went to the ce where Ma Xiaowei was being held.


    There was a text message on the mobile phone: "We were arrested, notify Director Wang and deal with Ma Xiaowei immediately, urgent!"


    Ma Xiaowei had curled himself up and fallen asleep. Only God knew what kind of nightmare he was having. He would asionally twitch. The childish face was already as skinny as a monkey''s.


    Xiao Haiyang went in, looked back cautiously, and grabbed Ma Xiaowei''s shoulder.


    Ma Xiaowei woke up in the middle of the night and was scared. He almost screamed, but Xiao Haiyang covered his mouth with his hand. The boy widened his eyes in fright.


    Luo Wenzhou got his wound taken care of at the hospital and felt that he was still strong enough to put down another football team of hooligans. He then walked over to visit Fei Du. He saw that his hand was hanging with a drip, and he was leaning on the bed with eyes closed. God knew who was hurt.


    Luo Wenzhou walked over and gently kicked Fei Du''s feet: "Other people who have hemophobia generally faint at the sight of blood. Why do you vomit as if you are pregnant?"


    Fei Du did not open his eyes and only murmured: "Stay away from me."


    "All cleaned up," Luo Wenzhou sat down beside him. "Finally can invite you to dinner but you end up vomting."


    "I don''t think it''s that bad," Fei Du deadpanned.


    Luo Wenzhou thought about the canteen at their Bureau and considered thisment as reasonable. He then asked: "how did you find that ce?"


    This time, Fei Du kept silent and attempted to pretend like he was dead.


    Luo Wenzhou kicked him again. "You won''t follow me all the way, will you? What are you doing with me?"


    For this kind of low-level provoking, Fei Du usually replied with an arrogant "you little silly thing, you are being unreasonable again" look in the eyes before leaving happily. However, he felt so ill this time. Something tossed and turned in his stomach several times, making it painful for him. The lingering scent was still haunting the tip of his nose. He felt dizzy as long as his eyes were open. Furthermore, a "climacteric" bastard at the side did not want to grant him peace. Therefore, he was so angry and blurted out a sneer.


    Luo Wenzhou asked, "Then what were you doing over there?"


    Fei Du leaned on the hospital''s snow-white pillow, frowned, and mobilized all self-restraint he had from birth to force himself not to curse: "I went to visit the ce where He Zhongyi lived."


    Indeed, He Zhongyi lived not far away from the street behind the Blessing Grand View, and the two roads did have simrities. Luo Wenzhou waited for a long time, but he did not get any more to the story. He nced at Fei Du and suddenly realized something: "Then you weren''t lost, were you?"


    Fei Du heard his words, turned his head away without a word, and pretended to have heard a fart.


    Looking at this slight anger from embarrassment in surprise, Luo Wenzhou felt a touch of human spirit in Fei Du. For the first time, he seemed a little amiable because he was so real.


    Luo Wenzhou hurriedly restrained his temptation to further tease Fei Du and asked him while this "feeling of humanity" was still there: "Were you visiting the ce where He Zhongyi lived before he died for that old aunt?"


    Fei Du paused for a moment before he said in a low voice: "That ce is broken and remote. A mixture of good and bad people live there. There is a public toilet nearby, so the whole street smells on cloudy days. The environment is much worse than the other rental houses in the same area. People who live there all rent it because it is cheap. There are people with families who have to support the old and raise the young, or there are those who have patients in their family -- they work hard outside to save money for the family. And there are gamblers and addicts who are so poor that they have to live there."


    "He Zhongyi isn''t a drug addict. ording to his friends, he isn''t involved in gambling." Luo Wenzhou rubbed his chin. "He kept noting down his expenses and ie every day. His notes were very detailed, and there were minus signs before all the ies."


    "He was saving for debt." Fei Du opened his eyes, "And the mysterious moneylender might have said, ''I''ll give you money, but you can''t talk about me to the others.''"


    Luo Wenzhou frowned. As they dug deep into the life of He Zhongyi, they felt that it was impossible for him to have any connections with the drug traffickingwork. Far from being more clear, the case was even more mysterious now.


    He pinched the center of his eyebrows and said, "Well, anyway, the mice have been caught. We can wait and see if there is any connection or not."


    "Ah," said Fei Du vaguely, and he closed his eyes again, apparently not wanting to talk to Luo Wenzhou anymore.


    The two of them remained silent for a moment. Luo Wenzhou suddenly rubbed his nose, and in the friendly atmosphere of "sharing weal and woe" just now, he asked: "There is one thing that I have never been able to figure out -- That year, the conclusion of your mother''s case was a collective conclusion made by me, Tao Ran, the legal medical examiner -- and also the old legal medical examiner and the old criminal police who joined us to prevent wrong judgment... Why do you only give me a hard time?"


    Fei Du gave a sneer.


    "Don''t worry, tell me the truth," Luo Wenzhou said to him with disingenuousness, "I won''t be angry."


    Fei Du heard this and decided to not to be polite. He said, "Because it is disgusting to see your stupid way of thinking that others are blind, and that you can see through everything with your roentgen eyes."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Hearing thisment did make him pretty angry.


    At this time, Luo Wenzhou''s phone vibrated. He looked down at it, and his face suddenly became strange. The small amount of anger in his heart immediately disappeared.


    He prepared himself for a long time before he faintly said, "That... that..."


    Fei Du looked at him puzzledly.


    "My colleague said your car... is damaged severely and it is probably impossible to repair it domestically."


    Fei Du: "Yes, what''s the matter?"


    Taking a deep breath, Luo Wenzhou got himself ready to be shameless and said the words in one breath: "They said that the repair cost is too high. It''s almost like buying a new one. Even adding up several years of our ''act bravely for just'' fund and the reward post cannot afford that - How about we give you a silk banner (1) instead?"


    Fei Du: "..."


    Uponpletion of the sentence, Luo Wenzhou regretted it. He really wanted to lift the colleague who sent this message and flip him upside-down to pour the water in his brain out - who knew which organ was used to conjure up such a bad idea!


    After a while, Fei Du suddenlyughed - neither fake nor false, but he really could not help butugh.


    Luo Wenzhou was embarrassed, and he was not able tough or cry.


    But before he could sense all theplicated feelings, his phone rang again and this time it was from Lang Qiao.


    Lang Qiao''s tone was very serious: "Captain Luo, we found Chen Zhen. He died."


    Luo Wenzhou''s formerly rxed expression suddenly darkened, and he sat straight up: "What?"


    "Besides, one suspect sent a text message before he was arrested and asked someone to deal with Ma Xiaowei. Our men went there immediately, but we don''t know if it''s toote."


    In a few words, Lang Qiao had given him two pieces of bad news. Right after he hung up, another phone call came in - it was Tao Ran, who was on a rare leave.


    "Tao Ran," said Luo Wenzhou absent-mindedly, "I am busy now, wait a minute..."


    "Captain Luo, Zhang Doni''swyer just contacted me," Tao Ran said quickly. "He said he found a suspicious tie in Zhang Doni''s car."


    =======================================================


    (1) Silk banner: There is a tradition in China to give a silk banner as a reward to people who act for a just cause.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 21: Julien Twenty

    Chapter 21: Julien Twenty


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Then, Fei Du kept his mouth shut. Until they arrived at the Yancheng Bureau, he did not even speak a punctuation.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "Officer Tao, if the test result proves that I''m the one who''s overreacting, could you please keep this a secret?" This was the third call that Lawyer Liu had made to Tao Ran. The main idea was still along the lines of, "I wish I could travel back in time to half an hour ago and cut off the hand that I used to call you".


    Tao Ran sighed helplessly, feeling that this Lawyer Liu was really neurasthenic.


    "Otherwise," babbled Lawyer Liu, "I won''t be able to continue my business. What did I do? Please don''t tell anyone, my life is in your hands."


    Tao Ran had to make the same promise for the third time. He had almost sworn to the god or signed a document. The hesitatingwyer on the other side finally reluctantly agreed to send the tie to the Bureau for testing immediately.


    After dealing with this guy, Tao Ran turned around to the back of the car and shed an apologetic smile: "I''m sorry."


    He was tragically interrupted by Lawyer Liu in the middle of a movie. The main character and his lover in the movie started turning against each other -- making the girl leave the theater with him during the tearfulints was an ominous start for the blind date.


    The girl did not say anything. She was probably cursing in her heart, but she held herself back. She was even considerate enough to say, "If you are busy, you don''t need to send me home - Sir, please stop in front of that metro station entrance for me, then send him to work."


    Tao Ran blushed - only because of embarrassment: "This... is not very..."


    "It''s okay. We get caught by the boss on weekends too," the girl said, "Besides, we only work overtime for the boss, and you are working for public safety -- I also saw that rich second-generation murder case on the Inte. You need to quickly solve the case."


    Tao Ran stuttered: "Not, not confirmed to be the rich second-generation, we didn''t... didn''t... identify the murderer."


    During the conversation, the taxi had arrived at the metro station entrance. The driver stopped with a smile, waiting for the girl to say goodbye to Tao Ran.


    Before she left, she remembered something and turned to him: "It was nice to meet a former ssmate after leaving my hometown, only the way we met was a bit awkward."


    If there were cracks in the ground, Tao Ran must have jumped into one without looking back.


    What was the probability of being in a city away from home and meeting a high school ssmate during a blind date? What was the probability for that high school ssmate to be the girl he secretly had a crush on during his school days?


    Of course, this was nothing to be congratted about. Even if he met Audrey Hepburn on a blind date, he would still have to leave the girl and go back to work.


    It was not until he watched the girl walk into the metro station that his severely disturbed intelligence level returned to normal values. With a deep breath, Vice Captain Tao shook the porridge in his head, trying to turn it back into normal brain matter and refocus on the case.


    The taxi driver observed and concluded, "I think you have a chance, young man."


    Tao Ran forced a smile: "Sir, make a U-turn there and go to the Bureau."


    The driver, a middle-aged man, was interested in love affairs and a "rich second-generation murder case". He wanted to have a discussion with Tao Ran about it. At the time, Tao Ran finally started to regret refusing the offer to rent a car from his two bastard friends. To mute the talkative guy, he pretended to be sleepy, put on his headphones, and opened an audio app to plug his ears.  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    The audiobook streamed into his ears from the headphones with theid-back background music: "...''And what shall I have left,'' replied Julien coldly, ''if I despite myself?''... "


    This was not a very popr audiobook tform - there were very few bestsellers in it. Most of the audiobooks were old ssics. Most of the time, only random hypnotic prose could be yed. Only users who submitted their manuscripts and became "lead readers" were allowed to select the audiobooks they wanted to listen to.


    The "lead reader" had to submit arge number of appreciations for masterpieces. Only when one of the appreciations was selected by the editor, the tform would y the audiobook he or she selected and would share the submitted appreciation with other listeners thereafter.


    Tao Ran did not pay much attention to the content. He just used the music to iste the noise so that he could sort out his train of thought.


    Soon, the taxi took the subsidiary road and was about to arrive at the Bureau. As Tao Ran prepared to close the audiobook, he heard the closing words: "Now, this is the end of the part selected in <i>The Red and the ck</i> by the famous French writer, Stendhal. Let me share with you the appreciation article from the lead reader, whose ID is ''the reciter''."


    The ID struck Tao Ran like a thunderbolt.


    Friday night was supposed to be nice and rxing, and the city was full of people who were weing the weekend. People working in the Bureau, nevertheless, were either still working or on the way to work.


    After getting the two phone calls from Tao Ran and Lang Qiao, Luo Wenzhou could not stand to sit still in the hospital. His idea of leaving the hospital got Fei Du''s consent - President Fei did not have much work to do, and he just disliked the poor conditions of the public hospital.


    The two men came to a rare agreement, and their power of action doubled. Fei Du immediately called his assistant and asked for a car. Luo Wenzhou shamelessly rode the car.


    It was nearly ten o ''clock. Lang Qiao sent Luo Wenzhou a WeChat message reporting thetest updates. After reading, he did not speak for a long time.


    After a long while, he abruptly said, "The legal medical expert made a preliminary assessment that Chen Zhen died from a one-time drug overdose."


    While listening to Luo Wenzhou''s one-sided "chat" in the hospital, Fei Du got a rough idea about how his beloved car was damaged, and he now knew who Chen Zhen was.


    There was no smell of blood on the side, and the temperature in the car wasfortable. Fei Du just took the night snacks that his assistant had brought. He steadily stopped the car behind the pedestrian crossing to wait for the traffic signal, and he took the advantage of the red signal to drink a few sips of banana milk. Banana milk made him calm, and he replied: "Sounds a little strange - doesn''t sound very civilized."


    Hearing the word "civilized", Luo Wenzhou could not help but briefly look at him: "I don''t even dare to have such high expectations of criminals."


    Fei Du said: "Even a very bad man is not always willing to take risks. For example, those men who wanted to kill you and ended up using guns on the street  they did that because they were exposed to you. If you ran away, they would definitely be caught - they fear the results, so they be anxious. There is a causal connection, and it cannot be reversed casually. It is very difficult for a real lunatic to live in society for a long time."


    Luo Wenzhou agreed with him about this matter because Wu Xuechun had confirmed that Chen Zhen was "safe". If the girl did not lie at that time, she at least witnessed the fact that the division martial and his gang from the Sub Bureau did not want to kill him. In addition, if they nned to kill Chen Zhen and him in the beginning, they would not have allowed him to talk to Wu Xuechun for such a long time.


    But for Chen Zhen to have died from a one-time drug overdose  this didn''t sound like an ident.


    "They may be the ones who injected the drug, but it''s hard to understand how a person who deals with drugs all year long actually did not manage to get a proper dose and killed someone by ident," said Fei Du leisurely. "If I were involved in covering up for drug gangs and a stranger barged in with sensitive questions, I would not kill him rashly."


    Hearing him use the same tone as if he were discussing the weather, Luo Wenzhou''s scalp felt numb. However, as he felt so, he still asked, "And?"


    "The first step is to get the man under control, do a thorough background check on him, find out how deep he dug into the truth, and see if there is anyone behind him. Then use drugs, violence, intimidation, threats, or any other means to undermine him. When I know that the deceased was just starting toe into contact with you, that he was not really your informant, that he did not dare to trust youpletely, and that his background was simple with no rtives, then I will take the second step." With the smell of banana milk, Fei Du said, "The second step is to use some drugs to get him addicted, and in his trance, repeatedly tell him that you betrayed him, brainwashed him, and convinced him that you were one of them. It would be easy for him to fall into despair thinking that there is no such thing as ''justice'' in this world, and that for a man like him, the only way to survive is topromise."


    Luo Wenzhou kept looking at him for a while andmented, "It is really wicked."


    Fei Du did not care about hisment and continued: "The third step is that after he is addicted, start to give him small benefits  let him know that we are not that bad, and that we still exhibit humanistic care. That''s it. I will have achieved dual control over one mentally and physically, and the man will be at my disposal. While you use all means to take him out, I only need to tell him that we have some conflicts due to dividing the spoils, and that we are fighting against each other. He will be a nail that breaks into your gang, carrying all his hatred toward you."


    Perhaps the tension between the two of them had just softened a bit, or perhaps the banana milk smell in the car was too good for a man to be serious, but his strange remarks did not make Luo Wenzhou stomp with fury for the first time. He was silent for a while and said, "If you break thew one day, we might really be in trouble."


    Fei Du made noment. The next moment, he heard Luo Wenzhou say, "But you''re just talking about it. Additionally, you are only talking about it to me. Neither did you put it into practice, nor did you set up a ''no-trace murder training''. This gives us a chance to asionally take a short vacation or go on date with someone, so I still want to express our gratitude on behalf of the organization to you."


    Fei Du: "..."


    Why was his reaction different than usual?


    Luo Wenzhou nodded to himself again and said kindly, "We should send you an extra silk banner. Is there anything else? Please tell us for reference."


    Then, Fei Du kept his mouth shut. Until they arrived at the Yancheng Bureau, he did not even speak a punctuation.


    At the entrance of the Bureau, just after Luo Wenzhou got out of the car, a police car rushed towards him and stopped beside him. Before the car was fully stopped, Lang Qiao had already jumped out from it: "Boss, Ma Xiaowei is missing!"


    "Don''t shout." The wound on Luo Wenzhou''s back was just sutured and he was still a bit paralyzed. He fished out a box of cigarettes with one hand, took out one cigarette with his mouth, and calmly said, "It is good for him to be missing."


    Lang Qiao widened herrge eyes even more and opened her mouth. But before she could say anything, her eyes focused on something behind Luo Wenzhou, not far away from him: "That, that is... "


    Hearing her voice, Luo Wenzhou turned around and saw a small and timid figure on the opposite side of the street. His head was popped out towards the direction of the Bureau. Another man came and led him across the road.


    Lang Qiao: "Ma Xiaowei and that crooked-leg small sses!"


    Xiao Haiyang finally reced his broken sses with a new pair. The somewhat prim square frames made him look a few years older. He led Ma Xiaowei all the way to Luo Wenzhou: "Captain Luo."


    Luo Wenzhou saw him, but he apparently was not surprised. He nodded gently: "You are here? Go in."


    There was no sign of the weekend in the Bureau. There were people who were examining the bodies, people who were examining the necktie, people who were enquiring the witness, and people who were enquiring the prisoner -- the criminal investigation team and the forensics department were in a mess. Mother He, who temporarily stayed in the watch-house, was inevitably alerted, and she had to take an eager look whenever something was happening.


    When they came in with Ma Xiaowei, they saw Mother He walking in the corridor. After she saw Luo Wenzhou, she moved her suspicious gaze to Ma Xiaowei.


    Luo Wenzhou said to Ma Xiaowei, "That''s He Zhongyi''s mother."


    Ma Xiaowei''s originally listless footstep suddenly stopped, and he looked at her with fear on his face.


    The emaciated woman and the haggard teenager looked at each other. After a while, probably because the appearance of the boy reminded her of her son, Mother He called out to him: "Did you... you know my son?"


    Ma Xiaowei stepped back.


    "My Zhongyi was a good boy. You knew him, didn''t you?" She shuddered and took a step forward, looking at Ma Xiaowei. Staring at him for a while, her tears fell down. She straightened up her neck and drew a long breath, "Who killed him? Ah? Boy, please tell your aunt, who on earth killed him?"


    Ma Xiaowei''s eyes were red, and then without warning, he dropped to his knees.


    "Me, it''s me!" He burst into tears. "I hurt brother Zhongyi, I hurt you. I''m sorry... "


    =======================================================

 Chapter 22: Julien Twenty-one

    Chapter 22: Julien Twenty-one


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Kai</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Lang Qiao did not hear what the other person talked to him, but Tao Ran looked increasingly solemn with every passing moment, after which he hung up and asked her: "Has Fei Du left?"</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    This was already the second time of Ma Xiaowei dering himself to be suspected of murder in the Public Security Bureau. This earth-shattering teenager was wailing even harder than the victim''s family. He almost hit the ground with his head when two policemen dived forward to hold his body and pulled him away in the midst of Mother He''s whimpering.


    Luo Wenzhou did not expect a simple introduction would have caused such a change. He felt a terrible headache. Foreboding a sleepless night, he sent a text message quickly to the property manager of the building he lived and asked him to feed Luo Yiguo, who was suffering from cold and hunger.


    Lang Qiao was about to lead Fei Du to make a written record when Luo Wenzhou looked up and called after him.


    "Hey," Luo Wenzhou said with neither subject nor object, "Thanks."


    Finding it fancy to hear decentnguage from his filthy mouth, Fei Du''s footsteps paused, and with the general demeanor of a president''s inaugural speech, he nodded in all seriousness: "You are wee."


    With one eyebrow raised higher than the other, Luo Wenzhou watched his model-like figure until he was out of sight. This view inexplicably reminded him of a poodle strutting around, making him long to catch up with Fei Du and tuck a stick in his hand. However, they had spent seven years in war, and finally saw the hope of burying the hatchet. Luo Wenzhou did not want to make any troubles, so he held back his various witty absurd ideas, turned and tapped Xiao Haiyang on the shoulder: "Follow me."


    Silently following him to an unupied inquiring room and straightening his own sses nervously, Xiao Haiyang looked right into Luo Wenzhou''s eyes: "Now, I am not considered as a policeman assisting in handling the case, am I?"


    Luo Wenzhou signaled at Xiao Haiyang: "Sit down, what do you consider you are, then?"


    Xiao Haiyang did not try to be polite. At Luo Wenzhou''s sound, he sat down with a t body: "Am I a suspect or a witness?"


    Luo Wenzhou chuckled, automatically crossed his legs and leaned back. The gash on his back protested at once and shrieked at his pain nerves, almost making him wince. Suppressing this temptation, Luo Wenzhou maintained his usual self and sat down with half of his body paralyzed. He then began, in a manner of casual talk: "How many years have you worked?"


    Xiao Haiyang: "Two years... one and a half years."


    "Oh, so your probation period just ended not long ago, isn''t it?" Luo Wenzhou nodded. He recalled for a minute, and continued, "When I was still small, my dad had meant to turn me into a national defense student, but I was still in the rebellious period, and did not follow his ideas. So I said, ''I don''t bother to study missiles in Sahara'', and then I went back to school to fill in the application form without knowing what I was doing. At that time, I was deeply affected by Hong Kong police films. Thinking that all policemen were Tony Leung (1) and Louis Koo (2), I fell into the wrong path."


    Xiao Haiyang responded very seriously: "Sahara is not in China."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    This young man was really going at chatting.


    Xiao Haiyang must have also realized that, his body tightened: "Please continue."


    Feeling that Xiao Haiyang possibly not even know what "rx" is, Luo Wenzhou gave up on his efforts. Deciding toe straight to the problem, he asked seriously: "Whether you are a contributing policeman, a witness or a suspect depends on the results of our future investigation - You are prepared, and ready to confess everything you know, aren''t you?"  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    Xiao Haiyang noded.


    "Good." said Luo Wenzhou, "I will start with the most recent events. Why did you escort Ma Xiaowei here tonight?"


    "Because someone wanted to silence him," Xiao Haiyang answered without thinking. As he was speaking, he pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket, which had already been packed very well within an evidence bag. He handed it to Luo Wenzhou. "I am on duty tonight, with one of my colleagues. This is his mobile phone, he was asleep when he received the message."


    Luo Wenzhou scanned the text message inside the transparent bag swiftly. It tallied with what Lang Qiao had told him, so he put it aside: "Why are you reading someone else''s text messages?"


    Xiao Haiyang said: "I am watching him."


    This young man spoke very fast, did notugh often, and when he talked to people, his body had always been tightened with asional small movements like straightening sses or clenching fists. He did not look like an adult who had "experienced things", but a bit more like a middle school boy who developed inharmonious arms and legs.


    Looking at him, Luo Wenzhou felt that if Fei Du shared half of his tact with Xiao Haiyang, both of them would be normal.


    "Why are you watching him, then?"


    Xiao Haiyan''s lips tightened: "Can I start from the beginning?"


    Luo Wenzhou nodded. Xiao Haiyang inhaled a deep breath, pondered slightly for a minute, and began to speak with details: "The atmosphere in the sub bureau is not the same as that in the bureau. If there are no important asions or important events, we usually don''t see Director Wang. We rely on Captain Huang - oh, he''s the head of the Criminal Investigation Team of the Huashi Sub Bureau, his full name is Huang Jinglian - to deliver hismands."


    "Captain Huang and the vice captain doesn''t get on well with each other. But some of the colleagues in our department form his inner circle, some of them are his ''key educating targets''. He often directly call his own men for some tasks. Sometimes, others don''t even know what they are busying themselves with. Under his influence, the vice captain is basically a mere figurehead. He can do nothing."


    "I used to think that Captain Huang was only choosing the backbone of the team ording to his own preferences, and I didn''t care much. After all, this kind of small group had never had anything to do with me since I was a kid. Until one day, a local police station in the district reported a case - they found the body of a girl. It happened to be during the night shift time. I was on duty that day and I was already ready to go. Unexpectedly, I was stopped by one colleague... It was the owner of the mobile phone. He said that he had some private stuff the next day and asked me for a switch. It is normal for us to switch in private, so I didn''t think much and agreed. So that colleague was out for action with Captain Huang."


    "Huang Jinglian was also there?" Luo Wenzhou paused, and asked for a detail, "What was the name of the dead girl?"


    Xiao Haiyang: "Chen Yuan."


    Luo Wenzhou squinted at him: "Why do you remember it so clearly? Is there something special about Chen Yuan for you?"


    "I remember most of the things I saw, and now I can still recall the license te number of the police car which you drove to the crime scene in the ''520'' case. If you need..."


    "..." Luo Wenzhou found it both funny and annoying. The style of this small sses and the Huashi District Sub Bureau were simply incongruous. He waved his hand hastily. "You don''t have to prove it, I believe, just continue."


    Xiao Haiyang paused, and then switched the topic: "But that deceased was indeed a bit special. We had a photo of the body at the time. When she died, she wore a hollow top and a very short skirt with heavy makeup on her face - But her top was wore back to front. For one certain kind of women clothes, the buttons are supposed to be at the back. If the piece of clothes has no cor, it is easy to mistake the front and back at the first nce. Only when you really wear it front to back, you will feel your neck and the underarm are notfortable. My immediate reaction was that her clothes were likely to be forced on by someone else after death. If that was true, the case may involve homicide. When I switched with my colleague, I took care to tell them this..."


    Luo Wenzhou''s fingers tapped on the table gently. He did not interject. He had read the material of Chen Yuan''s case and well remembered that the clothes on the female body was normal, and the back-button top was not worn back to front.


    "It was already a few dayster when I knew the investigation result of this case. Captain Huang and his gang determined the nature of this case as ''prostitute died of excessive drug use''. I asked that colleague how they exined the front-to-back-worn piece of clothes on the deceased, he avoided answering directly for a while, only said that I didn''t see it clearly." Xiao Haiyang paused for a long time here, "I didn''t keep a copy of the photo, and I just had a quick nce. It is notpletely impossible for my eyes to deceive me -- but in the afternoon of the same day, two thousand yuan was transferred to my sry ount with a message ''bonus''. Our sries were not high. It was full of pressure to support our family and live. So when there were bonuses asionally, there would definitely be a verbal celebration. The atmosphere in the whole team would be different. That time, however, no one talked about it at all. Until it was about time to go off, Captain Huang beckoned me. He talked about a few previous daily routines work, saying that I worked with chariness and responsibility, so he asked Director Wang to specially approve that bonus, in order to embolden the ''advanced'' new colleague. I thought this reason was very far fetched. I did not touch that two thousand yuan, because I suspected it was ''hush money''."


    Luo Wenzhou easily figured that that indeed was brazen hush money: "But you have no evidence. The report of Chen Yuan Case was handled very cleanly. There were no ws in it."


    Xiao Haiyang''s cheeks stiffened. He nodded rather reluctantly.


    Luo Wenzhou breathed: "And then? That day, at the crime scene, why did you suggest that the body was not found at the primary crime scene?"


    "I suspected Captain Huang''s gang was involved in something, and that''s why after thinking things over, I didn''t draw attention to the bonus," Xiao Haiyang raised his chin slightly in the direction of the mobile phone in the evidence bag besides Luo Wenzhou. "I installed a virus on this colleague''s mobile phone when I got a chance, secretly turned on his GPS and monitored his movements everyday."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Xiao Haiyang hastened to exin: "I know this is illegal, but I barely passed a lot of subjects in my training and internship, it was unrealistic to follow and investigate them, I would be found in minutes. That''s why I could only do what I did.."


    "Never mind, never thought you were such a genius," Luo Wenzhouughed, "What did you find out?"


    "He often visited some ces for entertainment after work. In addition, for all the dates that are multiples of five  I mean, dates like five, ten, fifteen, or twenty - As long as he was not on duty, he would be in the same set of ces, including the open space where He Zhongyi''s body was found and several other remote ces. I avoided them and secretly visited one or two of these ces. I didn''t get anything, but there was once when I pretended to be a visitor and asked for the direction, an old woman living nearby warned me not to go there after dark, she said ''sometimes there are addicts over there''."


    Luo Wenzhou: "You are telling me, on the night of May 20th, by means of GPS, you had confirmed that your colleague happened to be in the ce where He Zhongyi was found."


    "He went off with Captain Huang''s gang after work. I suspected that the whole Captain Huang''s gang was also there. It showed that it was not until close to eleven o''clock had the mobile phone left," said Xiao Haiyang. "Captain Luo, I think if some of us murdered He Zhongyi, they would handle it more professionally. It is unlikely that they will just leave the body there, and result in such an out-of-control situation the next day. Later, Ma Xiaowei confirmed some of my guesses - Captain Huang''s gang was involved in certain business at the location where the body was found. Conflicts might have ured during the course, and was heard by the surrounding residents. Ma Xiaowei was also there. None of them had seen how the body got there."


    Luo Wenzhou nodded, said abruptly without leavingment at his words: "Where were you on the 20th night?"


    "In the bureau, on duty, graveyard shift. There are duty records and surveince records." Xiao Haiyang remained calm, did not show any unpleasantness at Luo Wenzhou''s question, and answered coolly and objectively, "Are you suspecting me to be the one dumping the corpse there? I am not. The road conditions in the West District areplicated. To dump the corpse there without being seen, first, one must be very familiar with the surrounding environment, and second, one needs some kind of transportation. I just got my driver''s license, and didn''t have a car yet."


    It was hard to tell whether Luo Wenzhou had believed his words. He only asked impassively: "Have you heard of the ''Golden Triangle Area'', then?"


    "Ma Xiaowei told us, the so-called ''Golden Triangle Area'' is nowhere but the moor where He Zhongyi''s body was found. It is one of the usual ce where they do their trading. This alias is only known to those who often participate in the business. It is strictly forbidden to leak." Bustling out of the interrogation room and throwing down the deposition to the table, Tao Ran said to Lang Qiao, "Luo Wenzhou that bastard! He went to investigate such a big matter in private without telling us one word about it! Does he think he''s Captain America?"


    Lang Qiao said interestedly: "Then, was He Zhongyi really killed by Ma Xiaowei?"


    "I reckon he''s not. ording to Ma Xiaowei, after he got addicted to drugs, he became very poor and often was unable to make ends meet. People living with him all know that, and don''t usually bring money to their residence. So Ma Xiaowei sought to obtain He Zhongyi''s new mobile phone. That day, he stole it and nned to trade it. Unexpectedly, aftering back from work that day, He Zhongyi rummaged for that mobile phone for some reason. Finding that the phone was missing, He Zhongyi asked Ma Xiaowei about it. Ma Xiaowei was obsessed with drug and refused to admit it. Atst they parted in discord  Qiao, give me a bottle of water, I didn''t have a break for the whole night." Taking the bottle water and consuming half of it, Tao Ran got his breath back. "Ma Xiaowei traded the mobile phone of He Zhongyi for drugs that night. He nned to let He Zhongyi search his things when He Zhongyi''s back, thinking gloatingly about thements He Zhongyi would give after search. But He Zhongyi never returned, and coincidentally died right at that area."


    "So Ma Xiaowei thought He Zhongyi somehow came back in time to see him selling that mobile phone, and was killed when trying to get his phone back?" With her eyes rolling, Lang Qiao quickly figured this out, "Then, because of the brawling of people, we got unexpected testimony. In order to cover it up, Wang Hongliang used the mobile phone to frame him? So who on earth killed He Zhongyi?"


    Tao Ran did not manage to answer, his mobile phone rang suddenly. It was a call from thendline of the Forensic Section. He picked it up at once: "Hey, how''s it?"


    Lang Qiao did not hear what the other person talked to him, but Tao Ran looked increasingly solemn with every passing moment, after which he hung up and asked her: "Has Fei Du left?"


    =======================================================


    (1) Tony Leung: A Hong Kong actor, who yed policeman in various TV series and films.


    (2) Louis Koo: A Hong Kong actor, who yed policeman in various TV series and films.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 23: Julien Twenty-two

    Chapter 23: Julien Twenty-two


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: After Luo Wenzhou put together and reviewed all the clues, Lang Qiao still had not brought in thedy. He looked up with his eyelids trembl involuntarily.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    At the time, Luo Wenzhou was pushing the door and entering the room. As he walked in with head bent and brooding, he heard Tao Ran''s query and looked up in surprise: "What happened?"


    Tao Ran hardly cared to talk about the issue of the personal heroism cancer with "Captain China Luo". Frowning, he said: "Zhang Doni''s fingerprints are on the tie that Lawyer Liu sent. Per the initial assessment, this tie is consistent with the bruise on the neck of the deceased. There is a small amount of blood stains on it - He Zhongyi''s skin around his neck was broken when he was strangled. If they work overtime, the DNA test results coulde out as early as tomorrow morning. The forensics team said that the possibility of this tie being the murder weapon is very high."


    Luo Wenzhou listened without speaking. After Tao Ran finished, he looked up at the clock. It was close to midnight.


    "Go get him," he said. "I reckon Fei Du hasn''t left yet. Even if he has, it should not be long - we can get him."


    Fei Du indeed had not left yet.


    After they made notes on his testimony, he again sat next to Mother He as apanion for a while.


    Perhaps it was thepanion she had all the time, or the fact that the Bureau was brightly lit in the middle of the night, Mother He seemed to see the dim light of hope. Her mood was also stable. She was even able to chat with Fei Du: "Before you came, I seem to see the man who was here in the afternoon... what''s his name..."


    She was referring to Mr. Liu, but for a moment she could not remember what he did for a living. After a moment of hum and haw, her mind was still in a mess, so she simply skipped that part and asked: "Have they found new evidence?"


    The cozy chair for Mother He was not very suitable for President Fei. There was no room for his legs. The young master refused to curl himself up for the purpose of a good image, so he had no choice but to put his legs in an awkward position. As a result, it did not take long for his feet to get numb. he could not help but reach out and pat them: "Maybe... what are you going to do after the murderer is caught? Go home?"


    Mother He lowered her eyelids, but she did not reply. She just nced at his hand on the leg and said: "You''re not a policeman, are you? It''s veryte, you should quickly go home."


    Apart from the leg numbness, Fei Du did not feel tired at all. For a young man of pleasure like him, it was just the beginning of the nightlife, and it was the time for him to be in the groove.


    It was a pity that there was no beauty around today. He only had a wizened middle-ageddy as apanion. However, Fei Du treateddies of all ages equally without discrimination. It might be a good thing for him to meet thousands of good-looking people in his life as he had cultivated the ability to not be dazzled by appearances.


    "It''s okay. Let me stay with you for a while," Fei Du said to her. "My mother left us when I was very young... Even when she was still above ground, she always had to take medications and was not able to go out for work. My dad was busy at work and he was never at home. I was in school. My school was far from home, so I lived near the school with the housekeeper. Once per week, I went home to meet her."


    Mother He looked at Fei Du timidly: "You are such a good-looking boy. Your mother must loved you so much that she must have been looking forward to seeing you at home every day. For mothers like us, who have no exceptional skills or achievements, the only thing left for us to look forward to each day are children like you."  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    At these words, Fei Du beamed at her without turning a hair: "Hmm."


    As he looked up, he saw Luo Wenzhou and Tao Raning over, both wearing overtime faces. Once they were a few steps away, Tao Ran waved at him.


    Fei Du wandered over and grinned at Tao Ran: "Bro, how was the blind date?"


    Fei Du had a very good sense of propriety. He said he would change his attitude, and now he changed both his vocal and bodynguage when facing Tao Ran. As promised, he stopped stirring up more trouble. He became a very close but not too close brother.


    "Drop it." Tao Ran waved his hand with his face showing theplexity of the situation, looked at the eager Mother He, and indicated for Fei Du to follow them. "Come on, we need your confirmation for a few things."


    "What happened?" said Fei Duzily, following them, "You finally realize that working as a policeman is such an unpromising career? I told you, even the guy who sells fried bread sticks downstairs at ourpany cafe earns more than your captain."


    The quiet Captain Luo got annoyed for no reason. It was so unjust that he felt hungry. He summoned an on-duty policeman crossly and gave him a handful of coins: "Get me some fried bread sticks from the 24-hour shop."


    Head sticking out, Mother He watched Fei Du and the policemen walk away. She was sitting in the corner, and her tears had dried up, forming a transparent film on her eyeballs, reflecting the cold city and the cold night.


    Suddenly, her cell phone rang. That was an old phone which had been eliminated from the market by many smartphones, whose only function was to make and receive phone calls.


    She doddered, picking it up in a panicked state: "Hello?"


    There was a burst of rustling noise from the phone. Then, she heard a strange voice: "Have you seen thewyer? He was paid to cover things up for the young masters, and came to report only because of conscience. Now the police clearly know who the murderer is. They must be very busy now, aren''t they? The evidence is conclusive. It will be hard for them to cover it up - are you willing to believe me now?"


    Mother He''s scaly lips trembled, and she said in a barely-audible voice: "Who on earth are you?"


    "I am here to help you," said the strange voice. "The things on the outside are tooplicated. You don''t understand them at all. They treat you so well only because they don''t want you thering on this, because <i>somebody</i> is the murderer. They don''t dare to catch him."


    Mother He opened her eyes bit by bit.


    The strange voice asked: "Are you ready?"


    At that moment, Tao Ran ushered Fei Du into his own office, fished out a few photos, and without any preliminaries, he pointed at the silver-gray striped tie in the photos: "Have you seen this kind of tie?"


    Fei Du nced at it: "It''s generic. Everyone has one."


    Tao Ran: "Does Zhang Doni have one?"


    Fei Du was stunned, and the smile on his face suddenly faded almostpletely: "What do you mean?"


    Looking on, Luo Wenzhou found that this bloke had a sharp mind, it was a pity that he was not using it in the right ce: "We mean exactly what you are thinking of."


    Hesitating for a moment, Fei Du stretched out his hand for the photo and carefully examined it for a while: "He does have one of from this brand. If my memory is urate, it is a gift from Zhang Ting. Since this style does not suit Zhang Doni at all, he usually only wears it when working at his father''spany. His friends once saw him wearing this, and it ended up being a joke for a long time. However, although Zhang was not a reliable guy, he still adored Zhang Ting. Heined about it on a daily basis, but he was not willing to toss it - What''s wrong with this tie?"


    "This tie was found in the seat gap of Zhang Doni''s car. His fingerprint is on it and it is suspected to be the murder weapon," said Tao Ran, keeping his voice down, "Now, we need you to help us sort out a few things - on the evening of May 20th, in Cheng Guang Mansion, was Zhang Doni wearing this tie?"


    "No," said Fei Du, "The video should have recorded that."


    Tao Ran then asked: "The 20th was a workday. Is it possible that he wore it during the day, but took it off and left it in the car or his pocket after work?"


    "That I don''t know," Fei Du frowned slightly. Then he seemed to think of something and asked, "Is there only Zhang Doni''s fingerprint on the tie?"


    Tao Ran''s expression only changed slightly, but Fei Du had already figured out the answer by watching his face.


    He quietly stood there for a while. The smile that used to live on his eyebrows solidified. Then he slowly spoke: "Zhang Doni can''t be the murderer. If the tie only has his fingerprints, it means that when the murderer stole or picked up this tie, he or she had already nned to frame someone."


    He talked slowly with his usual tone. Tao Ran, however, inexplicably felt his hidden anger.


    Even since Tao Ran called him for Zhang Doni''s alibi, Fei Du had always shown the indifference of an outsider. Although he had apanied Zhang Ting to the Bureau twice, that was purely just apanying her. He seemed like aplete downright "fair-weather friend".


    He never defended Zhang Doni anxiously - he had not even taken initiative to ask them about their progress, or whether Zhang Doni was still a suspect.


    "I didn''t expect you to be angry for Zhang Doni, I thought..." Feeling quite surprised, Tao Ran wrestled over his words for a moment, "I thought you weren''t that close to him? You didn''t seem to care about him."


    "I am not angry, I just feel that they went too far." Fei Du turned his head and smiled at Tao Ran. That was a seemingly warm and calm smile, but then what he said let the cat out of the bag, "Give me a cup of coffee-vored sesame oil."


    Tao Ran: "..."


    The "not angry" Boss Fei looked perfectly calm,pletely unaware of his mistake.


    It was not until Fei Du drank a cup of instant coffee with frowned brow and sour face did he slowly breathe in relief: "When you released Zhang Doni, you announced that there was insufficient evidence to prove him guilty. In fact, there was already sufficient evidence to prove him innocent at that time, right?"


    Tao Ran was stunned.


    Luo Wenzhou, however, nodded: "Yes. The DNA on the cigarettes that you sent was indeed He Zhongyi''s. We followed this clue and found that he left the Cheng Guang Mansion by bus to travel somewhere else, and was killed there. At that time, Zhang Doni was still enjoying himself in the Cheng Guang Mansion. He has his alibi. We didn''t announce this when he was released because I had a hunch that the murderer must be watching this case closely. We released Zhang Doni ambiguously, and he will definitely have the next move. As I expected, he sent us this tie."


    "Monitoring the case, and is able to put the murder weapon into Zhang Doni''s car without being suspected. The murderer should be one of those who came to pick up Zhang Doni from the ''small ck house''. Except for Zhang Ting and Lawyer Liu, we all happened to be in Cheng Guang Mansion that night." Fei Du stretched his legs and leaned against Tao Ran''s desk. "Among us, I should be the one who knows the most about the case. So am I a suspect?"


    "No," Luo Wenzhou answered without thinking, "You just got lost in the small alleys in the West District. It''s way too difficult for you to dump a body there."


    Fei Du: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou said: "Come on, Mr. Fei, we know that you have both fortune and virtue, and you can afford fried bread sticks. We are making your banner. Stop being moody and talk like a human."


    Tao Ran looked at Luo Wenzhou, then at Fei Du, feeling a little shocked. He had no idea what happened during the meal he was absent.


    Fei Du stared at him nkly for a moment, probably slicing Luo Wenzhou into eight pieces in his heart which helped him barely maintain his demeanor. He said sternly: "Apart from me, Zhang Doni''swyer should be the most knowledgeable about the case. The whole tie event may be his self-directed performance, but he has never met Zhang Doni before and it should be difficult to get old Zhang''s tie before this murder case happened - Lawyer Liu directly reports to Zhang Ting. Moreover, Zhang Ting is more in line with the above conditions, and she must have had close contact with the deceased He Zhongyi. You need to investigate Zhang Ting''s alibi on the night of the murder."


    He paused before continued: "And the fourth person is Zhang Ting''s boyfriend, Zhao Haochang. he''s a famous legal advisor who specializes in mergers and acquisitions. Zhang Ting rmended Lawyer Liu to him. Today, he came here with Zhang Ting. On the night of the murder, he was in the Cheng Guang Mansion, and left after dinner..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Are you sure that he left after dinner?"


    Fei Du pulled his mouth ambiguously: "What else could he have done? Would you have participated in the ''midnight event'' in front of your future brother-inw?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Brat!


    Fei Du: "Can you tell me roughly where He Zhongyi went after leaving Cheng Guang Mansion?"


    Tao Ran first sought Luo Wenzhou''s opinion with his eyes, and only spoke after Luo Wenzhou nodded slightly: "He got off the bus near Wenchang Road, and then we lost him."


    Fei Du fished out a leather business card holder from his pocket, leafed through it, and took out a card


    Rongshun Law (Yancheng) Firm.


    Zhao Haochang (Level Two Partner).


    Address: 3rd Floor, Jinlong Center, 103 Wenchang Road, Anping District, Yancheng City.


    Tao Ran jumped to his feet: "It must be him!"


    Luo Wenzhou, however, gently rubbed his own chin. He had a hunch that this matter would not be solved as smoothly as he had imagined.


    "No rush," he said, "We don''t have sufficient evidence. There is no logical rtion between He Zhongyi getting off at Wenchang Road and awyer working at Wenchang Road to be the murderer  is there any other clue?"


    "When He Zhongyi first arrived in Yancheng, someone gave him one hundred thousand yuan," said Fei Du. "If it was Zhao Haochang, they might''ve had some kind of connection before. It was He Zhongyi''s first time leaving home for work, so Zhao Haochang might have visited his hometown. Show his photo to He Zhongyi''s mother."


    Luo Wenzhou picked up his mobile phone and called Lang Qiao: "Big eyes, is He Zhongyi''s mother still waiting for the results? If she has not gone to rest yet, invite her to my office."


    Lang Qiao responded neatly.


    Fifteen minutester, after Luo Wenzhou put together and reviewed all the clues, Lang Qiao still had not brought in thedy. He looked up with his eyelids that trembled involuntarily.


    At this moment, Lang Qiao burst into the room out of breath: "Boss, He Zhongyi''s mother is not in the Bureau. We don''t know where she is!"

 Chapter 24: Julien Twenty-Three

    Chapter 24: Julien Twenty-Three


    <em>TL: QuantumC, Editor: MochiMochi</em>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    "It''s so strange... I''ve searched every toilet stall and asked everyone around. No one saw her leaving... Wait, what''s up, boss?"


    "Go get the security footage." Luo Wenzhou had yet to sort everything out in his mind, but his gut was already screaming at him that something was not right, "Hurry!"


    Lang Qiao was taken aback for a second, then dashed out.


    The security footage was quickly gathered. It clearly showed that not long after Fei Du left, Mother He had taken a phone call. No one knew what the caller said to her, but she was clearly dumbfounded. The callsted for about two minutes, during which she gradually turned into a stone. After hanging up, she paced back and forth for a little while, looking in the direction that Fei Du had left. But no one was there.


    Disappointed, she lowered her head. Then, as if finally made up her mind, she quietly but firmly walked out of the Bureau.


    The security camera picked her up all the way until the front gate. She seemed quite determined, swiftly crossing the road and taking a sharp turn at a crossing, where the camera lost her.


    Without Luo Wenzhou''smand, Lang Qiao had already ordered a team of people to start searching along the direction that Mother He had disappeared off to.


    "I''ve just talked to Xiao Haiyang," Tao Ran hastened over. "After Mother He was picked up by folks from the district sub-bureau at the train station, they came straight here as Wang Hongliang hadmanded. Then she stayed here the whole time. So, she shouldn''t be very familiar with the city. But judging from the footage, she went directly to that crossing after leaving this ce without even looking around. I bet there was someone waiting there."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Get me all the footage from the nearby crossings. Do a thorough search across all the cars and pedestrians that passed by during that time."


    "That''s tough. There''s the recent odd-even-te-number restriction." Tao Ran sighed, "The restricted cars can only take the road between 12 AM and 3 AM. Many people who had to travel had to drive at night because of that... so the road was quite busy during this time of the day. It might take us ages toplete a thorough screening. Heaven forbid, if something really is going on, we won''t make it in time."


    Luo Wenzhou paced around wordlessly. Suddenly, he froze in ce as if his memory had finally caught up with those legs - Luo Wenzhou finally realized where the thick uneasiness in his heart wasing from.


    "...Let him believe that you were scheming something together with those guys."


    "He will be desperate and think that there''s no such thing as ''justice'' in this world."


    "And then, that''s it. They would have seeded in controlling the man both physically and mentally."


    How would the caller manage to persuade a timid woman to walk out of the police station in the middle of the night?


    Did she think that the man was more trustworthy than the police?


    Or... did she lose her trust in the police altogether?


    Did she alsoe to believe that there was no "justice" in this world, and left with despair? Did she decide to deliver justice in her own way?


    He turned around abruptly to look for Fei Du.


    Fei Du was looking down. His long hair shaded his face. His skin was even paler than usual because of the dark contrast from his shirt. Frankly, he looked like a vampire that never saw daylight. For a second, Luo Wenzhou thought: "Why does he know those people so well?"  Paid Story264K14.5K 9.3M431K 10.6M278K 146M3.7M 40M1.2M Paid Story224M6.9M 1.8M38K


    When he was not mingling with those dick-headed rich kids, when he was alone, what would he be thinking about?


    Fei Du suddenly started murmuring. As if talking to himself, he said: "Howe... I didn''t even notice..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "What?"


    "I asked her, ''What''s your n after this is all over?'' She didn''t answer me, but she only asked me to go home early."


    She also said, "For a mom that doesn''t have much in her life, the only thing to look forward to every day is seeing her child."


    That woman - almost stripped of any ability to work by the sickness - was she also looking forward to his son with all her heart and soul?


    Now that her son was gone, what would her n be for the rest of her life? Would there be any at all?


    Fei Du ran his fingers along his brows, from the sides to the center, as if he were mocking himself. As he half-turned his head, the corner of his mouth quickly inched up - it was an utterly bitter smile. He murmured again, in a barely audible voice: "Howe... I didn''t even notice what she was really saying?"


    Tao Ran felt that he was acting weird: "You okay?"


    Fei Du looked back and replied with another question: "Sure. Why?"


    Tao Ran: "When a murder case is under investigation, our attention is mostly on the dead and the suspect. Sometimes we do overlook the family of the victim. Especially if there are too many things to attend to at the same time. Who''s to me? Now the most important thing is to find her."


    Fei Du nodded calmly: "Right."


    "Could she still be thinking that Zhang Doni killed her son, and that we let him go because he is Chief Zhang''s nephew?" Tao Ran asked, "Would she go look for Zhang Doni then? Should we call the Zhang house?"


    "Call and ask Zhang Doni to keep an eye out. But I don''t think she will go there," Luo Wenzhou said, massaging his temple with one hand, identally pressing on the bruise instead. He hissed, "What use is there for her to find Zhang Doni? To kill him? An eye for an eye? Zhang Doni is so much bigger and stronger than her. Even if he just stood there and let her stab him, she probably wouldn''t be able to do it. What''s more likely to happen is that Zhang calls the police and she gets sent back here. It''ll be all the same. Think in the shoes of the killer. He stayed up all night, and it should not be just for taking He Zhongyi''s mom for a stroll."


    At this time, Fei Du, who had been silent the whole time, took up a pen.


    "If whoever took her away is the murderer, " Fei Du jotted down the "5-20" date on the paper, "then first, He Zhongyi''s murder, was it a spur-of-the-moment act or was it nned out?"


    He answered his own question without waiting for others to jump in: "I would vote for "spur-of-the-moment". On the night that he died, He Zhongyi was still asking around for the exact address of the Cheng Guang Mansion.


    Luo Wenzhou: "How would you know?"


    "I ran into him briefly at the coffee shop where he was the delivery boy and I overheard it. Sorry, I didn''t mean to keep it from you. I just thought that this detail wasn''t important back then."


    Luo Wenzhou nodded: "Makes sense. If the murderer had nned to kill He Zhongyi that night, he wouldn''t be unclear about the address."


    Tao Ran had no idea why the two started talking about this. He felt a bit lost, but his question was cut off by a wave from Luo Wenzhou: "Let''s do a quick suspect analysis."


    "The security footage shows that He Zhongyi took a call, and then left Cheng Guang Mansion to head for Wenchang Road. It looks like someone had asked to meet him there. At that time, the murderer should''ve already known that he was outside the mansion. What would they be talking about on the phone?"


    Fei Du narrowed his eyes and lightly tapped on the table with his pen: " ''No one saw me. I wasn''t caught by any security cameras, and I only wanted to have a word with you.'' "


    "For some reason, the murderer decided to kill He Zhongyi," said Luo Wenzhou. "Going along with your previous hypothesis, if he hadn''t nned on doing it, then there is a high chance that the weapon wasn''t nted there. What''s more likely is that Zhang Doni - that retard - took his tie off and left it somewhere. The murderer, who was just pondering about killing He, saw the tie and was inspired. The second question: Why would he ask the victim to meet him here - at Wenchang Road?"


    Tao Ran contemted: "If the murderer is Zhao Haochang, then he picked Wenchang Road because that''s where he works. It''s familiar, so it''ll be convenient."


    "But he should be familiar with a lot of ces. Why here? If it''s only for familiarity, why not do it in his neighborhood?" Luo Wenzhou slowly folded his arms across his chest, and caught Fei Du''s eyes. Those eyes were very cold, as if they were made of non-organic material. He did not shy away, but kept staring at Fei Du: "What do you think?"


    "I''ve dug a trap and ced a scapegoat in there. Now I need to clear myself from it" said Fei Du, "It''s for an alibi."


    Tao Ran was no Captain China, who gets more alert and energized the more he got hacked. Nor was he the youngster who hibernated during the day and lived during the night. It was way past midnight, and the overworked Tao Ran was now stuffed with more information than he could handle. He felt as if his brain had turned into a pot of boiling porridge: "Wait, slow down, would you? How does the alibi work? We already saw He Zhongyi going to Wenchang Road from the security footage..."


    Luo Wenzhou lit up a cigarette. He turned around and took a couple deep drags, then he extended his arm to let the smoke drift out of the room as much as possible. His voice became a bit murky: "Tao Ran, don''t you remember? We traced the security footage on ident."


    Tao Ran shuddered.


    That was right. He Zhongyi carefully avoided all the security cameras that night. But he underestimated the fear of death that these rich people had - besides the obvious security cameras, Cheng Guang Mansion was equipped with a couple hidden cameras on the small alleys close by.


    One of them caught his sight - the one hidden in the bird nest on a tree.


    Both he and the murderer did not know of this forever-captured footage. And the police used this identally captured footage to find the bus station, and consequently, He Zhongyi''s whereabouts.


    The Huashi Eastern District had too many security cameras: public, private, on the road, in the stores...if not knowing ahead of time the route that someone took, it would be nearly impossible to find the person via a nket screening.


    "He could pick someone as a witness and find an easy excuse like, ''I drank some wine and couldn''t drive,'' and ride with that someone back to his office. At the same time, find an excuse to call some underlings over to work overnight  it''s quitemon atwyers'' offices, and no one would feel that anything was strange. As the secondary partner, he has his own office. He could leave quietly while the others are busy working, use the scapegoat''s tie to kill He Zhongyi, hide the body, and thene back to the office and pretend he was back from the restroom." Fei Du drew aplete circle on the paper: "Like that, he would have aplete alibi: ''I was back to the office with so and so, and was working there since then.'' If it weren''t for your incidental discovery of He Zhongyi''s whereabouts, this alibi would be almost impable."


    "He Zhongyi''s body was discovered at the Huashi Western District. Suspect No.1, Zhang Doni, was at the Huashi Eastern District that day." Luo Wenzhou instantly picked up his meaning between the lines, "The murderer threw us the tie as his cover-up, which was part of his "impable" alibi. For the next step, he would want to get rid of He''s mother - the person that''s most likely to reveal his true identity. At the same time, he''d want us to keep thinking that the murder happened at ''Huashi District''... So the murderer probably took Mother He to Huashi District!"


    Before he was finished, Tao Ran had already started contacting the team that went out to search for Mother He: "Attention, all officers. Focus the search on Huashi District. ------ Fei Du, Huashi West or East?"


    Fei Du pondered for a second, then answered: "East."


    Luo Wenzhou looked up, "Why?"


    "It will be more shocking, visually. Gives you more pressure to arrest Zhang Doni again. And..." Fei Du quietly added, "My intuition."


    Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran both shot up.


    Fei Du quietly looked up: "Can Ie too?"


    Luo Wenzhou hesitated, but then nodded: "Let''s go."


    =======================================================

 Chapter 26: Julien Twenty-Five

    Chapter 26: Julien Twenty-Five


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: "Can you... allow me to pretend to meet my mom for onest time?"</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    When there were forty-five seconds left in the countdown, the entire "sky screen" suddenly blinked. Then, in front of everyone''s bemused eyes, a photo of a teenager suddenly appeared.


    He was around eighteen or neen years old, had a very ordinary face, and slightly dark skin. He looked a bit awkward while facing the camera, but he wore a wide smile that revealed his white teeth.


    Without warning, the eyes of the woman on top of the building met this splendid old photo. She was immediately stunned while straddling the railing with one foot on either side. The "wings" on her back rustled in the night wind.


    The woman saw it, and so did all the people who were waiting for the preview of the closing ceremony in Central Square. Luo Wenzhou had just finished checking a building and was running out. He saw that the world outside had changed. He stumbled and almost started rolling down the stairs at the entrance.


    A policeman standing next to him gasped: "Captain Luo, the closing ceremony has brought the rights to the broadcast, haven''t they? Can we switch the content? This... this''ll just cost one more car!"


    "Stop talking nonsense!" Luo Wenzhou kept walking and picked up the walkie-talkie. "Group One, report. Did you find the car? Pay attention to all the intersections, and arrest car owner immediately if they show up. Send the car model and license te number to Fei Du. Ask him to disy them on the screen and encourage people to report to the police."


    At the same time, in the control room of the Economy and Trade Center Building, a group of staff members were busy working.


    "Is the video recorder connected?"


    "How about the video processors?"


    "Lights, lights, lights... oh, be careful with that line!"


    Fighting the impulse to sweep around in the babble, Fei Du nted himself next to the wall in a corner.


    One leather shoe with a stain on it kept tapping on the ground. It seemed that there was always a four-four rhythmic slow song ying in his world, ready to iste all the sounds around him.


    Suddenly, the light in front of him was turned on and Fei Du looked up.


    "Mr. Fei, the equipment is ready!"


    The woman on top of the building stared greedily at the photo of the teenager without knowing the time.


    Strangely enough, he only had an ordinary appearance which would probably not attract any attention on the street. In her opinion, however, he was cute beyond description.


    The stupid-looking square chin was cute, the widely-separated eyes were cute, the thin eyebrows were cute, and even the two front teeth that were a little far away from each other were cute. She could keep her eyes on him for more than ten thousand years.


    However, she couldn''t look at him anymore.


    Together with this thought, slowly but resolutely, her memory rose like the tide, and the light in her eyes gradually disappeared like a small reef that refused toe to its senses.


    She lifted her face, wiped her eyes, and recalled the truth  Zhongyi was gone.


    Gritting her teeth, she began the other leg out, hoping to reunite with him in the other world.


    At this moment, the picture on the "sky screen" suddenly disappeared, and a short video started ying.


    The background of the roughly-made video included a pale wall. Lights came in from various angles, making it a bit dazzling. A young man in a ck shirt stood in the center of the screen. It seemed that the device had been set up in a hurry, and the size did not match. He was stretched and distorted.  3.3M66K 639K102K 27.7M596K 1.7M46.2K 128K22.2K 227K8.1K 226K48K


    That was the young man she did not manage to say goodbye to before she had set off.


    The person on the "sky screen" gently lifted the microphone and said: "Auntie, I haven''t received any news about you yet. For me, this is good news. I want to talk to you like this. If you can hear me, please give me two minutes and listen to me."


    Wang Xiujuan was nonplussed and scared; she stared at the screen with no idea about what to do. She automatically nodded and then realized that they could not see each other at all.


    Luo Wenzhou was crossing the square at this moment. He was listening to the progress reports from each group with the earbud in his left ear, and he listening to the voice in the surrounding environment with his right ear. With his mind multithreading, he ordered: "Ask a few people to maintain the order of Central Square. If we are understaffed, ask the security brothers to do us a favor. Don''t let the onlookers talk nonsense and disturb her-"


    At this time, Fei Du spoke on the big screen: "Auntie, if my mother were still alive, she would be about the same age as you."


    At these words, Luo Wenzhou snapped his head up to look at him, but that did not stop him from walking. He quickly passed through the open space in the square and hurried to the next building: "Group 3, there are monitoring cameras at the top of the tall buildings facing the street. You can use them directly, don''t waste time. Tao Ran, you pay attention to the evacuation route. Group 4,e with me to the Twin Tower in the Eastern District. Several floors there are under construction, so focus on investigating there."


    Fei Du''s slightly low rumble followed his hurried footsteps: "...I went home more often than Zhongyi did. After all, he had to work hard and save money for your treatment, while I was just a student. Every weekend, she would put fresh flowers in the vase in advance, prepare my favorite food, clean my room, and take my quilt out to air it. She didn''t like the idea of living with a housemaid, so she had to do all these things by herself. Do you air a quilt for Zhongyi as well?"


    Wang Xiujuan let out an unbearable long sob which was soon drowned out by the wind.


    The sobbing wind soared down from the top of the high-rise building, shaving Luo Wenzhou''s sweaty temple like a passed groan.


    "One day, I returned home with my mind filled with anticipation. When I pushed the door open, I found that there was only a bunch of dead branches and leaves in the vase at the door. All the curtains were closed, and the air in the house was lifeless. When I jittered to her room, I found no well-aired quilt, but her body." With these words, Fei Du paused, "Not too long ago, you told me this: ''Your mom must have been looking forward to seeing you at home every day,'' but the policeman who handled the case told me that shemitted suicide the night before I returned  I usually went home at the same time every week, so she knew the time."


    "Mom, I wanted to ask you this question for a long time. What kind of mother would n the time so well to leave her body to her child? Every day I pondered about how to make you like me, how to please you  how to save enough for treating your sickness, how to pay off the surgery fees I borrowed in the past... I have not paid it off yet, and I am now alone in the freezer, unable to go home. Are you going to leave me there? If you are so cruel, why do you behave like you care about us in the first ce?"


    Wang Xiujuan slowly squatted down with her legs straddling the fence.


    Fei Du paused for a moment. Once again pressed the mic with his hand, and counted to five in his mind.


    At the same time, the make, model, and license te information of the mysterious rental car was disyed in the corner of the screen. Wang Xiujuan had a limited degree of education and was very insensitive to text. The onlookers, however, saw it. They picked up their mobile phones and forwarded the message to their friends.


    "Captain Luo, the Twin Towers construction team said that they were overhauling the building''s power system during the weekend, and the power has been out for more than one hour."


    Luo Wenzhou''s back was soaked in sweat, making him understand the feeling of old Lian Po apologizing with twigs on his shoulder. (1) He felt so sorry for not being able to depart with his own back and let the spines escape with his organs.


    He looked up at the soaring towers and gritted his teeth: "Go up."


    Fei Du kept silent for a while, then softened his tone and re-distinguished himself and He Zhongyi, whom he had deliberately mixed together with just now: "Auntie, the murderer hasn''t been caught yet, and you still have no knowledge of the truth. What are you going to tell Zhongyi if you go in such a confused stated? I want to ask you for a favor again. No matter where you are now, can youe to the square as soon as possible? We are all looking for you, let''s catch the murderer together. After that, you still have to go home with Zhongyi. I also want to stay with you for a while longer."


    "Can you... allow me to pretend to meet my mom for onest time?"


    Wang Xiujuan finally burst into tears.


    She nearly cried her soul out, and the warrior-like determination for smashing herself on the face in the middle of the city was also lost with the tears. Again, she turned back into the weak woman who did not know where to go, the woman she used to be when she had just arrived in Yancheng. As she nced down, she suddenly had cold feet.


    Wang Xiujuan pulled her eyes back up, but she still could not stand up. She tried to grab the fence and retract the foot she had stepped out with, but at this time...


    The seemingly sturdy guardrail was actually attached to nothing. Caught unprepared, Wang Xiujuan grasped the broken guardrail and it swayed out lightly. She lost her step and fell backwards.


    Wang Xiujuan''s eyes widened and she heard buzzing in her head.


    In that fleeting moment, a figure shed towards her and caught her foot that was stuck in the half-open guardrail. The woman struggled instinctively, and the fine ankle almost slipped out of his hand.


    Luo Wenzhou''s arms were strained by the weight of the human body, and the newly-sewed gash on the back of his body was open again. He felt as though his body was being torn apart. He grasped the woman with all his might and shouted: "Don''t move!"


    Fortunately, he did note up by himself. His followers sprang towards them immediately. Three minutester, several people pulled an already unconscious Wang Xiujuan up.


    Luo Wenzhou always felt that he could go to heaven and fight with Sun Wukong (2) for three hundred rounds at any time. This time, however, he was almost unable to stand up. He took a few steps back and simply sat down on the ground, panting. After a while, someone said: "Captain Luo, she is alive!"


    His tightened muscles finally rxed.


    After rxing, Luo Wenzhou found that the blood and sweat on his back had mixed together, and it hurt so much that he had to take a deep breath: "Oh...f**k, it''s really broken this time..."


    At this time, Lang Qiao''s voice erupted from the interphone: "Boss, a young couple just reported that they saw the suspect''s car in thendscape park. The built-in lights are on. We''re afraid that the murderer is still inside, so they didn''t dare to approach!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Park? Where?"


    "About a kilometer from the Central Square. It''s quite deserted at night, and no one goes there except for young lovers."


    "Impossible. It can''t be so remote," Luo Wenzhou closed his eyes in the unbearable pain. "Coordinate with the construction and maintenance team, let them turn on the building''s emergency power supply. Turn on all the cameras, and send people to observe all blind spots. This murderer sent awyer to spy on the investigation and directly bamboozled a woman from the bureau. I don''t believe that he will go into hiding before getting the result he wants."


    =======================================================


    (1) Old Lian Po apologizing with twigs of the chaste tree at his back: Lian Po was a military general of the Zhao state during the Warring States period of Chinese history. Lian Po used to dislike Lin Xiangru, a minister of Zhao. Lin Xiangru, however, knowing that wasting time in a war with colleagues would do no good to the state, chose to avoid him at all costs. Lian Po ended up feeling sorry for his own behavior, and in order to ask for forgiveness, he carried brambles on his shoulder and visited Lin Xiangru. And then they became friends.


    (2) Sun Wukong: aka the Monkey King. A legendary Chinese figure who possesses immense supernatural power. He is one of the main characters in the famous Chinese novel <i>Journey to the West</i>.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 27: Julien Twenty-six

    Chapter 27: Julien Twenty-six


    Edited by Isalee


    Those skyscrapers had frigid-colored faades and sharp geometric figures, towering over pedestrians like suffocating giants. Their lobbies were covered with shiny cement bricks polished to perfection, and they were guarded by lobby boys and security guards who would salute every passerby with polite yet aloof gazes.


    Each building had a different elevator floor n  and followed their own protocols. Some elevators only stopped at odd-numbered floors, and some only at even. Some only allowed one-way traffic, yet others required a card-swipe for authorization. A first-time visitor could easily get confused by these rules and feel like an unwee outsider.


    But Twin Tower was an exception. Despite several renovations, the building was as familiar to him as the back of his hand, because he had worked there as an intern for six months. The internship didn''t end well for him though  they would rather keep the Ivy League graduate even though he only knew the Commonw system.


    Things were different now. Thosewyers with pretty resumes were decorative at best, only capable of handling regr cases. When it came to highly-specialized areas, they had to seek his consultation. In this building, "little Zhao the intern" had already grown into "Master Zhao".


    Yet he still clearly remembered every hallway and every hidden janitor''s closet in this building. Even when the lights were out, he could confidently dodge all the security cameras.


    Unfortunately for him however, the odds were not in his favor this time.


    He was hiding in the crowd, ready to enjoy the "sensational performance" from the "sky screen" when Fei Du suddenly interrupted the program. Outraged, he was almost certain that this was some kind of despicable and tasteless event-marketing  perhaps to help out his own pack, or perhaps purely for business reasons.


    These people held unimaginable wealth and social resources, even if most of them were worthless scums who dozed off at day-to-day meetings and were muddled by the most elementary reports. With the help of countless professionals living on their paychecks, as soon as they made some obvious decisions or struck an easy deal, they would be regarded as the "wise exemrs of the generation".


    A policeman and several security guards who volunteered to help came over: "Excuse us! Attention, please! The police are conducting a security screening on the rooftops. Please stay away from the tall buildings as there may be safety hazards. Thank you very much for your understanding! Thank you! Thanks for your cooperation! It''s for everyone''s safety..."


    The crowd stirred and slowly moved away. No one noticed that a cultivated, cleanly-shaved man had turned around and disappeared into the darkness.


    The police hade to dismiss the people here. This meant that they had already started searching this area, or were at least about to. However, that stupid woman still hadn''t jumped yet.


    He didn''t know if she got scared all of a sudden, or if the cheap performance of that pretty-faced boy had fooled her. Regardless, he had back-up ns  the rooftop of Tower A only had one side that faced Central Square. He had made some "arrangements" on the security fence. So, even if she hesitated, the loose fence would "make up her mind" for her.


    His n was supposed to be perfect. But why didn''t it work? What went wrong?


    He had to go back to figure it out.


    He did some simple calctions in his head, and shrewdly picked the side entrance of Tower B by the coffee shop. Without a hitch, he found the emergency exit staircases that were reserved for delivery boys, and scrambled up to the eighth floor  there was an air corridor connecting the two towers, one end of which led right to the eighth floor''s emergency exit.  3.3M66K 639K102K 27.7M596K 1.7M46.2K 128K22.2K 227K8.1K 226K48K


    There were security cameras on both ends of the air corridor, but that was fine since one side of the corridor was decorated by a nt wall  one could easily go behind the hanging vines to avoid the cameras. Even though he knew that all the cameras were dead due to the power outage, it was better to err on the safe side.


    The power outage was indeed a gift from above, he thought.


    Proud and pleased, he walked briskly through the nt wall. Unknowingly, the wind from his movements blew up some leaves.


    The vines shielded him from the camera. Little did he know that as the leaves quivered, one of the static camera-heads suddenly turned by a tiny angle


    Luo Wenzhou went down with the EMTs and sent Wang Xiujuan onto an ambnce. Then, turning around, he caught Tao Ran and some other officers escorting a clean-faced man into a police car. As if feeling Luo''s nces, the man, whom he had met once, cast an infuriated re at him.


    Tao Ran gestured to Luo Wenzhou, waving an evidence bag in his hand. A pair of gloves were in the bag.


    Luo Wenzhou nodded, lit a cigarette, and measured up the jail-bird-to-be from head to toe.


    The man raged: "I only went back to get a document. How could you take in a man like this? Have you got any evidence at all? Hah? I guess the police nowadays just casually grab a scapegoat when they can''t solve a case. Let go of me you savages... you don''t want to know the price of this shirt!"


    "Ouch... an expensive one..." with the cigarette between his lips, Luo Wenzhou mocked, "I am so intimidated. Looks like we poor schmucks need to borrow some money from Daddy Fei first."


    Seeing him shoved into the police car, Luo Wenzhou blew him a kiss: "Bye-bye."


    Before he finished, a hand bluntly snapped away his cigarette.


    Lang Qiao''s makeup was already all over the ce, exposing the dark circles under her eyes from running around all night. With those entuating shades, the eyes seemed to have taken up all the space on her face. She tossed the cigarette into a garbage can a couple steps away, and pointed to the ambnce: "You get in there too."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    "Look at yourself... you''re like a moving canvas." Lang Qiao scolded him impatiently, "Hush and hurry. Get in the ambnce, and stay in the hospital tomorrow."


    Luo Wenzhou sighed: "My sweetheart, are you taking over Daddy''s empire now? Not so soon! You are still too young."


    Lang Qiao could almost feel the me bursting out from her throat. Poking at the self-appointed Emperor, she stuttered: "You..."


    "Okay, enough joking around." Luo Wenzhou cut her short, "Do you know where Mr. Fei is?"


    Lang Qiao''s mind briefly went nk. She unconsciously looked up at the "sky screen", only to find that it had already gone back to the regr broadcasting of the closing-ceremony rehearsal. The ceremony was finishing up with a dazzling, almost gaudy light show. Butpared to the real-time "action movie" everyone had just witnessed, it was obviously short of excitement. The crowd on the square had mostly lost their interest and were busy tweeting and Wechatting about the previous event.


    "I don''t know... I haven''t seen him since we started the searches. Why do you..." Lang Qiao looked around for the missing Mr. Fei, then turned back to Luo Wenzhou, only to find that thetter was already gone.


    Luo Wenzhou grabbed someone else''s coat from a police car in passing, and casually threw it on to cover his bloody shirt. He dialed Fei Du''s number. The call went through but was not picked up, so Luo Wenzhou strode toward the Economy and Trade Center. He went to the control room first, but the only ones left there were a group of cameramen who were having theirte night take-outs. They told him that Fei Du had already left.


    After getting Fei Du''s whereabouts from them, Luo Wenzhou went directly after him and kept dialing his number. Atst, he heard Fei Du''s signature ringtone "You raise me up" drifting faintly from the back of the building.


    Luo Wenzhou followed the sound, and discovered a small garden surrounded by shrubs in the back. A couple of stone chairs and tables were hidden in the middle. Looking up from the chairs, one could see a corner of the "sky screen". There were no streetlights.


    Fei Du sat on one of the stone stools. Surprisingly, he didn''t mind the dirt at all. He leaned on the table with the cell-phone resting on the side ying the ringtone like a loudspeaker.


    Luo Wenzhou hung up and walked over: "And here is His Majesty, enjoying my music offering."


    Fei Du didn''t bother to reply to his provocation. Eyes closed, he looked as if he had fallen asleep.


    Luo Wenzhou sat down stiffly beside him: "Don''t you want to check on her?"


    Fei Du spoke indolently: "You''ve gotten her back, no?"


    "The suspect loosened the security fence up there," said Luo Wenzhou, "and we were this close to screwing it all up."


    Fei Du''s tapping fingers missed a beat. He opened his eyes, which coincidentally caught the eyes of Luo Wenzhou.


    Luo Wenzhou looked as pale as a ghost. His back was tensely arched into an awkward posture. Sitting on the stool, he almost seemed paralyzed.


    Nevertheless, his eyes were lit by something warm and bright. The dancing fire in those eyes was intense, yet not at all provocative.


    For a split second, Fei Du felt that this almost-familiar man had turned into a stranger all over again.


    Luo Wenzhou had well-defined facial features and a well-maintained physique. It was hard to tell his age  perhaps thirty, but he could easily pass for twenty as well  yet Fei Du knew that Luo was nothing like this in his twenties.


    Back then, Luo Wenzhou was a real spoiled brat. mboyant and sharp-tongued, he knew nothing about the phrase, "saving face for the others". His looks reflected his character then  pretty looking, yetcking a certain gravity.


    The Luo Wenzhou today was a stone statue polished by time  the ambiguous outlines had been entuated, and the rootless soul had been grounded. Deep down, there was almost a trace of tenderness.


    Luo Wenzhou slightly adjusted his sitting posture: "What you were saying on the sky screen  was that all true?"


    Fei Du replied indifferently while raising one brow: "Of course not. I was just blending myself into her story, trying to make an emotional connection."


    Luo Wenzhou hesitated  As for carrying out a serious conversation with Fei Du, he had very little experience. They almost always jumped right into fight-mode. For a while, he couldn''t manage to think of the appropriate words to say. Finally, he decided to just be frank.


    Luo Wenzhou: "I investigated your father before."


    This was no surprise. A woman died silently at home, and her only son insisted that it was not a suicide. Under such circumstances, the police would almost certainly have looked beyond the forensic evidence and would have done an investigation on the close rtionships of the deceased. Therefore, Fei Du threw an impatient look at Luo Wenzhou, hoping that he could cut the crap.


    "In the process, I found that another group was also following him. I interrogated one of them. They were a bunch of so-called ''private detectives''. I assume you sent them?"


    Fei Du''s patience had worn out. He stood up and was about to leave.


    "There''s more. One time you did your homework at Tao Ran''s apartment and left some unused scratch paper with pressure marks. I traced it with a pencil and found that it was your father''s schedule. This was two years after your mother''s death. I thought to myself, ''For two years, has he been following his father''s whereabouts the whole time?''" Luo Wenzhou disregarded Fei Du''s annoyance and kept going, "Frankly, I found the whole thing disturbing. Especially when your fatherter had that ident..."


    Upon hearing this, Fei Du''s steps paused. He was right next to Luo Wenzhou at this moment. Silently, he started smiling.


    He lowered his head at Luo Wenzhou, looking a bit dangerous and dangerously tantalizing at the same time: "You think it was me?"


    Luo Wenzhou looked directly into those eyes  the eyes that were filled with peach blossoms  and thought to himself: This kid has really got an unabashedly pretty face.


    Fei Du bent down slightly, resting one finger on his lips as he whispered: "Quite possibly, Captain. I mean, think about it. Regardless of whether he''s dead or in a vegetative state, I would be the only heir to his humongous wealth. If only..."


    Before Fei Du finished, Luo Wenzhou forcefully ended the show-off. He grabbed Fei Du by the cor and yanked him down, then pped him on the forehead.


    The palm was so hot that Fei Du felt as if he''d been struck by a soldering iron. Shocked, he stumbled back.


    Luo Wenzhou: "I was being serious. Why do you have to be such a dick all the time?"


    Fei Du recovered from the shock and angrily pulled back his cor  Who''s being a dick here?!


    Yet Luo Wenzhou continued: "But today I suddenly felt that a man who carves himself up in front of everyone just to save aplete stranger shouldn''t be someone dangerous. I wanted to apologize to you for my prejudice for all these years."


    Fei Du was a bit dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. Yet before he could hatch a mocking smile, he felt a sudden pull on his cor again: Luo Wenzhou fell heavily forward onto his chest.


    At once, Fei Du felt as if he had been wrapped by a steamingly-hot electric nket. After hesitating for a second, he probed with the back of his hand on Luo Wenzhou''s forehead to check his temperature: burning.


    He then picked up Luo''s coat by the corner and peeked inside, but quickly turned away. One glimpse was more than enough  he was about to throw up.


    After holding onto this weird posture for a while, Fei Du finally calmed his churning stomach down. Turning back to face Luo Wenzhou, he stared at him with a stone face as if contemting whether this piece of meat was better for stewing or roasting.


    Then, perhaps concluding that this man was too "thick-skinned" to taste any good, Fei Du curled his lips and bent down to pick him up. However, it was hard to find afortable position: he did not want to carry him on the back, nor did he want to carry him with his arms. After trying to tug on Luo Wenzhou''s belt to throw him across his shoulder, Fei Du realized that this piece of meat was a bit too heavy for that.


    Finally, Fei Du put down the unconscious Luo Wenzhou on a stone chair, took out his dying cell phone, and dialed Tao Ran''s number.


    "Hello. Is it 110?" he said snappishly, "I''ve run into an old man who''s passed out. How do I turn him in to the police?"

 Chapter 28: Julien Twenty-Seven

    Chapter 28: Julien Twenty-Seven


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: Isalee</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: Pity he''s such a bastard. Spending one day with him can make one mad to die eight times. It''ll be better to forget it.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    <strong>==========================================================================</strong>


    Luo Wenzhou was lying on his stomach on the hospital bed, feeling utterly bored. Because of his jailbreak record, he was included in the key watchlist. He heard Tao Ran and the doctor talking in the distance. After a while, the doctor left and the door of the ward creaked open. He heard the footsteps of soft-bottom shoes.


    Luo Wenzhou began reading his prepared lines without turning his head: "I am not going to make it, you must... find a good person and get married quickly. But even if you marry someone else, don''t treat Yiguo shabbily. Yiguo lives a really miserable life; he''s a kid without a mother..."


    Tao Ran kept coughing as though he had eaten chicken feathers.


    Luo Wenzhou found his voice somehow strange and turned around to take a look at once. He saw Director Lu standing there with his hands behind his back.


    Director Lu replied amiably: "I hope so, but I am already a very old cabbage. It is really impossible to get married!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He sat up against the headboard at once: "Director Lu."


    Lu Youliang put his briefcase aside, sat on the side, and fiddled with his buzz cut. He pointed to the top of his head and said, "Monkeys, have you seen this? One night, and I got more white hairs."


    Neither the sitting Luo Wenzhou nor the standing Tao Ran dared to speak.


    "This morning, I was first called to answer questions, and then rushed off to meet Wang Hongliang," sighed Lu Youliang, "Wang Hongliang, that codger, tearfully talked while dragging my sleeve, saying that his management was not strict enough, and there was a serious leadership mistake. He also said to not let the organization deal with him leniently, he''s simply..."


    In front of the juniors, Lu Youliang, as a qualified leader, swallowed the following curse words.


    He shook his head heavily: "Did Huang Jinglian''s gang confess anything?"


    "Two groups are taking turns to interrogate," said Tao Ran, "Let''s see how long they canst. In addition, we have applied to check Wang Hongliang''s personal property. However, we now think his properties may have been relocated. There seems to be no apparent problem."


    "Find his secrets even if you have to check everything. The evidence must be solid and must be obtained in a solid manner. Otherwise, we cannot exin it to anyone."


    On this sentence, Luo Wenzhou suddenly realized something: "Uncle Lu, how''s Director Zhang?"


    The sub bureau had suffered such a scandal, and Director Zhang was the one who would be punished due tock of supervision. At the same time, Zhang Doni was tangled up in another murder case.


    The answer was obvious. Lu Youliang sighed and held Luo Wenzhou''s shoulder tightly.


    He then turned to Tao Ran: "What happened to He Zhongyi''s case then? What is the connection between these two cases?"


    Unlike Luo Wenzhou who dared to behave in a noisy and boisterous manner in front of anyone, Tao Ran was a little nervous when facing Director Lu. He subconsciously stood up straight while leaning against the wall: "Suspect Zhao Haochang was caught in the early morning and a pair of gloves was found in his pocket. The gloves were dipped with iron filings and paint. The suspect should have worn the gloves when breaking the security guardrail on the top floor of the Twin Towers. He was very sly though. He admitted that he did loosen the guardrails for the ''prank'', but denied anything else. In addition, he also imed that he had an alibi on the night of May 20.  3.3M66K 639K102K 27.7M596K 1.7M46.2K 128K22.2K 227K8.1K 226K48K


    Lu Youliang asked: "You have conclusive evidence that the deceased was on Wenchang Road on the evening of the 20th, don''t you?"


    "The cameras only showed that the deceased got off at Wenchang Road, and then we lost his trace," Tao Ran said. "Zhao Haochang''s colleague said that he had been working overtime at thepany. We can''t conclude that he was the murderer only because the deceased had passed by hispany. Now, the fact that we have this video has not been disclosed to Zhao Hongchang. He is awyer. Although he does not specialize in criminalw, he is very sharp. It is very likely that he can figure out our cards on the spot. Then we will have a hard time."


    Luo Wenzhou forced out a smile. He felt that Fei Du and Zhao Haochang were two dressed-up beasts and with minds that thought alike. The idea of getting an alibi was exactly the same thing: "Is Wang Xiujuan able to identify him?"


    "Victim Wang Xiujuan said that the person who picked her up in the evening wore sunsses and a mask, had a wig on his head, and had changed clothes. The appearance was difficult to confirm." Tao Ran paused, "We showed her a photo of Zhao Haochang, and she had no impression of him. The response at the car rentalpany was almost the same. The wigs and coats used by the suspects were found in the abandoned rental car, and we were not able to extract any fingerprints. What strategy should we use for the next step? Should we consider using a ''lie detector''?"


    "You can prepare one," Luo Wenzhou thought for a moment. "But it is not urgent. There is still doubt. We still don''t know what the connection is between the case of He Zhongyi and the sub bureau."


    Before Tao Ran could speak, his phone suddenly vibrated twice.


    Lu Youliang and Luo Wenzhou looked at him together, and Tao Ran looked up: "Bad news and a clue that might be useful. The bad news is that the blood stains on Zhang Doni''s tie have been DNA tested, and it really belongs to the deceased He Zhongyi."


    Lu Youliang stood up in a dignified manner.


    Luo Wenzhou: "What about the clue?"


    "The clue is that Wang Xiujuan just recalled the person in the photo, saying that he looks like a boy called ''Zhao Fengnian'' in their vige, but he had changed a lot, so she didn''t recognize him at first."


    Zhao Fengnian  "Feng Nian" Ge.


    Luo Wenzhou was about to stand up at those words, but he nearly snapped his waist halfway: "Ah... some... someone told me that the murderer probably hasmitted crimes before. Check the history from ''Zhao Fengnian'' to ''Zhao Haochang'' immediately. Pay attention to any cases involving unnatural deaths and were closed without a clear conclusion around him!"


    Lu Youliang repeated the word "someone" once and frowned: "By the way, I heard that the car owner who ''acted bravely for a just case'' yesterday bought the broadcast of the "sky screen" in the Huashi Eastern District for five minutes at the full price of the rehearsal, and performed a temporary suicidal intervention on Wang Xiujuan? How much is the right to the broadcast?"


    "He said that the rehearsal broadcast was not very expensive," Tao Ran answered very honestly. "It''s not even as expensive as his car."


    Director Lu suddenly felt that the only remaining ck hair on his head had the tendency to whiten themselves again.


    "Your criminal investigation team..." The old man weighed the amount he had heard and felt like his blood pressure starting to rise. So he asked with a heavy voice, "Do you realize the situation? Do any of our female colleagues have any personal emotional life issues?"


    Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran looked at each other  both of them felt speechless.


    Lu Youliang then seriously recalled the young women on the criminal police team and asked with uncertainty: "Is it not Lang?"


    After he finished, he himself also felt that the stupid Lang Qiao would not be able to provoke a rich businessman. And then, looking at Luo Wenzhou, Lu Youliang remembered some "secrets" that he still felt were uneptable to this day. He suddenly stared at and pointed to Luo Wenzhou, "Is it you?"


    Luo Wenzhou said immediately, "Injustice! It''s unjust through the age!"


    Before Director Lu felt relieved, he saw Luo Wenzhou blink and ponder for a moment before nodding in all apparent seriousness: "But it sounds fair enough to me  Pity he''s such a bastard. Spending one day with him can make one mad enough to die eight times. It''ll be better to forget it."


    Luo Youliang didn''t expect him to be so shameless and open-minded, and so his blood pressure rushed directly to one hundred and eighty. He pointed at Luo Wenzhou: "Time is tight, and there are a lot of tasks to do. Be careful and don''t cause any trouble at this crucial time!"


    After Tao Ran apanied the angry leader out and returned to the ward, he found that Luo Wenzhou was smoking at the opened window furtively.


    "How''d you get the cigarette?"


    "Sneaked it from Old Lu''s pocket," said Luo Wenzhou. "Are you my brother? I have to run away after a while, cover me."


    Tao Ran''s temple trembled: "What are you going to do?"


    "You remember Chen Yuan  the elder sister of the illegitimate taxi driving kid? Half a month before her mysterious death, she had a phone call with a girl who had not been in contact with her for a long time. I have a feeling that there is something unusual with that phone call, so I want to find her and investigate the situation."


    Tao Ran replied reluctantly: "Do you have to go today?"


    Luo Wenzhou dropped the cigarette ashes: "The sooner the better. There is a lot of pressure in the bureau."


    Tao Ran frowned and examined the captain''s condition. He was about to persuade him to stay but thought the better of it. Feeling that his words would be wasted, he had topromise: "Well, who is the girl, and what does she do?"


    "Cui Ying is a second-year master''s student at the Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law."


    Tao Ran: "The Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law? Surely it doesn''t mean that the deceased Chen Yuan was also a student of the institute?"


    Luo Wenzhou asked, "What happened?"


    "Zhao Haochang is a Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law graduate!" said Tao Ran swiftly. "It seems that he was invited by their advisorst year and went back to be a social practice mentor for a while!"


    Luo Wenzhou directly put the cigarette butt on the window sill: "F**k, go!"


    At the same time, in another ward, Lang Qiao was listening to Mother He Wang Xiujuan''s speaking without blinking her eyes.


    Fei Du was peeling an apple at the side wearing a pair of disposable gloves. Strictly speaking, he should not be here. However, after an unsessful suicide attempt and a frightening experience, Wang Xiujuan''s mood was unstable after waking up. She became an "old kid" who needed a "guardian" to be present to speak.


    Fei Du became her temporary "guardian".


    Lang Qiao whispered, "Did He Zhongyi mention he met Zhao Fengnian in Yancheng?"


    Mother He shook her head slightly.


    "What do you remember about this Zhao Fengnian? You didn''t recognize him at the beginning. Has he not returned to the vige for many years?"


    Mother He fixed her eyes on Fei Du.


    Fei Du didn''t speak, but grinned at her encouragingly. He cut the apple into small pieces, ced them in a disposable paper tray, inserted two toothpicks in them, and ced the te in between the two women: "It''s dry, get some vitamins."


    "He had no home to go back to, and no one was left." Mother He said slowly and hoarsely.


    "He had ame dad and a dumb mum. Besides him, she also gave birth to three more babies  two girls and one boy. They were really poor. It was so hard for them to get a college student in their home. Everyone said their lucky time wasing. However, in the middle of one winter night, an idiot in the vige was shut out by his family and had nowhere to stay. While he wandered around, he warmed himself by making fire. He identally burnt the tree at the entrance of the Zhaos'' home. There was very strong wind at the time. The wind was purring, and all the people were sleeping, so no one noticed that. The idiot didn''t know it was dangerous, so he didn''t realize he should''ve asked for help... The burning tree snapped in the middle and crashed down onto the house. The whole family... Only their oldest son Fengnian was not at home and escaped the catastrophe. The others all died. It was such a pity."

 Chapter 29: Julien Twenty-eight

    Chapter 29: Julien Twenty-eight


    TL By: QuantumC


    TL started on : 4.4.2019


    ===============================================


    Lang Qiao had never left the city before, except for the "learn-on-the-farm" trips in elementary school. So she didn''t get Mother He''s point right away: "Wait, do you mean... that the tree caught on fire, fell on their roof, lit and room and... killed everyone? So the whole family shared one room?"


    "Their house was not in good condition." Mother He exined softly, "You see... our vige is poor. I remembered... it was not until after Zhongyi was born that people started revamping their houses with bricks. In their family, since the father couldn''t work to provide and there were many children, they barely made ends meet. How could they find the money to fix up the house? They could only stay in the old house. In winter, the snow had to be cleaned from the roof as quickly as possible, or else it would crush the roof."


    "After all those hard years of supporting the eldest son for his schooling, he finally graduated from college. The old couple felt very relieved, saying to neighbors that the son had found a job in the city, a well-paid job, and now the family could depend on him. They could finally build a new house, and the siblings could have a future too. At the time of the ident, they just finished tearing down the girls'' bedroom, so the girls slept on the floor in their parents'' room. When the burning tree fell, it broke the beam and killed the old couple instantly. One of the younger girls was trapped, and the older one - deaf and scared - only knew to keep pulling her sister but ended up losing her own life. The youngest one - barely two years old - had no chance either."


    Lang Qiao was aghast. While scribbling down the details on the notebook, she asked: "Right when they were rebuilding the house...Zhao Haochang at the time  Zhao Fengnian  where was he? In Yancheng City?"


    Mother He pondered for a while: "No. I think he was back in the vige at the time to help with the construction... But he was not home that day. He went to the nearby town to visit his teacher or something like that. s...if only he were there... The whole family was either young or handicapped. If only there were a healthy grown-up on scene, the tragedy could have been avoided."


    The appalling story gave Lang Qiao goosebumps: "But... How did they know that the fool did it?"


    "The fool was there, holding a box of matches. When others arrived, they saw him lighting up the leaves in the yard and having fun as if the house was not burning right in front of his eyes. When they asked him if he did it, he giggled and nodded."


    "What happened next? What happened to him?"


    "What else? That was the end of it. For a fool who knew nothing, who could''ve held him ountable? His parents were both gone, and his siblings all saw him as a burden. His sister-inw made sure that everyone knew they had no money and assumed no responsibility over the fool. She asked them to execute him for all she cared. Even the town sheriff sent officers over to help with the case, but when they saw that the suspect was a fool, there wasn''t much that could be done. They only took some pictures and left."


    Lang Qiao eximed: "What bullshit! When minors or legally ipetent peoplemit a crime, the guardian is surely responsible for civilpensation!"


    Mother He waspletely lost and a bit intimidated by the charged and sharp-tempered police officer.


    Lang Qiao and Mother He stared at each other in an awkward pause. Suddenly realizing that she had said something inappropriate, Lang Qiao blushed and lost her train of thought.  3.3M66K 639K102K 27.7M596K 1.7M46.2K 128K22.2K 227K8.1K 226K48K


    Right then, Fei Du, who had been silent the whole time, salvaged the conversation: "Do you remember what kind of a person this Zhao Fengnian was? Was he close with Zhongyi?"


    "I don''t remember much. The eldest of the Zhao family was the most achieved young man of the whole vige. Zhongyi and the other younger kids all looked up to him. I guess the older boy didn''t really care much about his admirers. He seldom spent time with them, and often found excuses to stay away. Regardless, they liked to hang out by his side. They called him ''brother Fengnian''." As if stirred by the memory, Mother He''s eyes were wet. Someone handed over a paper towel. She took it, and casually wiped away the tears. "The boy was quite well-mannered. When he was home, he always stayed in the room to read. Sometimes he helped out on the family farm. When running into other vigers, he usually greeted them politely, and then fell silent. He was never very wordy."


    Fei Du nodded ponderingly: "Later, this Zhao Fengnian never went back again."


    "No one knows where he went. Who would have guessed that he had changed his name in the city? He changed so much..." At this time, Mother He suddenly gasped. Her eyes slowly widened as if just waking from a dream: "It was the Zhao boy who drove me away yesterday? But... I didn''t notice a thing! He... Howe he didn''t mention anything to me? Does he have anything to do with my son''s case?"


    Fei Du sighed. Leaning forward, he spoke with a soft but calm voice: "They are still investigating. Could you tell them why you decided to go with him yesterday? What did he say to you?"


    "He said...that he helps others in court cases for a living, and that a colleague with thest name "Liu" happened to be that rich man''s Lawy...Lau...  the man at the police stationst night."


    "Lawyer Liu."


    "Yes,wyer. He said that Lawyer Liu had the evidence. Because of his conscience, he secretly gave the evidence to the police. However, it is all for naught because the murderer has lots of connections. The police wouldn''t dare to intervene. My son would die for nothing. He was sure of it.... I was very worried and asked him what to do. He said, in this world, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything to get justice "


    When Lang Qiao''s call came in, Tao Ran was the acting interim chauffeur for Captain Luo who lived by the motto of "never leave the frontline due to minor wounds". They were driving towards the West Yan University of Political Science and Law.


    "I had someone dig through the files. Zhao Haochang couldn''t afford rent elsewhere when he was a fresh-grad. He lived in the Huashi Western district for almost a year. This exins why he was so familiar with that neighborhood. I also double checked with Lawyer Liu. He said that Zhao was indeed very interested in Zhang Doni''s case. Before Zhang was discharged, Zhao followed the case very closely  even more so than Zhang Ting." Lang Qiao paused to catch her breath, then continued: "And Lawyer Liu confirmed that since the "tie incident" could make or break his whole career, he mentioned it to no one else besides the police, not even to his own wife. There is no way that Zhao Haochang would''ve known about it."


    Tao Ran''s cell-phone was on the speaker mode. Luo Wenzhou interjected: "He could argue that all rich men are the same. Or just say that he made up stories to fool Wang Xiujuan. ''Sacrifice everything'' doesn''t necessarily mean suicide. He could say that he only meant to encourage her to cry her grievances in front of the crowd to draw more attention  it''s too wishy-washy. Do you have anything more solid?"


    "Not yet. But his family tragedy was quite weird too, especially his quietness about it. If it happened to any ordinary viger, I could understand why the case might go unnoticed. But Zhao Haochang was already awyer himself when it happened. Could he really let it slide like that? He seems to be an expert at using the media and manipting public opinion to his advantage."


    "File a report ASAP. Follow the required procedures and get me the files of the Zhao family case from the town''s police bureau." Luo Wenzhou spected, then said: "Can we track the cell phone that he gave He Zhongyi?"


    Lang Qiao sighed: "Negative. It was an unregistered parallel good."


    Luo Wenzhou added: "How about that 10 grand?"


    An indolent voice wafted over from beside Lang Qiao: "In some convoluted merging cases, the ''trusted'' legal consultants usually get paid extra  these types of under-the-table ie sometimes take the form of in cash. You won''t be able to track it."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    To be fair, It was only an objectivement. Buting from that someone, it sounded very much like a provocation.


    Luo Wenzhou: "So, what genius inputs do we have from Sir Fei?"


    A long silence. Just when Luo Wenzhou concluded that Fei Du only brought it up as a casual annoyance since it seemed like something he''d do, Fei spoke again: "I called Zhang Doni this morning to ask whether he remembered his tie. Turns out he didn''t even realize that the tie had gone missing until I mentioned it. Took him quite some time to recall it. On the day of the Cheng Guang party, he was at work during the day. In the evening, he changed in his office for the party and left his daytime outfit there. A tie is too bulky to fit in the suit pocket. If it got lost during the change, then my previous deduction may be wrong  at the time when Zhao Haochang took the tie, he might''ve not known that He Zhongyi was waiting for him outside the Mansion. Neither would he have known that he was about to kill a man with this tie. Therefore, his intentions for taking it is worth studying."


    "You mean, he simply wanted to steal."


    "With his ie level, such an insignificant essory shouldn''t be worth stealing," said Fei Du, "Perhaps it was for a personal collection."


    Luo Wenzhou shivered: "...collection...of things from Zhang Doni?"


    "If I remember correctly, that was the first time that Zhang Doni took him to a social asion like the Cheng Guang party outside of work," said Fei Du. "From He Zhongyi''s mom''s impression, this man seems to be an introvert. Perhaps he had special ways tomemorate important life events. Perhaps it''s a lead that''s worth following for you guys?"


    "Erng(1), you still there? Apply for a permit to search Zhao Haochang''s home." Luo Wenzhou was quick about the decision, and he hung up the phone right after Lang Qiao said yes. He then turned to Tao Ran and remarked: "The one who burnt his whole family was a fool; the one who strangled his fellow homeboy was Zhang Doni  not much better than a fool. Looks like our wondrous Lawyer Zhao has lived his whole life under the looming shadow of morons."


    Tao Ran''s lips moved, but didn''t speak.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Vice Captain Tao, speak what is in your mind."


    "Nothing." Tao Ran hesitated, "It''s not about this case per se...I was just...I had a very weird thought."


    "Bring it on. You won''t scare your captain."


    Tao Ran turned to exchange a look with him at the stoplight: "Say, what if there is someone who already knew who did it before we even solve the case?"


    "Cut the crap." Luo Wenzhou said, "Like you wouldn''t know it when you''ve killed a man? You''d need to have the police''s acknowledgement?"


    Tao Ran asked: "But besides the murderer?"


    Luo Wenzhou was thrown off-guard: "Tao Ran, what are you trying to say?"


    At that time, the light turned green and the driver behind started honking at them. Tao Ran pursed his lips and pressed on the gas.


    "Forget it." He said, "I was just rambling. Sounds like the stories, I know  That''s the graduate college of the West Yan Uni of Poli-Sci-and-Law up ahead, right?"


    "Yep." Luo Wenzhou took out a folder, "Let me give Cui Ying a call first."


    The girl''s headshot, department, and phone number were all in the file. Right when Luo Wenzhou finished dialing, they saw a couple young people walk out from the back entrance of the graduate college building. One of the girls took out her cell phone from the purse and hesitated as if not sure whether or not to take an unfamiliar call.


    Tao Ran peeked at the students, then took another look at the photo he had. He suddenly nudged Luo Wenzhou: "Look, is that the girl you''re looking for?"


    As he spoke, the girl picked up the phone. A skeptical voice came out of Luo Wenzhou''s speaker simultaneously: "Hello?"


    "It is her." Luo Wenzhou jumped out of the car and raised his voice, "Hey, Cui Ying! Over here! To your right "


    Her friends saw Cui Ying getting hit on by a handsome stranger on the street and started boo-hooting her jokingly. Baffled, the girl turned around. However, as soon as her eyesnded on the police license te, her face paled. In the next second, she bolted out of there.


    "What was that?" Luo Wenzhou asked Tao Ran as they chased the girl down: "A girl sees you and immediately gets scared away. Oh well Captain Tao...looks like you are going to be single forever."


    Tao Ran clenched his teeth: "You were the scary one!"


    Luo Wenzhou had no ns for finding thedy of his life anyways, so apparently he didn''t care about being "the scary one" todies at all. The two made a great team - one chased from behind while the other cut her off from the front. Just as they were about the get her, the girl suddenly jumped onto the main road. A taxi whooshed by and honked at her sharply.


    Luckily, Tao Ran quickly grabbed her back cor and yanked her back. The taxi barely missed her, while the wind stirred up by the whooping car blew up her long hair all over the ce.


    The poor taxi driver rolled down his window and yelled at them angrily. Tao Ran''s breath was still stuck in his chest so he could only wave back to express his apologies.


    Twenty minutester, Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou took Cui Ying to a neat and tidy bubble tea ce.


    "Is this ce okay? You picked it yourself. We''re next to the busiest street here. One shout and half the city wille to your rescue. You can text your friends and family too  tell them where you are now." Luo Wenzhou threw his police badge on the table tartly: "My ID number is here. Feel free to take pictures and upload it to your Weibo  don''t include my picture though. Pixte it out or photoshop me, or something."


    Cui Ying: "..."


    Tao Ran ordered some drinks. To ease her mind, he didn''t touch the drinks at all but let the waiter ced them directly in front of her on the table. He then asked: "Why run away?"


    Cui Ying looked down and remained silent.


    "Are you afraid of police cars...or the police?" Tao Ran asked gently. Seeing that she did not reply, Tao Rao lowered his voice and said: "Perhaps this is good news to you: the Chief of the Huashi District Bureau, Wang Hongliang, was arrestedst night."


    Cui Ying was obviously surprised. She finally looked up.


    Luo Wenzhou knocked on the table: "Come on, be reasonable, Miss. Fix your sses and look closely: have you ever seen such good-looking crooks? If I wanted money I''d simply use this face, alright? No need to risk breaking thew at all..."


    "Don''t listen to his gibberish." Tao Ran said, "Miss, I don''t know how we can earn your trust..."


    Cui Ying interrupted softly: "Was Huang arrested also?"


    Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran exchanged a look.


    She knew something indeed!


    "Huang Jinglian." Luo Wenzhou quit joking around. He found the picture of Huang''s arrest from his phone to show her, and continued: "He was arrested for drug dealing, misfeasance, and murder. I took him in myselfst night. I''m wearing an honorable ''fourragere'' for it on my back still..."


    Cui Ying felt like saying something, but in the end she kept her mouth shut. She looked at the duo in doubt, trying hard to use her limited life experience to judge whether these two really caught Wang Hongliang, or if they were just faking it to fish information from her.


    She couldn''t even tell if Luo Wenzhou''s police badge was real or fake.


    "Miss," said Tao Ran, "Do you know Chen Zhen personally? He is Chen Yuan''s brother. Last night, Chen Zhen was murdered. We arrested the murderer, but in order to hold the people behind it ountable, we need more evidence. Are you really going to let the bad guys go free?"


    Cui Ying bit her lip hard. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said: "I...I''m not sure. I need to ask my professor."


    "Why ask someone else?"


    "Because...he has it."


    Tao Ran was taken by surprise. He asked: "What is it that he has? Did Chen Yuan give you something to keep for her?"


    Luo Wenzhou elbowed him underneath the table.


    Luo Wenzhou gestured a "please" at Cui Ying: "Sure. Feel free to make the call now."


    Cui Ying took out her cell phone and found "Professor Zhao" in her address book. She dialed twice, but then said in surprise: "He is not picking up..."


    Of course not. The man had been squatting in the ''little dark room'' (2) sincest night.


    In all seriousness, Luo Wenzhou took out a notebook: "How about this: you can give us your professor''s contact number, and we can go talk to him directly."


    Cui Ying hesitated again.


    "Two weeks before Chen Yuan''s passing, she called you. We really need to know what she said to you during that call. In any case, we already have the time frame for the event so it''s easy to find out which "Professor Zhao" you contacted around that time. But we came to you first, merely to save some trouble." Luo Wenzhou added, "Help us or not, it''s your call. Doesn''t make much difference to us... you have already been quite helpful actually."


    Cui Ying was visibly panicking. She seemed convinced.


    "His name is Zhao Haochang. He is actually our alumni. For one of theb sses, he was invited to be our mentor. I was his student for three months," the naive girl confessed. Then she gave them a string of numbers: "This is his contact number."


    Luo Wenzhou studied her expressions for a while, then suddenly said: "If I remember correctly, Chen Yuan did not continue with graduate school after college. Instead, she went directly to work. I''m guessing that Professor Zhao probably doesn''t know her personally?"


    Cui Ying didn''t realize that he was setting her up. She shook her head: "No, he doesn''t know her."


    "I see...so she gave you something very important, a matter of life and death for her, really. She can''t let others find it. Even her twin brother didn''t know anything about it." Luo Wenzhou said, "You were terrified by what you saw. You didn''t know what to do with the thing, so you went to someone you trusted and gave it to him  something like that?"


    Cui Ying looked embarrassed. She didn''t reply.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Such a deep-trusting rtionship. This professor of yours must be really good-looking I assume?"


    Cui Ying blushed.


    On the one hand, it was some cop that she barely knew, while on the other, it was her crush. It was easy to imagine what her reaction would be if they told her that Zhao Haochang had been arrested.


    Luo Wenzhou secretly sighed in relief for having kept Zhao''s arrest from her. "But what next? Do I have to seduce her to get the info?" he thought.


    He looked at the nervous girl. Suddenly, an idea shed into his mind


    ===============================================


    (1). Erng: a nickname that Luo Wenzhou made up for Lang Qiao. The "Er" means "two". "Lang" because it''s herst name. Erng together means "second son". There is a famous Erng in the Chinese mythology who is a three-eyed god warrior (full name "Erng Shen", i.e. the Erng god). I''m not sure if the author meant to reference it here.


    (2). ''Little dark room'': the interrogation room

 Chapter 30: Julien Twenty-nine

    Chapter 30: Julien Twenty-nine


    <em>TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi</em>


    <strong>Synopsis: The girl who was innocent was sitting there and drinking in anxiety. The girl who was not was already dead.</strong>


    <strong>First Published on Ainushi. </strong>


    <strong>==========================================================================</strong>


    Chen Yuan must have known that not any of her personal belongings would be able to escape from them, and even her close rtives would be closely watched. When He Zhongyi''s case was on the cusp, under the pressure of the situation, Wang Hongliang even sent men to watch Chen Zhen who knew nothing about their secret, not to mention Chen Yuan who was involved in it.


    How did she, a helpless girl, manage to contact Cui Ying under Wang Hongliang''s monitoringwork?


    They were not sure if Wang Hongliang''s gang had conducted an in-depth investigation into the people Chen Yuan had contacted, but at least they seemed to be at peace with Cui Ying for the time being; why would that be the case?


    There were only two possibilities: either Wang Hongliang''s people were brainless, or they believed that they had found what they want.


    Chen Yuan somehow sent something to Cui Ying, and soon afterward, Chen Yuan died. Wang Hongliang''s gang was very quiet and did not touch Cui Ying - what did this mean?


    Luo Wenzhou''s eyes were very cold.


    Two possibilities: first, this girl in front of them, who was not deeply involved in the society and whom anyone could easily understand, had betrayed Chen Yuan.


    Second, Cui Ying panicked and had entrusted the whole thing to a person she trusted  Zhao Haochang.


    Zhao Haochang betrayed Chen Yuan and told Wang Hongliang the secret for some reason.


    At this time, Tao Ran got a call from the Bureau. He picked up and listened in silence for a while, then lowered his head to type a message on the phone before showing it to Luo Wenzhou.


    "Wu Xuechun just gave her testimony in the hospital. She pointed out that Huang Jinglian and a few others provided protection for the drug traffickingwork and gotmission for it, but she had never seen Wang Hongliang in person."


    Luo Wenzhou frowned slightly.


    Tao Ran typed swiftly: "As for Chen Yuan, she said that they were called ''fresh''. Wu Xuechun''s exact words were: Huang reported to someone unknown, who considered the "girls in the field" dirty and usually only liked to y with girls outside. When he found someone hard to "work" with, he would use a little drug. When he got tired of the girl, she would already be beyond saving. Then she would be disposed to them."


    "Wu Xuechun said that there was one guy in Huang Jinglian''s gang who liked taking videos. Based on her testimony, we found some videos from that person''sputer. Most of them were recordings of people gathering for drug or sex. Chen Yuan was found in one of the videos. Based on the image, our forensic scientist thought it was likely that she was already dead."


    Luo Wenzhou gave Tao Ran a questioning look  did Huang Jinglian confess?


    Tao Ran shook his head.


    Luo Wenzhou silently turned the cigarette case over a few times in his hand, and suddenly said, "Ask them to send us the video."


    His previously casual attitude suddenly turned harsh, which gave Cui Ying a turn.


    Cui Ying looked very much like someone in a schoolyard. She had long hair, wore a pair of delicate sses and had a habit of biting straws. When she looked at something with wide-open eyes, a sense of kind and naive innocence could be observed.  3.3M66K 639K102K 27.7M596K 1.7M46.2K 128K22.2K 227K8.1K 226K48K


    The girl who was innocent was sitting here and drinking in anxiety. The girl who was not was already dead.


    "Send it here and show her," Luo Wenzhou stopped making gags, reached out and pushed the drink on the table aside. "Cui Ying, I don''t want to keep going around in circles with you. Now I will tell you the truth; your teacher Zhao has been arrested."


    Cui Ying''s eyes widened: "Wh..."


    Tao Ran''s mobile phone vibrated. A video file was received. Luo Wenzhou took it and pushed it directly to Cui Ying. It was dim in the video, people were dancing wildly, and screaming rose one after another; the person who was taking the shot was also dancing around, so the camera view was dizzying.


    A man blundered out of a small door and waved at the camera: "Look, this one seems to be no good."


    Before he finished the sentence, he had alreadyughed out loud for no reason. This mysteriousughter was a typical symptom of drug overdose. Then he bent over and pulled a naked woman out of the door behind him.


    Not knowing what kind of restricted video this was, Cui Ying wanted to move her eyes away automatically. Luo Wenzhou, however, kept staring at her: "Zhao Haochang is suspected of a few crimes such as murdering, dumping corpses, kidnapping and abduction."


    Goosebumps arose on Cui Ying''s wrist.


    Then, the camera of the mobile phone suddenly zoomed in, and the person holding the camera grinned in the background: "Let me take a shot! Let me!"


    The camera moved up and down Chen Yuan''s body, endlessly taking shot of her face and private parts. Cui Ying covered her mouth with her hands. She looked as though she was about to throw up.


    At the same time, Luo Wenzhou punched the table: "Have you seen it? That''s how Chen Yuan died."


    Cui Ying stood up abruptly.


    Luo Wenzhou: "She trusted you and entrusted you with a vital secret, but you handed it to a scum right away! You pushed her to this end."


    "No, it''s not him..." Cui Ying shook her head weakly.


    Luo Wenzhou asked relentlessly: "If it''s not him who betrayed Chen Yuan, then is it you? How do you exin why she died just a few days after she called you?"


    The evergreen good cop Tao quietly entered his working state: "Don''t scare her - girl, my partner didn''t lie to you. Less than two weeks after thest time Chen Yuan contacted you, she died in an ident - were you close friends?"


    Cui Ying staggered back to her seat: "Nonsense, Teacher Zhao is not that kind of person..."


    Tao Ran asked gently: "What kind of person is he?"


    "He is very mature and very calm... He, he told me, there was nothing new under the sun, he was never surprised at anything. The reality was that the weak was prey to the strong. Those who were lucky to be the carnivores would swallow the flesh of the preys mercilessly..."


    "Only tigers and leopards are able to hunt the jackals; as rabbits, we can only wait, wait for the right time, or wait until we be tigers and leopards." Cui Ying cried out tearfully. "He said that the police are all rubbish, he will not cooperate with them."


    It was only after she hadpleted her sentence that she realized that the two people in front of her were also policemen. She stopped hurriedly, and kept sobbing with no more words.


    Tao Ran: "Do you believe us?"


    Cui Ying rubbed the hem of her clothes with force.


    "Your Teacher Zhao is already one of the tigers and leopards," said Luo Wenzhou coldly. "People kept talking about the unsessful suicide in Huashi Eastern District on Wechat Moments (1)st night. Have you seen it?"


    Tao Ran continued: "Zhao Haochang murdered a man and dumped the body to the so-called ''Golden Triangle Open Space''. You apparently know of this ce?"


    Cui Ying took a breath. She looked numb.


    Tao Ran lowered his voice: "What happened?"


    "He...he once told me a joke that, if you kill someone, you can carefully avoid the police and dump the body at their trading ce, those rubbish will not even dare to investigate..."


    "Cui Ying," Luo Wenzhou whispered, "What on earth did you give Zhao Haochang?"


    "A video," said Cui Ying bewilderedly, "Only a video."


    As she was talking, she gritted her teeth, hooked a red string with a chicken-bone amulet on it out from her neck. She tore the small bone in the middle, and inside was a mini USB disk.


    As Luo Wenzhou felt that this girl was so silly that she carried something so vital with herself, Lang Qiao was leading a group of people into Zhao Haochang''s house.


    It was bright and clean. The aesthetics of the decoration showed a preference for westernization. There were huge floor-to-ceiling windows and wine cabs. It was located in a grand high-rise in the bustling area, with a good view of the street and low-rise buildings.


    At first nce, there was nothing strange in his home. It was a typical urban middle-ss home.


    The policemen searched over and over and finally concluded that the condo had neither a secret passage nor a hidden safe. It was as clean as a prototypical hotel room.


    "Nothing," Lang Qiao stood in the well-lit living room, and called Luo Wenzhou, "The cabs, cupboards... even under the bed, it is an ordinarymercial building. The property developer deliver hundreds of the same sets, it is impossible for them to build a secret room for him alone. There are only about one hundred square meters, we checked inch by inch. Unless there is an Anywhere Door in his home, it is impossible to hide things here. Boss, I have double-checked. Apart from here, there is no other property under Zhao Haochang''s name. If what President Fei guessed is correct, would hey those perverted things in other people''s ce?"


    "Oh, yes." Lang Qiao paused, and added, "The relevant documents of the arson case were also obtained. There was nothing useful. First, it was too long ago. Second, since all the vigers said it wasmitted by the idiot, there was no thorough investigation. There were only several photos of the scene and the arsonist."


    The idiot in the photo was indeed a man short of soul and wisdom. He was wearing a big ragged cotton jacket, and only one sleevelet. The sleevelet was so dirty that you had to examine it very carefully to distinguish the florals on it.


    Luo Wenzhou paused for a short while and continued: "Wait a minute, ept the video invitation."


    Lang Qiao stunned and clicked "ept". She then found herself connected to the camera facing aputer screen. The entire criminal investigation team in Yancheng City Bureau, together with Director Lu, were surrounding it.


    A video was ying on theputer. It was recorded with a pinhole camera. In the beginning, there was a blurry ck background. Then they heard a scream, and a young woman with dishevelled hair jumped into the center of the screen. Her pupils were dted and her face was pale. She stretched out a hand, like she was thirsty for something or pushing something away.


    At this time, someone outside the camera said: "Almost there, give it to her."


    The camera slowly turned by an angle and captured the man who was speaking - it was Wang Hongliang. Standing next to him was Huang Jinglian, who was bending down and whispering something!


    A low inhaling sound could be heard everywhere in the office.


    Director Lu smacked the table: "Now he cannot escape!"


    The camera turned back to the woman and moved a few steps forward. Then, a tray passed across the camera, and someone picked up the syringe on it.


    A momentter, the restless woman took a deep breath and twitched. Her face rxed, revealing her beautiful and delicate outline.


    Shey unmoving on a small couch, and watched the people on the other side of the camera for a long time.


    Suddenly, the camera shook, as if the person behind the lens was pushed by someone. Huang Jinglian went into the camera and urged, "Go away, don''t get in the way."


    He kept pushing the person behind the camera until they reached the entrance, and the camera finally had a chance to turn an angle and once again aimed at the room.


    Wang Hongliang held a cigarette in his mouth and strolled to the side of the half-conscious woman, and caressed her shoulder. Then he grinned towards the direction of the camera. "I''m getting tired of this kind, it''s a little boring to eat rice paste everyday."


    The person behind the camera hurriedly took a few steps back, banged the door of the room, and the video ended.


    "The woman in the video who got injected with drug is already dead. The cause of death is also excessive drug use. The method of closing the case is exactly the same as that of Chen Yuan." Luo Wenzhou lit a cigarette. "This video was taken by Chen Yuan, and soon afterward she was buried in the files in the same way. It seems that she had recorded her own ending in advance."


    "When Chen Yuan was in school, she often went out to work to support the family. So she was frequently absent and had very normal grades. She did not pass the judicial exam when she graduated. Because of her family''s financial conditions, she did not continue to study along with her ssmates. She initially went forw firms, but due tock of relevant qualifications, the pay was not good enough. In order to reduce the burden on her family as quickly as possible, she found a sales job with higher sry and rtively freer working hours as a temporary transition, hoping to pass the judicial examination on the second year and obtain a formal job."


    "Herpany sells a variety of replicas of famous-brand wines. The Blessing Grand View was one of the major customers. She met Huang Jinglian and his gang there. Because of her outstanding temperament, Huang Jinglian liked her, and tricked her into drinking a ss of wine with special sauce. She became what Wu Xuechun referred to as ''fresh''."


    "A female college student who has epted formal legal education." Director Lu sighed.


    "Chen Yuan wanted tomit suicide, but was not willing to give up so easily. This was Chen Yuan''sst words left to her friend Cui Ying," said Luo Wenzhou slowly. "She used thepany''s online store to order something for Cui Ying, stuffed all evidence she collected into the red wine package, and sent it to Cui Ying. The evidence includes this video, the names of several trading ces, their code words and a letter."


    "''No one can save me, but I have to do all I can.'' This was the first sentence she wrote in her letter." Luo Wenzhou paused, "This is all Cui Ying knows."


    "Besides-" Luo Wenzhou turned the phone towards himself, "Lang Qiao, are you still listening?"


    "Yes, boss, what?"


    "Cui Ying once disclosed this to Zhao Haochang. Zhao Haochang interrupted her in the middle of it and told her not to talk about this on phone. He invited her to a small winery in the suburb. On my way back I had investigated that winery. The owner of the winery rented amunitynd for a business club. He once illegally built and sold some small property houses-"


    "Give me the address," Lang Qiao understood his meaning immediately, jumped to her feet, and signaled the crowd, "Follow me!"


    The sun was shining, the grapes on the trellis had withered, the scattered sophora flowers had almost faded and lowered their "heads". A row of small property "mini mansions" were silently hidden in the corner under the radar. Thendscaping had not beenpleted, revealing the atmosphere of abination of urban and rural areas.


    A group of policemen pushed away the jittery administrators, and opened one of the gates to search independently.


    "There is a basement here!"


    Lang Qiao walked down the narrow stairwell in the lead. The smell of hygroscopic agent assailed her nostrils. She turned on the wallmp, looked up, and was shocked.


    Luo Wenzhou answered a call from Lang Qiao, and without saying anything, he walked to the door with a cigarette in his mouth.


    Two cases, one week''s work; at this point, most details of the puzzling case were clear and they had even found convincing evidence, but somehow he had more and more doubts in his mind.


    Tao Ran stopped by: "What are you thinking about again?"


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t want to talk about his doubts too much at the moment, so he answered without thinking: "Thinking about Fei Du."


    Tao Ran was surprised: "Oh?"


    Before Luo Wenzhou replied, someone chimed in: "Thinking about me? That''s rare, what''s up, Captain Luo?"


    =======================================================


    1WeChat Moments: A social media.


    =======================================================

 Chapter 32: Julien Thirty-one

    Chapter 32: Julien Thirty-one


    Following a loud squeaking sound, the door to the interrogation room opened. In came two expressionless police officers. They pressed on Zhao''s shoulders and pushed him back into his chair. A pair of shiny handcuffs clicked his "expensive" wrists together. The metal cuffs and his metal watch band seemed weirdly in harmony.


    Delicate, cold, and sharp.


    Observing from outside, Fei Du suddenlymented, while squinting his eyes: "You guys make great handcuffs, you know? Do I get a pair as a souvenir?"


    Tao Ran didn''t get him at first: "What do you need handcuffs for?"


    Fei Du turned and looked at him, then decided to shut up, as if realizing that he went a bit too far. He replied with a simple, yet loaded, curving of his peach blossom eyes.


    Tao Ran, the obtuse straight guy whose life was filled with housing loans and overtime work, took quite some time toprehend what Fei Du was talking about. Vice Captain Tao found it difficult to appreciate the wild and indulgent lifestyle of these "bourgeoisies". This one in front of him in particr seemed quite like a piece of pollutant at the moment, so he lectured with utmost righteousness: "One more word of this nonsense and you''re out of here."


    With an awkward dry cough, Fei Du sat upright, put away his inner Don Juan, and kept his mouth shut.


    The icy cold handcuffs made Zhao Haochang shiver. When he found his voice again, he vainly argued: "Wait, what house..."


    Luo Wenzhou coldly stopped him right there: "Do you deny ownership of the property? Lawyer Zhao, this wouldn''t be in line with the security camera footage at Feng Qing Winery."


    Zhao Haochang finally lost control of his facial expression. His uneasiness surfaced, the handcuffs ttering in panic.


    Luo Wenzhou took the time to enjoy his new expression, then gently added: "Besides, who told you that we didn''t locate He Zhongyi after he left the bus station at Wenchang Road?"


    "T...that''s imp...possible..."


    "Murder, moving the body, misleading the police, framing others, even encouraging and facilitating the suicide of an innocent woman --- Zhao Haochang, we now have plenty of evidence to show that you are responsible for all of these. Do you have anything else to say?" Luo Wenzhou suddenly paused and nced at Zhao Haochang, wearing a belittling smirk of a privileged high-born. Then, he plunged a dagger of words right into Zhao Haochang''s heart:


    "After all these years of hard work, just when you thought you were this close to making it, one wrong step and you are all the way at the bottom again. This time, as a murderer too. ''Whatever will be will be''. What can I say, Zhao Fengnian? I pity you."


    Zhao Haochang reacted with a hysterical cry, as if someone had pushed a needle into his chest: "What kind of evidence is that? Did you have it on camera that I killed someone? Hah? Did you find my fingerprint or my DNA on that damn phone? Zhang Doni''s fingerprint was clearly on that tie - isn''t that the absolute evidence, stronger than all of the rest? Whye after me? Just because that Zhang Doni is a rtive of your Police Chief? Because he''s got money? Come on - faking evidence and framing the innocents, isn''t that what you cops do best? Who knows if that cell-phone..."


    Zhao Haochang''s loud usation halted as he suddenly realized, and understood the mockery and the slight pity in Luo Wenzhou''s eyes. Something exploded in his head, and he felt all of his blood leaving it and rushing to the end of his stiff limbs.


    Luo Wenzhou rested his elbows on the desk, leaning slightly forward and looking straight into Zhao Haochang''s bloodshot eyes: "Zhang Doni''s fingerprints were clearly on the tie? Lawyer Zhao, you are so much better than our forensics. Because measuring and testing with their equipment takes forever, yet here you are, ''knowing'' it from just ''guessing''."  1.7M46.2K 13.1M391K 226K19.3K 1M42K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.5M201K 322K32.5K


    Zhao Haochang was stunned silent. Cold sweat dripped down from his greasy hair. When the cold air from the AC flew by, he shuddered uncontrobly.


    Luo Wenzhou sneered. As if a cat that''s done enough torturing with its prey, he lost interest in Zhao Haochang. Pushing the chair in, he stood up and nodded casually at the two officers guarding the room: "The suspect -- we can call you that now, right? Lawyer Zhao -- the corpus delicti of murder by this suspect is established. The rest of the details should be pretty straightforward. You guys go ahead. I''m not wasting more time with him."


    Luo Wenzhou started walking out. At that time, Zhao Haochang suddenly banged his handcuffs together loudly and started struggling against the guards. He shouted: "Wait! I...it was justifiable defense!"


    Luo Wenzhou looked back at him with a dropped jaw. He suddenly realized that the so-called elegance and grace were nothing but thin paper, breakable with a single light poke. Without the paper mask, a difited soul was exposed, wallowing in a muddy pool of self-pity. Ironically, when Tao Ran''s team was handling the group fight incidentst week, the illiterate head of the mob said exactly the same thing in his defense. Looks like when pushed to their extremes, the bright and shinywyer Zhao Haochang wasn''t much better than the school guard Yu Lei, who knew practically nothing about thew.


    "Did I hear you wrong?" Luo Wenzhou slightly leaned back, "Lawyer Zhao, you, a professionalwyer, an elite in your profession, call this ''justifiable self-defense''? Did the bat-swing you gave He Zhongyi actuallynd on your own head?"


    Zhao Haochang''s face looked very ugly. He red at Luo Wenzhou with malicious enmity, and squeezed out some words from between his teeth: "He Zhongyi was involved in drug-dealing. He kept pestering me, and I didn''t know what else to do. I had no other way."


    "He Zhongyi was involved in drug-dealing?" Luo Wenzhou''s voice sank, "How do you know?"


    Zhao Haochang couldn''t stop shaking. He put his cuffed hands back on hisp. His hands were so tightly fisted that the nails could almost pierce through his palm. But he seemed to feel none of it: "I have evidence. I have evidence! I know you are looking into Chen Yuan''s case. I am the key witness! I can cooperate, but you have to promise me leniency on my case."


    Luo Wenzhou nced at the security camera. Through the lenses and the screen, his nce met those of Fei Du on the outside.


    Fei Du''s arms were crossed in front of him. Looking interested, he leaned forward and muttered something.


    Tao Ran: "What?"


    "He thought he had the upper hand at first. Then quickly he was hit hard on his weak spot. Panicked and enraged, he identally gave you guys something that he shouldn''t have. One careless move and he forfeited the whole game. Yet he was quick to reassess the situation, patch up his testimony, and figure out what you guys wanted that he had, turning it to his advantage again." Fei Du murmured, "It reminds me of the centipede in the swamp."


    The centipede goes on wriggling even after it''s dead.


    Luo Wenzhou sat back in front of Zhao Haochang: "Go on."


    Zhao took a deep breath: "I need your promise. And a clean towel and a cup of coffee."


    In the interrogation room, shes of wits and trickeries happen, and everything is fair game. Luo Wenzhou weighed the situation and concluded that his "promise" wasn''t really worth a dime. So he nodded generously: "Deal."


    A momentter, a delicate bone china tray was sent in, with well-arranged wet towels, paper napkins, and a cup of aromatic hot coffee. There was even some fancy coffee treats and a rose wet with morning dew. Luo Wenzhou could just tell from the smell of it that it was the doing of that douchebag Fei.


    The recorder and the guards looked at each other and sighed silently -- they didn''t even get this kind of treatment when working overtime during the Spring Festival!


    Zhao Haochang''s face looked slightly less grim. Through the flower he seemed to have regained some of his dignity. That dignity allowed him to keep his back straight and talk like a human.


    "At the end ofst year, I attended a meeting in the East Huashi District, as a legal consultant. We were nning on drinking that day, so I did not drive. As I was looking for a cab after the meeting, I found that I had been followed." Zhao Haochang took his time to enjoy the refreshment. After a sip of the coffee, he slowly let out a long breath, and closed his eyes. "The Mandheling blend? It''s a bit too strong."


    "Was it He Zhongyi who was following you?"


    "Yes. He recognized me, and asked for money from me." Zhao Haochang''s voice became steady again. His flimsy eyes regained confidence and he looked back at Luo Wenzhou: "It was a ckmail. 100 thousand."


    Luo Wenzhou measured Zhao up --- a pretty face, a strongly built body, coupled with the skin of an elite. It''s not like he''d be forced into anything by the frail boy He Zhongyi. "And you gave it to him?" He asked.


    "I gave it to him. You guys should be able to track it." Zhao Haochang''s mouth pursed. After a whole night in the ''little-dark-room''(1), his pale face and dark circles around the eyes made those eye sockets look even more sunken and gloomy. "Both of my parents were handicapped. Including me, they had four children. Two of them had disabilities. They couldn''t support me through middle school. I stopped taking any money from them since then. I collected cicada sloughs, I carried baggage for others with my back, I TAed for the teachers. I even went into the mountains in the middle of the night to pick mushrooms and berries to sell them in the morning market... I did all kinds of things, all to support myself through schooling. One day I am going to seed."


    "But do you know how the vigers talked about me? They said that we were the ''dumb'' family. After I finished high school and got into college, those people finally started kissing up to us. Our house was then crowded with admirers. They came and went, all trying to introduce their dumb daughters or sisters to me."


    "But in my junior year, my youngest brother was born. He was the long anticipated second son of the family. But same as my second sister, he was born dumb and deaf, with handicaped intelligence. It was a nightmare. Since then, we became the ''dumb'' family once again. It is gic. My children in the future could be like that too, do you understand? My career is taking off. I even have a girlfriend now. I love her very much. I can''t let those rats in the gutter talk nonsense in front of her. So I had to do as he asked, and give him the money."


    Luo Wenzhou took out a cigarette from the case, and put it between his lips. Behind a light sheer of white smoke, he studied Zhao Haochang: "Rats in the gutter?"


    Zhao Haochang was shameless and gutsy indeed. Even then, he didn''t falter, and looked right into Luo Wenzhous eyes: "Captain Luo, you are a Yan-cheng local, am I right? Then you must have no idea how hard it is to live alone in those group renting apartments in the West district. I never dared to go out with my ssmates. I was always working my head off to get the schrships. After graduation I was working my head off to earn money to send home. My parents didn''t know what my life was like. All they knew was to ask for more. Because of my little brother''s condition, they even nned to have another one, despite being almost 50, and they nned to give that kid to me. The gossip and pressure they got from the vigers ended up on my shoulder."


    "My family, yes, it was almost sucking me dry. Yet I had noints. I wanted them to have a good life in the countryside. I even went home to help them with refurbishing the house. God knows, I only left the town for one night, and when I came back, the house was burnt to the ground from a silly ident, and my parents, my siblings...all gone. None survived....I was devastated. And then, guess what? Rumor had it that I had something to do with that fire!"


    Getting to the point.


    Luo Wenzhou asked emotionlessly: "Oh. Then did you? Have anything to do with it?"


    Zhao Haochang''s mouth tensed. He was indignant: "Listen to yourself! What kind of brute are you?"


    Luo Wenzhou crossed one leg while impassively staring at Zhao Haochang, until finally, at the brink of Zhao''s copse, Luo finally flicked the cigarette ashes and smiled lightly: "Alright, you are pure and innocent, with a heart-wrenching backstory. Now tell me more about He Zhongyi."


    "I buried my past. I buried my name. I left my hometown for good, and thought that I was finally free from that maddening slum. Who knew that after barely a couple years of good life, that piece of sh*t He Zhongyi would''ve found me again. He said that it wasn''t the first time that he had seen me, that he had even seen my girlfriend. He threatened that if I didn''t give him the money, he''d tell Zhang Ting about my gic weaknesses and my family history. He''d tell her the truth about that fire." As he talked about it, Zhao Haochang could no longer keep his calmness. His anger and hatred boiled up to the surface and drowned the smell of the coffee, swamping the room like something palpable and concrete. "They have already destroyed the first half of my life and now they areing for the rest of it. All of my hard work, my dreams, and my hope would turn into bubbles once these disgusting worms crawl over. Why?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "So you decided to kill him?"


    "I didn''t." Zhao Haochang''s chest moved up and down as he panted heavily, "I only wanted to handle it quietly. I even gave him 100 thousand dors, only to ask him not to mention me in front of others. But it was not enough for him. He came back to me, again and again...I was prepared to be his cash cow for the long term. I even bought a new cell phone number just to contact him."


    "Then I was invited by my old advisor to lead a field-study ss at my old university. There I met Cui Ying, an easygoing and timid student. She trusted me, and asked my opinion on everything. One day she called me, panicking, and tried to tell me something important. I sensed that something wasn''t right, so I stopped her right there. I told her not to say it over the phone, and asked to meet her at... a private location."


    "She showed you Chen Yuan''s video."


    "I was shocked. But to protect Cui Ying, I asked her not to tell anyone. That night, I was sleepless. Following my conscience, I decided to go to the West district - since I''m very familiar with it - to see if the evidence held up. " Zhao Haochang''s voice was down to a whisper: "I saw...I saw He Zhongyi and another gangly young man hanging out together. I stayed there until dusk, and spotted that other youngster sneaking out to the block of Guanjing West Road. It was one of the drug dealing sites mentioned in Chen Yuan''s letter - he was an addict!"


    From this depiction, it seemed like Ma Xiaowei.


    As if trying to calm himself, Zhao Haochang drank a mouthful of the coffee: "That addict took the drugs home - I followed him all the way and saw him going back ''home''. He turned on the light, and shadows were cast on the curtain. That He Zhongyi was sharing the drug with him! Then he broke his words and went to bother Zhang Ting despite the money. I caught him right at the scene."


    "The time that Zhang Doni beat him up while you stood and watched?"


    "Zhang Doni beat him up. He didn''t dare to fight back, no. But his eyes were on me the whole time." Zhao Haochang grunted, "He was plotting revenge. I knew it. I was scared. Afterwards, I went to him and yielded, again. I gave him what he wanted."


    "That cell phone." Said Luo Wenzhou.


    "He mentioned it to me many times, saying that others were using it and how he wished he could too."


    Bored, Luo Wenzhou swung a pen between his fingers, then knocked on the desk with it: "Okay. Granted that he went to Zhang Ting. But from a silhouette on the curtain, you jumped right to him doing drugs. Do you have X-ray eyes..."


    "I told you that I have evidence!" Zhao Haochang forcefully cut him off, "I ced two screw-head mini cameras in the Golden-Triangle Space."


    Both Luo Wenzhou in the interrogation room and Tao Ran and the team outside were surprised -- No one noticed any camera when screening the scene!


    "Of course, not on the scene. Or else those garbages would have found it long ago." Zhao Haochang seemed to have guessed what Luo was thinking. With a disdainful look, he said, "The backalleys in the West district areplex and intertwined. Roads get blocked where you''d least expect them to; secretive ces can bepletely exposed - as long as you find the right angle. I put one of the cameras on the window beam of He Zhongyi''s apartment, and the other one on the roof of a nearby publicvatory."


    The recorder on the side was jotting like crazy trying to take down all the information.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Did you get anything?"


    "I got their transactions in the Golden Triangle Space a couple times. Sometimes there were only the drug dealers. Sometimes you crooked cops were patrolling right by them, being their scouting dogs."


    Luo Wenzhou asked immediately: "The camera footage, where is it?"


    "There is a safe box underneath the floormp in my basement. Be my guest." Zhao Houchang answered generously, "Once you''re done you''ll know that I''m only telling the truth. He Zhongyi was very careful. Usually he asked his friend to be at the front. But on the evening of the 20th, my cameras caught him using the phone that I gave him to sell drugs -- you should be able to track a text message going to his phone. It was an instruction for a temporary location change."


    Luo Wenzhou looked at him in a strange way. Then, suddenly he asked: "On He Zhongyi''s forehead there was a piece of paper, with the word "money" written on it. The paper was torn from a craft paper bag, the one that He took when he went to see you that night. Was it you?"


    "Yes." Zhao Haochang answered while raising his brow: "He followed me, all the way to the Chengguang Mansion, and asked to see me to talk about the money --- there were 20 thousand dors in that bag. Captain Luo, let me ask you: besides selling drugs, how the hell could a poor country boy from out of town manage to get 20 thousand dors?"


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t know what to say.


    "Let me ask you again: How would you feel when a drug addict who had been ckmailing you suddenly showed up and gave you back your money? Would you dly take it, thinking that he had washed his hands clean? Of course he was covetting something more from you! With the 20 thousands, he''s hoping to get 200 thousands out of your pocket! These greedy slumdogs - what else do they know beside money?" Zhao Haochang''s sunken eyes were like two deep wells, trapping the lights and spitting out nothing but cold, empty darkness, "I only wanted to protect myself. I strangled one evil soul, you''re wee! Sir, when you lot of termites and wasted scum lie around and do nothing, who could me me for taking action in your stead?"


    "Well said, Lawyer Zhao. Thank you for the lesson." Luo Wenzhou nodded peacefully, "Can you let us know the passcode to your safe? We need to verify the details for He Zhongyi''s crime."


    The officer on the side handed him pen and paper. With a cold smirk on his face, Zhao Haochang jotted down the code without hesitation.


    Luo Wenzhou texted the number to Lang Qiao at Feng Qing Winery immediately. Five minutester, he received Langqiao''s confirmation.


    "Thank you." Luo Wenzhou stood up, and smiled while he said: "Lawyer Zhao, I have two more things to share with you. Mind if I take a couple more minutes of your time?"


    Zhao Haochang now had to raise his head to look up at him.


    "First," Luo Weizhou raise one finger, "He Zhongyi''s forensic report shows that he had never touched drugs. About that cell-phone, the witnesses'' testimony had made it clear: it was stolen by his roommate."


    Zhao Haochang frowned, and opened his lips to try to argue. But Luo Wenzhou raised another finger.


    "Second, if you were really so sneaky and brilliant as you imed to be, to have ced cameras out of He Zhongyi''s apartment, why not ce one in his room? Film him, 24/7, so you can be sure whether he was doing drugs, or selling them?"


    Zhao Haochang was taken aback.


    "You WERE a smart one, Lawyer Zhao." Luo Wenzhou chortled, "Catching a hard-headed asshole like yourself, who refused to shed any tears before seeing the coffin, was really the bright spot of my week. Truly, I think all the hours spent working overtime was worth it. As for my promise...well, as a fellow asshole, let me put it this way: I only ever keep my promises to my wife. And you...save it."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t bother to see the reaction on Zhao''s phony face. He directly walked out of the interrogation room.


    Tao Ran didn''t catch it right away: "Wait, what does he mean?"


    "From the footage, it is possible to trace back where the camera was ced." Fei Du''s eyes were still fixed on the copsing Zhao Haochang. He said in a low voice: "He didn''t give a damn about whether He Zhongyi was innocent or truly involved in drugs. From the time when He Zhongyi had contacted him repeatedly, Zhao Haochang had made up his mind that the kid shall not live."


    Tao Ran''s eyes widened: "You mean, he sent those camera footage to Wang Hongliang!"


    "I don''t know how He Zhongyi escaped Wang''s purging yet. But it does seem like something Zhao Haochang would do." As he answered, Fei Du saw Luo Wenzhou walking towards them from afar, a coat draped over his shoulder and azy cigarette between his lips. Fei Du turned and nodded at Tao Ran: "Ge, since I don''t care about the rest of the details, I''ll leave you to it. Peace."


    He adjusted his sses, and sauntered out. As he walked past Luo Wenzhou, he curiously looked at thetter''s stiff posture, and asked in full respect: "You seem to be suffering from lumbar muscle strain, my Captain. Please take good care of your body at this age, alright?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He was half provoked but half amused. It seemed that today''s Fei Du was more cheerful and lighthearted than usual --- perhaps because the sodden old scar was carved open and cut out today. It may be painful, it may be gruesome, but it was at least a chance at true recovery.


    "A question for you." Luo Wenzhou said, "Do you think Zhao Haochang killed his whole family?"


    Fei Du was not going to cooperate in a regr friendly conversation, obviously. He mocked: "My my, captain! So after a whole day of fancy tactics, you still haven''t tricked him into confessing who killed the Zhao family?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s back was hurting like crazy. He had a hard time standing up straight, so he took the liberty to press on Fei Du''s shoulder and used him as a human walking stick: "I actually have doubts about it. Although our Little Qiao said that he kept one of the arsonary''s sleeve covers, meaning he had to be present at the time, I still think he was at most just standing there and allowing it to happen. Generally,w-breaking takes time and practice. A newbie is not likely to have the gut, or the wit, to n the murder of his whole family."


    Fei Du stiffened.


    Luo Wenzhou shrugged: "No offense. I''m not hinting at you at all. I''ve already apologized."


    Fei Du spoke impassively: "You caught my hair."


    As he spoke, he turned to the side to avoid Luo Wenzhou''s paws, and dusted his shoulder with disgust. Airily, he walked away.


    "Captain Luo!" An officer rushed over, "Huang Jinglian waspletely dismayed by the evidence, and gave us everything about Wang Hongliang''s business."


    Luo Wenzhou turned around abruptly.


    "And about Chen Yuan''s case, ording to Huang Jinglian, they received a package containing a video on their drug trafficking. They suspected that there were some traitors from inside, so they immediately started purging and quickly found the hidden camera on Chen Yuan. That''s why they..."


    Luo Wenzhou was surprised.


    Perhaps Zhao Haochang''s cameras were hidden too well that Huang Jinglian''s peoplepletely missed them. Or perhaps Huang Jinglian was too confident to even think that someone would use fixed hidden cameras and wait for them to find out, so their first reaction was to strip the people. The poor girl ended up dead in He Zhongyi''s ce.


    But in the end, the simple minded boy who was too blunt to read people''s faces didn''t escape from the mouth of the swamp either.


    "Continue with the interrogation." Luo Wenzhou carefully tried to stretch, "Find out where the text message to He on the evening of the 20th came from."


    "Yes, sir!"


    The officer trotted away.


    Luo Wenzhou stayed where he was, deep in his thoughts. Suddenly, he smelled something light yet tantalizing, gracing the tip of his nose and then drilling down to somewhere deep. It was a woody cologne with a lingering finish, making his heart tickle.


    Luo Wenzhou looked around to search for the source. Finally, he raised his fingers to his nose - it turned out to be from touching Fei Du''s shoulder.


    "Tut-tut, " Luo Wenzhou disappointedly rubbed his fingers together. As soon as he found the origin of the scent, his heart stopped tickling and his nose stopped indulging, "Why oh why...what a waste of my hormones."

 Chapter 33: Reading Out Loud Part 2

    Chapter 33: Reading Out Loud Part 2


    Over the weekend, the failed suicide attempt broadcasted on the Sky Screen kept fermenting online and finally built up to a fierce explosion on Monday morning. Before he made it out of the parking garage, Fei Du had already been cornered by two groups of reporters. It looked like he had turned into an Inte celebrity with the snap of a finger.


    Inside his office, Director Fei pondered a bit over the situation with a half-cup of ''London Fog'' that had turned cold and decided to make every dor and every inch of his face worth it. He waved over the secretary and asked her to make a case out of the public exposure. The marketing department was to develop a special advertising campaign with the theme of ''enterprise social responsibility''.


    The secretary finished jotting down his wild idea and, on her way out, she seemed to have been biting her tongue for quite a while that she was on the verge of tears. Gingerly, she asked: "Director Fei... what you said on the sky screen... is it... real?"


    "Hm?" Fei Du was skimming over his schedule. He looked up and replied with a half-mocking, half-pampering smile, "Of course not. There were suicide intervention experts prompting me back stage --- They wouldn''t let me improvise under such circumstances. Wait, you seriously thought that it was real? So adorable..."


    The redness in Miss Secretary''s eyes quickly blended in with the blushes on her cheeks. Spitting back at the mocking, she turned around and walked away.


    "Um, wait." Fei Du kept smiling, "Are there any business lunches or dinners today that require me to sell my handsome face?"


    Miss Secretary, who just had her heart full of maternal love wasted, replied with a big eye roll: "Nope. There has been no demand for this precious intangible assettely."


    "Good." Fei Du swiftly took off his suit jacket and shut his notebook, "I''ll be gone for the afternoon. Call me if you need me."


    Half an hourter, Fei Du escorted He Zhongyi''s mom out of the hospital and apanied her to the YCPD (YanCheng Police Department).


    After all, Wang Xiujuan had been very sick for a very long time and she was not a young woman anymore. After experiencing such shock and agony, she was kept in the hospital for observation for the whole weekend. She had barely been discharged when she had to face her son''s body.


    Just like that, a country boy''s death had yanked out an enormous drug-trafficking case that involved police officers as cover. The whole country was in shock. YCPD formed a special investigation group in coboration with the Commission for Discipline Inspection and worked their heads off on the case day and night.


    Inparison, the case of He Zhongyi''s killing was much lower in priority. Only Luo Wenzhou, Tao Ran, Lang Qiao, and a couple of other officers who were on the case from the beginning were involved in the wrap-up.


    He Zhongyi''s body had been repaired and cleaned, looking less ghastly than when he was first discovered on the side of the street. There was a forced serenity on his face pieced together by the makeup artist.


    Zhao Yulong and some other colleagues of He Zhongyi all volunteered to help. Ma Xiaowei also showed up under the surveince of Xiao Haiyang and another police officer.


    Zhang Doni -- pressured or not -- also appeared midway through the funeral, wearing a rare solemnness. Seeing that Fei Du was there helping Wang Xiujuan, he awkwardly adjusted his head and limbs and approached them. Nodding stiffly at Wang Xiujuan, he murmured: "A-yi (aunt), I really didn''t kill your son."


    Intimidated by his tall and bulky figure, Wang Xiujuan shriveled a step back.


    Zhang Doni searched frivolously for something else to say: "But I did hit him once..."


    1.7M46.2K 13.1M391K 226K19.3K 1M42K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.5M201K 322K32.5K Fei Du threw him a cold and sharp look. Zhang Doni rubbed his nose awkwardly and decided to shut up, gesturing a "please" to Zhongyi''s mother.


    Zhongyi''s mother, Wang Xiujuan, was a very short and skinny woman. Each time Fei Du talked with her, he''d bend down to her level and use a soft, calm voice. He scolded Zhang Doni with a look and spoke next to Wang Xiujuan''s ear: "If you need, let me take care of the rest for you."


    Wang Xiujuan slowly shook her head. She let go of Fei Du''s hand and stumbled a couple steps forward. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she turned back: "Did my Zhongyi do something wrong? Did he do anything bad?"


    Fei Du looked into her eyes. Momentster, he replied, gently but firmly: "No, A-yi".


    Zhao Haochang was very shrewd -- he yed with emotions and used disguises to the fullest. His story made it seem like society was a giant muddy pit, and he was the white lotus that blossomed there despite the filth.


    However, thanks to Lang Qiao and others'' scrutinizing hunt for physical evidence, coupled with Luo Wenzhou''s tactical bluffing during the interrogation, the police were finally able to dig out some truth from Zhao and piece together a clearer story.


    With as much hope as pressure, He Zhongyi left his small and remote vige and arrived at Yan Cheng, a city of endless busy streets, dazzling sky-scrapers, and morous townspeople. He saw carefree boys and girls of his own age wandering on college campuses. Everyone on the street was fashionable enough for a photo shoot.


    Yet there he was: a rootless neer living in the shadiest part of town. He went to work everyday covered with mud and sewer smells, and came home to a street full of middle-aged ckers and young thugs from every imaginable nasty business possible.


    Nheless, he lived his frugal life with care and hope, counting his spending and savings daily, scared to waste a single minute: the more he worked, the earlier he could pay back the debt and pay off his mother''s medical bills. From time to time, he would let his imagination roam free and picture himself finally settling down in this city.


    His childhood role model, Brother Fengnian, also lived in this city. Although he promised Brother Fengnian  and he nned to keep the promise  not to tell anyone about his existence, Zhongyi still couldn''t resist the temptation to get closer to him. Brother Fengnian, on the other hand, couldn''t wish to stay further away. Zhongyi thought it must be because of how poor he was. Who could have had it easy in such a daunting city? Of course, no one wanted to be associated with a poor rtive that always needed help. So Zhongyi kept this fragile connection to the bare minimum, with just asional greetings. At the same time, he was always saving, saving, and saving.


    asional greetings were necessary even if one despised them: since he still owed him money, then under no circumstances would it be fine for him to simply ''disappear''.


    Finally, he saved up 20 grand  barely enough for a good bottle of wine in the eyes of those rich yboys, but already the biggest saving in his life. He had to hide it very carefully -- because where he lived, there was always someone looking. It was best to return the money sooner thanter, he thought.


    However, Brother Fengnian was too hard to find so he had to try Zhang Ting -- he had seen the girl by his side once.


    He Zhongyi gathered all his courage, stammering to ask the whereabouts of Brother Fengnian. Never did he expect that his sudden appearance and ''weird'' murmurs scared Zhang Ting -- An eager and groveling stranger might not be scary, but a wretched and shabby one definitely was.


    The girl''s overreaction got him beat up. Yet the beating aside, what shocked Zhongyi was how that man arrived with her brother, but stood there and watched. No, not quite. He calmly interfered andforted the girl, but he never looked up at Zhongyi as if they wereplete strangers. At that moment, He Zhongyi finally admitted to himself that Brother Fengnian really wanted nothing to do with him.


    They were not rtives. They were not friends. Zhongyi realized that he was nothing more than a speck of mud on his otherwise spotless shirt that was hard to wash off. He gave him a new cellphone afterwards. So what?


    "Perhaps I should disappear from his life altogether after settling the debt with him," thought Zhongyi.


    One time during a delivery job, he noticed Brother Fengnian and his friends talking andughing nearby. This time, he stayed away. But he still overheard that they were going to a ce called "Chengguang Residence" for a housewarming party.


    He Zhongyi''s body was carried out, covered with white cloth. Wang Xiujuan could no longer hold herself together. Eyes blood-red and knees trembling, she copsed onto the floor. Others rushed over, trying to help her up.


    Cloudy tears poured through and soaked her foggy hair. She grabbed someone''s sleeve: "I taught him to be kind to others, and to be an honest person. Did I teach him wrong?"


    No one could answer the question. There was only silence.


    Wang Xiujuan was not fully literate and could hardly understand the testimonials or the expert reports. Tao Ran waited until she was a bit calmer before sitting her down and exining the documents to her quote by quote. Wang Xiujuan nodded nkly after each line.


    She didn''t wail. She only wept silently in the corner with unending tears.


    Zhang Doni scuffed to Fei Du hesitantly, scratching his head: "Sir Fei, Tingting asked me to ask this... the heck...My uncle got transferred because of this shit. They made him resign to the second tier early... Jeez... Did my family trip on the Taisui or what?"


    Fei Du stayed a couple steps away, tending to Wang Xiujuan. Suddenly, he asked: "Did you find your gray tie?"


    Zhang Doni was nk for a second: "What?"


    "Never mind. The tie is with the police now," said Fei Du. "He Zhongyi -- the victim -- his blood and your finger prints are on it. Someone found the tie in your car and reported it to the police."


    Zhang Doni waspletely dumbfounded that he forgot to close his mouth for quite a while. When his rusty mind finally caught up, he stiffly brushed away a part of his low-hanging bangs and dropped a tersement: "F*ck!"


    Fei Du patted his shoulder: "Tell Tingting to stop asking. End it before it''s toote."


    "Wait a minute..." Zhang Doni fretfully waved his hand, feeling more dizzy and confused, "You mean that... that guy, he stole my tie to kill people and then tried to nt it on me? Is this what you mean?"


    Fei Du made noment.


    "Are you freakin'' serious right now? I was more than friendly to him... that Zhao Haochang... How in the world did his little firm get ahold with yourpany? Thanks to me! When Tingting brought him home, my parents did not have a singleint. They treated him like a real son-inw  How the hell did I cross him? "


    Fei Du pondered a bit, and answered: " You were breathing."


    Zhang Doni: "..."


    Zhang Doni exploited his limited brain space but still couldn''t wrap his mind around it. He muttered: "Impossible... How could it be...? Is that Luo Wenzhou guy good? I mean, how could he..."


    "If that Luo Wenzhou guy is no good, it''d be you who''d be locked away and waiting to be tried now," said Fei Du.


    Meanwhile, Luo Wenzhou had strolled behind the two since god knows when. He poked Zhang Doni: "Learn the lesson, Master Doni."


    Zhang Doni had always been a little afraid of him. Seeing Luo Wenzhou made his stomach twitch. Now caught talking behind his back, Zhang Doni was startled speechless and slipped away as fast as he could.


    Luo Wenzhou slowly moved next to Fei Du and stood there with his hands behind his back, staring at the mother''s heart-wrenching farewell: "Where will she go next?"


    "The executives of the Jin Mao Tower wanted to take advantage of this case''s publicity," Fei Du exined. "They proposed to set up a fund for ''The elderlies from the country side who lost their child''. They''ve already announced the n to the public. This should be able to cover her living and medical expenses for the future. But..."


    But money cannot buy back life.


    Others could support her financially, yet no one could bring her son back to her.


    "Well," Luo Wenzhou slid out a couple pictures from the folder underneath his arm, "Let me show you something."


    What''s on the photo was a pen resting in a clear stic bag. Even through the camera lens, one could feel its high-end quality. Carved on the cap was the character "Fei". "It''s one of Zhao Haochang''s collections. Look familiar? Is it yours?"


    He was expecting to get a little surprise from Mr. Fei. However, Fei Du only spared a nce and said: "Oh, so he has it. I lost itst Christmas."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    It was the exact same date as what was found on Zhao Haochang''s record. An outsider would''ve concluded that Fei Du had given the pen to him.


    "When I can''t find something, I recall my mental state before and after, and usually that''d remind me of where I put it." Fei Du shrugged, "If not, then it could only have been taken by others  but since many guests and crew came in and out of my office that day, I didn''t want to make a scene. So I didn''t mention it to anyone."


    Luo Wenzhou asked: "Don''t you want to know what the tag says?"


    Fei Du shrugged again. His eyes stopped on what was behind the pen  the angle of that picture revealed a corner of Zhao Haochang''s floormp in the basement. The specimen-like treemp glowed silently, like gazes casted from a faraway space-time, forever staring at the young man who had changed his identity that year.


    "Not really." said Fei Du, "No need to give it back after the trial either. It''s got a burnt smell. I don''t want it anymore."


    After taking care of Wang Xiujuan, Fei Du left the police department alone, without saying anything or telling anyone. He drove straight out of the city.


    It was barely dusk. The sky looked a bit cloudy. The cemetery was filled with tombstones and their shadows, asionally greeted by wandering scarecrows. The wetness of the soil seeped through the ground, bringing the breaths of the passed to the living.


    Fei Du brought a Lili bouquet and stopped in front of a slightly worn tombstone for the seventh year. Thedy on the tombstone was pale and sad, looking at him with a pair of unfading eyes. She was beautiful, but in a very fragile and delicate way.


    Fei Du looked back at her for a little while before he pulled up his sleeves and started wiping the tombstone gently with a handkerchief. Then, he kissed his two fingers and pressed the kiss onto the stone. For the first time, he smiled in front of her with a hint of relief.


    It was as if he had finally pushed out the coffin that had been resting on his chest and ced it into the empty tomb. <i>It''s been settled.</i>


    Luo Wenzhou waited until Fei Du left before finally sneaking in. He put down a small bunch of white daisies and bowed to the woman on the stone.


    After conversing silently with her for a little while, he was ready to be on his way. All of a sudden, something cold fell on his face  some rain cloud came from nowhere and started pouring over the countryside.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t bring an umbre. He frowned at the inconvenience, raised an arm to shelter his face, and was just about to dash into the rain when suddenly he realized something dark shading him: Fei Du returned for some reason, and was holding an umbre over Luo''s head with a perplexing look on his face.

 Chapter 34: Humbert Humbert One

    Chapter 34: Humbert Humbert One


    In a sub-par analogy, what Luo Wenzhou felt like at that moment was about the same as what Zhao Haochang experienced when first heard that his secret at the Fengqing Winery has been unearthed - as if struck by the lightening.


    No room for denial, he was caught right on scene - the cute white flowers were still basking in the rain.


    Luo Wenzhou mumbled: "I......er......actually.......I was just stopping by on the way."


    On the way to where? If so, our mighty captain Luo was only possibly running away to North Korea.


    Before Fei Du started mocking, Luo Wenzhou realized that his excuse was so bad that it''s almost "Zhang Doni-ish".


    Even if his skin was as thick as the Great Wall, it couldn''t have possible fenced off Fei Du''s razor-sharp looks. Luo Wenzhou was quite embarrassed and tried to avoid making eye contact. He forced some casual chats, and was eyeing for an opportunity to sneak away.


    "You two go on." said Luo Wenzhou, "I''ve got work tomorrow. Peace off." he stepped out and was about to run into the rain. The next moment, thatrge ck umbre followed like a shadow.


    Fei Du didn''t move his body, only slightly extended the arm that was holding the umbre. In no time, his other half shoulder was soaked. A light mist enshrouded him.


    "So the flowers were from you?" He asked softly.


    For seven years, Fei Du came to the cemetery on his mothers'' death anniversary. Sometimes when he was a littlete, he would see a small bunch of tasteless white flowers. The cemetery was an open space where many peoplee and go, and the gate keeper wasn''t much help in naming the secretive visitor.


    It looked like the visitor meant no offense, so Fei Du didn''t mind. He thought of many possibilities, none of them came even close to Luo Wenzhou.


    "Yup." Luo Wenzhou admitted very awkwardly, then, trying to change the subject: "Just a courtesy. Um...... I thought you were gone already?"


    Fei Du replied with an even more perplexing look: "How do you know that I was gone?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "......"


    Great. He nowpletely understands the feeling of Zhao Haochang when he slipped out the truth.


    Fei Du casually shoved the umbre to him, and bent down to pick up the scarf that fell by the tomb stone: "I forgot to take this."


    Luo Wenzhou was "appointed" the umbre duty by the young master. It felt wrong abandoning post, but staying just meant more awkwardness. Reluctantly, he ended up following Fei Du while pretending to be admiring the scenery around.


    The pictures of the dead were lining up around them, some solemn and some friendly but all were greeting them with stares. The heavy rain seemed to have formed a curtain connecting the heather sky with the rolling hills far away. Squirrels have all returned to their tree trunks --- Luo Wenzhou scanned around and finally admitted that the only living being to look at was the one next to him within the umbre-shaded tiny space.


    To his surprise, this living being was quite pleasant to look at - so long as he doesn''t ringly belittle thew and order. A tall and slender young men, Fei Du wore a finely-ironed dark grey shirt that day, which got wet on one side of the waist. The wet shirt gently hugged his waist and, to someone with a taste in men, it was almost flirty. Very pleasant to look at.


    Suddenly, Fei Du turned around. His eyes caught those of Luo Wenzhou, and thetter lost a heart beat. But Luo Wenzhou quickly calmed down and snatched his wandering mind back to earth. After clearing his throat, he said: "Can I have a word with you? Brother to brother."  1.7M46.2K 13.1M391K 226K19.3K 1M42K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.5M201K 322K32.5K


    Fei Du finally gave that usual fake smile again: "Cap Luo, are you always so brazen?"


    The familiar mock from Fei Du somehow broke the awkwardness in the air and made Luo Wenzhou more at ease. He pointed at the steps beneath the tomb stone: "Let''s wait here: it''s not safe to take the mountain road back to the city in this weather."


    Fei Du made noments, but sat down as told.


    Holding the heavy carbon umbre, Luo Wenzhou felt like arge blooming mushroom. He turned and slightly nodded at the women on the tomb stone, and sat down next to Fei Du.


    Fei Du usually gave the impression - at least to Luo Wenzhou - of something delicate but cold, just like the metal-framed sses that he asionally wears.


    However, now that they were trapped under the same umbre, Luo Wenzhou was surprised at how warm this man''s body actually was.


    The summer rain quickly washed away the steaming heat and left behind cold and wet air, which made the man''s body seem even warmer.


    "I sometimes would visit here. " Luo Wenzhou started, "After all, it was the first murder case that I was involved in."


    Fei Du: "So it left a deep mark and you couldn''t let go?"


    "Yes." Luo Wenzhou nodded quickly, and then fell silent for quite a while. Then, "But it wasn''t your mother that I couldn''t let go."


    Fei Du didn''t mind: "I''m sure Cap Luo has seen all kinds of bodies. Of course......"


    Luo Wenzhou: "It was you."


    Fei Du''s sentence was choked off, and he almost choked himself. He turned around and looked at Luo Wenzhou to see if he was going nuts.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t realize that he was misunderstood. He was rubbing the umbre handle slowly with his fingers, staring at the t stony steps in front: "I remember that the weather wasn''t very good that day. Tao Ran and I were calling for instructions from the senior officers while rushing to your house. We didn''t know if it was a murder, and the killer could have been close by still. Since you refused to leave the scene, we were worried for your safety. "


    Fei Du seemed a bit moved. His fake smile faded.


    "When we finally arrived, you were sitting on the front steps of your house. just like that." said Luo Wenzhou, "You heard our footsteps and looked up. I could never forget that look."


    It was a look drenched with pleading and hope - although the young boy''s manner was restrained and aloof.


    "You reminded me of a story that my mentor once told."


    "It happened when he was still young --- You probably weren''t even born yet --- There was a big case of missing children. One by one they went missing, all were girls around 10 years old. They got off school like in every other days, but never returned home - as if they disappeared into thin air. Back then, the technology was very limited - no one even heard of DNA testing. To identify a body we could only rely on blood type and the information about the victim provided by family and friends. It remained an outstanding case, and none of the six missing girls were found, not even their bodies. One of the victims'' father couldn''t take it and lost his mind, literally. "


    Fei Du did not interrupt. He sat there and listened quietly.


    "He came to the police for updates for at least a hundred times. But there were nothing. Other cases piled up and every single one demanded attention. With this one getting stuck for so long, the police resources gradually shifted elsewhere. They sent a senior officer who''s good with his words to exin to, and to some extent, to get rid of, the clingy old man. That officer was my mentor. He very much felt his pain, and offered all his patience and ears. He tried persuading him to look forward, not back. If possible, have another child or adopt one. But that wasn''t what he was looking for. The father never gave up on the case, and went on investigating on his own. A couple monthster, the father told my mentor that he had nailed down the suspect. "


    Luo Wenzhou paused, and turned to look into Fei Du''s eyes.


    Their shapes still vaguely resembled those in his memory, but what''s inside haspletely changed. Since when do they start looking dull and indifferent? Sometimes even when he was wearing his courteous gentleman mask and smiling at others, those eyes weren''t even focused on anything. They were instead cold and aloof. There was no trace of the sincere, headstrong, and almost impulsive young man anymore.


    Perhaps those crystal eyes only existed in Luo Wenzhou''s mind. Perhaps they were nothing but his hallucination.


    He was lost in his thoughts and staring for a little too long. Fei Du interrupted it with a tease. " Please, Cap. With your age and experience you should''ve known this...Don''t you realize that you''re asking for a kiss with that look?"


    And experienced he was, Luo Wenzhou wasn''t easily abashed. He coolly replied: "Don''t you worry. Not with you, little brat."


    Another war was underway, and they both felt the tension. Yet this time they were trapped under the same umbre without Tao Ran''s helpful interference. So, with much self-control to act the sensible way, they both decided to shut up.


    Quite a whileter, Fei Du finally broke the silence. With a half-raised eyebrow, he asked impatiently: "What does the case have to do with me?"


    "My mentor described his eyes to me. They were like a cold cave lit with two burning stacks, fueled by a yearning soul and a glimpse of hope. When I first saw you, you reminded me of these words somehow. "


    Fei Du''s half-raised brow was fully raised now. He sneered: "Must have been your poor eyesight or wild imagination. And then?"


    "The suspect he gave was a well-respected middle school teacher with a speckless reputation, and had a dozen awards for good working ethics and for doing charity work. " said Luo Wenzhou, "Although it seemed crazy, my mentor still investigated along this line."


    Fei Du: "In private?"


    "The suspect was a teacher. If the fact that he went under police investigation for the missing children case leaked out, even if he were fully innocent, his reputation would have been smeared, and his normal life would be over. So my mentor could only secretly carry out the investigation. But nothing useful came out. At that time my mentor was more convinced that it was probably just the father''s obsession, and he stopped spending more time on it. But soon after......a murder case broke out. The father poked the teacher in the guts and killed him.


    "Hah", joked Fei Du "You can rest assured that I won''t do the same. I''d more likely pay someone else to do the killing."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t reply to his provocation. "But what''s appalling was that the policeter found clothings that belonged to the missing girls in the teacher''s basement, together with another girl that passed out."


    Luo Wenzhou paused, and took a long long breath. He thought of what his mentor repeatedly cautioned him: "If someone look at you in that way, it means that he has high hope in you. No matter what the oue is, do not let down of that hope. "


    Fei Du listened to a startling story but wasn''t startled one bit. He asked, curiously, "You had a mentor?"


    "Back when I was just starting out, yes. We all had a senior officer as mentor." said Luo Wenzhou, "I don''t know if Tao Ran mentioned this to you - a couple years ago he died while fighting a suspect."


    Fei Du pondered a bit: "Was it three years ago?"


    "How do you know?"


    "Because I don''t remember hearing about it." said Fei Du, "Three years ago was when my father had the ident and I was quite caught up. That was the only period when I didn''t contact Tao Ran that much."


    A question suddenly emerged from who-knows-where, and before he knew it, Luo Wenzhou had already let it out: "Are you really having a crush on Tao Ran?"


    Fei Du was in a very rxed pose, with legs casually crossed and fingers resting on his knees. He smiled back and asked half-jokingly: "What now? Tao Ran''s almost married, and you still want a duel with me?"


    Luo Wenzhou chuckled. He suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if the long history of bickering between him and Fei Du had faded away with the smile. He sought for his cigaret case, then remembered Fei Du''s allergy and fought back the urge. But before he put down the hand, Fei Du spoke again: "Go ahead."


    Surprised, Luo Wenzhou asked: "Don''t you have that respiratory problem..?"


    Fei Du shrugged: "Nah. I was just trying to give you a hard time. "


    Luo Wenzhou: "......"


    A son of a... after all.


    He held back the swearing, given the surroundings. Instead, he threw a punch at Fei Du''s shoulder. To his surprise, Fei Du was a real "gentleman", too "gentle" for such a sudden attack. He lost bnce at once. Rushing to catch himself, Fei Du had to sacrifice one hand into the mud.


    Luo Wenzhou obviously didn''t n to apologize. Worse, he found it quite amusing and startedughing out loud.


    Fei Du: "......"


    What a Savage.


    It was a rare peaceful moment between the two. The rain gradually died out, and Luo Wenzhou handed the umbre back to Fei Du: " Tao Ran''s new apartment is almost done refurbishing. He''s going to move over the weekend, and there''ll be a house-warming party. Come."


    Fei Du didn''t respond, only stared at him with a poker face. Luo Wenzhou felt that Fei Du was, to some extent, a lot like his cat Luo Yiguo: no matter what crazy shit is happening out there, they would always be able to stay out of it and stay cool, minding their own business. Luo Wenzhou found this analogy quite funny. Wearing a wide smile, he dashed into the drizzle.


    Finally, all of the truth had been unveiled. Seemingly.


    The wrapping up part was going on quite smoothly. With Wang Hongliang and his culprits'' testimony, the police hadpletely cleared up He Zhongyi''s suspicion in drug involvement. As for that mysterious text message, no one was able to trace its origin. Together with the two pinhole cameras discovered near the scene, they were all considered part of another great act of the "Best Lead Actor" Zhao Haochang.


    Even though he most firmly denied it.


    After a couple days in jail, Ma Xiaowei was about to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility, together with Wu Xuechun. They were ready for the next chapter of life.


    Luo Wenzhou went to see them go. At departure, Wu Xuechun seemed to have lended him a deep and perplexing look. Wenzhou gave her a light nod, and rubbed Ma Xiaowei''s newly shaved kiwi-like head: "You''ve survived the worst part of the storm, and I''m sure something good will follow. Now YOU be good and be smart!"


    After the car had vanished, Luo Wenzhou lit a cigaret by the street and sighed. At least for now, he had to temporarily put aside the two unexined pieces of the puzzle - they had been sticking in his throat like a stubborn fishbone - Was the death of Chen Zhen really an ident, as Huang Jinglian had insisted? And how in the world would this wary and untrusting Uber driver decide, and manage to blow the whistle under such extreme surveince of Wang?


    After all, shouldn''t he be worried that those up top were the same pack of scums?


    The answers just might''ve been buried forever with Chen Zhen''s death.


    Ma Xiaowei could still feel the warmth from that young officer''s palm on his head. He silently sat in the car and watched the billboards fly by.


    At a stop light, he noticed that the window on the adjacent car was lowered by a slit, and a cellphone screen shed. The screen was protected by some kind of screener and could only be seen from a certain angle, which happened to be the angel from Ma Xiaowei''s seat. He peeked at the screen and felt a chill down his spine: "Well-done."


    Before he was able to see the hand holding the phone or the face behind it, the window was rolled up, and the car departed to a different direction at the next crossing.


    A weekter, Fei Du officially ended his many years of psychological counseling sessions, and Tao Ran moved into his new apartment - finally a ce that really belonged to him in this City. Arge group of colleagues went for the house warming party.


    The apartment was...Okay-looking, but was actually a very old and outdated built that had been dressed up for resale.


    "Cap Tao, you should consider putting an antique clock at the entrance. Hang it from the wall like those ones in the old European train stations, you know? You can check time on it, AND it''ll look really chic...And over the corner you can hang some sulents - in ss eco-balls. Pair that with a whole set of Mori-style cookware......" Lang Qiao is an ardent fan of home make-over shows, and couldn''t stop touring every corner of the apartment and contributing her "two cents" ever since she arrived, until she bulged into the kitchen and saw Luo Wenzhoumanding the kitchen. Luo Wenzhou was faced away from her and putting together some sauce in the pan. Lang Qiao was in shock: "My my......look who is the chef today!"


    "Who did you expect? Your Cap Tao? You want to have instant ramen for the whole meal?" Luo Wenzhou threw her a cold-shoulder, "move away you, if you can''t make yourself useful here."


    Lang Qiao hurried back out and stayed by the kitchen door. The sauce was poured onto some steamed dish, and hot oil was poured on top. Instantly, tantalizing, mouth-watering aroma filled the whole room. Lang Qiao sneaked over to steal a bite, but was cut off by Luo Wenzhou, who, even facing away and tending thest main dish, kept eyes open on his back.


    Lang Qiao: "Then why did you always eat at the cafeteria at work?"


    "As opposed to?" Luo Wenzhou fluently diced the onion and tossed them into the boiling pot of curry chicken, "Go home and cook a table-ful, then eat it with the cat? I am not going nuts, thank you."


    Lang Qiao''s eyes lit up: "Right! you have a cat! Boss, you are really the sweetest work-mate. Let me see the meow-meow kitty pie! PLEEEEASE...."


    "Speak Chinese..." Luo Wenzhou couldn''t stand her cat-talk, and took out his phone while turning down the heat for the curry. He opened the pet-surveince App: "Help yourself. He might not be in his cat bed though. When would you young people stop worshiping cats and do something productive with your time..."


    Lang Qiao religiously took his phone with both hands. The moment that she was connected, a giant cat face filled the screen.


    Luo Yiguo stared at the surveince camera for quite a while, as if he really saw something interesting in there. Then, the "master" leaped onto the windowsill and started butchering the orchids there in bare daylight in front of his audience.


    Luo Wenzhou identally witnessed the whole process of the nibbling and scratching, and watched how the pot was thrusted on to the ground and broke into eight pieces.


    Lang Qiao: "......"


    A cat with characters, just like its master.


    She handed back the phone sheepishly: "Um...... My condolences.......?"


    As the man of the house, Luo Wenzhou felt the urge to be a runaway for a second.


    At that moment, Tao Ran stuck his head in: "Did Fei Du say whether he''d stop by? Can he find the ce?"


    Luo Wenzhou looked down from the kitchen window and saw therge and showy SUV parked downstairs - The other "Yiguo" has already arrived. His nerve twitched: "He''s here. I saw his car."


    It is customary to bring a small gift when attending house-warming parties around here, usually a small household appliance or something useful to the host. Fei Du thought of the sesame-oil-vored instant coffee machine at the YCPD office, and decided to buy a high-end all-in-one coffee brewer.


    The packaging was almost three feet high, and was quite heavy. Master Fei obviously rarely did any blue-cor physical work. This time, for the sake of Tao Ran, he carried the thing into the elevator room......only to find a broken elevator and a couple old man sitting around who went dog walking earlier and were too old to take the stairs.


    Baffled for a small while, he finally realized what was going on and took out his phone: "Ge, which floor are you on?"


    "Twelfth," said Tao Ran lightheartedly, "The elevator is broken today though. You might need to take the stairs."


    Fei Du: "......."


    He looked at the gigantic box.


    Fxxk.

 Chapter 35: Humbert Humbert Two

    Chapter 35: Humbert Humbert Two


    The service crew had just arrived, looking quite tired and overworked. It will probably take them a while to get the elevator going again. Those that were waiting there gradually lost their patience and started leaving one by one.


    The coffee machine weighed about twelve kilos. That, plus the packaging, made quite a heavy load - almost 30 pounds.


    Although Fei Du hasn''t been working out regrly, he was, after all, a fit and healthy young man who had no problem climbing up the stairs with a load of 30ish pounds. But the problem was - how to carry it.


    Rectangr boxes were probably the most anti-human inventions ever existed. No matter how you carry it, in the arms or on the back, you would end up in a very awkward pose. Mr. Fei thought of many positions, none of which made past his own censorship for elegance. Nevertheless, it was the fruit of his own doing, and he had to swallow it no matter how many wrinkles on the shirt it would take. "The hell with face and grace." He thought, flinging the box onto his speckless shoulder, "Thank God there are only some grumbling old men and balding old dogs around."


    At the moment that he was giving in to his luck and stepping up the first flight of stairs, a voice from the back uttered, "Which floor are you going to? Need any help?"


    Fei Du turned around and saw two belles, a tall one and a little one.


    The tall belle looked in her early 20s and resembled some female celebrity. She was holding the hand of a teenage girl a little over ten. The girl was wearing a princess bun and a lovely floral dress, holding an ice-cream in her other hand. As she was licking the ice-cream, the little girl stared at Fei Du with curiosity.


    It only took Fei Du half a second to decide on tossing the box. Then he put on the charm that could pass for a run-way model, and smiled: "Did I block the way? Sorry about that."


    "Oh no no, I wasn''ting this way. I was just seeing you with that big box and...it looked quite heavy." The tall belle hesitated, and turned to the elevator, "It''s steaming hot today, and the elevator isn''t working... Maybe you could wait for a little while here - Perhaps it will be fixed shortly. "


    The experienced yboy Mr. Fei was more than willing. Obviously lost the track of time, he let the little girl sit on his box, and stood by the two and started a conversation in the shabby-looking elevator room.


    "It''s been five minutes...anyone should''ve made it already." Tao Ran watched Luo Wenzhou ting the mouth-watering curry chicken, and nced at his watch, "Howe Fei Du''s still not here?"


    Luo Wenzhou calmly directed his underlings to te the other dishes, and uncovered the pot for the braised pork shank: "Donno. Maybe he nted himself downstairs and started budding there."


    As he spoke, he tasted the sauce with a soup spoon. It was good, but something seemed to be missing. "Do you have rock sugar?"


    "Nope." Tao Ran answered as he was changing his shoes, "I''ll go down and check on him. I can get some for you. What kind do you want?"


    Luo Wenzhou frowned: "I don''t think he needs picking up...You spoil him too much."


    Tao Ran grinned agreeably. Then, to his surprise, Luo Wenzhou came over and started changing shoes too.


    "......" Tao Ran was clueless, "What are you doing?"


    "I''m getting the rock sugar." said Luo Wenzhou, "You don''t know the kind that I need."


    Tao Ran read his face and thought that strangely this sounded like a cover story.


    Luo Wenzhou: "What?"  1.7M46.2K 13.1M391K 226K19.3K 1M42K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.5M201K 322K32.5K


    Tao Ran pondered, then spoke: "You two seem to be in trucetely. Are you feeling friendlier towards him now?"


    Luo Wenzhou paused. Then he waved one hand, "None sense. Friendly? I just didn''t want to lower myself to fight with that little shithead any more."


    At the same time, "that little shithead" Mr. Fei was unting his full set of well-rehearsed suave manners with the beautifuldies amid the ttering ensemble of elevator-repairing tools.


    Luo Wenzhou, shrouded in the smell of curry, felt that he was almost blinded by this rotting bourgeoisie-style extravagance from feet away. He never saw eye to eye with Fei Du''s conduct or demeanor: "If not born with a silver spoon, this good-for-nothing Romeo probably couldn''t even pass for a sessful beggar." He thought.


    Luo Wenzhou approached them sullenly and was just about to vent "are those legs of yours for breathing?" or "would you die from climbing the stairs?", when all of a sudden he heard Tao Ran gaspe behind him. Shakily, Tao Ran said: "Chang....ahem....Chang Ning?"


    Thedy turned around. Astonished by the happy coincidence, she chuckled: "Hah, Tao Ran? What are you doing here?"


    Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou froze for a sec. The two enemies shared a rare tacit understanding at that moment. Sizing up the situation, both of them smelled something out of ordinary from how the other two greeted.


    Tao Ran was blushed ear to ear, and hadpletely forgotten where he was, who(else) he was with, or why he was there.


    He moved closer to thedy clumsily, and stuttered: "I......I''m living here since yesterday. I just moved here. You....Howe......."


    "Seriously? I live here too!" Chang Ning grinned to him with a pair of cute dimples, "What a coincidence! It must be destiny haha. See? I didn''t fool you: my apartment is very close to the subway, really convenient."


    Tao Ran was first buzzed by the word "destiny", and then reminded of that disastrous date night. Embarrassed, he rambled: "Ah.....that time.....yeah, I mean,.... I''m really sorry for the ide....incident. Sorry that I didn''t escort you home......"


    The forgotten Cap Luo and Mr. Fei both grasped the gist and realized who thedy was.


    Knowing it was one thing, but witnessing it was something on a whole new level. The two rivals nced at each other, and both felt veryplicated -


    The target of their heated rivalry was in fact as straight as the Monkey King''s Sea-quenching Magic Needle.


    And this Jingu-Bang was currently acting like any freshman of Fall-in-Love 101 in front of his dream girl.


    The two leading rivals-in-love silently watched the show from the side bench, with a bulky home appliance in between.


    Out there, the trees were unting their vigor in the hot steamy summer, with crickets and birds chirping in the fifty-shades of green. To summarize it in a verse -


    Roses are red.Violets are blue.Someone as straight as a gun barrel,got two peacocks battling like fools.


    The little girl on the box sensed none of the awkwardness in the air. She finished nibbling the crispy ice-cream cone, and reached one hand out to Fei Du: "Gege, do you have a napkin please?"


    Three minutester, Tao Ran finally managed to sessfully extend the party invitation to his femme de rve. Chang Ning hesitated for a sec, then nodded "yes". The exuberant Cap Tao thenpleted ignored his other two brothers and courteously led thedies upstairs......


    leaving the two speechless men in the elevator room, both stunned by the unexpected p on the face - a gift from reality.


    Luo Wenzhou: "I''m getting quite a mixed feeling right now."


    Fei Du retracted his eyes from Tao Ran, and signaled to the big box with his chin like a boss. Before theteing "rookie" responded, he tucked hands into the pockets and waltzed away upstairs.


    Luo Wenzhou: "......"


    Maybe he was imaging it, but it felt as if Fei Du was getting more and more brazen with himtely.


    Atst, Luo Wenzhou acted the bigger person and took on the coffee machine. Despite the gesture, he didn''t want to let Fei Du have it so easily. He sneered to the man''s back: "C''mon, it''s not even heavy. Didn''t know that you were so impotent."


    Fei Du turned to him from a couple stairs above, looking down: "You wanna try it?"


    Luo Wenzhu: "......"


    Perhaps Fei Du was bugged by what just happened and needed some ce to vent. Whatever the reason was, he suddenly felt amused by Luo Wenzhou''s speechless expression. He sized Luo Wenzhou up, eyes twinkled with mischief. Without warning, Fei Du closed in on Luo Wenzhou from above until he could see his own face filling Luo''s light colored irises.


    Luo Wenzhou was into men by design. Taken aback, he instinctively took a step back down.


    Fei Du dropped a silent smile, and lightly knocked on the side of the box with one of his slender fingers - "Rat-a-tat" - so ambivalent and suggestive, as if it was a knock on the heart. Luo Wenzhou instantly felt a shiver up his spine. Before he knew it, his shirt went sweaty.


    However, at that time, the starter of it all had considered "mission aplished", and continued with his waltz up the stairs.


    Luo Wenzhou: "......"


    Son of a......!


    Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou went down for rock sugar and came back with a goddess and an "impotent" Mr. Grey.


    After all, they''ve forgotten to get the rock sugar, and had to go with regr sugar instead.


    The "goddess" Chang Ning was an officedy who was just transferred to the Yancheng City branch of herpany. She was single, and temporarily lived with her aunt. The little girl that she was with was her little cousin, Chen-chen, whom Chang Ning was baby-sitting at the time.


    With the arrival of the new guests, Tao Ran''s living room became even more bubbly. Some went to y with the kid, and the rest were booing Tao Ran and demanding for the full story. Tao Ran blushed and stuttered, and finally resorted to the strategy of "Change of Subject". He pointed at Fei Du and asked Lang Qiao: "Hey, didn''t you bring the silk banner here? Now is a perfect time......"


    Lang Qiao received his SOS, and hurried to the entrance to get the beaming red banner of honor. As it unfolded, the whole living room shined of virtuous halo.   Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.


    Fei Du: "......"


    There was more. Lang Qiao handed him the banner in all seriousness, and then took out a golden-red certificate of merit: "Comrade Fei Du, our Chief Lu asked me to give these to you, and asked Cap Luo to speak on his behalf today. After he finishes up Wang Hongliang''s case, he will organize an honorary ceremony for you - Cap Luo, will you give the speech now or would you like me to do it?"


    Luo Wenzhou was quite upied by the butter and the soy sauce at the moment, and yelled back from the noisy kitchen: "What did you say? - Tao Ran, your range hood stopped working... Did the apartment lose power?"


    Fei Du wanted to avoid the speech on "promoting core socialist values"at all cost. "I''ll go check on the electricity box." He volunteered.


    Lang Qiao blinked with disbelief: "Do all big bosses know what an electricity box look like?"


    When Fei Du was younger, he spent a lot of time hanging out in Tao Ran''s rented apartment, which mostly had second-handed furnitures and appliances. Tao Ran, then and now, lived a frugal life and seldom spent money buying new stuff if the old one could still be repaired. Obviously he wouldn''t let Fei Du "waste" money either. Consequently, Fei Du had learned to repair many things.


    The electricity circuit of this old building hasn''t been upgraded for a long time, and it still used an old-style fuse wire. Upon opening the box, a slight burning scent wafted out - the fuse was blown.


    Tao Ran obviously hasn''t stock up any fuses on his move-in day. Fei Du had to go find a hardware store.


    On his way out, he was stopped by Chang Ning''s little cousin, Chen-chen: "Gege, I forgot to buy craft paper for my homework just now. Can I go with you?"


    Fei Du took the little girl with him, away from the rowdy crowd. They quickly found what they needed from the convenience store. Afterwards, Fei Du bought two cream puffs from the bakery, and shared it with Chen-chen on the bench in the neighborhood garden.


    "The grown-ups can be so loud." Chen-chenmented, pretending to be more mature than she was, "let''s stay here for a bit longer."


    Fei Du was just about to tease her a little, when suddenly he had a strange feeling: as if someone, or something, was watching them.

 Chapter 37: Humbert Humbert Four

    Chapter 37: Humbert Humbert Four


    Lang Qiao wasn''t done yet. She nned to strike while the iron is hot and egg on the others to rub it in for Luo Wenzhou. However, as she leaned forward to lead the charge, her eyes identally caught those of the portrait that fell on the floor. The next second, the alcohol-encouraged audacity waspletely scared out of her skin.


    There was a unit in their department that specialized in creating suspects'' portraits. Some of them were quite good. Inparison, this portrait was elementary at best. However, strangely, it was so vivid andpelling despite the rather clumsy drawing techniques that the sketcher must have drawn this face in his mind for a thousand times before finally recreating it on paper,


    Lang Qiao: "What is this?"


    Tao Ran sobered up a little thanks to Luo Wenzhou''s sudden attack. Realizing that he had bigmouthed big time, he struggled up and went to the bathroom to sprinkle some cold water on the face. Then he came back to help Luo Wenzhou with the mess on the floor: "Is it the Lianhua-shan case? The old man never got over it."


    "Lianhua-shan" was not a mountain, despite what the name implies. It was actually a town in the northern suburbs of Yan-cheng City. In the early days it used to be a stand-alone municipal district, but had since merged with Yan-cheng City more than a decade ago. Now it had be an "omic Development District" by government nning.


    On the same page of the notes taped some more yellowing pictures, falling out upon touching because the tapes were so old. Some were daily life shots; others obviously came from photo studios -- they all had exaggerated lighting, a dutch windmill on the backdrop, and a young girl in the center whose smile had grown stiff because she''s been holding it too long. There were six pictures all together.


    Old pictures can be quite strange. All of them fade and turn yellow over the years. But if the person on the shot lived a happy life, then the warm tint from aging would seem tender and peaceful. On the other hand, if the personter suffered from tragedy, then you might get a sense of foreboding gloom when looking at their pictures, as if some of the bitterness and anger from the deceased had transferred onto their pictures."


    "You mean... Master Yang?" Lang Qiao asked, "but why was he involved in the cases in that district?"


    "The Bureau had a policy back then, that all young people under thirty-five needed to do rotations in the local offices --- either serving in the district police stations, or in the nearby towns. My mentor''s cohort went to Lianhua-Shan and stayed there for almost a year. " Luo Wenzhou carefully picked up the picture by the corner and put it back between the pages, "Before long, they encountered that case -- you probably never heard of it. Even I was still in kindergarten."


    "At first, a man came and reported about his missing child." Tao Ran spoke as he flipped through the notebook. The senior officer who wrote on it had a very elegant handwriting. On the page just before the pictures, the name "Guo Heng" was written, with three thick underlines. "Yep. This was the informant, Guo Heng. The missing child was his 11-year-old daughter, nicknamed ''Feifei''. "


    When hearing this, Luo Wenzhou''s hand that was picking up a thick teaching notebook staggered. He looked at Tao Ran half-surprisingly: "you still remembered the girl''s name even when you''re this drunk?"


    Tao Ran avoided his eyes: "The old man brought it up a lot. After all those years being around him, I could recite pretty much all the details."


    Chang Ning was usually very busy with work and didn''t really have much time to watch TV. It was a novel and rare experience for her to listen to the first-hand stories from the police officers. She curiously asked: "What happened then?"  743K9.1K 25.8M841K 1M42K 45.8M1.6M Paid Story935K31.8K 3.1M113K 557K131K


    "Back then most parents weren''t like the helicopter parents today. The 10 to 12-year-olds were considered big kids already. They usually go to school on their own and were free to go to friends'' houses after school sans supervision, as long as the parents agreed. Adults don''t usually stick by their sides all the time."


    "The missing girl, Guo Fei, was one of the shyer and more disciplined kids. She almost always came home straight from school. If she needed to bete there was always a good reason. Her grades were exceptional. Nothing abnormal happened on the day of. Her ssmates said that on that day, Guo Fei had no need to stay for longer so she went home right after school was over. It was at most a 15 minutes walk from the school to her home. The girl disappeared within those 15 minutes. My mentor and the others searched along her usual route again and again - there weren''t that many security cameras back then - but didn''t find any particr sketchy ces along the way. It was summer time and it wasn''t even dark yet at five. The path was mostly crowded with pedestrians and well lit. Theoretically, if a girl that big was abducted by someone from the street in broad daylight, even if she were just a little conscious and struggled, someone would have noticed."


    "However, after all those searching and interviewing for witnesses, they found nothing."


    "They pretty much torn the school apart, but didn''t find even a single strain of hair of the girl. Didn''t Sherlock Holmes once say something like, ''when you eliminate the impossible whatever remains no matter how improbable must be the truth''? So someone back then suggested that she was either abducted by a familiar person, or the kid ran away from home herself."


    "Following the familiar person hypothesis, the police screened every possible suspect: school teachers, family friends of the Guo''s, even the stationary booth and the supermarket that the child frequently visited... over 100 people were interrogated, but still nothing." Tao Ran paused here briefly, then continued: "Just as they were stuck in the standstill, the father, Guo Heng, suddenly received a strange phone call. No one spoke anything when he picked up. All he heard was a girl screaming on top of her lungs. The mother fainted as soon as she heard it. The police immediately traced the location of the phone call -- It was from a very remote telephone booth."


    Lang Qiao was confused: "There was no surveince camera?"


    "No. That telephone booth was next to a trash transfer station, and looked quite deserted. Most people didn''t expect the phone to still be functional." said Luo Wenzhou, "A trace of blood was found next to the booth, and it was the same blood type as Guo Fei''s. Back then we didn''t have the DNA testing tech, so we couldn''t be sure whether it was really hers. There were no fingerprints."


    Tao Ran''s living room fell dead silent. After a long while, Fei Du broke the ice:"Were there no other phone calls? How about the ransom? Did they mention money?"


    "No." Answered Tao Ran, "after that, the adbuctor never called again. There weren''t any mentioning of money, nothing."


    Fei Du gently swirled his ss and smelled the wine, as if what he was holding wasn''t some 10 bucks supermarket wine, but a ss of Romanee-Conti. "That''s quite odd. " He said, "It sounds like the abductor wasn''t doing it for the child, but for torturing the parents. What could the parents have possibly done?"


    "Guo Heng was a middle school teacher, and the mother of the child was a civil service employee. The family wasn''t poor by the standard back then, but it wasn''t very affluent either. Both of the bread winners had ordinary jobs, were friendly with colleagues, had no big ambitions at work -- basically no reason to suspect for work-rted conflict of interest. Marriage affair was ruled out too. "


    Ordinary family, ordinary parents, and ordinary child -- not even a particrly good-looking child. They lived an ordinary life, like any other ordinary person you would pass by on the street. No matter how deeply the police tried to dig, they didn''t find any story that''s out of ordinary. An old saying goes, "the fly never stops on a crackless egg.'' But after carefully going over all possible leads with magnifying sses, in the end they had to admit that this family was indeed a "crackless egg".


    Time was running out. The silent abductor never made another move. Both the police and the parents knew that the hope of finding the girl was very slim. The best scenario for her was being sold to some remote viges. But what''s more likely...


    As for the abductor''s motivation - why he or she picked this particr girl - the police had zero clue. It was like someone threw a dice on the street and picked a victim at random: out of nowhere, because of no reason. Then no one in this world is safe.


    Lang Qiao asked: "H...how about the other five?"


    "Guo Fei''s case hit a dead end. They exhausted all resources, and had to put the case on hold. Then my mentor was relocated to the Yan-cheng City. Another case happened in Xi-tai district. It was again a 12-year-old girl who went missing on her way back from school. Again, no abnormal events leading up to her disappearance what-so-ever. The abductor was also quiet. The freakiest part was that after two days, her family got a screaming phone call as well."


    "My mentor immediately saw the connection and reported to his supervisors. The chief decided to raise the case to the central bureau. Before long, they discovered that within the whole city and including the surrounding towns and viges, there were as many as six simr missing-children cases"


    "Seven." added Luo Wenzhou, "Thest girl, who survived, had a different situation. She was from a single-parent family. At the time she lived with her mother who was a drunkard and didn''t even notice that the daughter was missing until dayster. She did not call the police at all. "


    "The central Bureau put together a special investigation group, consisting of experts from every districts. Lao Yang was relocated to the central bureau because of this too. However, for a long time they made almost no progress. The missing girls had nothing inmon, except..." Luo Wenzhou stopped here as if suddenly thought of something. His eyes fell on Chen chen, who waspletely hooked by the story. After a brief pause, he continued with a brisk change of tone: "except for the simr behaviors of the abductor."


    "Guo Fei''s father heard of the special investigation, and quit his job so he could move closer to the Bureau to wait for a closure. Unfortunately, he was disappointed. "


    Tao Ran carefully ced the notebook back into the cardbox, and continued: "Later, after the special investigation group was dismissed, the only ones still following this case besides the family members were my Mentor, who was there from the beginning. Almost a yearter, Guo Heng suddenly came to him and said that he had found the suspect. It was a teacher called Wu Guangchuang --- the man on the portrait. He was a teacher at ''Jinxiu Middle School'', one of the earliest private boarding schools. Its students came from all over the city. Because the school had good academic rankings, despite its high tuitions many parents from the underachieving school districts wanted to send their kids over. At the time of Guo Fei''s case, Wu Guangchuan happened to be part of the admissions team that was sent to the Lian Huashan District by the school to recruit new students. "


    Chang Ning held her breath: "Was it him?"


    "Wu Guangchuan was 36 years old that year, divorced, and was living alone. He indeed had the capability to do it. Lao Yang followed him when he was off duty, and even used some illegal methods. But in the end he didn''t find anything valuable. Wu Guangchuan was easygoing and soft-spoken. Many people that knew him liked him a lot. Although his daily job involved interacting with children, he had never crossed the line. Lao Yang followed him for a long time, and concluded that he wasn''t the man. However, for some reason Guo Heng was so determined that Wu Guangchuan was the abductor that after Lao Yang had pulled out, he found Wu Guangchuan and stabbed him with a watermelon knife."


    Lang Qiao: "Whaaat? Dead?"


    "Yes. He barely made it to the hospital. They discovered the seventh missing girl in Wu Guangchuan''s basement, together with clothings from the other six -- The clothings were cut into thin stripes, and had blood stains that fitted the victims blood types. The serial child abduction case was finally solved. However, they couldn''t find the bodies of the girls, and the suspect was too dead to help." Luo Wenzhou stood up and stretched, "Guo Hengmitted first degree murder, and was sentenced for it. Lao Yang was never able to get over this case. He thought that he was responsible for Guo Heng''s tragedy because he made a wrong judgment. It haunted him for a life time. ---Enough of the story. Even the suspect''s bone dust has already cooled. Now eat your lunches."


    The party continued untilte in the afternoon. Then, those that took the public transportation were dismissed. Those that drove stayed to help with cleaning up, while sobering up for the ride. Chang Ning and Chen Chen left for home as well.


    Tao Ran was urged a couple more cups of wine, got even more tipsy, and broke a bowl when doing the dishes. Luo Wenzhou shooed him away.


    After Captain Luo quickly and adroitly cleaned up the dirty dishes and returned to the living room, he saw Fei Du facing away and casually flipping through the senior officer''s note book.


    As if seeing him with the eyes on his back, Fei Du started speaking: "The part that you skipped just now  about what the missing girls had inmon...Was it the clothing?"


    Luo Wenzhou was leaning on the hallway wall. His smile vanished: "How do you know? Are you the reincarnation of the murderer?"


    "You looked at Chen Chen and then stopped talking." Fei Du turned around, "the clothings that were found in Wu Guangchuan''s basement  they were probably dresses with floral prints, am I right?"


    Luo Wenzhou couldn''t resist the thought of the damn PSP if he looked at Fei Du, so he carefully avoided eye contact: "You can teach the kid to be careful, or not to trust strangers easily. But you can''t teach her to fear floral dresses. Otherwise what''s the use of us?"


    "Mhm." Fei Du nodded, "well said, Cap'' Luo."


    Luo Wenzhou got all edgy and rmed by the nod, because he almost never heard of anything good from Fei Du without strings attached. Sure enough, his dread came true in the next moment.


    Fei Du asked quietly: "Besides the flower bouquet and the PSP... is there anything else?"

 Chapter 41: Humbert Humbert Eight

    Chapter 41: Humbert Humbert Eight


    5.20.2019 - 5.28.2019


    "The missing girl''s name is Qu Tong, 11 years old, originally sitting at the back of the bus. She threw a siren keychain out of the window to help distract the offenders from the teacher, and then escaped from the window too. Now we lost track of her."


    "Ask for some patrol dogs from the Xiling Bureau." Luo Wenzhou was surprisingly calm for such a dire news: "I think the kid won''t be able to run very far. Get someone experienced to console the parents. To be honest, if she hadn''t run away, once the offenders realize what she did, she''ll be in bigger trouble. I think she is a smart one."


    Fei Du turned around and whistled to his buddies in the distance. He was the head of this pack ofzy bones who had just enjoyed the thrill of the motorcycle racing followed by an adrenaline-imbued hostage rescue mission. Although they weren''t much more than props of the show and none of them actually saw a single hair of the abductor, it was enough material to talk about for the rest of the year. Hearing Fei Du''s whistling, they rushed over: "Sir Fei, anything else?"


    "From the Yan-cheng Bureau." Fei Du introduced the handsome dude in front of him with only four words, then went straight to the point: "An eleven-year-old girl is missing from that bus. I''ll share her picture on WeChat in a minute. If you guys are free tonight, the search team could use some extra hands."


    "Yes Sir! Not a problem!" Zhang Doni rarely had the opportunity to impress Officer Luo Wenzhou. Apparently he decided to make the most of it. He nodded with a wide grin from ear to ear: "Salute, Captain Luo! If the Captain has any use of us, don''t hesitate to ask. You are like a family, you know."


    Luo Wenzhou kept a straight face and measured him from head to toe. ordingly, the young master Zhang had been grounded for more than two months after hisst epic screw-up, and was probably just "released" from his "prison cell" recently. He was wearing a vest with nothing underneath. There were two giant holes on either side of his pants. His hair was styled into colorful Mohegan spikes with some kind of an abstract calligraphy shaved on the back of his head.


    Luo Wenzhou asked curiously: "What the heck is that?"


    Zhang Doni stood at attention and replied with all seriousness: "the word ''restraint''."


    Luo Wenzhou had to admit that he was impressed -- who could have guessed that this oundish look of the young master Zhang was the result AFTER applying restraint.


    "Captain Luo, don''t you worry. I know this area like the back of my hand." Zhang Doni said, "Let me put it this way: We are in a ''big melting pot'' of the bourgeoisie. These mountains, there is no monster in there what so ever... other than the monstrous beasts of indulgence and extravagance perhaps. Within 30 miles, the most dangerous wild animals are the squirrels. The girl is going to be fine."


    Indeed. The Xiling mountains were quite tamed to begin with, not to mention that after the heavy rain, there were even fewer activities of anything. Besides, how far could a scared little girl run?


    That''s why when the crew first heard about the missing girl, they weren''t too too worried. Everything was still rolling ording to n: the abductor Han Chengzheng, whopletely lost it, was carried away in a body bag; the ambnces took away the heavily wounded Miss Hu and the other abductor, Han Jiang; the group of shocked students reunited with their parents and were scheduled for immediate body and mental check ups; even the borrowed police dogs arrived quickly on scene.


    The police officers formed several search units going in different directions. Zhang Doni borrowed some convertibles from god knows where, each carrying a loud speaker that yed the theme song of the cartoon "the Happymb and the Grey Wolf". He and his friends went searching along the driveways.  146M3.7M 557K131K Paid Story42M1.4M 226K48K 677K144K 3.1M113K 128K22.2K


    The professionals and the amateurs each went their own way and, surprisingly,plimented each other quite well...except that the endless "Don''t look down on me because I am amb" got a bit annoying after a while


    Fei Du held the car door open and nodded at Luo Wenzhou: "Let''s go take a look at where the girl escaped."


    Luo Wenzhou shamelessly epted the free ride. What''s more, he pointed at Fei Du''s chest andmented with his feudalistic old man voice: "button up, young man -- What were you kids doing at this hour over here anyways?


    Fei Du casually buttoned his shirt without paying attention to whether the buttons were correctly matched at all. It was hardly making things better, if not worse, because the front of his shirt was still soaked. He replied: "Came for a race."


    Luo Wenzhou: "with the car tops open?"


    "With motorcycles. Two crashed actually. Before you guys shut down the roads, an ambnce just drove out someone with a broken leg." Fei Du pressed lightly on the gas pedal. Then, quite unusually, he joked in a lighthearted tone without too much sarcasm : "Of course, it might be a little too much for you mid-aged folks."


    Luo Wenzhou nced at Fei Du''s muddy boots and suddenly came to a rather depressing realization that perhaps he was indeed well on his way to mid-age -- because he absolutely cannot understand how these young people nowadays can be so empty.


    "What is it with your hand?" Fei Du noticed the "three-stroke band" (1) on him: "who was this wild beast?"


    Luo Wenzhou was paying attention to the reports from each search unit over the inte at the time, so he replied perfunctorily: "Your little brother."


    Poor Fei Du waspletely lost.


    "Got it. Pay close attention to the possible hideaways such as the trenches. The child might be in shock and probably will find somewhere to hide. " Luo Wenzhou finished giving the orders, put down the walkie-talkie, and turned towards Fei Du, "Does this look like the mark from a primate to you? Have a littlemon sense. The street cat that Tao Ran gave you, remember?...Gosh...nothingsts for you kids. Someone always have to clean up behind your backs."


    Fei Du was taken by surprise at first. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his droopy peach-blossom eyes widened.


    The night sky silently whooshed by them. Fei Du did not respond for a long time. Not until they approached the well-lit crime scene did he finally opened up his mouth again: "After all these years, you still kept it?"


    "Yeah...what else could I do? Give it to you? If you want it,e and take it. Just don''t give it back again." Just the thought of Luo Yiguo made those scratch marks ache. Luo Wenzhou scratched the back of his hand while ordering: "Park here. Don''t drive too close -- the child might have left some foot prints. Let''s not disrupt the trace."


    So Fei Du parked somewhere further away: "You...ahem...Do you need to get vinated?"


    Luo Wenzhou wasn''t prepared for such a ''normal'' caring question and was quite shocked: even more shocked than if Luo Yiguo suddenly came to him and asked for a pet; so shocked that his tongue was tied: "N...No, actually, myst one is still effective."


    Luo Wenzhou was so often vinated that he was pretty much under "effective" coverage for eleven out of the twelve months of a year. The doctor who usually gave him the vine even suggested that he get a yearly member card -- he''d really benefit from wholesale rather than retail.


    After the initial shock, Luo Wenzhou found his voice again and couldn''t help but strike back: "Don''t show so much filial piety all of a sudden. I can''t take it."


    Fei Du hid away his uneasiness and picked up his usual vexing tone: "Caring for the abandoned elderly is every citizen''s duty. Tut-tut...long and lonely nights with only the cat as thepany, what a pity. "


    Perhaps Fei Du''s shirt was too wet, or perhaps Luo Wenzhou''s self confidence was too over the top. Either way, he sensed something flirty going on from the way Fei Du looked at him while firing those provocative words. The enticing look, coupled with the way he humphed "long and lonely nights", made the atmosphere so suggestive that Luo Wenzhou identally stepped over the line.


    "Then what?" a naughty joke rolled off Luo Wenzhou''s tongue without him thinking too much: "are you only going to console me with words?"


    Fei Du: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    As soon as the inappropriate joke was made, the two were both tongue-tied, and the air in the small racing car bubbled with awkwardness.


    Lou Wenzhou wished he could fetch those words back as easily as they were thrown out. After a short silence, he coughed, and tried his best to amend the situation (although not so sessfully): "Just...remember to bring Daddy a gift basket during the holidays."


    Fei Du smiled reluctantly: "And light up three incense sticks to pay homage?" (2)


    The two -- almost telepathic this time -- jumped off the car at the same time as if trying to lock behind the awkwardness in that innocent car.


    Lou Wenzhou suddenly thought of something. He turned around to Fei Du: "Speaking of, I remember that you liked that cat a lot initially. Why did you want to get rid of itter?"


    Fei Du''s one hand was still on the car door. Luo Wenzhou''s question made him pause. The dim lights from afar casted delicate shadows of his chiseled face.


    "A pet?" After the short stiffness, Fei Du answered with his usual nonchnt tone: "I don''t like pets. They are too much trouble. I didn''t want to say that to Tao Ran directly. Also, well..."


    He looked up, one brow slightly twitching: "Perhaps I am a habitual animal torturer who couldn''t control the urges. To avoid disappointing Tao Ran, I had to stay away from animals. Captain Luo, what do you think of this exnation?"


    "Luo Wenzhou was slightly taken aback. His gut told him that Fei Du wasn''t just telling a malicious joke. However, before he was able to straighten things out, the search team''s reporting came through his headphone: "Captain Luo, we found the siren keychain thrown by the girl, and some foot prints."


    When Miss Hu was stabbed, the rain was already getting lighter so the trace of the bus wasn''tpletely washed away. The driver was in the front, and the other abductor was pushed out by Miss Hu from the front entrance, so if the girl were to escape, she had to jump out from the back of the bus and run towards a direction that avoids the head light. Following this reasoning the search crew quickly found some foot steps of the girl.


    The police dogs followed the trace and got to work right away.


    Everyone felt that they had it - the abductors picked a very muddy ce to park, where Qu Tong left many foot prints. Following the footsteps, finding her seemed only a matter of time.


    However, all the way until dawn, there were no news of Qu Tong.


    Her parents waited longingly at the search site. Each time when someone passed by, the mother''s eyes lit up like the motion-sensor lights - going on the and off again and again as the search crew and volunteers came and went.


    "Captain Luo, you need to see this."


    Luo Wenzhou separated the crowds. A couple of the search dogs all stopped at the same spot, their tongues hanging out, panting heavily. He rubbed one of the dog heads while squatting down to check the scene. A leather shoece was tangled on a sharp rock where a trace of blood lingered. "


    "We showed it to the parents, and they confirmed that this shoece is from Qu Tong''s shoes." The search crew member said, "There are some child''s foot prints on the back, and some scratch marks. Looks like the girl ran over here, tripped over the rock, and fell down? Here, there are some foot prints of an adult and break marks of a vehicle. I think it ''s a size 41, or 42. Very likely a man''s foot print."


    Luo Wenzhou pondered, then said: "What you are trying to say is, someone happened to drive by, and took the child away?"


    "Very likely. The dogs can''t smell anything from here on."


    Luo Wenzhou borrowed a sh light from a colleague and scanned the surrounding.


    The foot prints were very messy. The girl''s fall messed up the traces, making it hard to ascertain what exactly happened here after.


    "Captain Luo, I think this might be a good news actually. After all, it was raining heavily, and this is quite a deserted mountainous area. The rocks and the road beds are loose and there may be safety hazards. If someone drove by and took the girl away, at least she doesn''t have to spend the night out in the wild."


    Luo Wenzhou still looked very solemn. He didn''t reply. After a while, he finally nodded, slowly: "Alright. Keep the scene intact. Inform the technical crew, see if they could tell from the trace whether the child got on the car voluntarily. And...prepare the missing child posters. Pay close attention to relevant calls from the sub-bureaus in this area."


    "Yes sir!"


    "Also, contact the museum that the students visited this afternoon." Troubled, Luo Wenzhou picked up a cigarette. He carefully thought through everything again to make sure that nothing was missed. Then, he added: "Check the museum visitors. Also, screen the security camera footage from the nearby interstate highways."


    The search crew member was baffled: "What? Why?"


    "See which cars passed by." Luo Wenzhou answered in a low voice, "pay special attention to single male drivers. I have a feeling that this might not be pretty..."


    In a deserted country side, a panicking little girl suddenly stops your car and tells you that some abductor has taken control of their bus. What would normal people do under this circumstance?


    Normal people might not have the courage to intervene directly. They might not even dare to let the child on their car without verifying - after all there is no short of news stories about criminals using children as baits. So, most likely they will either drive away as if nothing happened, or, after sorting out the situation they will report to the police as soon as possible.


    After the police had located the bus in Xiling County, the whole county''s emergency calls were transferred to him. Then, why was it that so many hours after the girl had escaped, there was still zero information about her whereabouts?


    The missing girl casted a dark shadow on the whole rescue mission.


    Three days passed with no progress. The mysterious driver who picked the girl up was no where to be found. Neither the investigation of the museum guests nor the security footage screening brought any valuable information.


    On thete afternoon of the third day, Qu Tong''s parents came to the Bureau and brought a USB drive.


    "We don''t know who left it, or when...We found it in the milk box. Since Tongtong''s missing we haven''t been checking the milk box regrly." said the red-eyed father, "then this morning the milk delivery boy knocked on our door because the milk box was too full. We opened it, then this dropped out."


    "Lang Qiao put on a glove and took the tiny USB drive in her hand: "What''s inside?"


    She hardly finished her question before Qu Tong''s mom bursted into tears. She started wailing uncontrobly.


    "T...There is...a recording."


    Fifteen minutester, Lu Youliang finished hearing the recording. His brows were tightly tangled. The recording was only less that one minutes long. It started with a girl''s heart-wrenching screams. Then there was the sound of intense struggling. The screaming and struggling gradually weakened, and finally stopped. Then, a sudden sharp rattle -- like the sound of someone shaking a metal box full of small jingle-bells. The stinging jingling pierced through the listeners'' ears and right into their hearts.


    Lu Youliang''s eye twitched. Slowly, he lit up a cigarette.


    "Chief Lu," Luo Wenzhou broke the silence, "this is probably too early to say - with the little evidence that we have - but...I heard Lao Yang mentioning it for so many times that I have to bring it up: the case twenty years ago -- we only heard it second-handedly, but you were directly involved. Do you think this recording resembles the phone call from that abductor? Could this be a copycat of the old serial abduction case?"


    Lu Youliang slowly blew out a smoke ring. He didn''t respond right a way.


    After a disturbingly long silence, he finally spoke: "That case received very high publicity back then. You could find its news coverage on the old newspapers even today. Back then, because of theck of privacy protection, many details were leaked, such as ''the victim''s parents received ck-mailing phone calls''. However..."


    There was a very rare solemnness on the face of the old Chief.


    "I remember that in the first case of the Lian Huashan serial abduction cases, there was a particr detail." said Lu Youliang, "The father of the victim provided this testimony during the investigation. He said that he heard the sound of a metal pen case over the phone. Back then, the students liked to use metal pen cases. The missing girl''s parents said that the girl collected some colorful jingle bells in her pen case and would sometimes shake it for the sound of the jingles. The adults found it irritating and had yelled at her for it before...The sound that he heard from the phone was definitely the shaking of a pen case. And because of the sound, he was certain that the screaming girl over the phone must be his daughter."


    Lang Qiao, the note-taker on the side, felt a chill down her spine.


    This detail was too minuscule. Also, since there weren''t any recordings back then to serve as the physical evidence and it was all based on the parents'' testimony, the police took it with a grain of salt. After all, under extreme anxiety and fear the parents'' state of mind could be less stable, and their memory less reliable. What''s more, there was always the possibility of mishearing. Therefore, this piece of the testimony was not treated as the key evidence.


    There was no mentioning of this in Yang Zhengfeng''s note, so even Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran did not know it.


    Obviously, the police wouldn''t include such details in their public reports. Then...


    =====================================================


    (1) "three-stroke band": a rank symbol of the Chinese youth organization "the young pioneers"


    (2) Incense sticks are typically only lit for the dead.

 Chapter 42: Humbert Humbert Nine

    Chapter 42: Humbert Humbert Nine


    TL: Quantum C


    6.25.2019


    "ording to what you just said, " Lang Qiao murmured solemnly, her dark circles almost as big as her eyes: "either Wu Guangchuan crawled out of his grave, or you got the wrong person twenty years ago - and the real murderer is now doing it again."


    "Six times he had seeded, and not even once did we get close to him. He even tricked us into closing the case with the wrong suspect. Even a normal person might get dizzy with the easy sess, let alone an actual maniac. Would he reallyy low and stay put for so many years?" Luo Wenzhou said, "If we really had the wrong guy before, then these twenty years would have been enough to fill a death pit with bones."


    Luo Qiao turned away: "Captain Luo, your words give me goosebumps."


    "Yours give me goosebumps as well." Luo Wenzhou swung the pen with his fingers as he continued, "Anyways, I''ve sent our guys to Qu Tong''s apartment. Let''s start from the one who dropped the USB drive."


    "I hope I''m wrong, but I don''t think we are going to get anything." Lang Qiao said, "ordingly, Qu Tong''s family apartment is in a very old residential area. The residents are sloppy in paying the $30 per month property management fee - and rightfully so, since there is hardly any ''management'' going on. It''s like that lyric "my door is always open" was written for them. They literally just had a break-inst month. I mean, if you can''t catch the guy who took something from your home, can''t imagine getting the guy that left something there."


    Tao Ran asked: "Any other leads?"


    "The USB drive was one of the most generic kind - one that you can find on a thousand different webpages. It was wiped clean: not a single trace of fingerprint was found. As for the content of the recording, the technical department is still on it. However, from what we know so far, the suspect clearly has good anti-scavenging skills." Luo Wenzhou paused, then shook his head, "the oue isn''t looking so bright."


    The probability that they might find more clues was slim. So was the probability that the girl was still alive.


    The golden 72 hours has already passed. The recording delivered to the parents seemed to be some kind of a show-off, a concluding message --- I am still here. I am still the winner. You guys still cannot get me.


    "Actually, there is another approach." Tao Ran pondered for a while, then said, "On the night of the abduction, what kind of people might drive past the scene? We''ve thoroughly screened the nearby sight-seeing spots, the campus of the winery, and the security footage on the main roads. If whoever picked up the girl was really a passer-by, it''s unlikely that he didn''t leave any trace. However, up until today, we haven''t found anything from the screening. What if...what if he had been following Qu Tong all along -- or, his target had been some other girl on that bus, but then the bus was abducted..."


    Lang Qiao realized what he was implying, and continued for him: "You mean, if it was intentional stalking, then it must have been nned, and probably on-going for a while!"


    The students'' summer camp ended in the Xiling suburb on itsst day. However, before that, it had been held in the city, near the school. If the mysterious abductor had been stalking one of the students, then he might have been picked up by some traffic cameras or some nearby residents, since it is much harder to be invisible in the heart of the city than in the remote countryside.


    Lang Qiao shot up: "I''ll go."


    "I''ve already tried." Luo Wenzhou waved her down, "Sit. On that night, when we finished screening the crime scene and didn''t find any suspect, I asked our guys to search along the everyday routes of the girls. There are eleven girls in the 18-students-ss. They were all of simr ages as Qu Tong, and six of them had simr physical characteristics as her. Even if we focus on only those six, it is almost impossible to check every person that they crossed everyday. We can''t narrow down the suspect, because we only know that his or her shoe size is 42, and nothing else. We don''t know whether it''s a man or a woman, or if it''s old or young. Unless the person somehow appears suspicious...but from what we gathered, apparently not."  146M3.7M 557K131K Paid Story42M1.4M 226K48K 677K144K 3.1M113K 128K22.2K


    Lu Youliang had been listening from the side. Hearing this, he couldn''t help but sighed, and thought that even if he were to lead the investigation himself, he couldn''t have been more thorough. Sometimes the luck is just not on their side.


    "Back in the days the abductor called the parents directly. Now that we can finally track the phone calls, he changed to the traceless USB drive. Talk about keeping up with the technology..." Lang Qiao sighed too, "what a ssic case of ''virtue grows one foot taller, yet the devil 10 feet''."


    Luo Wenzhou hesitated, then asked, "I remember that none of the victims'' bodies were found. What was the final nail on the coffin for Wu Guangchuan then? Only the blooded children''s clothing in his basement?"


    "No. The rules were looser back then, but not that loose." Chief Lu answered, "Besides some clothes that had been cut into pieces, the main evidence against Wu was the testimony from the seventh girl. Physical examination showed that she was sexly assulted. After she became conscious, she identified Wu Guangchuan as well. What was her name...Su...Su something."


    "Su Xian." said Tao Ran, "My Shifu wrote it on his notebook. She was one of the students of the suspect Wu Guangchuan."


    "Yes, exactly." Chief Lu tried hard but finally gave in to his fading memory, "It had been too long. And my brain isn''t as sharp as the old days any more. Go ahead and get the archived files."


    Luo Wenzhou gave the spaced-out Lang Qiao a nudge. Then thetter hurried off to take care of the paper works.


    Following the Chief''s own orders, the process for finding and transferring the archived files went super smooth. Before long, the official records, more detailed and objective than Lao Yang''s notes, finally saw day lights again after twenty long years.


    "Yes. It should be this girl." Chief Lu singled out one of the pictures.


    Because the victim is still alive, and probably wouldn''t want to be disturbed, Lao Yang did not keep any picture of her in his notebook.


    The seventh victim, Su Xian, was a very good-looking little girl. Her eyes were the shape of perfect prune pits. The corners of those eyes were long and slightly nted upwards. She wore light makeup for the picture, and held her head in her palms. She stared into the camera, looking innocent, yet precocious.


    "Su Xian was a student at Jing Xiu Middle school. She was a sophomore at the time."


    Lang Qiao asked curiously: "Wasn''t the girl from a humble family? She''s the one whose mother didn''t even notice her missing until dayster, right? Then how could she afford to go to private school?"


    "She danced. She was a good dancer and her primary school teacher rmended her to Jing Xiu Middle School directly. Jing Xiu recruited students with special talents and gave them generous schrships. However, because of her family upbringing, and regr trainings at the dance team, Su Xian missed a lot of sses and wasn''t close with any of her ssmates. Wu Guangchuan was her homeroom teacher in the first year of middle school. Because she was always alone, Wu decoyed, and coerced the girl and took advantage of her many times."


    "That''s strange." Tao Ran couldn''t help but interject, "If Wu Guangchuan abducted and murdered six other girls, why letting this one live?"


    "I was new to the job back then, and worked mostly on the low level. I wasn''t heavily involved in the case." Chief Lu thought carefully for a while, "The suspect was dead, so we couldn''t hear the motives from his own mouth anymore. What we have now is only the hypotheses of the senior officers when they put together the report post hoc. They suspected that there were two main reasons: First, many people knew that Su Xian and Wu Guangchuan were close. If Su Xian died, Wu would be heavily suspected. So Su was a pricy and risky target for Wu. Someone even had a theory that the other six girls were substitutes of Su Xian."


    "The second theory was purely our guesses --- different from the rest of the victims, Su Xian''s family was very unique. The offender couldn''t get any satisfaction from mentally torturing the parent via the screaming call. If calling the parent had a special meaning to the offender, then he couldn''t get that from killing Su Xian."


    The whole case sounded quite solid. There were both evidence and eye-witness. The logic and motivation made sense as well. The only question left was: if the offender had died twenty years ago, then who took Qu Tong away?


    Who else could know about the little cruel detail about the metal pencil case?


    Perhaps only the family members of Guo Fei...and the senior officers who handled the old case. Including Chief Lu.


    In front of Chief Lu, everyone in the cramped meeting room fell silent.


    Chief Lu was the one that was the most candid. He broke the ice by standing up and patting on Luo Wenzhou''s shoulder: "You should continue to lead the investigation. For any question or support, go to Lao Zeng. I will remove myself from the case for now. I''ll also write you a report of my schedule and whereabouts in the past several days. As for the other old guys involved in this case, I will call them up ahead of time about it, in case they give you a hard time."


    "And we should visit the family members of the Lian Huashan cases'' victims. Perhaps the family members said something to someone." Luo Wenzhou brushed off the awkwardness, and picked up where Chief Lu left off: "And Su Xian. She knew Wu Guangchuan quite well, so she might know something more. Let''s split into three teams. Tao Ran, continue to track the 18 students'' whereabouts with your men. To err on the safe side, include the boys too. Xiao Lang, take some people to go over the security footage near Qu Tong''s apartment. Include the private cameras in the shops nearby as well. I will take care of the rest."


    The rest was tricky - both investigating the senior officers, and interviewing the victim''s family.


    Tao Ran wanted to say something, but was cut off by Luo Wenzhou: "Be on your way...I know... But It''s been twenty years and most of the evidence is probably already perished. Witnesses would be hard to find as well. It''s unlikely that I''ll find anything valuable. Your task on the other hand, is vital -- what if the kid is still alive, right?"


    Hearing this, Tao Ran knew that it was useless to argue with Luo any more. He followed Lang Qiao and left the room.


    Lu Youliang opened a new pack of cigarettes, and pushed it to Luo Wenzhou: " ''Keep the hardest task to oneself'', I''m d to see that you are still following this motto."


    Luo Wenzhou: "The worst that I might get is some sour-mouthedining. If they go, who knows if it will end up getting physical...but of course, after theints, whether I can get any helpful information depends on you."


    "Those old folks...most left, some died. Theypleted their careers in grace and most are enjoying their long-deserved retirement. Now that Lao Zhang is transferred away too..." Chief Lu paused, feeling strangely mncholy, "I am the only one left...leading you lot of little monkeys...these are my final years."


    "What''s so dreadful about retirement?" Luo Wenzhou smiled at him, "I dream of it everyday. Sleeping without the rm clock, getting paid for not working, traveling where ever you feel like with dear old wifey...You get on the subway and all the little monkeys have to give you their seats..."


    Lu Youliang had long considered Luo Wenzhou as his sessor. Although the kid is a bit too young, luckily he wasn''t going to retire right away, so there is still time to nurse and trim Luo into a dependable pir. So, his ambition-less bullshit rubbed Chief Lu in all the wrong ways. Lu then thought of some shady gossip he heard about Mr Luo, and became all the more irritated. He pointed at Luo Wenzhou: "As if you are going to take a wife...just shut up, alright? Or get the hell out of my sight."


    Luo Wenzhou took a cigarette and the archival files, ready to be submissively on his way, when Chief Lu stopped him at the door.


    "What are your general thoughts about this case?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s one hand was already on the door knob. He stopped: "There were two questions unanswered in the old case. First, the missing girls'' bodies were never found. Second, we don''t know Wu Guangchuan''s motive for calling the victim''s parents. I discussed this case with a friend before. He thinks that the calls seemed to be about the parents, rather than the children --- which is very odd for a pedafile. Also, I have this feeling that the two cases might be rted, but they are not necessarily the doing of the same guy."


    "How so?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Making a phone call and personally making a trip to the victim''s home are very different. Thetter takes much more involvement and courage. The risk is higher as well. Looks like the suspect is much more arrogant this time, besides being good at anti-scavenging as Lang Qiao mentioned."


    The whole Yancheng city was like a flowing river: after decades of regting the sewage, the water now seemed quite clean and safe. However, a river is a river, and there was always going to be turbulence and whirlpool.


    The odds for finding the missing girl, Qu Tong, back and alive, was getting slimmer and slimmer. At the same time, for thousands of other girls at her age, today was nothing more than an ordinary summer day, filled with uninteresting sses from the ''interest clubs''. The cicada was chirping weakly on the outside, while on the inside the boys and girls were daydreaming about their teenage years ahead.


    Chen Chen carried an isle on her back as she waited for her parents at the bus stop on the back entrance of the YMCA. Bored, she took out an ipad and started ying. Suddenly, she noticed a shadow on her screen. Chen Chen looked up, and saw a hunch-backed blind old man approaching her, his face turned towards her, despite the supposed blindness.


    Chen Chen felt uneasy all of a sudden. She thought of the conversation she had with the Gege who bought her cream puffs the other day. She carefully moved closer to the small crowd on her left who were waiting for the bus, while keeping a wary eye on the blind old man.


    At that time, a bus arrived. The crowded bus stop emptied up. Before long, the old man and Chen chen were the only two people left.


    Suddenly, the old man swept the floor with his walking stick and started walking towards her. Chen Chen felt the hairs on the back of her neck all standing up. She quickly turned and ran towards the YMCA. At the corner, she bumped into someone and knocked over all the books that she was carrying.


    It was a girl who looked slightly older. She wore a floral print dress. Her hair was tied up into two ponytails.


    Chen Chen hurried to apologize: "I''m sorry!"


    The girl looked at her. She didn''t get mad at all. Instead, as she kneeled down to pick up her notebooks, she asked gently: "Why are you running?"


    Chen Chen helped her and replied: "There is someone strange over there. I''m a little scared."


    The girl looked to the direction that Chen Chen pointed to: "I don''t see anyone. Where?"


    Chen Chen turned around, and saw that the bus stop was empty. No one was there at all.


    The girl looked at Chen Chen and asked: "Which grade are you in?"


    "Sixth grade in the fall."


    "Oh, then I am one year older than you." The girl held the books under one arm, and held Chen Chen''s hand with the other, "Are you still scared? I can wait for the bus with you."


    Chen Chen couldn''t be happier.


    "I am taking the photography sses here." The girl looked down as she talked. Her long eyshes flickered. Then, she turned and smiled at Chen Chen, "My name is Su Luozhan."

 Chapter 43: Humbert Humbert Ten

    Chapter 43: Humbert Humbert Ten


    In the past twenty years, the Lian-Huashan district had undergone such dramatic changes that it was almost unrecognizable. The streets and the buildings now lined up neatly in a uniform ''modern'' style, looking even more imposing than an actual city center. But the young and gangly trees alongside the roads gave away its haste and unreadiness beneath the ''heavy makeup''.


    Luo Wenzhou drove around the neighborhood several times before finally spotting the inconspicuous magazine post.


    A man with reading sses was sitting behind the counter manning the post, his back stooping. It was hard to tell the man''s age: his face was that of a middle-aged man, probably not yet beyond retirement, but his spirit was that of a lethargic old man on hisst legs.


    It was the hottest hours of the afternoon. The scorching sun had effectively turned the street into a sizzling pan. Luo Wenzhou pushed up his sunsses and walked up to the magazine post: "An iced soda, please."


    Hearing this, the post owner put away his book and bent down. Shortly, he handed over a bottle coated with a thickyer of white frost.


    Under the shade of the post, Luo Wenzhou popped the drink open and guzzled almost half a bottle.


    For the whole morning he had been wrestling the senior colleagues who were involved in the old Lian-Huashan case. Although he had Chief Lu''s backing and a totally legitimate cause, it still took a lot of beating around the bushes to feel those old guys out. After all, having a simr background and training with the target of your interrogation takes the whole game up a notch since both parties know the usual tactics all too well. The endless rounds of going back and forth were more exhausting than the plot of a Chinese ''Gongdou'' drama (1).


    Having ved away the whole morning and overworked his brain, Luo Wenzhoupletely zoned out for a while, allowing himself to briefly immerse in the icy cold beverage and the friendly shade of the umbre.


    Seeing that he wasn''t going to leave right away, the owner of the post propped his head out and asked: "Youngd, I''ve got popsicles here too. Do you want one?"


    Luo Wenzhou waved and said: "No thanks! The air bubbles are taking up too much space...I just need another minute."


    "Sure." The post owner said, and dragged out a stic stool for him: "Here, sit down. It''s such a hot day, and we are all hanging in there. What do you do, young man?"


    Luo Wenzhou swirled the bottle above his knees as he answered: "I am a policeman."


    The post owner was stepping over his door sill. As soon as he heard the word "police", his whole body froze there. After a long while, he finally turned around, folded his reading sses, and spoke in a low, shaky voice: "I''ve already finished my parole. And the government granted me my paperwork too."


    "I know." said Luo Wenzhou, "Uncle Guo, I don''t mean to bother you. I just want to talk with you about Fei Fei''s case twenty years ago."


    That post owner was Guo Heng.


    After killing Wu Guangchuan, Guo Heng was imprisoned for murder. His sentence was shortened, and he was released two years ago. Obviously, by then his had lost his old job. Twenty years had passed, and nothing from the old days remained. People left or died, the city changed, even his wife left him before hemitted the crime. He returned to the unrecognizable Lian-Huashan district, all alone, and lived on this small magazine post.


    "There is nothing to talk about." Guo Heng''s face turned dark, "She has been gone for twenty years. I killed the murderer myself. I served my sentences. That''s the end of it. What else could you possibly want to know?"  146M3.7M 557K131K Paid Story42M1.4M 226K48K 677K144K 3.1M113K 128K22.2K


    Luo Wenzhou softened his voice: "I didn''t mean to offend at all. Actually, there is a recent case of a missing girl. Some evidence suggests that it could be rted to the cold case years ago."


    "Rted?" Guo Heng asked fridgidly, "How?"


    "A girl, eleven years old, went missing in a floral print dress. On the third day, the suspect sent the parents a piece of voice recording. In there, besides the girl''s crying there was also some noise. It sounded like someone was shaking a metal box with a jingle bell inside." Luo Wenzhou knew that Guo Heng was on guard, so he tried his best to show sincerity by looking directly into Guo''s eyes, excluding any unnecessary details in his exnation, and be as sinct and to-the-point as possible, "ording to the senior officers who handled Fei Fei''s case, these details are very simr. That''s why I want to ask..."


    Before he finished, Guo Heng impatiently interjected, mocking: "Ask? You mean interrogate. Well, the murderer is dead, and the only people who might know this detail are the police officers and me. Obviously the cops will do no evil, so who is left to be suspected? Just this man right here, with a history."


    "No, not only you. I have interviewed all of the police officers who were involved in the old case." Luo Wenzhou said, "I am not suspecting anything. I just want to know more about..."


    Guo Heng suddenly exploded in rage. He yelled at Luo Wenzhou: "Now you want to know more? Really? Hah....Back then I tried everything to get people to listen to this case, but no one would. Now I''ve killed the bastard, and I''ve served my sentences, and here you are! My daughter is dead for twenty years, sir. I don''t want to think about her any more! I don''t want to mention it! Where the fuck were you earlier?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s mouth opened, but the words of exnation didn''t make it out of his throat. He swallowed the excuses and only said, deeply: "I''m sorry."


    "Go away. Go! Fuck off!" Guo Heng pushed him out by the shoulders, "I have nothing to say to you. If you think I am guilty, feel free to take me in. I am no stranger to the prison cell anyways. Except next time when youe, remember to sh your badge up front. Had I known that you were a cop, I wouldn''t even spare you my spit."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Uncle Guo..."


    Guo Heng''s eyes were bloody red, and his veins bulged on the temples: "Go fuck yourself!"


    A quick-tempered man that he was, Luo Wenzhou couldn''t allow himself to be provoked under the circumstance.


    The zing sun scorched him from all around. He kept his lips tight before finish counting his teeth with the tip of the tongue. Then, he took out his wallet and handed Guo Heng a picture.


    "The girl''s name is Qu Tong." Luo Wenzhou said, "She is going to be a sixth grader in the fall. She is a straight A student, and is part of the summer recruitment camp of the Sixteenth Middle School. She is a very good kid, who listens, and behaves. She''s always been the ss monitor. Today is the fifth day since she went missing. Uncle Guo, what does it mean to be on the fifth day of a missing child case? From your years of research I bet you know it very well: the chances that we can find her alive are very small."


    Guo Heng''s eyesnded on Qu Tong''s picture.


    The two men, twenty years apart, stood in confrontation on a street of a hot summer afternoon. After perhaps a thousand years, Guo Heng''s heavy panting finally started to quiet down.


    "But we will not stop until we find her, or her body." Luo Wenzhou continued, "The missing children years ago, we''ve wronged them and let them down. But we won''t let what happened to Guo Fei happen again. There is no other evidence that could help us now, only you. Are we going to wait for the bastard to finish seven cases again this time?"


    Guo Heng''s eyes flickered.


    The girl in the photo was smiling at him, showing one of her slightly mis-alined canine teeth. On coincidence or otherwise, she even looked a little like Guo Fei.


    Luo Wenzhou continued very gently: "I only have a couple questions, and I''ll be gone as soon as I finish. I promise."


    Guo Heng looked at him and fell silent, his lips tightly pursed. A whileter, he turned and walked back into the magazine post. Luo Wenzhou hurried and followed him in: "About the jingle bell in the metal pencil case, have you mentioned it to anyone else before?"


    "I have." Guo Heng''s voice was still hoarse from yelling. He said: "I mentioned it to the police. After they gave up, I told some friends and family members who were helping me."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Can I have a list of names?"


    Guo Heng threw him a look. For a second Luo Wenzhou thought that he was going tosh out again. But the man remained sitting, and rubbed his own face tiredly: "Fei Fei''s home room teacher, a rtive who worked at the telephonepany,... Hummm... the workers at the garbage collection facility near the telephone booth...They more or less knew about it. It''s too messy. I repeated those words to many people many times and I can''t be sure now."


    "Let us try to sort it out then." Luo Wenzhou took out a small notebook the size of his palm, and sat down at the stic stool that was dragged out for him a while ago: "Where did you start your own investigation, and how did youe to notice Wu Guangchuan?"


    Guo Heng''s eyes looked past Luo Wenzhou andnded on a little mirror hanging next to the door frame of the post. There he saw a wrinkled face and silver hair, a testimony of how time has flown -- Had his little girl lived, she''s probably a couple years older than this young man now.


    "The police was making little progress. I couldn''t bare to just sit around and wait. I went to that garbage collection site many times -- that''s the ce where the abductor made the call. Back then the garbage wasn''t properly treated and the ce stank. There weren''t many residents nearby, and buses don''t go near it either. So, only those with a car might drive by the ce. Also, if you go from the town, you must go past a toll station. Back then there weren''t so many cars on the road, and the police had already covered all the cars that went past there, so if there were anything worth noting it should have already been noted. So I thought, could it be that the abductor came from out of town? You see, there is an interstate that connected the city center to Lian-Huashan. To avoid the mountain ridge, the interstate took a big detour, and wind up near that ce. Although there weren''t any roads that connected the interstate and the garbage center, there was a big slope in between. I went there myself - cars can''t drive through there because it was too steep, but an adult should be able to walk down."


    Luo Wenzhou: "You mean... the abductor took Guo Fei out of Lian Huashan by car. But for whatever reason, he stopped in the middle of the interstate, climbed up half a mountain with the child, found the telephone booth near the garbage center, and made that call --- Why would he do that?"


    Guo Heng sneered: "I said this to the policemen back then, and they asked exactly the same question, in the same tone."


    "No. What I''m trying to say is," Luo Wenzhou reorganized his thought, then exined, "ording to your thinking, the abductor is not a local -- Wu Guangchuan was indeed from out of town, and ording to our sources, he never really stayed at Lian-Huashan for long. Then why would he know about the garbage center that not even the locals were familiar with? He abducted a teenage child, not an infant. It is too risky to abandon the car midway, take her up the hill on foot, and carry out the crime in an unfamiliar surrounding. How could he be sure that no scavengers or workers of the garbage center would pass by? The logic doesn''t work out."


    Guo Heng: "Did that logic of yours catch the bastard?"


    Luo Wenzhou was wordless.


    "The police told me it was impossible too. They formed a special unit for this case. I thought, well the professionals in the special unit must be better at this than I do. So I let them to their job while I waited. But in the end...Well, in the end I had no other choice but to pick this "impossible" approach backup. I went to Fei Fei''s school, and interviewed a lot of people in the hotels and hostels near by. Her teacher helped me a lot too -- that teacher was rehired after she had retired from another school, an olddy. She has already passed away. Can''t be the guy that you are after..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "During the process, you noticed Wu Guangchuan, who was recruiting for his school at Lian-Huashan back then. I heard that he spent some days in the hospital during the trip. What made you think him suspicious?"


    "The Jingxiu middle school was very well-funded. Their admissions team took several vehicles to Lian-Huashan. The admission staff arrived together, but after the recruiting events they split into groups. Some left early because of family matters, some went on a hiking trip at the karst cave in the mountains and leftte, some left in the middle because of sickness. I found a cheap bed close to Jingxiu middle school, and followed each of them one by one." Guo Heng said, "At the very beginning I didn''t focus on Wu Guangchuan. But once when I was patrolling the area, I saw a kid stalking him.


    Luo Wenzhou sat up straight.


    "It was a boy, wearing the uniform of Jingxiu Middle School. He said that a girl in his ss often missed sses for no reason, so his head teacher asked him, the ss monitor, to check on her. The girl didn''t go home. He saw her going to this Mr. Wu after school, but when he went to ask Mr. Wu, he denied it."


    "I sensed something strange right a way. Do you see? If you had a daughter that went missing, you''d sense the strangeness too."


    "So you told this to a police officer who was newly transferred to the city bureau."


    "Yes. His surname was Yang. He used to be at the Lian-huashan sub-bureau, and he was the only officer that I knew." Guo Heng answered, "But he did not believe me."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t try to make excuses for his Shifu (2), only asked: "and then?"


    "I could only continue the search on my own. That boy helped me a lot too. Once he suddenly contacted me on the BB call. I rushed over, and saw Wu Guangchuan dragging a girl. She was struggling, but he kept dragging..." After all these years, Guo Heng still got agitated when speaking of that day, his fists clenching. After a while, he finally calmed down and continued, slowly: "I let the boy go away first, and then followed Wu Guangchuan into his home. I saw that he did something... disgusting... to the girl. I..."


    In the archive, it was recorded that Guo Heng pretended to be from the electricitypany, and knocked Wu''s door open. Then he stabbed him.


    Luo Wenzhou: "What''s the name of that boy?"


    "Xu, something." Guo Heng thought for a minute, "Xu...Xu Wenchao."


    Luo Wenzhou said goodbye to Guo Heng and sped his car back to the city. Before starting the car he had already texted Tao Ran to summon Su Xian and Xu Wenchao, both sophomores at Jing Xiu Middle School twenty years ago.


    On the same day, Fei Du went out of town as well.


    "Mr. Fei, do you have a reservation?" The front deskdy was flipping through her registration book while sneaking peeks at the handsome visitor in front of her.


    Near the mountains and by the sea, this beautifully architected sanatorium had an elegant back garden with a respectable artistic taste. Despite being a medical facility, its lobby was absolutely free of the smell of chlorine or sickly people. The rooms were bright, the windows were clear, and the weedy was pretty and friendly. The soothing sounds of the waves and the piano were yed in the background.


    It could almost pass for a luxurious vacation mansion by the sea.


    "Room 407 in the Intensive Care Unit. This way, please. Follow the nurse."


    Fei Du nodded at her, and smoothly picked out a flower from the bouquet that he was carrying and ced it in the vase of the front desk: "Thank you. This flower suits you very well."


    Afterwards, he walked in, leaving the girl blushed and flustered.


    The Intensive Care mostly housed people who have lost their mobility. Consequently, the area was especially tranquil. The only sounds of activity were the nurses'' foot steps. Looking out of the window, rich shades of the deciduous trees were everywhere. Fei Du took a visitor''s badge and arrived at room 407. A doctor was there to greet him: "Mr. Fei. I knew you woulde here today."


    "Turns out I''m not very busytely." Fei Du ced the bouquet beside a man''s bed. "How is everything?"


    "All is well. The numbers are all stable." The doctor replied, "But it''s been three years and he is not very likely to wake up anymore. As a family member, it''s good to prepare yourself."


    Fei Du''s facecked any emotion. He tilted his head to give the man on the bed a closer look, then replied politely: "I see. Thanks very much for your help."


    The doctor identally saw his eyes, and was a bit shocked. For a second, he thought that this young man''s look was so calm and apathetic that it hardly seemed suitable for looking at any living person, let alone his own father. It''s as if he was measuring up a piece of not-so-pleasing ornament -- casual, and indifferent.


    In his mind the doctor had finished imagining a whole act of modern day Wuthering Heights, and decided not to further develop the conversation. He smiled, then left the room.


    Fei Du courteously saw him out, then turned and paced around the man''s sickbed with his hands behind his back. The manid there, unconscious, surrounded by a sea of medical devices. He was clearly in good hands - not even a single white hair can be seen. Looking closely, the man''s facial features looked a lot like Fei Du, but their auras were quite the opposite. Even as heid there, motionless, he was sharp and gloomy, like a cold marble statue.


    In the end, Fei Du stopped at the corner of the room. There was a small calendar on the desk. Perhaps the nurses had missed it - the calendar was still turned to the page of a couple days ago.


    He flipped the calendar to the right date - thest day of July. It was his birthday. As for the two people who gave him life, one wasying in a sanatorium, and the other underground.


    Fei Du bent down sideways and stared at the man with a perplexing look for quite a while. Then suddenly, he reached for his oxygen tube.


    The sound of the medical equipments remained mechanical and lifeless. A moment in the room and it started to feel deadly silent.


    There was not a trace of warmth on the face of the young man who just gave a flower to a girl.


    ======================================


    (1) Chinese ''Gongdou'' drama: A type of period costume drama where the main plot is about an emperor''s concubines conspiring and trying to outwit each other to win the favor of the emperor.


    (2) Shifu: means "master", or mentor. Basically, think "master Shifu" in Kungfu Panda lol. Here it''s referring to Yang Zhengfeng, or ''Lao Yang''. He is the mentor of both Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou, a senior police officer who passed away 3 years ago.

 Chapter 44: Humbert Humbert Eleven

    Chapter 44: Humbert Humbert Eleven


    TL: QuantumC


    6.27.2019


    Fei Du suddenly smiled. He blew a kiss at the surveince camera in the room: "Just kidding."


    He bent down to take out a small condolence card from the desk -- it was part of the special service of this high-end private sanitarian. For the family members on the sickbed who could no longermunicate, it''s kind of hard to carry out a one-sided conversation all the time. So the sanitarian provided pen and little cards, so that the visitors could write down some words of encouragement and let their well-wishes be more tangible.


    Fei Du nced at the man with a slightly teasing look, and wrote down a line: "Hope you hang in there for a couple more years."


    This private sanitarian was quite pricy. The money it took to keep himying there was enough to feed a handful of doctors and nurses.


    After all, for some people, this was the only good that he could bring to those around him.


    The sun was hot outside, but the AC in the ICU was working diligently to keep the room temperature consistent. It almost felt a bit chilly.


    Fei Du finished sending his "good to see you suffering" message, as if finishing some sort of an annual ceremony. He got on his car to drive back to the city alone.


    From the sanitarium on the seaside to the Yancheng city, it was usually a four-hour drive without traffic. Fei Du had made an appointment with Dr. Bai to get a book from her that evening. He had officially wrapped up the years of regr consultation, but kept the friendship with Dr. Bai and sometimes borrowed books from her.


    A whole day of driving, hospital visiting, getting a book about mental illness to read, and go to bed at midnight - If things go smoothly, this would be all he had nned for his twenty-second birthday.


    Fei Du is normally the kind that goes wherever the hustle-bustle is. But those close to him know that on the days of his birthday, his mother''s anniversary, and other holidays with the theme of reunion, he is usually hard to find. Even egocentric people like Zhang Doni know not to bother him -- even if they wanted to, it was practically impossible. Because during those days, his 24/7 cellphone definitely will not be reachable.


    Today, the traffic back to Yancheng was bad. He was already stuck in the line for one hour. Fei Du was a bit tired, but there wasn''t much that he could do other than waiting. To keep himself awake, he turned up the radio. The news channel was covering the missing girl''s case, broadcasting the Yan Cheng Police Bureau''s announcement to encourage every citizen to provide evidence.


    "...especially near the school, the YMCA, and the summer camps. If you see any suspicious activity, don''t hesitate to call XXXX...Also, here we''d like to remind the parents listening to our program: we are in the middle of the school''s summer break. Please pay special attention to your child''s safety..."


    "Howe the program ended up talking about not to swim in a wild pond...?" Luo Wenzhou barely made it back to the bureau before five. He was so parched that his soul had almostpletely evaporated from his head. Shamelessly, he poured the tea from someone else''s teapot and gulped it down.


    When Lang Qiao hurried over to stop him, it was already toote.


    Lang Qiao wailed: "Boss, that''s my diet tea..."


    Luo Wenzhou paused for a second, but then continued to finish the rest - at that time, any liquid would do for him, even DDT. Afterwards, he wiped his mouth and said, "Any updates from Qutong''s apartment? Did you find Xu Wenchao and Su Xian?"  146M3.7M 557K131K Paid Story42M1.4M 226K48K 677K144K 3.1M113K 128K22.2K


    "We checked all the surveince cameras nearby. There were more than 40 visitors to that neighborhood, and that''s just counting the delivery guys for parcels, take-outs, milk, and the real estate agents showing apartments. Luckily most of them wore theirpanies'' uniforms, so we were able to track them and confirm their identity by calling thepanies. We narrowed it down to four suspects, and took all four back to the bureau to interview." Lang Qiao said, "Also, we listed out all the people that went in or out of the neighbourhood during the off-peak time. There were about 80, and we are still in the process of checking their ID against the record at the Neighborhood Residents Committee."


    Hearing this, Luo Wenzhou''s head that was already bloated because of overheating doubled in size again.


    Thank God that there were enough people on this case. Otherwise, can''t imagine how long it''s going to take to go over everything.


    Lang Qiao continued: "Xu Wenchao has been found. Tao Ran is talking to him in there right now. Su Xian can''te. She''s no longer..."


    Luo Wenzhou asked casually: "No longer here? Is she out of town or out of the country?"


    Lang Qiao: "Neither...She is not out of town. She is out of the -- she passed away."


    Luo Wenzhou''s steps slowed: "Already? I thought she''s our age."


    "After that incident, the girl was basically wasted. Her dancing career didn''t take off. Her grades were barely good enough for a vocational highschool, but she didn''t even finish that. After quitting high school, she didn''t have a stable job. Thanks to her good-looks, she was with some rich guys briefly, and got pregnant before the age of 21. After she had the child, life didn''t get better either. Later, she got sick, and passed away two months ago -- here are her files."


    Lang Qiao handed over a very thin folder. Luo Wenzhou started flipping through.


    He finished it in no time, because her life was too short and not much was worth mentioning. In the folder there were her expired address, her phone number, two delinquency records at school, once for a drunken brawl, and the other was an arrest for defiance. There was also her death certificate.


    Thest thing in that folder was a recent photo of her. A woman of thirty, she had already been battered by life into a ghostly creature. Her bony cheeks, protruding jaw, andugh folds were all covered in the residue of some cheap make-up. You have to look very closely to tell that the woman used to be a pretty girl in her early years.


    Luo Wenzhou and Lang Qiao stared at each other in the long hallway, wordless -- so, this was the ending for thest lucky girl who survived...


    "Cap'', you know what?" Lang Qiao said, "Sometimes when I see things like this, I think life itself is an ugly thing."


    Luo Wenzhou pped the back of her head with the kraft paper folder: "Always thinking thoughts...why don''t you quit the job and go be a writer? Now our number one priority is to find Qu Tong -- tell me, what does this Xu Wenchao do?"


    Xu Wenchao was a freence photographer.


    He was tall and neat, and looks well educated. Suddenly summoned to the police station, the man was understandably a little nervous. His hands twisted underneath the table.


    Tao Ran poured him a cup of water: "Don''t be afraid. We just want to trouble you to recall some things."


    Xu Wenchao looked down with pursed lips. He said "Thank you" to Tao Ran, but avoided his eyes.


    Luo Wenzhou and Lang Qiao were standing in front of the monitor. They heard Tao Ran asked, gently: "Did you go to school at the Jing Xiu Middle school?"


    Xu Wenchao took a sip of the lukewarm water elegantly, then said: "Yes."


    "Do you remember a ssmate named Su Xian?"


    Xu Wenchao''s fingertips trembled unnoticeably. After a long pause, he spoke in a very low and slow voice: "Yes."


    Tao Ran asked: "Could you say more about her?"


    It was a very clear question. But Xu Wenchao seemed to have missed it. He hesitated, then ask: "Pardon?"


    Tao Ran: "Say more about Su Xian."


    The fingers on his knee were clenched even tighter. His knuckles turned white: "Oh. I...I lost touch with her for many years. She....She was an outgoing girl..."


    "She had long hair. She liked to wear dresses with floral prints."


    Both Tao Ran, and the others in front of the monitor, almost jumped at that sentence.


    Xu Wenchao abruptly stopped talking. His eyes wandered between Tao Ran and the other note-taker in the room, then suddenly asked: "Did you find me because of the missing girl''s case? I heard it over the radio on my way here."


    "Let me be frank with you." Tao Ran said, "How much do you know about the abduction-murder case of Wu Guangchuan?"


    Xu Wenchao pondered for a while, then said: "Not a lot. I was quite young back then. They wouldn''t let a kid know too much about these things, right?"


    Tao Ran said: ''But one of the victims'' father told us that he came to you before, and that the reason why Su Xian survived was because you rmed him to intervene."


    "Um...It had been more than twenty years. My memory is a bit ky now."


    Tao Ran said patiently: "The victim''s father used to follow some of your teachers, and one time he bumped into you while you were following Wu Guangchuan, so he asked you why. The two of you suspected that Wu Guangchuan had some misconducts, and you investigated him secretly together. Do you remember?"


    Xu Wenchao fell silent again. This time, he paused for a full long minutes before finally spoke again: "It''s possible. I can''t be sure."


    Speaking to this man took a lot of energy. He was not yet a suspect, so the investigator couldn''t do much when he paused to think, other than wait for him to spit out one sentence every half a year like a retard. What''s worse, the one sentence was usually something like "perhaps", "really?", "It''s possible", "I am not sure", or somebination of them.


    Tao Ran went back and forth with him for more than one hour, finished two bottles of water, but Xu Wenchao kept ying dumb, wearing an absent-minded mncholy on his face.


    Lang Qiao said: "I wish I could kick his butt -- Boss, do you think he is guilty?"


    "Based on the ''floral dress''?" Luo Wenzhou shook his head, "The rules in middle school was quite strict, especially 20 years ago. Every student had to wear the school uniform. Girls either had to cut their hair short, or put it in a ponytail. Probably only very few students in the dancing team were allowed to break the dress code a bit, for performance need. Su Xian was the only one in his ss. It''s not surprising that he remembered. But..."


    Tao Ran asked Xu Wenchao: "But I find it hard to understand: Back then, Wu Guangchuan''s case was very big. And for you especially, because you were directly involved in it. Howe that you don''t remember any details?"


    Xu Wenchao replied with a docile smile: "I had a severe fever during middle school. A serious one: I almost died. My memory was more or less hurt by it I think. I''m a bit slow because of it too. Sorry about that, sir."


    Sounded like a legitimate exnation. Tao Ran helplessly nodded: "Are you married, Mr. Xu?"


    Xu Wenchao shook his head.


    "Then on the evening the 27th of this month, where were you?"


    This time, Xu Wenchao didn''t take time to think. Instead, he replied immediately: "At home."


    "Alone?"


    "As a single person, of course, alone."


    "What were you doing at home?"


    "Reading...I was reading a book about photographyposition techniques."


    Tao Ran''s eyes sharpened: "Mr. Xu, would youply with the investigation and let us examine your driving recorder?"


    "Sure. My car is parked outside." Xu Wenchao looked back at him calmly: "Do you have any other questions? If not, can I go now? Because I have some work to do tomorrow, and I''ll need to get ready."


    Tao Ran turned to look at the camera, then heard Luo Wenzhou''s voice over the ear piece: "Let him go. I''ve had things arranged - he''ll be monitored 24/7."


    Tao Ran stood up and shook hands with Xu Wenchao: "Okay. Thanks very much for your cooperation. Let me see you off."


    Until then, Xu Wenchao''s body finally rxed a bit. He followed Tao Rao''s gesture and started walking out. At that time, Tao Ran whispered casually to his ear: "I heard that the private schools can be very strict. The teachers are crazy about grades."


    Xu Wenchao: "Yeah, they push very hard. But you get used to it after a while."


    "Probably had no time for any school romance, am I right? It''d be hard to speak to a girl when there are eight teachers watching...the puppy love had to be buried in the heart." Tao Ran pressed on the door frame with one hand, and gave Xu Wenchao a meaningful look: "Did Mr. Xu have someone in heart? A pretty girl like Su Xian must stand out in the ss, no?"


    Xu Wenchao was caught off guard. His face flickered. He rubbed the side of his pants anxiously. After a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a smile: "Who wouldn''t like good-looking girls when they were young? But now that she has passed away, it''s useless to talk about it...Sir, thanks. I can show myself out."


    Tao Ran''s brows slightly twisted -- He had just heard of Su Xian''s passing earlier that day when looking for her, and he didn''t mention it to Xu Wenchao at all.


    Then, did the ssmate who had lost touch for so many years hear the news from somemon friend, or...


    After thest sentence, Xu Wenchao quickly walked out without looking back.


    Meanwhile, the police officers that were assigned stalking duty had already sorted out their schedule, and silently followed him out under the disguise of the night.


    When the exhausted Luo Wenzhou left the bureau, it was already well past eight PM. He didn''t go directly home -- although Chief Lu moved himself off the case to avoid suspicion, it was, after all, not the same as the case for Chief Zhang: for thetter, Zhang Doni was a close rtive and was the number one suspect. Comparatively, this time Chief Lu was at most slightly involved in the old case, but was far from the core team back then. For someone less considerate, this weak connection would probably be overlooked altogether.


    Since the boss was so considerate, the subordinate shouldn''t be too boorish either. Not to mention that he had used up a lot of the old man''s face and connections today. Luo Wenzhou nned to take a box of peaches he bought from Lian-Huashan to Chief Lu and update him on their progress by the way.


    He gave Chief Lu a call, but didn''t mention the case over the phone, only the peaches.


    Lu Youliang readily agreed, and told him an address: "Your aunt''s (1) colleague is getting married today. She suddenly decided to attend and didn''t warn me ahead of time. So I came to my sister''s for dinner. Come and find me here."


    Luo Wenzhou turned on his GPS and entered the address: "North Chenguang Road".


    Fei Du shed the head light, and saw that the sign wrote "1.5 miles to Chenguang Road".


    He exhaled in relief. This trip had taken more than six hours. The traffic was horrible, and there weren''t enough service areas to take a break and rx his aching back. Now that the traffic finally started to loosen up, Fei Du immediately sped to the upper limit, while trying toe up with a proper apology for Dr. Bai.


    However, right when he finished switchingnes and was getting ready to exit the highway, another car popped out of nowhere and drove right at him. As it got closer, it even elerated! It was toote to switchnes then. Fei Du floored the break.


    "Bang!" The collision was deafening. Discharged airbags squeezed him onto his seat. Fei Du felt a brief ckout, his guts tumbling inside. There was a sharp pain on his left arm.


    For a split second, his mind blurred. But he was quickly woken back up by the sharp horning of vehicles and the shouting of people.


    Some bystanders quickly approached him. Shouting loudly, they tried to pull him out of the vehicle. When the door opened, the dusty wind of a hot summer night gusted through.


    And during that split second when his mind was blurry, a thought slipped in: "What a karma."


    Just when Luo Wenzhou thought that he got lucky with the traffic, the cars stalled again. Looks like there had been an ident ahead.


    He sighed heavily. Like the other drivers, he looked out in the direction of the ident. In the distance, a bulky SUV, taller than the rest, was blocking the intersection.


    Suddenly, Luo Wenzhou''s heart startled -- isn''t that SUV the same make as the one that Fei Du unts in front of Tao Ran all the time?


    =================================


    (1) Aunt: in China, older women of one''s parents'' generation are addressed as aunts. Older men are addressed as uncles. Here, by saying "your aunt", Lu Youliang is referring to his wife to Luo Wenzhou. It also shows a good personal rtionship between Lu and Luo.

 Chapter 45: Humbert Humbert Twelve

    Chapter 45: Humbert Humbert Twelve


    Fei Du''s forehead was covered in sweat, either from the hot weather or from the pain. His face was as pale as paper. He squeezed out from between his teeth: "Enough already."


    Luo Wenzhou stood on the side with a straight face good enough for a funeral. He only managed to keep it for two seconds though. Then, he burst outughing his head off.


    "Young man, you can''t live like this..." The bone doctor kept on rambling as he treated Fei Du''s broken arm: "The terrible living habits are going to get you eventually. You young folks nowadays are all nocturnal animals who never exercise. All you want to do isy there and y video games. How can you stay healthy this way? I''m curious: what is so fun about the video games? Trust me, don''t think that because you are young it''s Okay: there are many people in their twenties or thirties who have Osteoporosis..."


    Fei Du choked on the illegitimate usation speechlessly -- he had never yed video games in the middle of the night.


    Fei Du crashed into another car at an intersection on the Chenguang road. The other driver was a rookie who just got his license two months ago. That brother was dug out and sent away in an ambnce. ordingly, he was unfamiliar with the signs, took a wrong turn, and somehow found himself going in the opposite direction with everyone else. Then he saw Fei Du''s towering SUV approaching. Panicked, he mistook the gas pedal for the break -- such was the conclusion from the traffic police officer.


    In summary, the cause of the ident was 1) crappy driving school, and 2) Fei Du''s bad luck.


    It could have been worse. But luckily for him, the car that he drove today had excellent safety features. He was quick to break too. So the other car ended up with more damage while he escaped more or less wholesomely -- even his sses were intact.


    ...but perhaps the praises should go to the sses for being extra indurant. Becauseparatively, Director Fei''s expensive body isn''t so indurant: His left arm was fractured by the discharged air bag.


    Fei Du insisted that it must have been because of the awkward angle that the arm was stuck in.


    What''s worse -- god knows what shitty luck he was getting that day -- this rare embarrassing moment of his was witnessed by that doofus jerk, Luo Wenzhou.


    Luo Wenzhou apanied him in a night trip at the hospital. After hearing the conditions of Fei Du''s injury, he held up Fei Du''s heroic sses and couldn''t stopughing. The stress from worktely waspletely wiped out.


    "Doctor, these little hooligans of the Bourgeoisie ss don''t y video games. They go out and party, day and night." Luo Wenzhou dly rubbed it in, "Look at his face...look how frail. That''s the proof of his abjective and rotten lifestyle."


    The old doctor opened his dragonfly-like eyes even wider. Through the reading sses, he studied Fei Du''s vampire face closely, then said: "Hmmm...you have a point."


    Fei Du: "..."


    "Here, I will secure it for you today. The fracture is not very serious. You cane back to remove the cast in two days. Remember not to engage in too much physical activity. No smoking, no drinking, no sexual intercourse." The old doctor advised him earnestly. "Also, you need to take some calcium regrly, young man! Otherwise, in ten years, you will be as brittle as a crispy cucumber."


    Thatst sentence somehow had Luo Wenzhou in stitches again. Heughed so hard as if the joke was good enough for the rest of his life. All the way until the two got back in the car and he was driving Fei Du home, Luo Wenzhou still asionally burst outughing.


    Fei Du thought him pathetic: how boring and pitiful Captain Luo''s life must have been, for him to have such a low taste of humor?


    They both had appointments to go to originally - one with Dr. Bai and one with Chief Lu - but both had to bail out because of the incident.  146M3.7M 557K131K Paid Story42M1.4M 226K48K 677K144K 3.1M113K 128K22.2K


    "Turn left at the... you missed it." Fei Du rolled his eyes impatiently, "Grandpa, do you know how to follow the GPS?"


    "Oh, I''m nning to abduct you. Didn''t you notice? I''ve secured a buyer already." Luo Wenzhou continued on the wrong direction, and drove all the way into the parking lot of a shopping center. He parked the car and waved at Fei Du: "Come. The buyer is waiting to inspect what he bought."


    "Would you please dress me up nicer before selling?" Fei Du looked down sourly at his wrinkled shirt, then tried to move. There were probably a million bruises on him, because everywhere hurt. So he decided to stay put. He said, feebly: "You might have to bring the buyer here. I can''t walk."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t argue further. He sneered at his exaggerated fake-fainting, and got off the car, leaving the man who''s more fragile than a ss frame alone in the car.


    Fei Du thought Luo Wenzhou had something else to take care of, and was simply offering him a ride home along the way. Hence, he saw himself in no position to demand better service and didn''t mind being left behind.


    He slid the front passenger seat further back, taking up more than half of the car. Halfid down and amidst the ceaseless pain, he closed his eyes and started thinking about the car ident.


    Misreading the sign, and mistaking the gas pedal for the break... these things are not umon. And no one can truly tell whether the driver was really acting in confusion, or whether it''s intentional.


    The only difference is that thetter is a murder, while the former is an ident.


    Seeing it this way, cars are really the most convenient and effective murder weapons.


    Just when Fei Du was wandering in random thoughts and close to passing out, the lock of the car clicked. Luo Wenzhou was back.


    Fei Du''s eyesnded on him casually. Then, in shock, he realized that Luo Wenzhou was holding a cake in his hand whose paper box was covered with stupid cartoon characters and candles.


    Fei Du scooted towards the other side of the car as if Luo Wenzhou was carrying a grenade rather than a birthday cake.


    "What, you''ve never seen a cake before? Why so timid? the cake is not going to harass you..." Luo Wenzhou put the cake box away carefully, "the brother handling your car ident took down your ID. Now don''t tell me your birthday on the ID is fake."


    Fei Du was now more stiff than the cast on his arm. His whole body was in an unstable emergency state - ready to jump off the moving car anytime.


    In the end he didn''t. With Luo Wenzhou''s entric song mix of folk, pop, and Chinese traditional singing ying in the background, Fei Du remained in that tense and unstable state the whole way, until Luo Wenzhou finally parked the car outside of his apartment.


    "The doctor said that you needplete abstinence: no smoking, no drinking, and no sex -- Let me see your cast -- Now I say, you ditch any n about going out tonight, and have a taste of the dull -- but healthy -- old man lifestyle with this old man right here." Luo Wenzhou raised his chin, "Get off."


    Fei Du gave him a perplexing look. Shortly after, he slowly picked up the aching arm with the other one, and moved out of the car like a real handicapped.


    He walked too slowly. Luo Wenzhou had to stop many times to wait: "Seriously, my lord? Luckily I live on the first floor. Otherwise I might have to carry you up..."


    Fei Du didn''t talk back.


    He was like a cat that identally stepped into another one''s territory. Every single vertebral of him was tense. One baby step at a time, he moved towards the entrance of Luo Wenzhou''s apartment. As soon as the door opened, the "master of the house" poked out its long-awaiting little head and scouted out.


    Luo Wenzhou shooed: "Get inside, Luo Yiguo. Don''t block the way."


    Luo Yiguo''s line of sight was blocked by the big box in his hand. Mistaking it for some novel tribute from Mr. litter-cleaner, it shamelessly stood up on its back feet and tried to reach it. Luo Wenzhou adeptly knocked those paws away. Luo Yiguonded on all fours. Annoyed, it Meow-ed angrily at him. At that time, it finally saw that there was someone else at the door. A stranger.


    Fei Du and Luo Yiguo looked at each other. Fei Du was the more contained one. He only took a small step back. Luo Yiguo on the other handpletely freaked out. It made a horrible shriek that''s not like any sound a cat makes. Scratching the floor with all four limbs, its head lowered and its back arched, ready to attack at any time.


    Holding this aggressive posture, it studied Fei Du for another moment. Then, without hesitation or warning, it abandoned post and dashed under the sofa.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He felt ashamed for having raised such a wimp.


    "No need to change your shoes." Luo Wenzhou pointed to the sofa: "make yourself at home. Ah - I never knew this cat could be so shy. Last time someone came over and it begged to get petted the whole time. I guess it''s just you -- Luo Yiguo, get the hell out of there! Don''t you dare get all dusty and then wipe it on my bed, you little shithead!


    Luo Yiguo was ying dead, motionless.


    Luo Wenzhou yelled at the sofa: "Are you going to eat or not?"


    Looks like he got it this time. Two whiskers carefully inched out from the slit beneath the cushions. But immediately it smelled the stranger, and retracted right a way.


    Our camarade Luo Yiguo was so scared that even food can''t lure it.


    Luo Wenzhou gave up. He opened a can of wet food, left it next to the cat bowl, and then dug out a can of candy from cab and threw it at Fei Du, who was sitting upright in all seriousness on the sofa: "See if it''s still edible. I''ll go throw some dishes together. For the record, I don''t n on pleasing some majesty here. You''ll eat whatever I make. No whining."


    To his surprise, Fei Du didn''t argue back this time. He sat there so squarely as if what''s beneath his bottoms was the ''roof of the world'' itself, rather than a sofa.


    Long after Luo Wenzhou was gone, Fei Du struggled to open the candy can with one hand. There were many kinds of sweets inside, probably from some variety packs from the Spring Festival. Some of the choctes have melted into odd shapes, not inviting at all...The bottomyer was a box of toffee. It was the ancient kind, wrapped in cheap and colorful wax paper, and very chewy. He remembered its taste.


    Fei Du took out one toffee slowly and opened the wrap with the help of his teeth. Candy in mouth, he looked towards the kitchen. The kitchen fan was roaring, and the sound of knife hitting the chopping board was rhythmic andforting. He could get a glimpse of Luo Wenzhou''s back from time to time.


    Luo Wenzhou said "throw something together", but was actually making a good effort. In a very short time he finished several meat and vegetable dishes. He put the birthday cake in the middle. Then, after a short hesitation, he lit a candle.


    Luo Wenzhou looked up and identally caught Fei Du''s eyes. So he exined, with a dry mouth: "What are you looking at? I''m not singing the birthday song...Are you going to make a wish? Something like ''no car ident at next year''s birthday'' counts too."


    Fei Du: "Okay."


    The two stared at the chubby cartoonish candle in an awkward silence. The air in the room stalled, as if they were bidding a solemn farewell to the years that had passed.


    Luo Wenzhou immediately regretted the idea: "Go ahead and blow it out, quickly. This is too retarded."


    There are many types of fancy cakes in the world, and Fei Du had almost tasted them all. Only birthday cakes were unfamiliar. Thest time that he had it was many many years ago, when he was very little. There were a lot of guests in the room that day -- the birthday was basically a show for the guest. He only got to have a thin slice of that expensive cake, as a token. Then it was taken away. In the next day when he looked for it again, it was gone -- because the cream wasn''t fresh anymore.


    Honestly, what difference is there between birthday cakes and regr cakes, other than a couple of small holes in the cream topping left by the candles? But Fei Du kept thinking that the taste was different.


    Luo Wenzhou was a good cook. The only imperfection of the meal was that there was no wine. Captain Luo followed the doctor''s advice religiously, and only gave him a packet of calcium-boosted breakfast milk.


    For some middle-aged man, giving too many speeches to subordinates in the office made it hard for them not to bring the condescending lecturing to his wife and kid on the dinner table. The little Luo Wenzhou hated his father''s lecturing before dinner. But ironically, the habit was contagious. Normally, when he had dinner with noone but Luo Yiguo, the disease was in the incubation period. Today, with Fei Du on the table, it finally broke out.


    "Another year," Luo Wenzhou poured the microwaved milk into a ss, and pushed it in front of Fei Du. Then, just like his father, he started on the tirade: "I don''t mean to intrude, but it''s about time you live more seriously. Or where is the end of this vacant and extravagant lifestyle? The affluence should lead you to pursue something meaningful, something sublime, rather thanying on the gold mountain like a salted fish. Young people need to have a purpose in life, or you''ll get in trouble sooner orter."


    Fei Du was new to this kind of traditional Chinese parenting talk. He bit on a meatball, and listened with a lot of interest.


    Luo Wenzhou continued: "It is only human nature to go after easiness andfort. However, once these needs are satisfied, you must pursue something higher, such as the sense of achievement, or self actualization. If you indulge in the low level squandering, you are only hypnotizing yourself -- before long, you will start to feel the anxiety from the emptiness. Maybach for today, Bugatti for tomorrow...sure, you can buy them all, but can they really solve the inner conflict and ease the aching deep down your soul?"


    "No, they can''t." Fei Du slowly swallowed the fried meatball, then said, "but the aching of not being able to buy them is obviously more tangible."


    "..." Luo Wenzhou red at him, but was surprised to see that Fei Du''s eyes were smiling: he was joking -- although the joke sounded a bit too hurtful. Luo Wenzhou said, "Do you talk back to your parents like this when they give dinner table lectures? In my family, spoiled brats like you would be ordered to write a self-criticism essay in the hallway. Forget about the food."


    Hearing this, Fei Du seemed to have been reminded of something. The little bit of smile on him faded. He paused for a while, then suddenly said: "In my family, no one talked during dinner, unless there was a guest. Otherwise my dad very rarely ate with us. My mom''s moods were not very stable. Sometimes she''d have a meltdown in the middle of a meal, leaving everything broken. Sometimes she''d suddenly start crying on the dinner table.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t know what to say.


    "Eating at home was a risky business." Fei Du shrugged, "A peaceful dinner once in a while was like winning the lottery."


    Luo Wenzhou pondered. Then, instead of condoling him, hemented casually, "Sounds quite terrible. I don''t know if is worse than writing the self-criticizing essay though."


    Fei Du''s brow raised.


    "Seriously, imagine squatting in the hallway, behind a stool as your desk, and facing your own door -- Back then in the summer people only shut the mosquito screen and kept the doors open for venttion, so everyone can see who is up to what from the outside -- and neighbors were all colleagues of your parents. Everyone that walks by you would give you this look, and ask, in pity: ''Oh kid, what have you done this time?'' It''s an utter insult to the integrity of you as a person."


    Fei Du chuckled.


    Luo Wenzhou was about to say more, but suddenly, his cell phone rang. It was a call from the office. Luo Wenzhou was a little surprised. Somehow he had a bad feeling about it.


    "Hey," Tao Ran was panting, "Captain Luo! Just now Chang Ning and her family reported to the police station in her neighborhood, saying that Chen Chen went missing!"


    His cellphone was very loud. Fei Du heard it too.


    Luo Wenzhou: "When? Where? Calm down. It might not be rted."


    "She went for her painting lessons at the YMCA today. Chang Ning sent her there at noon. In the evening her parents asked her to wait inside for half an hour and his dad would pick her up after work. Their ss... at about 4:30 pm, his dad called her and she was still in the painting room then. At a little past five, when he arrived, she was gone."

 Chapter 47: Humbert Humbert Fourteen

    Chapter 47: Humbert Humbert Fourteen


    TL: QuantumC 08-03-2019


    ================================================================================


    "Hello?... Hi, is it Su Luozhan speaking? This is Miss Wang from the YMCA. I was at the registration desk in the beginning of the summer semester, remember?"


    "Of course. How are you, Miss Wang? What can I do for you?"


    "Sorry to call at such ate hour - did I wake you from bed?... Are your parents home? Could you please get one of them on the phone? There is actually something that I need to ask you , but I''d like to get your parents'' consent first."


    "My dad isn''t home yet. My mom is sick in bed and I can''t wake her up. It''s Okay, you can ask me directly."


    "I see... alright. I''m trying to gather some information here. You see, there is a student in the art ss named Zhang Yuchen. She had gone missing since after school today, and someone saw that she was with you guys this afternoon. Do you remember where youst saw her?"


    Silence


    "Hello? Su Luozhan? Are you still there?"


    "Yes... I am sorry Miss, the reception is poor. You were saying...a girl in the art ss?"


    "Yes. Zhang Yuchen, the short one, with a ponytail."


    "Oh I see. We went to the nearby park after school today. There was a big group of us, some from the other sses too. We hung out there for a little while, then went home separately. I don''t know where she went afterwards."


    "Is that so? I see. Thanks youngdy. Now you go back to bed and don''t bete for ss tomorrow, alright?"


    "Yes Miss. When you find her could you let us know? I am worried for her too."


    Lang Qiao turned off the telephone recording: "since there weren''t adults around, and since what she said was very simr to the other girls, the teacher didn''t take special notice. What do you think about this conversation? I am still in shock to be honest. But I mean, if you really think of it in this way, it makes sense: if the culprit were really a kid, that exins why Qu Tong would trust aplete stranger and get on his car in spite of what just happened, and why Tao Ran and I couldn''t iste a single suspicious vehicle from the security footage... This is so... freaky."


    Luo Wenzhou pushed some paper in front of her: "Here is something freaky-ER."


    It was Su Luozhan''s YMCA registration paper. Under "emergency contact" she put: mother, Su Xian.


    The police cars bolted towards the registered address of Su Luozhan. It was located in a rather neat residential area. In the middle of a silent night, the guard -- freshly awakened from his nap, stared at the papers in Luo Wenzhou''s hand in confusion.


    "Is there a Su family in this building? A single mother with her daughter?"


    The guard stared so closely that he became cross-eyed: "N...no no, not really. I....I..I''m quite new here."


    "Go find the renter''s registration book from the management." Luo Wenzhou gave orders quickly, "Be very careful. If the girl IS the suspect, then itplicates the situation because she will likely be more unstable and unpredictable than adults. Pay special attention not to instigate her. We definitely don''t want to escte the situation in case the victim is still alive."


    "Captain Luo, they are in Apartment 401!"


    "All clear? Let''s move."


    In the fourth floor hallway, a SWAT team had finished hiding in the corners. Luo Wenzhou raised his chin to signal Lang Qiao to knock.  3.9M101K 1.5M201K 1.2M128K 531K102K 128K22.2K 882K186K 677K144K


    Lang Qiao massaged her hard face -- which was so stiff that it seemed to have suffered from an unsessful botox -- and forced out the kindest expression that she could manage. She stepped up and knocked: "Anybody home?"


    No one answered.


    Lang Qiao felt very uneasy -- she was used to being the ferocious one and was not professional at ying nice.


    She squeezed out a soft and gentle question: "Anyone home? I am the new renter upstairs. My bathroom had been leaking today. I''m so sorry...I hope the water didn''t leak to your apartment?"


    Still no response.


    The technical crew member passed her a reverse peephole viewer. Lang Qiao ced it on the peephole and looked inside.


    No one was at the entrance. She could see all the way across the entrance hall and into the living room. The room was very dimly lit and the only light source came from the middle of the room. Lang Qiao looked more closely -- it was from an alter. Two red electric candles nked a ck and white portrait.


    The somber face of the woman reflected the faint candle light and stared back at Lang Qiao spookily. A chill ran down Lang Qiao''s spine. She stepped back.


    Luo Wenzhou looked at her inquisitively.


    Lang Qiao shivered. Then she quickly shook her head and knocked on the door again: "Hello? Anyone home? If you can''t open the door that''s fine. I just wanted to ask if water seeped through my floor to your bathroom."


    Awkward silence...Suddenly, Luo Wenzhou gestured her to step back: "Let''s open it."


    Lang Qiao was surprised: "But boss..."


    They had no evidence, no witness, and not even any necessary paperwork for searching. All were based on deduction.


    "Don''t worry." Luo Wenzhou said in a low but calm voice: "It''s on me. Open it."


    Some officers quickly broke through the door.


    An inexplicable smell immediately swamped everyone. It was the mixture of entric fragrance candles and the damp and heated mid-summer air. Together they had fermented into something close to rotting.


    But no one was home.


    The apartment was not spacious at all. It was a standard 1b1b at most fifty-some square meters. However, with only Su Xian''sst picture upying the room, it felt strangelyrge and empty.


    Facing the picture there was a full-sized bed in the living room. The color of its silk bedding had faded. On the bedside table there was a bottle of dark nail polish, and half a carton of cigarettes.


    The bedroom was slightly smaller. It was obvious that a girl lived here: A row of cheap dolls were lined up on a small bed. They sat shoulder to shoulder and stared at the door together. All of them were wearing dresses with floral prints.


    "Heavens!" Lang Qiao opened the wardrobe in the girl''s room. It was filled with floral dresses. What''s creepier, each dress had a counterpart on the dolls with the same print pattern. Goosebumps creeped onto Lang Qiao''s forearms: "Who the hell would live here?!"


    Luo Wenzhou put on a pair of gloves and flipped through the wardrobe. Suddenly, he discovered a small box under a pile of clothes.


    He found a buckle. "Tuck!" the box opened. The melody of "Fur Elise" seeped through the cracks of the box. It was a music box with a small container for storage. Perhaps its battery was low: the sound of the piano was a bit off-tuned and spooky.


    Then the officers nearby all saw what''s inside the container.


    Lang Qiao covered her mouth --- it was a naked doll with only one arm and one leg. The other half of its limbs were detached, and all three piecesid on a piece of blood-stained fabric.


    The fabric was made of cotton. Small white flowers bloomed lively on it.


    "It''s from Qu Tong''s dress. Her parents showed us a picture of her wearing it. I remember that the dress had some mis-alligned stitches on the side that covered part of its prints, which made the flowers look a bit nted here and there..." Lang Qiao pointed at one of the pieces with stitches, "E...exactly like this."


    Luo Wenzhou closed the box. His face was as solemn as a rippleless pond. "Take it to the forensics."


    He turned to the bathroom.


    Colorful mildew had covered the seams and corners of this bathroom. In front of a cracked mirror with carved wooden frames, there were two sets of toothbrushes, a row of lipstick, and a couple of used Q-tips.


    "What did she say to the teacher then...''mom''s sick and sleeping; dad''s still not home''?" Luo Wenzhou scanned the room, then muttered, "but it doesn''t look like a man lived here. Who is this "dad" that she''s talking about? Are you sure that the call was located here?"


    "Captain Luo, here''s the phone she used to take that call." An officer carefully dug out an old battered cell-phone from underneath the tea table. After flipping through the recent calls, he added: "And here is the number that the teacher used to call her!"


    That means the girl was still in this room minutes ago!


    Luo Wenzhou turned around abruptly: "But where is she now?"


    Su Luozhao was, after all, still a kid. She wouldn''t have known how many security cameras there were in the YMCA campus. Neither would she have known that her face were captured by one. Then, after taking that call from the teacher in the middle of the night, would she panic? Would she think that she''s already exposed?


    What would she do next?


    And, the most important of all was: Where is Zhang Yuchen?


    Qu Tong disappeared in the wild, and whoever took her away wore shoes of size 42 and drove a car, so it can''t be a girl so young. That meant that this mysterious "father" of Su Luozhan was probably her culprit.


    At the moment, Zhang Yuchen was obviously not hidden in this small apartment. Could she be with the culprit? If so, would Su Luozhan go to him after getting scared by the call?


    If Chen Chen was still alive, would the phone call make them cut the fun short and get rid of her early?


    Can she live to see the morning light?


    The hot, midsummer night was like a melted caramel candy: so thick, and so sticky. A girl quickly ran through the hushed streets. The sound of her footsteps followed her around like a shadowing monster, but it was also the only thing that kept her apanied. asionally, some wandering cats or dogs would make a noise and scare her to death. She ran into an ancient town-house.


    It was a two story building more than thirty years old. It shared two walls with the neighboring buildings, all of which were only two or three stories high. Each townhouse had a small yard barely enough to grow a single grape vine. At first nce, they seemed simr to the stand-alone houses you see on the countryside. But the interior was actually very sketchy and cramped. Multiple families shared the same backyard where cooking and washing took ce. Come summer time, the rooms were frequented by bugs and the seeping rain. There had been words that these buildings were close to demolition.


    The girl tried twice before finally managed to insert the key. When the door opened, she rushed in and picked up the phone by the door immediately to dial a number.


    However, after dozens of ringing, the call was hung up.


    The girls eyes widened in dismay: how dare him not to pick up her call! She tried again, but still no one answered.


    She was a very beautiful girl. Her eyes were shaped like almonds; her face was ripe like an apple; her chin was small and delicate like that of a sculpture. Compared to the cheap stic dolls, she was the one that''s more like a doll: the innocence and the mour reached a perfect bnce on her. However, in the next moment, the bnce was shattered. Ghastly enmity crawled onto her pretty face as she threw the telephone onto the wall and started screaming hysterically.


    At the same time, some noise came from a corner of the pitch dark room, like the whining of a small cub.


    The girl in rage abruptly turned around, and flipped the light switch.


    Through her teary eyes, the girl in ropes looked up in dismay.


    It was the missing girl, Chen Chen.


    Meanwhile, Chen Chen''s family was waiting anxiously in front of the YMCA building.


    Tao Ran stepped aside to take a phone call. Afterwards, he whispered something to Fei Du''s ear so the family wouldn''t hear it.


    "An adult male culprit?" Fei Du''s brows tightened, "You mean, the little girl lured Chen Chen into the park. Then, the man appeared, attacked her, and took her away?"


    Tao Ran: "What do you think?"


    "No...something feels off to me." A silly arm hanging in front of his chest, Fei Du paced around and murmured to himself: "Something isn''t right --- Mr. Zhang called his daughter at a little past five, and her phone was off. That means that at that time the abduction was already taking ce. One hourter, he tried to locate Chen Chen''s phone through the tracking app, but failed, meaning that Chen Chen was already in the hands of the abductors, but they haven''t had the time to throw the phone out to distract the police yet --- that happened at least well after six. Why?"


    "An adult male -- even if he was handicapped -- shouldn''t need that long to seize a little child like Chen Chen." Fei Du''s pacing slowed down, "Then, after Chen Chen''s in control, the girl put the phone battery back on and purposefully left it for taken --- Why?"


    Since they''ve already removed the battery, it''ll be easy to just take the phone apart and throw the pieces away separately. It''ll be convenient, and effective too -- even the police dogs wouldn''t have a chance to collect all the pieces in such a short time.


    On the contrary, leaving it whole and functioning in order to distract the police is a far more dangerous move. Even for an inexperienced kid, as long as she''s watched some TV dramas, she should know that there would be more than one police officers in a chase and it would be hard for them to miss.


    What''s more, what if whoever picks up -- or steals away -- the phone happened to see her face? Wouldn''t that be too risky?


    "What if... in the Xi-ling abduction case there were two culprits but this time, for whatever reason, the man wasn''t on scene and there was only the girl, so it took longer?"


    Tao Ran waspletely shocked by this idea and what it implied. He grabbed on Fei Du''s shoulder: "And the girl wasn''t strong enough toplete the killing... and record it on her own, but she knows the tracking app on the phone and she knows the parent will definitely fall for the bait to look for her. She was doing it to torture the parents -- just like sending the recordings!"


    To give you some hope and lure you to keep pedaling, only to fall back down into desperation.


    However, the timing didn''t work out for her this time: she took longer than expected.


    "If so, since she wouldn''t be able to drag someone unconscious who''s her own size, she must have tricked her into following." Fei Du stole a peek at the wailing mother in the distance, "For Chen Chen, who knows that her dad must be looking for her, under what circumstances would she be willing to follow?"


    Tao Ran took a deep breath, then whispered: "I don''t have my phone with me today. But my home is just around the corner. Your dad is probably looking for you in the campus right now. If you go and look for him too without a call first, it''ll be easy to miss him. You coulde to my home to make a call."


    "Then it must be very close. Much closer than the YMCA. It must be within a short distance that feels safe andfortable for the child."


    Tao Ran snapped the map: "Within one kilometer...no...five hundred meters..."


    There was an ancient residentialplex about to be torn down. It was merely one block away from the other entrance of the park.


    "Wait." Tao Ran said, "The address sounds familiar."


    Luo Wenzhou and his team turned Su Luozhan''s apartment upside down. The search was focused on any item that could possibly belong to a male -- anything that could lead them to that mysterious man.


    Lang Qiao pulled out a drawer full of papers like the ID, the Hu-kou booklet, and various school and hospital registrations. She was flipping through the medical records, while the other files were piled on the floor.


    Luo Wenzhou quickly skimmed through the mess. Suddenly, an idea shed through as he spotted something. He bent down to pick up the apartment deed --- two deeds.


    One of them was the deed of this 1B1B apartment. The other one was of some ancient staff dormitary older than Su Xian herself.


    "Little Qiao-er, confirm this one for me:" Luo Wenzhou asked, "Twenty years ago when Su Xian was young, was this her registered address?"


    Lang Qiao didn''t fully understand why he needed it. But, out of her absolute faith in him, she went to verify the address immediately. Before she had made any solid progress though, Luo Wenzhou received a call from the tail that he sent after Xu Wenchao: "Captain Luo, we tapped Xu Wenchao''s apartment: there were two consequtive calls that came in just now. He absolutely heard them, but didn''t pick up either of them. Could it be that he had noticed us? Oh, and we tracked the iing number too. Both were from a residential phone. The address is..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Shaonian Road, Tradepany building, Unit 3."


    The tail was dumbfounded: "My my, Captain! How do you know?"


    At the same time, Lang Qiao barged in: "Boss, this WAS the address provided by Su Xian back when she was interviewed as the victim years ago!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Let''s move!"

 Chapter 48: Humbert Humbert Fifteen

    Chapter 48: Humbert Humbert Fifteen


    TL by QuantumC8.26.2019


    Chen Chen woke up and found herself hurting all over from lying on the cold hard floor.


    It took her a while to realize what was going on. She remembereding to the home of an older girl who was in the photography ss. She lived really close by: right around the corner of the park exit.


    Her apartment was neat and tidy, despite not having many furnitures. The phone wasn''t functioning well. The reception was poor. The girl promised that she could fix it by re-plugging the wires. She gave her a bottle of soda while she waited. As Chen Chen drank the beverage with a straw, she started wondering if this was too much trouble for her host.


    Just when she was debating whether to go back to the YMCA, she started feeling dizzy. It was as though her soul was pulled out of her body. Her limbs suddenly became unresponsive. She struggled a little, then quickly fell unconscious.


    Chen Chen''s ponytail was messy. Her dress was covered in dirt. Her hands and feet were tightly tied together. Perhaps from being dragged on the ground, there were lots of bruises on her bare skin, all of them sore. Her lips were duck taped and she could taste the stinky stic in her mouth.


    She struggled to curl up in the corner, as Su Luozhan was just a few steps away staring at her condescendingly!


    Su Luozhan tilted her head. A strand of long hair flowed down the side of her cheek and she kept curling it with her slender finger, all the while measuring her prey with those chilling eyes like a cold-blooded animal.


    Suddenly, she smiled at her: "You are so annoying."


    Chen Chen shivered uncontrobly.


    "You are the type that I hate the most, who knows nothing but to follow the orders to please the adults. But in fact you are all calcting bitches. Yes, you know how to be sweet. Whatever you wanted, you''d get it. Whenever you went out, you were guarded. You think you are still a baby and the world is supposed to revolve around you, right? "


    As she spoke, Su Luozhan bent down to find a wilted chopper de from the cab. The metal was too heavy for her slender arms. The knife dragged on the cab surface and made a nerve-wracking squeaking sound.


    Chen Chen started struggling heavily. Her mouth was covered by tape so all she could manage was a weak and trembling "Hmmm" sound. Her face was red as she tried hard to get out of the ropes.


    "I could do it without him!" Su Luozhan lost her temper. She picked up the de and charged at Chen Chen.


    Under extreme fear and pressure, human-beings sometimes unleash surprising potentials. At that moment, out of blues, Chen Chen found the strength and managed to get on her feet despite the tight ropes! But before she regained bnce, the de had already arrived. Chen Chen closed her eyes and dived forward, barely saving herself from Su Luozhan''s first attack. Her forehead hit hard on the corner of the side table. Blood immediately covered her face.


    Chen Chen was dizzy from the blow on the head. All she wanted to do right now was cry and scream for help. But she knew that crying wouldn''t do her any good. She pressed her shoulder on the side table to try to stand up.


    At the same time, Su Luozhan''s knife got stuck in the door of a wooden cab because she swung it too hard just now and missed. It was, after all, too heavy for her to handle. She pulled the knife with all her strength but couldn''t get it out. Outraged, Su Luozhan stepped up and grabbed a handful of Chen Chen''s hair.


    Chen Chen felt as if her whole scalp was about to be pulled off. She could only bend forward towards Su. The tears had wetted the edges of the duck tape on her face. She was like amb about to be ughtered for the sacrifice, so weak and innocent, yet all the more aggravating in the eyes of a sadist.  3.9M101K 1.5M201K 1.2M128K 531K102K 128K22.2K 882K186K 677K144K


    Su Luozhan pped her on the face. Chen Chen, who had never been hurt before even by a fingertip, waspletely nked.


    "Bitch!" Su Luozhan said, "You are a bitch!" Thanks to the soap operas on TV, the word "bitch" had acquired poprity among middle schoolers and older elementary kids, especially for the more mature ones who enjoyed acting like adults by speaking their ''grown-up''nguages --- even if they were still just kids who fuzz over an ice-cream cone in front of their parents.


    Su Luozhan pushed Chen Chen against the side table. Chen Chen''s back fell hard onto the short table. Under the ss table top on the yellowed old pictures, the deceased woman was smiling perplexingly at the two living girls.


    The tear drenched tape on Chen Chen''s mouth was loosen by the action. As soon as the tape loosened, she pleaded: "Help..." The first word after a long time was hoarse and weak. Then, she found her voice again and screamed: "Help -- Help !! "


    Su Luozhan was taken aback by her crying at first. Then she realized what had been missing all along -- why the whole thing had seemed somehow ''unsatisfying'' -- it was the screams of the victim. Chen Chen''s crying plead inspired her. She was like a child who had discovered a present. She looked at Chen Chen pleasantly, then stomped hard onto her fingers on the floor.


    The excruciating pain took Chen Chen''s breathes away. Rather than screaming louder, she could only pant helplessly. Su Luozhan yelled:"Go ahead, where''s your screaming?"


    Chen Chen couldn''t catch her breath. With what strength was left of her, she squeezed out some words: "Su...uu...please...I really...really admired you...your...".


    Su Luozhan was frigid at first. But the word "admire" cracked her icy mask. Her hand stopped reaching for Chen Chen''s hair. Her deep, ck eyes stared at Chen Chen.


    At that moment, there was a sudden loud pounding at the apartment door. A rough man''s voice shouted: "Shush! Someone is trying to sleep here!"


    Su Luozhan and Chen Chen both jumped.


    The angry man continued:" Open up! Or I''ll call the police! Are you watching a scary movie at home or something? Jeez...all the screams and yelling in the middle of the night...there are others who live here, you know?"


    Chen Chen''s mouth was covered by Su Luozhan. From the tissue box nearby, she quickly pulled out a ball of tissue and shoved them into Chen Chen''s mouth.


    "I''m sorry, uncle." Su Luozhan took a deep breath. Her face was still cold, but her voice was soft: "My parents are not home. I cannot open the door for a stranger. I will keep the voice down."


    The man at the door paused. Then he continued, harshly:" What the hell...a kid? Come over you. Someone needs to teach you how to behave..."


    Su Luozhan frowned. The hysterical man at the door went on before she answered:" Have you any idea what being a good citizen means? A good citizen need to have concerns for the others. The most basic thing is not to bother the others around you. Yet look at you... Which school do you go to? I need to give a call to your teacher. Her student needs to be disciplined!"


    Looked like the rambling wasn''t going to stop. Su Luozhan''s beautiful face was cold as the frost. "Uncle, I''m sorry. I apologize, alright?"


    "What did you say? Can''t hear you! You were quite loud a minute ago. Speak up now."


    Su Luozhan only wanted to get rid of this retard as soon as possible. She shoved some more paper into Chen Chen''s mouth, and walked towards the door. One step, two steps...


    At step seven, she suddenly realized something and froze there.


    Although this old apartment had been maintained regrly with its water and electricity bills paid for in time, all the neighbors knew that no one lived here. It had been vacant for a long time. Then why would someone whoe over in the middle of the night not be surprised to hear that there is a child inside without any adults?


    At the realization, Su Luozhan quickly turned around and started running. Meanwhile, the old wooden door was kicked open with brutal force from the outside. Some police officers rushed in. Su Luozhan reached for the knife that was stuck in the cab door. Under extreme pressure, somehow she sessfully pulled out the de this time. Before the officers reached her, she pointed the de at Chen Chen''s neck. The sharp de slit her neck open and left a scarlet red wound on her pale skin. Su Luozhan screamed: "Freeze! No one moves!!"


    The fallen door was still shaking on the floor. The air waspletely stagnate in the room. Su Luozhan squatted behind Chen Chen, holding the heavy knife shakily. The de circled Chen Chen''s neck and finally stopped above her vain. Her hand couldn''t stop trembling. She stared at everyone above, like a young trapped animal, fierce and furious.


    Tao Ran quickly stopped his men. They carefully stayed a couple steps away from her: "Su...Su Luozhan, right?"


    Su Luozhan did not answer.


    A million ideas jumbled in Tao Ran''s head and it was hard to pick the best approach on spot to negotiate with an underaged suspect.


    Right then, Fei Du stepped in the room too. He turned slightly to hide his broken arm and scanned the room casually. Then he asked: "Where is the suspect?"


    Su Luozhan was surprised. Her eyesnded on him unexpectedly.


    "Wait, there is a kid." As if just noticing her, Fei Du asked, rather nonchntly: "Where is the abductor-murderer that''s with you?"


    Su Luozhan looked down at the knife in her hand, the girl under her knife, and back up at Fei Du, as if not knowing how to reply.


    "Come, put the knife down. It''s Okay now honey. Don''t be scared." Fei Du looked around at the interior of the old apartment. Thest owner of the apartment had left but the marks of her chaotic life remained. The walls were yellow from cigarette smoke, and the corner of the room was full of empty beer bottles. "What a jerk -- using a child as the bait and hiding in the back... I have never seen someone so gutless before. Girl, don''t you worry. The police had surrounded this ce and he is not going to get far. The uncle policemen and thew is going to protect you...That''s really a heavy knife for you, isn''t it?''


    Now that he mentioned it, Su Luozhan suddenly found the weight of the knife unbearable. Her wrist was close to snapping. At the same time, she understood something from Fei Du''s words: the police thinks that these were entirely the doings of that man, and she was only a poor bait! Su Luozhan felt a trace of excitement for having fooled everyone. Her eyes watered and she stared at Fei Du with those red bunny eyes. She now looked more helpless than Chen Chen.


    Tao Ran immediately picked up on where Fei Du was going. He took a step forward. Seeing that Su Luozhan was scared and grasped the knife firmer, he squatted down too and held his empty hands open towards her. His eyes were at the same level of hers. He tried to look across Chen Chen''s shoulder at Su Luozhan directly: "Is it true? Was someone pressuring you?"


    Su Luozhan hesitated for a second, then nodded decisively.


    Tao Ran''s voice was softer. He slowly reached one hand out to her: "Then give the knife to Uncle Tao, and take us to the bad guy, would you?"


    Su Luozhao stared at his hand and looked very hesitant. When Tao Ran''s hand moved too close, she nervously raised the knife again. The shivering de left marks on Chen Chen''s neck --- She really couldn''t hold it any longer.


    Tao Ran agreeably stopped his reaching hand in mid-air: "Is the bad guy''s name "Xu Wenchao"? He used you to take Qu Tong away, right? Did he do anything to you?"


    Fei Du added: "Your mother used to dress you up like a barbie doll to please him, did she? She even put makeups on you?"


    Su Luozhan stole a small breath. It seemed that she was trying really hard to contain herself.


    "She was getting old. She couldn''t hold on to her youthful appearance anymore, so she thought of you. She didn''t allow you to wear anything else, or to cut your hair short, right?"


    Fei Du looked into her eyes, "Did she mistreat you? Did she hit you?"


    Su Luozhan''s tears - real or fake - rolled down her cheeks as Fei Du was speaking. The tears blurred her sight. Suddenly, she felt a pull on her wrist. It was Tao Ran who grabbed her knifed hand. Su Luozhan struggled a little, but Tao Ran said gently: "It''s Okay...It''s Okay. Don''t be afraid. I know you are a good girl. He made you do it. There''s no need to worry..."


    His words were gentle but his grasp was firm and Su Luozhan really had no chance against him. After a brief second, she gave up and let go the de.


    An officer quickly stepped up and took Chen Chen away from Su Luozhan.


    Luo Wenzhou just arrived on scene. He heard a colleague reporting over the earphone: "Captain Luo, one of the suspects is under control. She identified Xu Wenchao. Can we apply for the warrant now?"


    "Yes. Notify the tails: don''t let him slip." Luo Wenzhou helped carrying Chen Chen onto the ambnce stretcher, then turned towards the other girl, Su Luozhan: "Where is Qu Tong? Is she still alive?"


    Su Luozhan did not reply, only shook her head at him. As if reminded of something, her delicate lips slightly curved up. Then, realizing that she was letting on more than she should''ve, she looked down submissively.


    Although the music box more or less prepared him mentally, Luo Wenzhou still felt tightness in his chest. He looked at her slightly curled hair and her long and fluffy eyeshes. Suddenly, an entric, ridiculous sadness overwhelmed him.


    He waved a colleague over to escort Su Luozhan to the police car, then turned towards the ambnce. Some paramedics were treating the wound on Chen Chen''s forehead. They were saying something to her but he couldn''t hear it from a distance. Her family had arrived. The suffocating separation and sudden reunion had made Chen Chen''s mom weak at the knees. She tripped, but Dad quickly caught her by the arm. The quarreling duo reconciled and walked toward their daughter hand in hand.


    She had been missing for almost eight hours. Although scared, stressed, and bruised all over, Zhang Yuchen made it back in one piece after all. It was nothing short of a miracle. A full night of roller-coasting and death-racing, at least they were able to get back one of the missing girls.


    Luo Wenzhou exhaled deeply, then raised one hand up the usual way, waiting for a high five from his partner. But this time, none was given. He awkwardly looked around, only to find Tao Ran still by Chang Ning''s side. Chang Ning was weeping in relief, and Tao Ran was there to console her. He even passed her a handkerchief. Obviously Tao Ran hadpletely forgotten about his partner.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Talking about dates before mates!


    In the next moment however, his hanging palm was pped by someone else. Luo Wenzhou looked around surprisingly and saw the handicapped big boss Mr. Fei had waltzed over here and, for whatever weird reason, decided to do this unnecessary thing. Afterwards, he took his time to tuck his hand back into the pocket, and nced at Luo Wenzhou with a faint smile: "Tut-tut, how childish, Captain."


    Luo Wenzhou speechlessly watched this contract-less extra get into his car. Legs crossed, Fei Du shamelessly waited for the chauffeur Luo toe and drive him. In the name of his ample worldly experience and precise judgment of character, Luo Wenzhou could swear that some naughty flirting was going on with Fei''s words and expression.


    He couldn''t believe what just happened: "So I gave him an inch and now he''s taking a mile...a light year?!"

 Chapter 49: Humbert Humbert Sixteen

    Chapter 49: Humbert Humbert Sixteen


    "The days of my youth, as I look back on them, seem to fly away from me in a flurry of pale repetitive scraps like those morning snow storms of used tissue paper that a train passenger sees whirling in the wake of the observation car."


    --- <i>Lolita</i>


    "Camarades! Let us power through tonight! I will reimburse allte-night take-outs and the facial masks for thedies; I''ll take care of your repentance letters to your wives too. Whatever it takes -- pulling an all-nighter or flipping the Su house upside down -- we have got to crack the case tonight with this lead. Either we find Qu Tong, or we find her body. Whichever happens, let it happen tonight." After giving orders via the inte Luo Wenzhou turned towards Fei Du. Thetter had been staring at him curiously. "Young man, I think you are probably the reincarnation of the Broomstick god himself (1) -- see what a ''jolly'' birthday you''re having today. I guess I''m not able to drive you home any more. Should I call you a cab, or drop you by some hotel on the way?"


    Fei Du did not answer. Instead, he asked, out of nowhere: " What do you guys usually eat when working overnight?"


    "Some fancy gutter-oil meal (2), most likely." Luo Wenzhou looked a bit bitter, "asionally, when folks want to treat their exhausted selves, they go up a notch and get something like the McDonalds."


    Fei Du: "..."


    "Obviously." Luo Wenzhou turned the wheel to head towards the Bureau, while adding sourly, "How the hell am I supposed to afford the reimbursement if everyone were as picky as you? The hotel down the block: half a month of paycheck for a night. Should I drop you there?"


    "I prefer not. The smell of the incense in their lobby is too strong, and their rooms don''t have bathtubs." Fei Du replied unabashedly to the face of the poor civil servant who still lived on food trucks and fast food chains. Then, ignoring the fiery hatred that he just kindled, Fei Du continued to order, "Keep going. There is one next to your Bureau with this so-called "six-star" service. It''ll do. I can walk there myself."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He tried hard to keep it to himself but finally gave up: "Director Fei, all I see you do each day is wandering around killing time. Did daddy leave you enough money to waste for a lifetime? What if it runs out? See who''s going to scoop the wind for you to eat then... You are no longer a child now. After tod...yesterday, you''re old enough to marry. It''s about time to stop fooling around!"


    Fei Du rested his intact arm on the car door. He didn''t reply, only kept smiling.


    Luo Wenzhou saw nothing funny about it. The thought of him wasting his life worries him; the sight of his nonchnt smiles irritates him. If not for Fei Du''s broken arm, Luo Wenzhou would have already thrown the man out.


    After a while, Fei Du asked again: "Are you sure you don''t need my help?"


    "Are you contracted? Do you get paid?" After all, Luo Wenzhou did not let Fei Du walk there. Although his scolding went on, when they approached the Bureau he exited the expressne and drove towards thendmark hotel, "What business have you here?"


    "I heard that the "culprit" you guys arrested was identified by the savage little girl. But besides her words, you don''t have any other evidence. Right?"


    Luo Wenzhou answered expressionlessly: "Noment on the details."


    Before he finished, Fei Du continued calmly: "Oh, and he is suspicious because he has some ties to the child abduction case twenty years ago."


    Luo Wenzhou grinded his teeth and thought to himself that after this case is settled, he had better find out which loose-lipped bastard in his team leaked the details out.  3.9M101K 1.5M201K 1.2M128K 531K102K 128K22.2K 882K186K 677K144K


    "In other words, you do not have evidence. The girl is barely thirteen years old. Although she looks smart, her mental state is hardly stable. How much credibility will her testimony hold? The guy you took in, on the other hand, has a perfect alibi that''spleted by the police. What if he insists on being innocent?" Fei Du slightly shrugged, "As for the little girl: I don''t think you''ll get anything else from her. After all, you can''t use any of the "interrogation tactics" on her. Or were you nning on finding a child abnormal psychologist at this hour of the day?"


    Everything that Fei Du said were true. They were exactly what had been giving Luo Wenzhou a headache too.


    All of his movesst night were not based on any solid evidence. Thank God that they sessfully rescued Chen Chen in the end. Otherwise, any of the illegal break-ins or the permit-less searches was enough to get him in trouble.


    At that time, his car has already arrived at the hotel''s parking lot. Cold air from the AC swamped them, bringing the clean and crispy scent from the candles in the lobby. Does smell good.


    Although it was long past midnight, there were still lobby boys at the front gate greeting them in high spirits.


    Fei Du got off and was about to walk in. Suddenly, he remembered something and turned around. He bent down to knock on Luo Wenzhou''s window, then opened the door on the driver''s side.


    "My phone." He said, "Please pass it."


    "Oh." Luo Wenzhou picked up the cell phone left on the passenger seat and was about to pass it over. However, as if dreading the wait, Fei Du also reached in to get it.


    Because of the car ident, his shirt was a little messy and the cor hung loosely. From Luo Wenzhou''s angle he could see part of his bare chest. It was a bit on the lean side. However, underneath the pair of angr cor bones, it shows a restrained and quiet kind of strength. He didn''t wear any cologne today, but the corrupted body of this man had probably been seasoned with fragrance from all over the world. A faint but nice smell of man escaped from his loose cor and, before Luo Wenzhou could savor it, disappeared into the air.


    When Fei Du reached for his phone, he almost pressed on Luo Wenzhou''s body. However, he was away the next second. His finger casually brushed on Luo Wenzhou''s palm as he pulled the phone from him.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Deep in the night, a male, who liked other males, who was also young and single and extremely stressed, suddenly faced such outright flirtation. It''s a tragedy that''sparable to a starving man who saw the official Mechilin site''ste night broadcasting.


    "I should still be around in the morning. If you need anything, just ask." Fei Du naturally stood up, as if nothing had happened. He tucked the stupid cell phone into the pocket and continued, "I could talk to that girl for you. Although I am not an expert in troubled teenagers, I am an expert at being one."


    Luo Wenzhou waved his hand in exhaustion: "Go mind your own business."


    When Fei Du really left, Luo Wenzhou parked the car on the street side and smoked two cigarettes in a row. Finally, he got rid of the awkward boner. When starting the car again to head back to the bureau, he thought to himself helplessly: for the ''normal'' people that are busy with work, there is still the "blind dating" route to take care of the needs. But for those with a minority taste like him, it''s just too inconvenient.


    Back when he was fresh out of school, the young master Luo had fooled around for a couple years like Fei Du. However, soon he realized that while fooling around was easy, finding a serious partner was hard. The so called befuddled life boiled down to four simple steps: passion, habituation, boredom, and disgust. Not to mention that as his career took off, work started taking up more and more of his time. So Luo Wenzhou gradually took up an old man''s ''sun-set'' life style consisting of work and cat.


    However, an old man''s lifestyle didn''t sit well with a young man''s body. His physical self and spiritual self sometimes had opposing needs. Luo Wenzhou thought grumpily: If this keeps going, who knows if he''ll be getting a boner from Luo Yiguo''s fluffy tail one day...


    He floored the gas pedal. The car roared and bounced toward the bright lights of the Bureau.


    "Captain Luo, Xu Wenchao has been taken in, in the interrogation room. Su Luozhan is in another room and Xiao Lang is with her. Do you want to..."


    Before he finished, Luo Wenzhou''s hasty steps stopped. He saw the hunched back of a man in the hallway.


    "Uncle Guo"


    Guo Heng put out the cigarette butt and slowly got on his feet. He tried to stand upright, but was still hunched.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Why did you..."


    "You went looking for me this afternoon. Was it because the old case has been reopened?" Guo Heng looked at him desperately, "Was it? My daughter...hasn''t been found for so many years. I heard that a girl was just rescued, alive. Is it true? Did you catch the suspect? Could we get anything valuable for Fei Fei''s case this time?"


    The old man''s turbid eyes were lit up by the soul fire that Lao Yang described, too bright to look into.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t know what to say. He dodged the questions awkwardly: "We will do our best, I promise."


    He escaped from the conversation as quickly as he could, but he couldn''t escape from Guo Heng''s eyes. He could feel those eyes following him and were about to burn right through his back.


    Meanwhile in the interrogation room, Xu Wenchao, who had been summoned twice within a single day and this time as the "suspect" rather than a "witness", looked very gloomy. He was arrested from home in the middle of the night. His face was tired from ack of sleep. Even his chin became scruffier.


    This time, he was far less patient and polite. His hands were ced on the knees with fingers locked. His face looked pale and neurotic.


    "I didn''t do it." Xu Wenchao sounded helpless and innocent but his words were thorny: "Let me say it one more time. I did not abduct any girl. I did not kill anyone. You''ve seen the footage from my dashboard camera. You''ve tapped my phone and followed me, legally or not. May I ask this: with such an extreme vition of a citizen''s privacy and rights, have you found any evidence of murder?"


    The officer in the room answered coldly: "Su Luozhan abducted a girl from her school, tortured her, and attempted to kill her. She called you two times while on scene, then identified you in front of everyone. What do you say to that?"


    Xu Wenchao sat back and replied with his signature soft voice: "A phone call, a child''s usation, and I am now a murderer. The saying goes ''if you want to condemn someone you can always find faults in him''. Today I finally understand what it means."


    "Why would Su Luozhan call you? Why would she frame you?"


    Xu Wenchao paused. He quietly looked up. Behind the screen, Luo Wenzhou got a good look of those eyes. He suddenly had a very hapless feeling: This man was too calm and too sure. It was as if he still held the most important card that no one knew of.


    "Because I was her mother''s lover." Xu Wenchao said, "Yes. I didn''t mention it this afternoon...because I didn''t want any unnecessary trouble. I have loved Su Xian since I was young. But she didn''t like me. She''d rather live a miserable life than to ept my love. Only at the dusk of her life did she decide to spare me some warmth, yet I cherished it like gold. I even wanted to marry her... If not because of her early death, I would now be Su Luozhan''s step father. Since I am not, it''s hard for me to legally adopt her. I am still trying to find another way. At the same time, I provided her everything that she needed. She calls me when some emergency happened, so what?"


    "But you did not pick up."


    "I did not. Because I knew that my phone was tapped." Xu Wenchao answered frankly, "Even if the call wasn''t from her - even if it were from some delivery boy or housing agent - I wouldn''t pick it up either. Officer, I still have thisst resort of freedom under the heavy pressure of the public power, no?"


    "So you''re saying that Su Luozhan framed you?"


    "I don''t know why that child would say such things. If she really said it, then I am heartbroken. Her mom had always been negligent. Comparatively, I consider myself a better parent-to-be. She hasn''t been very well disciplined when she was younger. Sometimes when her behavior crossed the line I scolded her. Maybe she was being rebellious." Xu Wenchao paused, then added, "Or maybe she didn''t know what she was talking about. Maybe someone was leading her."


    The other officer in the room pounded the table: "Cut the bullshit! ording to the surviving victim, Su Luozhan said this after calling you: ''If he is noting, I can do it myself.'' You also hired cleaningdies to take care of the old Su apartment, and you paid for its water and electricity bills! Why on earth would anyone maintain a vacant old apartment that''s about to be demolished? You were obviously up to something!"


    Xu Wenchao shook his head: "maintaining an old apartment, abduction and murder...where is the causal connection between the two? ording to your logic, the municipal office should be responsible for all the criminal cases in the city then?"


    "Didn''t he say that his brain was messed up by a fever?" Luo Wenzhou raise one eyebrow in surprise, "He seems very slippery to me. Or does his retardatione and go?"


    "Captain Luo, if he insists on his innocence, then we really don''t have any other evidence. What then? Put him on a lie detector?"


    "Go and check his bank ounts, credit cards, deeds, and car registrations...Take his picture to the car rentalpanies...and check his acquaintances - the car he drove on that night was probably borrowed. His own dashboard camera was normal, but it only means that he didn''t drive the car that''s under his own name. I don''t believe he could hide a four-wheeled machine so easily..."


    Before Luo Wenzhou finished, he heard the officer in the interrogation room asked: "Let me ask you one more time: Where were you on the evening of the twenty-seventh?"


    "I was at home, reading." Xi Wenchao kept a perfect straight face, "I am a freencer and I work from home. I read at home all the time."


    "If so, then why did you rent the car?"


    And that was pure bluffing.


    If Xu Wenchao did not drive his own car in Xiling that day, then it made the most sense to rent one. Because either borrowing from a friend or secretly owning a car under someone else''s name was easily traceable. On the other hand, there were many small car rentalpanies with a sloppy registration procedure. Renting from them, or better - renting from an illegal rentalpany - would be a far safer choice, and the most probable choice for Xu Wenchao.


    Luo Wenzhao stopped talking. Arms crossed, he listened to Xu Wenchao''s reply carefully.


    To his surprise, Xu Wenchao calmly raised a brow and looked authentically surprised: "Sir, what are you talking about?"


    "On the evening of the 27th, you followed a school bus from Xi Ling and nned to abduct one of the eleven girls on the bus. However, someone abducted the whole bus before you. A girl named Qu Tong escaped, ran into you and Su Xian, and sought your help. She got into your car, not knowing she was out of the frying pan and into the fire. "


    Xu Wenchao: "What a..."


    The interrogation officer cut him off harshly: "The security cameras outside of the museum recorded your licence te. What do you say to that?"


    "Sir," Xu Wenchao asked calmly, "May I ask when did this happen on the 27th?"


    The officer replied coldly: "Why don''t you ask yourself?"


    "I really don''t know." Xu Wenchao slightly raised his hands, and shook his head, "Alright. If you are set on bluffing me, you''re not going to tell me the time. But if this happened before midnight, then I wouldn''t have the time to do it. You know where my home is. From my ce to the Xiling area, it would take at least three hours...and that''s not considering the traffic and the weather. At around 8:30 pm on the 27th, I called for a take-out from home. My order number and the delivery time can all be traced. If I am lucky, the delivery boy might still remember me."


    Luo Wenzhou''s heart jolted. He realized that his bad feeling came true.


    "I suggest that you verify what I said as soon as possible, to prove my innocence." Xu Wenchao looked down at his watch, "Looks like I will need to spend the night here. May I ask when I can speak to awyer? Oh, and...although I still don''t know what exactly Su Luozhan has done, may I ask you to please be gentle with her? After all, she is still very young. If necessary, I am willing to take on the responsibility as her guardian."


    (1). Broomstick God: the god that brings you bad luck


    (2). Gutter-oil meal: There was a big scandalous news many years ago in China where some street vendors were found using oil from the gutter to prepare meal in order to control the cost. Reporters went undercover to get the story and found that there was actually a whole underground production chain revolving around the gutter-oil business, from it''s extraction (literally, from the gutters), to purification, to distribution to vendors, etc. With the wide public exposure came the government''s heavy punch. Hopefully it no longer exists today, but since then the ''gutter-oil meal'' is used to refer to cheap street food with sketchy hygienic standards.

 Chapter 50: Humbert Humbert Seventeen

    Chapter 50: Humbert Humbert Seventeen


    "Indeed, he was home at 8:30 pm on the 27th." Tao Ran went with Chen Chen to the hospital and got to have a couple words with her after she finally calmed down. On his way back, he received orders to verify Xu Wenchao''s alibi, "I checked his take out orders for the past six months too. It''s very routine: usually from a handful of restaurants. The delivery men recognized him."


    An officer by his side asked: "Could it be that the delivery man had been bought?"


    "Let''s look into the personal rtionship between the witness and Xu. But I wouldn''t put my money on it." Luo Wenzhou said, "The delivery boys are mostly on short term contracts. New facese and go every three months or so. You can imagine they don''t get to bond with the client very often. So I don''t think one would agree to falsify an alibi for a client. Not to mention that not everyone has the gut to bullshit in front of the police...And..."


    "Yes?"


    "My shoes are size forty two." Luo Wenzhou lightly tapped one foot, "Xu was wearing sneakers this afternoon so I didn''t get a clear look. But judging on the shoes he is wearing now, they look smaller."


    The meeting room was in an uproar.


    Lang Qiao was thest that walked into the room. She threw herself onto a chair: "Boss, would you please send someone else? I am helpless with that kid. She scares me."


    Luo Wenzhou asked: "What is it with this Su Luozhan?"


    "The kid ispletely at home. She eats and sleeps as if nothing happened." Lang Qiao shook her head, and took the cup of coffee passed over by a colleague, "She is not afraid of the adults, or the police. I have no clue about why this is...Maybe she is too young to realize the consequences of her doings? Or maybe she is too smart: she knows that because of her age she won''t get into any real trouble. When you talk nice to her, she''ll y the innocent. If you speak tough to her, she''ll just smile back. Oh, and just now, she asked for a bottle of milk, drank it, and asked me if she could take a nap. Then she napped! To be honest, if I were caught on scene doing what she did and brought to the police station, I''d be scared to death. I definitely wouldn''t be able to sleep. Is this child really human?"


    Luo Wenzhou remained silent. He lit a cigarette, but was deep in his thoughts before putting it between the lips.


    Without any doubt, Xu Wenchao had a role in this. Otherwise it would be too many ''coincidence''.


    Xu was the liaison between the current case and the ones twenty years ago. He had a special rtionship with the Su family. Su Luozhan called him twice while on scene, and identified him as the culprit without hesitation.


    His different attitudes during the two summons today are very interesting too. In the first summon, he was soft and polite, but acted unprepared. Many times he had to rely on his ''loss of memory'' excuse, and was almost cornered by Tao Ran in the end. He panicked as if he didn''t expect it at all.


    But during the second summon, he was sharp and calm. His words were logical; his answers were impable. When he was taken from his home in the middle of the night, this man was even fully dressed.


    Xu at first said that he heard about Qu Tong''s case from the radio. Although the details were hidden from the public, the key information such as "the evening of the 27th", or "Xiling district" had been revealed. Then, why didn''t he mention his alibi the first time around?


    Was he too frantic to remember it, or had he not realized that he ranked high on the suspect''s list?


    Or...was he only testing the water to see how the police would react?


    If it were thetter, that would be absolutely horrifying.


    Whichever one it was though, one thing was certain: a person cannot appear at two different ces at the same time. Law of physics.  3.9M101K 1.5M201K 1.2M128K 531K102K 128K22.2K 882K186K 677K144K


    Luo Wenzhou pondered for a while, then knocked on the table: "Attention, everyone. I''d like you to work on..."


    Right then, someone pushed the door open from the outside. A reception room staff interrupted Luo Wenzhou: "Captain Luo, did you call for food delivery? It''s here."


    Luo Wenzhou did not see thising at all. Before he answered, those exhausted and starving young men had already swamped the messenger. But they were surprised too when seeing what''s inside the delivery bags.


    It wasn''t the usual skewers, nor the hot and spicy stew. Not even Mcdonalds or the KFC.


    There were two gigantic bags. One was an insted container for warm food, and the other was packed with dry ice to keep it cool. Both were stamped with a fancy logo. The utensils were neatly packed in a separate carton and looked too delicate to be disposable.


    Opening up, what''s inside was nothing short of an entire buffet bar from a luxury hotel! Chinese dishes, Western gourmets...there were even some fresh Gto ice-cream.


    Luo Wenzhou choked on his own smoke.


    Lang Qiao quickly recovered from the initial shock and snatched a box of ice-cream: "Mamamia! Big boss you are too kind!"


    Tao Ran asked dumbfoundedly:" What the heck? What are we going to live on for the rest of this month?"


    "Boss, did you win a lottery?"


    "He must have won thetest bet on the Euro Cup!"


    "Bullshit. That is beneath our dear Captain. Cap'' Luo, Is it pocket money from your parents?"


    "But what''s the pocket money for? There''s no free meal in this world. Maybe they are making you a baby brother and are bribing you ahead of time?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Bri... go f*ck yourself!"


    What a team of camarades.


    He took over the container and found a familiar looking hotel logo --- the one that he just left from.


    Luo Wenzhou''s eyelid twitched.


    "Wait, it looks like that fancy and pretentious hotel down the block." Lang Qiao suddenly realized, "I thought their buffet only served during regr business hours and was too cool to cater...but all these goodies? What a down-to-earth gesture!"


    "I guess the food isn''t enough to seal your mouth." Palpating veins bulged from Luo Wenzhou''s temples, "Why so many f*cking questions? If you ''re not hungry, go to work."


    Lang Qiao studied Luo Wenzhou''s facial expression. Her long-buried little girl''s pink bubbly heart suddenly rejuvenated.


    Think about it: such an extravagantte-night treat is absolutely out of character for Captain Luo, who is more of a ''pancakes, churio, and soy-milk'' guy. A brand new idea shed through her mind. Lang Qiao burst out: "Wait! Someone is courting you and sent this dinner of love... Ouch!"


    A crumbled paper ball flew from Luo Wenzhou and hit her right in the forehead.


    Luo Wenzhou tried to end the topic by pretending that he didn''t hear it. Amidst the salivating aroma of food, he calmly continued where he left off: "Okay guys, listen to me while you eat. I need you to split into two groups. Group one will use the missing children information tform to gather info from all districts of Yancheng. Pay special attention to these victims'' gender, age, physical characteristics at the time of missing, and the summary of the cases. Let us do another round of search in this order --- the timeframe will be within the past two years."


    Tao Ran asked: "You suspect that Qu Tong is not the first one"


    "The suspect stalked the victim for a long time and continued with the abduction n despite sudden hitches - a sign that they nned the kidnapping all along. I think Qu Tong cannot be the first one." Luo Wenzhou said solemnly, " since we can''t find any evidence for the current case, let''s focus on earlier ones. Group two, I want you to dig out Su Luozhan, Su Xian, and Xu Wenchao''s files and go through everything about these two generations of people: their transcripts, bank notes, address books, personalputers...I want a thorough screening through all of it."


    The two tasks fell on their shoulders like the Five-elements Mountain on top of the Monkey King. They could feel the pressure of the workload even with their ankles. Suddenly, the bubbly room turned somber. Everyone hurried to take notes or gobble food down and no one sought answers for the origin of this meal any more.


    Luo Wenzhou grabbed a roasted chicken wing. Within three bites the bones were as clean as the rice field after a locust outbreak: "Very demanding tasks, I know. Everyone get down to it as soon as you finish eating. Little Lang, you will be the final summarizer."


    "Boss, don''t you want to try Su Luozhan one more time?"


    "It''ll be useless." Luo Wenzhou said, "With adults you could provoke, trick, or even scare them...but with Su Luozhan...she wouldn''t think of you as one of her own kind even if you sat right in front of her. Perhaps in her eyes, a human is no different from amb, and it''s all just a game of predator v.s. prey. Besides, she is too young and her testimony can only be used as supplementary evidence, but we need to make this one solid. The victim''s family from 20 years ago is sitting right there in the hallway outside. None of us want this case to drag on again to our retirement, right? Then hurry up, on your feet."


    Dull screening jobs like this one can hardly produce any adrenaline rush. At the tail end of a long evening, everyone relied on cheap dark coffee to stay awake.


    All the records for the missing children''s cases were sinct: boy or girl; age of missing; cest seen; events leading up to the incident...As for what kind of a kid she was, what she liked, how she lived, or who still dreamed about her in the dark long nights and were forever trapped in the hopeless search --- none of those would be reflected on the papers.


    When so many tragedies were listed together, it was shocking and heart-wrenching but also long and dull, like the endless list of carved names on a war memorial.


    Before long, it was dawn. The meeting room was filled with empty coffee cans and cigarette butts.


    "Unfound missing girls between 9 to 14 years of age -- minus those who left letters and ran away themselves, or those whose bodies wereter found -- there were 32 casesst year, and 31 the year before. Considering physical characteristics we can further eliminate some adult-like girls and the ones who still looked like a kid, which would leave us with 26 cases in thest year and 20 in the year before.


    Luo Wenzhou poured some cold tea onto a disposable towel and wiped his face: "What if adding the ''floral dress'' as a keyword?"


    "Seven casesst year, and eight cases the year before." Lang Qiao looked up. Amidst yawning and droopy-eyed colleagues, Lang Qiao''s bloodshot eyes looked particrly bright. Her face was lit by the reflection light from theputer screen and beamed with an unusual paleness: "Captain Luo... You guys might want to see this."


    She connected theptop to the projector. As a photo coge of the victims appeared on the wall, Tao Ran froze in the middle of a yawning ---


    The fifteen girls each had unique physical appearances and no one looked particrly simr to another. However, when all of them were ced side by side in one picture, the differences in them somehow faded while a vague simrity between teenage girls surfaced: the look in between a girl and a woman. At a casual nce, this point ofmonality made them seem so simr that it''s even hard to tell them apart!


    Tao Ran murmured: "It can''t be..."


    Like withered flowers on a bed of fallen leaves, these girls'' information was swamped in the sea of missing children cases. Gradually, they turned into cold cases locked away in the file drawer. If not for this coincidental discovery, no one would ever realize that they grew from the same vine.


    It was a poisonous vine hidden deep down the bog, with strong roots and far-reaching branches. A small tip of it creeped up under the sun and it was already horrifying.


    "Go back further." Luo Wenzhoumanded, "search for the past 10... no, 20 years, all the way back to the first Lian-Huashan abduction case!"


    Fei Du had ordered for clean clothes to be delivered to his room, and had finished grooming himself early in the morning. Then he asked his assistant to drive him to Dr. Bai''s home. However, it was a middle aged man who opened the door.


    The man had an average height, squarish face, and very wide shoulders. Although dressed in casual and humble clothing, something about the way he looked at him made Fei Du frown.


    His eyes were neither intimidating nor sharp. But they had a special kind of presence. They were like a very fine needle that could find the tiniest pore on the skin and pierce through.


    Fei Du was taken aback at first. But quickly he greeted him politely: "Nice to meet you. I am here to meet Dr. Bai. She is expecting me."


    "Oh," The middle-aged man pushed his sses, "I see. You must be Mr. Fei, right? Bai Qian is my wife. Pleasee in."


    As he was talking, Dr. Bai came out to greet him too. The man seemed to be on his way out. He gently nodded at Dr. Bai, then took his briefcase and left.


    "He works at the Yan-cheng Police Academy." seeing that Fei Du turned to see him leave, Dr. Bai introduced, "Just an armchair criminologist who only knows things on paper --- actually, the book that you''re borrowing today was edited by him."


    Fei Du''s eyesnded on the book in his hand -- "Criminal Psychology: Case Studies of the Criminal Case Victims (Third Edition)" -- and dwelled shortly on the name of the editor: Pan Yunteng.


    "So, how are youtely?" Dr. Bai poured him some tea, "Last time here, you mentioned you wanted to apply for graduate school? What a surprise. I wouldn''t have guessed it from a busy man like you. Tell me it''s not because of all the journal articles that you read here while waiting for your appointments."


    "Well, I''m nothing more than a Mascot actually." Fei Du answered casually, "My father left me a very good managerial team. I am not at all needed at the day to day business operation. Plus, the other board members would prefer to keep my hands out of the unfamiliar waters too. They would love to see the Fei Jr. go get a real degree besides the paper from some diploma mill."


    Dr. Bai looked at him curiously, "But for you, wouldn''t it be more helpful to get an MBA from abroad? Our field just seems too...irrelevant."


    Fei Du smiled, "You think so. Butpared to some of my other friends who studies the Beatles or the existence of ESP, my interest is actually fairly reasonable."


    Dr. Bai concurred, "Fair enough. It''s not like you guys would be worried about getting a job with the degree. So what is your research interest? Perhaps I could connect you with some advisors."


    "This is the one." Fei Du waved the thick book in his hand.


    Before Dr. Bai fully wrapped her mind around his suggestion, the young man continued with his half-hearted self-mocking: "Besides, I have heard so much about the good looking police officer-to-be in the Academy. Maybe I will get lucky."


    It was alreadyte in the afternoon when Fei Du left from Dr. Bai''s home. His fully charged cell phone had been sitting silently in his pocket the whole time. Fei Du pondered a little bit, then spoke to the assistant: "To the Bureau, please."


    The assistant was confused: "Director Fei, what happened? Is there a case to report to the Police?"


    Fei Du replied with a smile. The assistant had been working for him long enough to read his different types of smiles. With the sudden revtion, she shrugged at his increasingly queer taste.

 Chapter 52: Humbert Humbert Nineteen

    Chapter 52: Humbert Humbert Neen


    Crazy... Crazy, crazy. Had Fei Du suddenly lost his mind and got arrested by Luo Wenzhou himself for recklessly driving in downtown and got locked away in the ''little dark room'', it would''ve sounded less crazy than this.


    Luo Wenzhou''s temples throbbed wildly. His overloaded CPU barely got time to cool down: An offer in April. That means, even for someone as affluent and well-connected as Fei Du, he would have to start preparing all of these sincest year.


    Why?


    Did he just wake up one day and suddenly became madly in love with research? Did he have too much to eat and nothing else to do? Did he do it to get close to Tao Ran? Or was he suddenly sick of this world that stunk of money?


    Meanwhile, the crowd still bustled downstairs. A mid-aged woman identally dropped her photograph - one that she had been holding in her hand the whole time. She quickly reached for it but a gust of wind blew and carried the dated piece of photo further and further away. It was clearly a minor ident. However, to a brittle-nerved person it was enough to break her. As if sensing a bad omen, the woman stumbled, then knelt on the floor and started wailing.


    Her hoarse yet piercing cry climbed up the staircases, prated the shut windows in the hallway and stabbed everyone in the heart. Amidst the agitating mor, a forensic technician rushed toward them and reported: "Captain Luo, the test result came out -- the one you sent over yesterday -- the blood on the fabric belongs to Qu Tong!"


    Luo Wenzhou inhaled deeply. He stared at Fei Du for a while, then walked toward Director Lu''s office in silence.


    Twenty minutester, Fei Du walked into Su Luozhan''s room with two boxes of ice cream in hand. Heid both of them down on the small table and asked: "Ice-cream? Which vor do you want?"


    Su Luozhan hesitated. She looked at him for a moment, then pointed at the strawberry one.


    Fei Du gave her the strawberry one and picked up the other for himself. Then he took out a pair of headphones from his pocket, inserted it on his cell phone and turned on a ser game. Legs crossed and ice-cream at hand, Fei Du paid her no more attention.


    The two sat there wordlessly for quite a while. At first, Su Luozhan was very quiet and avoided eye contact. Half way through the ice cream, seeing that the man really had no intention of talking, she finally gave in and peeked at him. Her eyes nced over Fei Du''s shirt, his cell phone, and finally arrived at his wrist that was resting on the table.


    After studying his watch for a while, she lightly tapped on the floor and asked, "Is your watch genuine?"


    Fei Du made no response, as if he hasn''t heard her at all.


    She waited. Then, after a short pause, she reached one finger across the table and lightly tapped next to his cell phone.


    Fei Du finally noticed. He took out one earphone and asked: "Yes?"


    The volume of the game was indeed veryrge. Thementator''s yelling and screaming leak out of the earphone into the quiet room.


    Su Luozhan chewed on the corner of the stic spoon while asking: "What are you here for? Aren''t you going to ask me questions?"


    "Oh, my colleagues are busy so they sent me to look over you for a while." Fei Du seemed reluctant to pause the game. He only spared a casual nce at her before focusing back at the game. His answer was absentminded too.


    When others kept asking questions, the girl yed the card of ignorance and let nothing out. But when others werepletely uninterested, she now seemed a little discontent about being ignored.  531K102K 677K144K 1.8M38K 1.1M52K 484K28.4K Paid Story264K14.5K


    She started peeking at him, at first just asionally. After finishing the ice-cream, she stared at him altogether, even tried to start a conversation: "You''re a cop too?"


    Fei Du answeredzily: "An intern."


    "Are interns rich?" Su Luozhan raised her eyebrow like a grown-up. "Your watch seems expensive. Is it genuine or a replica?"


    As if finding her question funny, Fei Du first raised his brow in surprise and then chuckled: "You know what a ''replica'' is? Girl, who taught you all these?"


    Su Luozhan''s face suddenly fell. Clearly he did not take her seriously and treated her like a kid. She was offended.


    She remembered him, the man with a stered left arm. Back in the Su house he was like this too. He didn''t think that she could do any real damage, or do anything at all.


    Most people are like this: when they got away with things by ying innocence, it feels great. But the good feeling fades quickly, because the point of "ying a pig to eat a tiger" is at the "eat a tiger" part. No one likes to y a pig forever -- especially when others really thought of you as a pig.


    Su Luozhan bit on her lip. She carefully assessed whether this man really had zero interest in her or was he only pretending to be. After a long pause, she threw out a bait and answered, half-sincerely: "Those uncles taught me."


    Fei Du paused too. Then, instead of asking who "those uncles" were, he only condoled her in a pitiful and condescending manner: "You will be Okay now, don''t worry."


    Su Luozhan felt as if she punched on a cloud. She pushed: "You mean that I won''t be punished?"


    "I meant that no more bad guys will hurt you any more. As for what sentence you will get from this, it depends. But judging from your level of involvement and your age, you probably will not be tried in the criminal court. I''m guessing, probably a couple years in the juvenile detention. " Fei Du replied. He finally turned off that damn game on the phone at this time. As if finally remembered his ''policeman'' duties, he continued with a clich old-people lecture despite those sparkling peach-blossom eyes: "You kids...never learnt to protect yourselves. You were used by the bad guys yet you probably still don''t know what''s going on. Kid, listen to me. What''s happened has already happened. When you get out from here, be a good student and don''t bother yourself with these crazy affairs any more. You still have a whole lifetime ahead of you..."


    Meanwhile in front of the monitor screen, Tao Ran had already started and finished a nap while Fei Du and the girl were dawdling. He woke up to the tail-end of Fei Du''s lecture and rubbed his eyes in disbelief: "My my, is this Fei Du... Listen to him! I thought he was possessed by your ghost or something!"


    Luo Wenzhou replied with a kick on his chair.


    It got Tao Ran on his feet, so he stood up and rubbed his face to wake up. Listening to the verbose and pointless lecture, Tao Ran smiled and said: "You two are on a trucetely. Good."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Why would we fight?"


    "God I wish I knew." Tao Ran grinned. "Time flies since you two had a scene at the entrance of the Huashi Sub Bureau. You were furious, remember? You even asked someone to give him a ticket."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    "I told you." Tao Ran sighed. Still the usual peacemaker that he was, he continued, "Fei Du is a good kid. If you are nice to him, he will be ten times as nice in return. Although he''s quarrelsome at times, he usually doesn''t mean it. Most of the times he is very agreeable. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have let us off the hook so easily on the damaged car."


    Tao Ran was prepared to receive the usual sneer from Luo Wenzhou. However, after an unusually long pause, Luo Wenzhou briefly replied with a "mhmm".


    Tao Ran: "..."


    What on earth have happened recently? Why is the world different every time he opened his eyes!


    At this time, Suo Luozhan in the screen suddenly got on her feet. Leaning forward with almost her entire upper body on the table, she interrupted Fei Du''s moral lecturing with her bodynguage.


    She whispered: "You think I was being used?"


    "Xu Wenchao has already been arrested," said Fei Du sternly. "Although some details still aren''t clear, we should be able to sort them out soon."


    Su Luozhan gave him a mysterious smile.


    "Of course, If you are willing to identify him then..." On these words, Fei Du paused deliberately. Then he shook his head, "Forget it. Your testimony won''t count...Can I get you anything else to eat? I can ask someone to buy it."


    Su Luozhan ignored his question and asked: "Why won''t my testimony count?"


    "Because you are underaged." spoke Fei Du airily, "Kids are not able to be real witnesses. Not to mention that this is a very serious case. Even if you identify him, they won''t take it seriously. Even if they do, you won''t be allowed to testify in court. But girl, there is one thing that I have to say: however scared you were, it was not right to hurt your friend. At that time, you were holding a chopper in your hand. Do you know how dangerous it was? What if your hand slips and..."


    Su Luozhan suddenly interrupted: "Perhaps my hand DID slip so I wasn''t able to kill her?"


    Fei Du looked down at her and seemed to be shocked at those words.


    Su Luozhan kept ying with a small lock of hair in her finger. A perplexing grin was on her face. She was like a hunter waiting for her prey to take the bait.


    Fei Du''s face turned ''solemn''. He pushed his cell phone aside and sat up straight to look Su Luozhan in the eye: "I understand that for a traumatized kid, it can be difficult to reconcile with the idea of being the victim of something so terrible. You may try to convince yourself that the bad guys were cool, and the bad guys were strong, and the victims were too weak and they had iting. You may want to see yourself as part of the perpetrators. You may even try to copy them. But..."


    "But the victims did have iting. They are weak." Su Luozhan made a face to him, and continued, "Just likembs, they know nothing but to scream. They are dull, and they are stupid. They fall so quickly to your tricks, and they scream and die so easily. There is no point for them to be living."


    Fei Du frowned and stared at Su Luozhan in fury and disbelief: "How could you think this!"


    From the moment that he treated her like a stupid child and tried to "enlighten" her, Su Luozhan had a sullen anxiety in her heart. How she wished to break apart that calm and gentle face of his! Now she finally did it. Seeing his calmness shatter brought her some strange pleasure.


    "Anyways, I won''t be sentenced, right?" Su Luozhan looked at Fei Du triumphantly. "Thembs are so stupid. They believe everything you say. You talk to them once, and the second time they''ll see you as a friend and they''ll follow you wherever you go... haha, so funny it''s killing me."


    "Su Luozhan," Fei Du''s lips trembled, "Stop saying this nonsense!"


    Su Luozhan didn''t get to see the expressions of Qu Tong''s parents when they received the recording. Just imagining it made her heart itchy. Now, imagining the aguish of this young "police officer" being grafted onto the targets of her psychotic torturing, her eyes lit up with excitement.


    "It wasn''t nonsense." she lightly tapped the ground with her toes, speaking naively, "My mom taught me this. She said that when other animals are in danger, they either fight or flight. Onlymbs are different. Whenmbs get scared they lose their mind and stand still, and they will follow anyone. But my mother was amb too, very stupid after all. I read her diary once. When she was my age she was once frightened out of her mind. Since then she never had the guts to leave her signature any more. "


    Fei Du: "... What signature?"


    Su Luozhan naughtily put one hand next to hear ear like a phone, and answered: "Because her ''knight'' was dead, she never dared to do it again."


    "Her knight?"


    "Yeah, pretty cheesy, right?" Su Luozhan smirked, "He was just a nicer ''customer''. My family lived on the hunt. My mother was good at nothing except "catching thembs". When she grew old, she couldn''t even do that anymore and I had to support her...Phew, finally she died."


    "... Enough, knock it off." said Fei Du stressfully, "You can''t...you''re not old enough."


    "Oh but I am. I learnt it when I was seven." Su Luozhan grinned at him delightfully, "My mother entertained the guests with thembs I caught. Sometimes she let me go "hunting" with the guests too. When they were finished, they only need to take themb home and she will take care of the rest. She learned it from her mother. "


    In front of the monitoring screen, Luo Wenzhou jumped to his feet: "Su Xian''s drunkard mother, search her!"


    Lang Qiao barely entered the monitor room. Hearing thismand she turned around and dashed out immediately.


    Tao Ran waspletely awake by now: "What? She''s saying...that...Su Xian''s mother was a procuress in child prostitution, and Wu Guangchuan was just one of her customers? Wait, but why did she refuse to say anything when we asked her, but now telling everything to Fei Du even if he didn''t ask anything at all?"


    "You treated her like a suspect. You were the ''police''." Luo Wenzhou answered softly, eyes on the screen, "Fei Du treated her like a ''naive child''. He was the ''parent''. So she can''t help but send him the ''recording''."


    "Impossible," Fei Du shot up so fast that his knee bumped into the table. The table jumped, thennded heavily on the ground. "The killer was Wu Guangchuan, and he was dead by stabbing from the victim''s father. After that no more simr cases... "


    He suddenly stopped. His eyes were wide open as if he was stricken by a horrific thought.


    "You never heard of them, that''s all." Su Luozhan admired his expression, "Anyways, that uncle deserved it. My mother loved him so, but he was no different from the other scumbags. Having my mother was not enough, no. He wanted the other stupidmbs too. Jealousy drove her mad so she invented a ''fun'' signature. "


    Fei Du: "What about you and Xu Wenchao? Are you in the same kind of r..."


    "Of course not!" Su Luozhan called out angrily, "Who did you think he was? Just a temporary cleaner!"


    Fei Du suddenly raised his voice: "Then why did you send the recording to Qu Tong''s home!"


    Su Luozhan kept smiling, arms stretched out on the table.


    "It''s fun." she said.


    "Boss! Su Xian''s mother was called Su Hui. She was mostly unemployed, an addict, and ran a Majong house. Under her name there is a second-handed truck!"


    ying a pig to eat a tiger: Pretending to be silly in order to beat someone smart.

 Chapter 53: Humbert Humbert Twenty

    Chapter 53: Humbert Humbert Twenty


    "The old Majong club had long been demolished, and the building itself had undergone multiple renovations. Now it is a business court. If the body were really hidden there, it would almost surely have been excavated a dozen times. As for the rest, because of the poor record keeping practices back in the days, there isn''t much we could find, at least for now." Another peek at Su Luozhan through the video cam gave Lang Qiao shivers: "speaking of...how trustworthy is this little psycho any ways?"


    "Only for a reference. I think this kid has some kind of a histrionic personality disorder." Luo Wenzhou stared at the video cam blinklessly. After a short pause, he added, "But at least their method is clear -- it''s a coboration between an adult and a girl. They started by stalking the target. Then the adult would do something to scare the target so the girl could win her trust. After a couple interactions they would lure the target away."


    "On the day of my house-warming party, Chen Chen was indeed stalked." Tao Ran pondered, then said, "If the stalker that Fei Du spotted that day was the culprit..."


    "Let''s hypothesize that he is the suspect A." Luo Wenzhou pulled out an A-4 sized paper, wrote down the letter ''A'' and circled it, "and supposed that the driver in Qu Tong''s case is suspect B -- whether A and B are the same person, we do not know yet. But I would guess not."


    Lang Qiao asked, "Why?"


    "The frequency." Luo Wenzhou knocked on the desk with the pen cap, "If suspect A had been following Chen Chen since the day Tao Ran moved, then up until yesterday evening, it had almost been a full month. Putting aside whether suspect A had the time or energy to stalk two girls at the same time  let''s suppose that he could  even then, for someone so patient that he stalked for a full month,mitting another case within five days is too frequent."


    "And then there is the third person in this case, Xu Wenchao. On the night of Qutong''s case he had a good alibi, so we can be sure that he is not suspect B. Then, what role did he y in all of these?" Luo Wenzhou wrote down the character "Xu", and then the character "Su", and drew a line connecting them, "After Su Luozhan drugged Chen Chen down and tied her up in the old Su apartment, she went back home as if nothing happened. She did not worry about whether Chen Chen would escape, or whether she would be heard by the neighbors..."


    "Because she knew that her culprit would go there and take care of the rest!"


    "However, this culprit of hers did not go. When Su Luozhan received the phone call from the YMCA coordinator, she went back to the Su apartment to see whether Chen Chen had been taken away. Then, she called Xu Wenchao twice." Luo Wenzhou bolded the line connecting "Su" and "Xu" on the paper, extended it, and drew two diverging arrows, "Zhao Yuchen''s mental state is still unstable so let''s put her testimony aside for now. From just the information above though, there are two possibilities."


    "Number one, Xu Wenchao is the suspect A that had been stalking Chen Chen and nning on the abduction." Luo Wenzhou paused, "Number two, Xu Wenchao was Su Luozhan''s ''agent''. After Su Xian fell ill, there were many things that the girl could not manage on her own. She needed an adult ''agent''."


    During his first trip to the Bureau Xu Wenchao acted very surprised. Because he had no idea where in the n went wrong. His answers to all questions were meticulously cautious. He would rather appear retarded than slipping out things unnecessarily. Back then, he most likely did not know that Su Luozhan had dropped those recordings at Qu Tong''s parents''. He also didn''t expect that the police would connect the current case with the one twenty years ago so quickly.


    However, Xu Wenchao may have sensed something from the first police summon and more or less guessed what Su Luozhan had done. After getting stalked by the police and the two missed calls, he was mentally prepared for the second arrest, and prepared what to say.  531K102K 677K144K 1.8M38K 1.1M52K 484K28.4K Paid Story264K14.5K


    "Wait, you mean..." Tao Ran lowered his voice without noticing, "Xu Wenchao was the "temporary cleaner" that the girl mentioned just now."


    "Temporary cleaner...It...It''s not what I think it is, right?" Lang Qiao turned abruptly to look at Luo Wenzhou, "He was cleaning the...What about Qu Tong? Is there really no other hope?"


    "Last night, Su Luozhan tied Chen Chen at the old Su apartment. Xu Wenchao should have taken it from there, but he couldn''t because he was locked up here." Luo Wenzhou skipped her question, and continued without looking up, "Meanwhile, the cloths pieces from Su Luozhan''s music box showedrge amount of blood, while the forensics did not find any matching Luminol reaction in the old Su apartment. That means that the apartment was probably only a temporary hub. The first scene wasn''t there."


    Tao Ran: "Then where would the first scene be?"


    "Wait! No...guys, hang on!" Lang Qiao searched in frenzy. She pulled out a paper from a stack of files, "Something ain''t right. Xu Wenchao is someone who went to private school twenty years ago and had the kind of money to buy expensive camera lenses. As a freence photographer with a house, a car, and no debts, he''s been living a veryfortable life. Pardon mynguage, but in this world a wealthy pervert could simply pay for what he wanted. Did he really need to partner with Su Luozhan and put himself in danger? He''s not in it for the money, obviously. Then why? What is he after?"


    Her words made everyone silent.


    She''s got a fair point  for someone growing up in an intact upper-middle ss family with a smooth sail through life, why in the world would he be muddled with the Su''s?


    Had it not been Su Luozhan''s imitation of Su Xian''s ''signature'' and Xu''s own careless slips afterword, who would have guessed that he was involved?


    "Captain Luo," at that time, an officer poked his head in and interrupted, "There is an uncle Guo looking for you and he''s been here since early morning."


    Guo Heng was waiting outside of the chaotic visitors'' meeting room, sitting on a chair that someone had found for him out of sympathy, and facing the back door of the guards'' room. The guard on duty was pulled out to help registering the visitors and left the TV open. On the old shabby screen, a local news channel was covering the breaking YMCA rescue missionst night.


    Guo Heng watched very carefully, his neck extending forward and his hunched back unintentionally straightening. He sat rigidly upright  in a way that prisoners would sit in assembly halls when they were made to watch correctional programs together.


    Twenty years an inmate had turned a strong youngster into an old man and had robbed his ability to slouch freely on the sofa. Luo Wenzhou called out gently: "Uncle Guo."


    Guo Heng unconsciously straightened up some more and checked his sitting posture, then quickly realized it was no longer necessary. His eyes sadly looked down. Wrinkles reemerged on his ironed face.


    Guo Heng sighed, then spoke softly: "I must have burdened your work...I just...seeing so many people here made me worry: Could it be that the man I killed, Wu Guangchuan, was the wrong person?"


    Luo Wenzhou hesitated. He pulled out two cigarettes from the pocket, lit them, and handed one to Guo Heng: "Do you remember the girl that you rescued?"


    "Yes." Guo Heng nodded immediately, "She was quite skinny. She looks a little older than Fei Fei...a pretty little girl. What is her name again?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Su Xian."


    "Yes yes, exactly." Guo Heng savored the smoke in his mouth  a habit from many years of prison life, "It has been so many years. I wonder how that girl is doing now. When I got out, I thought about paying her a visit. But then I thought that she''s probably returned to a normal life now, maybe even married and with a child. Who would want to be reminded of the dark past? I''d better not disturb her."


    Guo Heng''s gloomy face finally showed a hint of a smile: "Honestly, for all these years I had survived on the thought that had I cowarded back then and let the bastard slip, the girl might not be able to live. A couple years of jail time in exchange for a life  it''s worth it, don''t you think?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s lips moved. But looking at Guo Heng''s face, he didn''t know where to start.


    Was he supposed to tell him: "You might have killed the wrong man. The girl that you saved was the true murderer?"


    Then the old man''s lifetime of suffering, his rigid sitting posture and straightened smoke, would all turn into a ridiculous joke.


    "Captain Luo," Guo Heng thought of something else, and asked, "You haven''t told me yet about these people gathered here. What happened? Was Wu Guangchuan the murderer?"


    "Uncle Guo, would you please recall something else for me first?" Luo Wenzhou propped himself up with the back of his chair, "Look at me, look at my eyes...and tell me on the day...the day that you killed Wu Guangchuan, how exactly did you find him?"


    Guo Heng was taken aback and had no idea why he would ask this detail again: "Because of that boy..."


    "The boy messaged you on your beeper. He was a student at Jin Xiu Middle School named Xu Wenchao, and he helped you follow Wu Guangchuan  These I already know. But do you remember what Xu Wenchao said in the beeper message?"


    The cigarette butt in his mouth, Guo Heng tried hard to recall the details. His brows tightened: "Hum...it might have been... something like "He took her away from school." Yes, that was it. He was very cautious and ambiguous and didn''t mention any names. But as soon as I read it my scalp exploded. I quickly called back from a phone booth."


    Luo Wenzhou was surprised: "You called him back? What else? Please, any details?"


    "I asked him what had happened, then I met him at the school gate." Guo Heng answered, "The boy led me to Wu Guangchan''s apartment. And then...you know what happened from then on."


    Luo Wenzhou squinted: "That means that Xu Wenchao was waiting for you to call back somewhere. Do you know where he waited?"


    "Close to the school." Guo Heng said, "The Jin Xiu campus was quite well established. There was many newly-built telephone booths not far from the campus. He usually called me from one of those."


    Luo Wenzhou: "How long did it take you to get there?"


    Guo Heng: "About five - six minutes at most."


    "Xu Wenchao sent a message to your beeper first, then waited for your call. After briefly talking on the phone, you arrived at the Jin Xiu Middle School in 5-6 minutes to find him and then the two of you went looking for them together, right? So all in all it took around 10 minutes?" Seeing that Guo Heng nodded to his question, Luo Wenzhou continued: "When you two saw Wu Guangchuan, you asked Xu Wenchao to go get help while you followed Wu to his home, correct? How far was it from the ce you saw Wu to his home?"


    "Not very far. Only one turn of the corner." Guo Heng calcted, "about...fifty meters?... shorter than a hundred meters."


    "Wu Guangchuan took Su Xian from the school to his home. You and Xu also went from near the school to his home. Howe that despite being 10 minutes slower, you still arrived before him?"


    "The kid took me through a shortcut." said Guo Heng, "that bastard Wu Guangchuan didn''t have the guts to take the main roads. He must have used the back door. He''ll need to go around arge residentialplex, while Xu and I cut through theplex in a straight line -- Back then the residential areas were mostly fenced with brick walls -- not too tall though -- and the top of the walls were decorated with hollow bricks. I hid behind the wall and saw Wu Guangchuan dragging the girl. I sent the boy away and -- fury got to my head -- I flipped over the wall to follow them."


    Luo Wenzhou took out a small note book from his pocket: "Could you show me the orientation of the wall and his apartment in a sketch?"


    Guo Heng paused to think, then tried his best to draw him a rough draft: "Yeah sure...but why? What about it?"


    "I don''t know yet." Luo Wenzhou replied softly, "Uncle Guo, the evidence had led us somewhere unexpected. Are you prepared for it?"


    Guo Heng slowly rose, supporting his weight on the back of the chair.


    "We will give you closure as soon as possible." Luo Wenzhou left it at that, and strode away. He took Guo Heng''s sketch to Tao Ran, who was waiting down the hallway, "Could you see if this residentialplex is still there?"


    Tao Ran studied the piece of paper from all angles: "Wu Guangchuan''s apartment had long been demolished. When we first suspected this case to be rted to the old one, we''ve investigated the old crime scene: the Jin Xiu Middle School had moved, and Wu Guangchuan''s old apartment had been torn down and the ce now sits a public Gymnasium. As for this residentialplex down the block...I''ll go and take a look right away!"


    Fei Du strolled over. Luo Wenzhou could tell it was him without looking -- because everyone in the Bureau were madly busy now and trotted or strode everywhere. Only his footsteps were as calmly paced as usual.


    Fei Du wiped the sses with his shirt and put them back on. All of a sudden, he turned into a different person -- from an earnest youngster to a wolf under the sheep''s skin. Surely if he went to question Su Luozhan looking like this, he wouldn''t have gotten anything from her.


    Fei Du asked in an indolent, draggy tone: "Have you heard of the ''Fu Yuan Memorial''?"


    "The memorial next to the ''Fu Yuan'' funeral service?" Luo Wenzhou didn''t expect it, "Isn''t that a temporary storage for the ashes?"


    ''Su Xian''s ashes are there." Fei Du said, "Xu Wenchao helped arranging it. ordingly, some of her belongings were stored there with the ashes too. I suggest you go and take a look. Might be worth your while."


    Luo Wenzhou asked pensively, his brows tightly knitted, "Did Su Luozhan say something is in there?"


    "You wish. The girl is a little fox. She''d never tell us details like that. It''s just my guess." Fei Du said, "I kept thinking: In this risky business, they needed a good way to silence the cowardly stalker customers that they had. Besides providing them with what they wanted, they''ll need to get the goods on each of them too. The location to hold that "something" is the key. This ce needs to be closely guarded like the safes in a bank, but has to be low-key enough to avoid police searches when things go down -- If you ask me, the storage for the ashes is an ideal ce."


    "I heard that the memorial hall for the Fu Yuan funeral service has good management. Only a registered few could be let in by staff, and any visiting needed reservation -- unlike some loosely managed cemetery that just lets in anyone."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Don''t know about the stalker, but Luo''s goods had clearly been left in the cemetery with the bouquet of little white flowers.


    "No offense." Fei Du shrugged and smiled, "Otherwise why would Xu Wenchao keep Su''s ashes in the memorial rather than burying them? He doesn''tck that bit of money. What do you think Captain Luo? Mind to be the chauffeur one more time?"


    An hourter, Luo Wenzhou parked the car in front of the funeral service in the suburbs.


    A couple hearses parked here and there. The ce was on the back side of a small hill. Housed in the shadows of the hill and shielded from any sounds of livelihood, the only thing moving here was the steam from the incinerator.


    Fei Du retracted his eyes and reached for the door. But it was still locked. He lightly knocked on the door to remind the driver, only to hear the man beside him bursting out a blunt question: "What did you meanst night?"

 Chapter 54: Humbert Humbert Twenty-one

    Chapter 54: Humbert Humbert Twenty-one


    Fei Du was taken aback at first. He sat back into the chair and asked disingenuously: "Huh?"


    He slouched in the seat like a yboy. With a faint smile lingering on the corner of his mouth, he turned to face Luo Wenzhou and added, deliberately: "What did I do?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "......"


    "Had iting." Luo thought, quickly regretting his cheap and unnecessary question. Rather than dealing with a Fei Du that''s ambiguously flirtatious, he''d rather race the one that''s got the word "jackass" written on his forehead.


    It happened every time when they were alone: when one seemed irked the other would make sure to rub it in some more.


    Mistaking Luo Wenzhou''s short pause for embarrassment, Fei Du felt quite amused. He couldn''t help but add, "I treated the respectable officers with something warmst night. Is Captain Luo going to petition me another honorary g?"


    Fei Du moved in a little closer as he spoke. Luo Wenzhou could see the different shades of lights reflected from his eyes and the delicate patterns of his iris that''s like ripples in a pond. Fei Du continued: "What do you n to write on it this time? Let''s see..."


    "Fei Du." Luo Wenzhou suddenly interrupted, in a straight face, "Keep doing it and I''ll think that you have an ''unspeakable agenda'' on me."


    Fei Du: "..."


    Because of their peculiar history, Luo Wenzhou usually acted like an old fuddy-duddy in front of him, so much so that Fei Du had almost forgotten how shameless and brazen this man actually was.


    Surprised at the enemy''s charge, Fei Du decided to retreat. He looked out at the shady memorial building and replied:"Captain Luo, are you sure you want to discuss such an unserious topic in this circumstance?"


    "Well, I have serious topics too." Luo Wenzhou replied, "Are you really going to go back to school in September and leave that heavy fortune of yours to the others'' hands?"


    "Worry not. I have a reliable team." Fei Du shrugged, "They don''t even need to be very reliable, just a little more reliable than me would do. Besides, even if I''m not there everyday, they''ll still need my signature on therger decisions. I am still in charge. Granted that they were to screw it all up and bankrupt me..."


    "The remains are still worth more than a base level civil servant''s lifetime sry, parenthesis: including retirement pensions based on an average lifespan of 250 years, end parenthesis. Am I close?" Luo Wenzhou finished his unting for him, "Cut the crap. When your father had the ident you were still a student  and not a particrly bright one  why didn''t you ''trust'' that reliable team of yours and live on your stock dividend?


    Fei Du looked up. In the rear view mirror he ran into Luo Wenzhou''s gazes  the man''s eyes were earnest and stern.


    "You took over your father''spany, but not for the money. You were probing for something." Luo Wenzhou asserted, "You must have applied for the Yan-cheng Police Academy for the same reason. What is it... or should I ask, who is it?"


    "You, perhaps?" Fei Du replied calmly, "Maybe I''ve suddenly acquired a niche taste in the prim and proper?"


    This son of a b**ch Fei Du kid is full of sh*t. Nothing sincere everes out of his mouth.


    Fei Du squinted, eyes aggressively sizing up Luo Wenzhou''s sculpted nose bridge and lips as if ready to kiss them. In a soft and slightly nasal tone, he asked: "How do you know that I was not a good student? Captain Luo, besides smuggling electronic gadgets to me, were you concerned with my grade book too?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He huffed, then unlocked the door. But before Fei Du retracted his mischievous gazing, Luo Wenzhou suddenly reached out and grabbed the cor of his haute couture shirt, sessfully ruining his irking and mboyant sitting posture.  531K102K 677K144K 1.8M38K 1.1M52K 484K28.4K Paid Story264K14.5K


    "First off, "Luo Wenzhou lectured, "My handsomeness had stood the test of time and is widely apuded by the People. This is the most ssical kind of handsomeness. Calling it <i>niche</i> only reveals how poorly-read and ignorant you are."


    "Secondly," He nced at Fei Du''s stered arm in a pity, "Tut tut...honey, it''s been awhile since Ist saw a shameless douche like you. After me? You''ll need more milk baths to toughen up the bones, Director Fei!"


    He pointed at the door andmanded, "get out."


    Director Fei had never had such a p on the face in his ample flirting experiences. Facing a hardnding for the first time he actually found it quite refreshing. As a handicapped personnel, he dragged his crippled body out of Luo Wenzhou''s car. His tempted eyes followed Luo Wenzhou as he walked towards the memorial. After sizing him up, he decided to cease fire for now, and followed him into the hall.


    The air in the memorial hall is cold and crisp. They might have installed a refrigerator rather than an AC in there.


    The two were greeted by frigid air, both literally and figuratively. The handful of staff checked Luo Wenzhou''s police badge dubiously, trying to figure out why on earth would a police want to search the ashes of the deceased.


    "What do you want to see?" The front desk staff asked as he swiped them in, "This is not a do-eval ce  unless you count the ghosts  I''m assuming the police department hasn''t expanded their jurisdiction to the underworld yet?"


    Luo Wenzhou was barely keeping it together on the surface after fending off someone''s full-long ''attack''. The man''s coarse and inviting voice still lingered around his ears and he just couldn''t get it to shut up  he''d wanted the whole world to shut up actually. So he replied bitterly: "What if someone put a bomb in the ashes?"


    The staff looked at him in disbelief. Obviously he had taken them as those creative psychos.


    The temporary storage for ash boxes took up a whole wall. Smallpartments stacked all the way up to the ceiling. Su Xian stayed in a corner... inside a small crystal picture frame.


    "C-106  Su Xian." The staffed checked the name with his record, "this is her. The daughter and the fiancee ced her here. If you have any words to ask, feel free. I''ll leave you two to it. I will be back in 20 minutes."


    He put his palms together and bowed to her picture, then left them to it.


    Fei Du reached for the picture, but Luo Wenzhou pped his hand away. Instead, Luo took out a pair of forensic gloves from his pocket. After carefully inspecting the crystal picture frame for any hidden slots or abnormality, he finally passed it over to Fei and started digging through the rest of the relic.


    "Quite an interesting picture." Fei Dumented.


    "Indeed." Luo Wenzhou agreed as he searched, "It is the same one as what we have on record from 20 years ago."


    The storage slot for the ash box was far from spacious, so there wasn''t much to dig through. Besides the picture frame, Luo Wenzhou only found an old dress, a pack of mint vored cigarette, some lipsticks, and some othermon burial objects for a woman. Nothing groundbreaking.


    "The so-called memorial for the dead is in effect all for the living. The picture at the memorial usually reflects how their living family and friends remember them. The close family members would tend to pick a recent photo, while childhood friend might pick something more memorable. asionally the deceased might pick their own photos, usually representing their biggest life achievement. These are pretty much all the cases." Fei Du lightly knocked on the crystal frame, "So the most memorable moment in Su Xian''s life is when she was a little girl? And after that, was she practically dead in someone''s eyes?"


    Luo Wenzhou was still searching through her things to make sure nothing was missed. Before he got to reply, his phone suddenly rang.


    The "Anthem of Five Rings"(1) echoed in the crooked storage room and created an ambiance of a horror movie. Even Luo Wenzhou got goosebumps. A head popped out: it was the staff who had left them minutes ago. Hemented wearily: "Silence the phone. Officer, this is a public space. Please be considerate and don''t disturb the others at rest."


    "Brother," Luo Wenzhou replied with a murderous look, "If I were inconsiderate you''d be on the ground by now."


    The staff dared not to reason with a savage. His head disappeared again behind the wall.


    Luo Wenzhou picked up the phone with a ghastly look: "Tao Ran, what have you?"


    "The old residential area is still standing." Tao Ran loosened his uniform cor as he spoke. While on the phone, he dashed under a tree to borrow some shade while fanning vigorously with a photocopy of an old map. He continued, "I am literally melting...Anyways, the residential area is called "Xiang Yang". It''s one of those early privately-developed construction projects, one of the higher-end ones back then. ording to the grandpas ying chess nearby, when the Jin Xiu Middle school was still here many of the rich kids rented here."


    "How about that short wall?" Luo Wenzhou asked, "ording to Guo Heng, he saw Wu Guangchuan''s apartment through the hollow bricks of the wall. Could you locate it roughly?"


    "Jeeze...the area has changed so much that its own mother wouldn''t recognize it. You''re always good at asking for the impossibles, boss." Tao Ran panted as he spoke. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead with his sleeves. Not far from him, some other equally soaked officers were waving at him: they were lucky to find some surveyors from a nearby construction site. With the help of the old maps and the currently standing Xiang Yang buildings, the surveyors managed to redraw the demolished buildings that were once standing.


    The road had been widened more than twice, and what used to be Wu Guangchuan''s apartment is now part of the avenue. Luckily, there was not much traffic in the hot summer afternoon. Two police officers each held a wooden measuring stick and stood 1.5 meters apart from each other. Between them, it was the location of Wu Guangchuan''s apartment door.


    Tao Ran circled around the brick fence of the Xiang Yang buildings as he thought out loud to Luo Wenzhou: "I think the ce is somewhere in between buildings 7 and 8. ording to Guo Heng, they were facing a corner and Wu Guangchuan''s ce was some 30 meters away...It is very hard to locate, Wenzhou. There is an old bike rack next to this building, with only a narrow passage leading towards the back -- even I would need to walk sideways, and yet Xu Wenchao led Guo Heng through it quickly. How did he manage to find this passage?"


    Before he finished, a message was pushed to both of their phones. It was from Lang Qiao.


    Lang Qiao had dug out the old record from Jin Xiu Middle School''s archives and found Xu Wenchao''s registered address in middle school: Xiang Yang building 8, Room 201.


    Phone in hand, Tao Ran turned towards the mottled building next to him. Suddenly, he plunged through a small opening in the bushes and ran up to the second floor of building 8. The hallway window had long been stuck by moss and rust. The window frame was covered byyers of dated mechanical oil and dust. It opened in the same direction of the master''s bedroom window of 201.


    Tao Ran looked closely, eyes wide-open. Through the window he saw the two colleagues holding the wooden measuring stick on the road. A couple meters behind them he saw the rocks that represented the basement of Wu Guangchuan''s apartment. Back in the days, many basements were rented out separately. They usually had barred windows to protect against thefts. Around the medal bars many tenants put flower pots to avoid pedestrians'' idental tripping, as well as to protect their own privacy.


    Twenty years ago, this city hasn''t gone so garish and sleepless yet. After nine o''clock in the evening, most streets would have already quieted down.


    For the few that lived in the darkness, only in the heart of the night could they peel off their human skin, expose their charred bones, and unleash their lust in the basement that never saw the light. At that time, would there be a pair of eyes from above that pierced through the flower pots and saw into the nasty corner via the destined angle of fate?


    Tao Ran''s pouring sweat mingled with the goosebumps. He rushed in to the office of management and pped his ID onto the table: "Please, help me check who the owner is for apartment 201, building 8. Also, has it been sold recently?"


    "201?" The staff flipped through the record, "Nope. It''s always been under the same name."


    Tao Ran panted heavily: "Is thest name Xu?"


    "No, not Xu. It''s Sun. A family of two." The younger staff turned to look at the more senior one for assurance, "Right, sister Zhao?"


    "Yes. They were an older couple, with a daughter. Their daughter was what...close to forty?" The mid aged woman on the right poured Tao Ran a ss of water.


    Tao Ran thanked her. Meanwhile he felt a little disappointed. Just now in the hallway he had a strangely strong feeling that something was off with apartment 201. Turned out that he was just overly sensitive.


    Just when Tao Ran was about to leave, he heard the mid aged woman who poured him water say: "Their daughter is quite the achiever, you see...A couple years ago she went abroad, and then took her parents abroad too. Once I heard from the father''s brother: seemed like they wanted to sell the apartment before leaving. But god knows what happened -- maybe they didn''t find a suitable buyer or something -- the apartment wasn''t sold in the end. Perhaps they rented it out, I mean, at least the water and electricity bills were always paid on time..."


    At that time, as if suddenly thought of something, sister Zhao''s ranting abruptly ended. She awkwardly exchanged a look with the colleague next to her.


    Tao Ran keenly picked it up: "Mam, do you know who the tenant is?"


    Sister Zhao beat around the bush, eyes awkwardly looking downward: "I don''t really know. You see, nowadays even the water and electricity bill payments don''t go through us any more. We don''t have much interaction with the residents really."


    Tao Ran''s eyesnded on a wall poster that wrote: <i>Safety First: say ''no'' to group renting</i>. His expression turned stern. Deliberately, he asked: "Wait, you guys don''t have any illegal group rental going on here, do you?"


    The two management staff both stuttered. Sister Zhao exined: "No no no...that apartment was just a little short of luck  they never found a long term tenant so you sometimes see different faces in and out of that one. But it wasn''t group renting, I guarantee you..."


    Tao Ran shot up: "Give me the keys!"


    The management might have taken some bribes and kept their mouths shut about group renting here. But is room "201" -- with peopleing and going -- really one of such cases?


    Meanwhile, Luo Wenzhou had flipped Su Xian''s "home" upside down and found nothing worth noting. Disappointed, he turned to Fei Du: "Director Fei, seems that you''re not always right on target after all."


    Fei Du leaned on the wall of ashes taboolessly: "You might want to check thest remaining ce, before judging my judgement."


    As he spoke, he reached in and pulled out Su Xian''s ash box. The box was covered by a double folded satin drapery. As if undressing his lover, Fei Du''s fingers gently ran through the fabric. The satin eagerly opened up for him, exposing a square wooden box.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Anthem of Five Rings : This is Captain Luo''s ringtone, a reflection of his particrly down-to-earth taste (or should we sayck of taste?) in music. The Anthem of Five Rings was a parody song written and sung by Chinese traditional stand-upedian Yue Yunpeng. The melody was borrowed from an old pop song "Anthem of the Peony", and the lyrics are some silly statements about the fifth ring road in Beijing.


    ====================================================================


    Notes from the Trantor:


    Ta-da! Christmas treat ;p Hope you guys enjoyed it.


    My apologies for the low and irregr posting frequency in the past couple of months -- just been swamped by life.


    Going forward I''ll try my best to do two chapters every month. Thank you guys so much for apanying me through this long long journey. This is the first piece of trantion work that I take on, and I do it purely out of love for Mo-du. This is such a brilliant piece and I can''t wait to share it with all of you around the world!


    If you''ve enjoyed it so far, awesome. Because the story only gets better and better from here on :)


    All the best, and Merry Christmas to you!


    QuantumC


    2019.12.20

 Chapter 55: Humbert Humbert Twenty-two

    Chapter 55: Humbert Humbert Twenty-two


    1.10.2020


    "You mean...inside the box?" Luo Wenzhou didn''t know what facial expression to pull together for Fei Du''s idea. What he managed in the end was a teeth-clenching smile, "Are you sure Xu Wenchao is as psychotic as you are?"


    "I find it quite interesting: how you ''normal'' people perceive the ash box." Fei Du handed him Su Xian''s, "On the one hand you acknowledge it to be what remains of an ordinary person. On the other hand, you grant it extraordinary meanings, like holy, taboo, inviable, untouchable...regardless of what a person she used to be."


    The tiny box weighed surprisingly heavy. Luo Wenzhou took a couple deep breaths then said: "The rituals and taboos are a result of reverence -- towards death, and life. Hear me now, Fei Du: if I open it and find nothing inside except the ashes, I''ll stuff you in."


    Heid down the small wooden box on the floor. Then, teeth gritting, he flipped open the cover. What emerged at first were some messy styrofoam and dehumidifier. Despite his goosebumps, Luo Wenzhou braced himself and dug in the ashes inside a cotton pouch.


    Suddenly, his hand stopped. Under Fei Du''s inquiring eyes he slowly and carefully pulled out a sealed stic bag from the pile of ashes.


    Fei Du smiled: "Looks like I won''t be stuffed in there anymore?"


    With his gloved hands, Luo Wenzhou carefully flicked off the remaining ashes from the stic. Whatid in front of them was a mini-notebook with the signature pink stic cover that marked it as an object from the past.


    Surprisingly, Su Xian''s hand-writing was quite good. She wrote like an adult. The margins were filled with doodlings -- skeletons drawn from blue ball-pens, "blood drips" from red fountain pens, and so on. It looked quite depressing. The pages were filled with exmation marks and poor-grammar sentences.


    "date, month, year. Bitch let that fat one have me. She sat by the door and counted the money. Kill her! Rip her tongue out!! Crak her head open with the beer botle!"


    This sentence popped into his eyes as soon as he opened the notebook. He took another silent deep breath, brows furrowed.


    "date, month, year. Deng Ying is here! It rained and she came to borrow umbre. She had been to my ce before. A customer was here too. He was drunk! (followed but a whole page of messy ink stains) Bitch and the drunk ass dragged her into the room. She is a dead fish!"


    "date, month, year. The Police came to our school today to look for Deng Ying. They asked many people but didn''t ask me. Because I was home sick that day. Deng Ying is still in the bathroom. Bitch said get rid of her, or we will all be dead."


    "date, month, year. Bitch put Deng Ying in the fridge and took her away. She told the neighbors she was going to the wholesale center to stock some ice-creams. The fridge stinks! I puked, and Bitch hit me again."


    Fei Du asked: "Who is Deng Ying?"


    "Don''t know." Luo Wenzhou''s bushy eyebrows were tightly arched like bowstrings. He lowered his voice and said: "During this time Su Xian was still in fourth grade. We didn''t find any victim that fit the screening criteria from this period. If this were the first child victim, she may have identally stumbled upon the crime site so her case didn''t show the signature characteristics as the rest."


    24 years ago, a hot summer evening.


    Fourth-grader Deng Ying was on her way home from school. It suddenly started pouring and she didn''t have an umbre. Her friend''s home was just around the corner. She thought maybe she could stay there past the rain. The friend was also home sick that day so it''s a good opportunity to pay her a visit too --  531K102K 677K144K 1.8M38K 1.1M52K 484K28.4K Paid Story264K14.5K


    Large pedals of the sophora flower were chased away by the wind and battered by the rain. Their soft fragrance wallowed in mud.


    The girl had no cell phone and couldn''t tell anyone of her n. Her split second decision to visit the friend led her down a hellish detour -- and many others after her.


    Luo Wenzhou: "So after that first incident, Su Xian''s mother discovered a new way to use her girl."


    Fei Du refused to squat on the floor like a big monkey. Instead, he sat down beside Luo Wenzhou, propped one leg up, and rested the stered arm on his knee. Casually, he leaned on the wall of ashes as if it was like any other regr wall.


    Half of his attention was on the current event, but the other half of his mind was on Luo Wenzhou himself. Finding his reactions interesting, he suddenly asked: "What will happen to Su Luozhan?"


    "Su Luozhan?" Luo Wenzhou''s train of thought was suddenly interrupted. Puzzled, he turned to Fei Du, "What about her?"


    Fei Du: "I mean, what kind of sentence would she get?"


    "Oh, that. In the Juvenile rehab camp, yes. With her case, probably three years." Luo Wenzhou flipped over another page of the mini-note, and added emotionlessly, "And after that, we''ll see. I will ask the local office to pay attention to her once she gets out."


    "Three years." Fei Du raised one brow, "That''s not even enough for college. I thought when she said "just for fun", someone was going to st into the interrogation room and strangle her."


    "The hot-headed ones were sent out for field work today. They weren''t around."


    "What about you?" Fei Du continued relentlessly, "All those sleepless nights; all those stressful encounters with the victim''s family, the press, the public...Most of what you got in return were either tears or scolding. It takes great perseverance and empathy to keep on going, right? Now you finally nailed the suspect. But not only do they refuse to cooperate, but one of the key culprits show no shame and no regret of what she''d done. On top of that, she doesn''t even get any real punishment for it. Don''t you feel anything?"


    Luo Wenzhou nced at him, then brushed it off lightly: "When I started as a police, you were still at home watching cartoons, <i>''intern</i>''."


    "I don''t watch cartoons." Fei Du replied, "I only y video games, asionally."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He cleared his throat, then tried to change the subject: "Su Xian''s diary didn''t mention how Su Hui dealt with the bodies. Any ideas?"


    Fei Du stared at Luo Wenzhou mischievously, intending to embarrass him. And he seeded: Luo Wenzhou felt thorns on his back and had to fight the urges to sew the man''s eyelids shut forever. Finally, Fei Du let him off the hook and cooperatively responded to his question: "Who, me? I would disassemble the corpse first. Since I have a car, and since back then they didn''t have the DNA technology, I would chop up the body and mix it with some pork ribs, and then toss the mixture in the mountains. Even if I got unlucky and someone discovers them to be human remains, it would be very hard for the police to identify the remains."


    "If there were dismembering of the body, Su Xian probably would have mentioned it in the diary." Luo Wenzhou ignored his excited tone and tried to state objectively, "not to mention that a drunkard woman and a little girl probably don''t have the strength to dismember the body."


    "Then find somewhere to bury it. The best option - an absolutely safe ce - would be on my own property: somewhere that belongs to me indefinitely and won''t be bothered at least before I die. In other countries you could bury in your backyard. But here, with our specialnd policy, burying a body is like burying and mine that could go off on any day. It''s too risky." Fei Du said, "So the next best option would be somewhere that''s not likely to be excavated and, even if the body were identally dug out, nobody would care. For example, the unofficial burialnds in the countryside, or the water-weeds covered wends where drowning happens often."


    "Even today, there are viges that haven''t fully adopted the cremation practice. So you can still find fresh tombs in the middle of the farnds. Find one of these new tombs -- or anywhere with newly dug soil due to construction -- and bury the body. This way, the color of the soil wouldn''t attract attention and the same ce usually don''t get excavated again, at least not very soon. However, this requires the suspect to be very familiar with thendscape." Fei DU paused, then added, "What''s easier would be to tie the foot with something heavy and let the body sink into the water. Even if the rope rots with time and the weight eventually detaches, chances are that the rotten body and the bones would already be entangled by the water weeds and be the main character of the next urban legend. The bottom line? All things leave traces. A wise man who was careful for a thousand times will miss the 1001st time. So, rather than trying to outsmart the whole public security system, it''s better to abide by one simple principle of murder --"


    Luo Wenzhou looked at him in silence.


    "Do not let the body be discovered. If there are risks, then do not let the person who discovers it think there is a need to involve the police."


    Hearing his theory, Luo Wenzhou nodded: "Sounds like quite a n, but not without its ws -- for example, seems that you can''t bear the sight of blood. Speaking of...why are you afraid of blood again?"


    Fei Du''s mouth corner unnoticeably stiffened. As if the question choked him, he didn''t answer until after a long, long pause. Then, he answered rather rigidly, "Wouldn''t be so bothered by it if I knew the reason."


    He refused to say more.


    In one sentence, Luo Wenzhou sessfully turned the master criminologist into a quiet flower vase. He let Mr. Eyecandy sit quietly beside him while continuing to flip through Su Xian''s diary in peace.


    "ce the body somewhere with drowning risk...possibly." Luo Wenzhou murmured, "Su Hui came from the Ping Hai County which used to be the water source of Yan-cheng. There are lots of rivers and creeks there. She could...Huh?"


    Luo Wenzhou was originally flipping through the diary rather quickly, skimming lots of repetitive details about the ups and downs of a girl''s daily life. But suddenly, his flipping slowed down.


    There were a couple of pages about the happenings at school. Su Xian was a very bitter girl, calling this one a ''b*tch'' and that one a ''c*nt'' as if she had been living on the of morons with no other species around. What caught Luo Wenzhou''s attention was a picture between the pages. It must have been taken during a school performance. There were six girls lining up on the stage to do a curtain call, their long and skinny legs exposed underneath their lovely floral dresses.


    The rest of the five faces were crossed out with a ball-pen. Su Xian was in the middle. She stared into the camera with a slightly raised chin.


    Floral dress -- yes, she hasn''t mentioned the floral dress in the diary yet.


    Luo Wenzhou quickly flipped back some pages.


    "date, month, year. The dance teacher is such a c*nt. She asked us to buy our own performance dress because she didn''t want to handle the money. ''Must have the dress to dance in the show'', she said. Bitch heard it and hit me with a beer bottle. Let Bitch go to hell! Let the dance teacher go to hell!"


    "date, month, year. Dress rehearsal is tomorrow but I have no dress. I saw the disgusting fatty outside of school. He had been scouting there for many days. I went with him. He got me the dress."


    "So the first time that Su Xiang sold herself, it was for a floral dress." Luo Wenzhou double checked the date from the diary, "Twenty two years ago -- the time matches too. Since then, she turned from a passive culprit to an active one. But why didn''t she seek any help...What''s that smile for?"


    "Men, women, or kids of her own age, who should''ve her asked? To her, men were disgusting ''customers'', women were ''bitches'' that forced and tortured her. As for kids in her own age...after Deng Ying died, out of fear she would naturally turn away from forming intimate friendships with the other kids...not to mention the hate and jealousy she had for the floral dress that the other girls obtain so easily. For a gloomy and bitter girl who happens to be pretty, do you think she''ll have a lot of friends of her own age? When ites to bullying, you''d be surprised at how crural and innovative the kids can be."


    Towards thest pages of the diary, the angry doodling diminished. Because someone else appeared.


    The precocious girl clearly liked him, especially after she discovered that he was her new teacher at school. Although Wu Guangchuan was also a "customer", he was different from the rest. He was cultured and gentleman-like. On the one hand he was a teacher; on the other hand he was poisoned by the sickly lust. As if a nt that grew from the dark shady corner, he had a special sentimentality. He loved young girls. When with Su Xian, he treated her caringly and lovingly like his real lover."


    "date, month, year. I went to his home today. I won''t let Bitch know that I went. I didn''t go for the money. Hees to my home twice a week so Bitch won''t find me other customers."


    "date, month, year. I like him. He is my knight."


    "date, month, year. He said he wanted to adopt me and he would help me get rid of Bitch."


    ......


    ......


    "date, month, year. Bitch said he''s been with us for half a year and it''s about time to trust him with the mbs''. I bought tetramine today. I am going to kill her!"


    "date, month, year. Bitch gave him a mb'', and he took it! He took it!! I hate him!!!"


    "date, month, year. I followed him to Lian Huashan."


    "date, month, year. He was stalking someone. The little bitch wore a floral dress."


    "date, month, year. He got sick and stayed in hospital overnight. I tricked the little bitch into his hotel room and tied her up like amb. Then I waited."


    What followed was a big blob of messy ink. A couple pages were torn, and amidst the mess there was the scrambling word - "hate" - written here and there. Towards the end of the diary, there were no more coherent writings.


    Drenched in the ink blob were the ghastly scream-calls and the severed floral dresses of the infamous serial abduction cases.


    The floral dress costume that she paid for with her body had haunted her ever since. It was not a fetish of the pleasure seekers after all, but the endless repeats of how a girl''s soul wallowed and drowned in a pool of mud.


    Wu Guangchuan almost pulled her out once, but he eventually stomped her back into the abyss. The doomed dress that Guo Fei wore on that ill-fated day had turned into a shackle that, despite the passing of years and the death of Su, was passed down to the next generation.


    Thest page of the diary got stuck on the stic back cover. Luo Wenzhou felt that there was something in between, so he carefully pulled on the page -- A dozen pictures fell out.


    The photos were all taken at different times, probably sneaked. They were of a small room with sound-proof materials covering its interior. The heavy curtain was always pulled shut and the light was dim. On each picture there was a different girl and a different man. In each of the shots, the face of the human-skinned beast was recognizable.


    But Fei Du picked up the only blurry one.


    It was a very old photo, and the lighting was particrly poor. The skilled photographer tried hard but could only get a blurry silhouette. The short buildings in the distance blended in the night. The camera had a high angle and the focus was on the flower beds in the small garden. One of the short roses recently died, exposing a slit of the basement window.


    A skinny girl was pushed against the ss. Her hands were pressed helplessly onto the window pane. Her face was blurry. Behind her there was a towering man. "Was this a picture of Wu Guangchuan and Su Xian that Xu Wenchao sneaked when he lived in the apartment at Xiang Yang road?"


    Meanwhile, Tao Ran and a group of colleagues had opened the door of Room 201, Building 8 of the Xiang Yang Road.


    En empty room. Aplex and perplexing scent shrouded them.


    Thick curtains were sealed shut and kept the lights out. Tao Ran opened the curtains to reveal the window that once faced Wu Guangchuan''s windows. But instead, what he saw behind the curtains was a gigantic, life-size photograph.


    It was the night view of twenty years ago.

 Chapter 58: Humbert Humbert Twenty-five

    Chapter 58: Humbert Humbert Twenty-five


    TL: QuantumC


    Luo Wenzhou actually had his own office but - perhaps for ease ofmunication, or perhaps this talkaholic just couldn''t bear being alone - it was basically an open space. There used to be a door separating his room and the rest of the cubicles, but thest time that this door was closed must''ve been the year of the Donkey (1). The door was currently wide open and pushed all the way against the wall by loads of messes from everyone.


    (1). There is no year of donkey in the Chinese zodiac. This is a way to say that the door was basically never closed.


    The nts in his office were clearly in good hands. Potted flowers and greens were flourishing near the window pane. The arrangement of the pots was well thought out and quite tasteful, with the sun-loving ones on the outeryer and the shade-loving ones in the corner of the wall. The only two unlucky souls in the room were tworge pots of dills that sat by the entrance. Watered each day by hiszy colleagues'' over-night tea, the pots were almost overflowing with yucky teapost and the poor dills were at theirst gasps.


    Luo Wenzhou''s wallet and keys were casually left on the table. Apparently he hasn''t a single bit of worry about others taking them away. With that said though, it''s not like there was much to take.


    Fei Du behaved for a little while and waited quietly in his office. But it was really boring. The smell in the room was unbearable. It looked like Luo Wenzhou wasn''t going to be back any time soon, so he texted him: "I can help you feed the cat if you need."


    In the midst of the hassles Luo Wenzhou only found time to text back a single ".". Fei Du took it as a "yes", so he headed out with his keys.


    Luo Wenzhou''s home wasn''t far from the Bureau: it was easily essible by bike and within the base-fare of a taxi ride. Fei Du had just been therest evening. This time, as soon as the door opened a crack, a nosy furry ball poked its head out eagerly. In the next moment, Fluffy realized it was greeting the wrong person. Off it went like a sh and disappeared underneath the sofa, only leaving the tips of its whiskers out to assess the situation.


    Last night they left in the middle of the meal to respond to Tao Ran''s call. There was no time to clean up, so Luo Wenzhou swooshed all the dishes into the fridge like a college kid facing a pop-up dormitory hygiene check. With no time to arrange the tes, he didn''t manage to fit everything in. A te of fried meatballs had to be settled on the top of the 1.8 meter fridge with the hope that the old cat''s climbing skill has deteriorated enough.


    Obviously, they were too optimistic.


    The broken remains of the porcin te were scattered everywhere. From the dining room to the living room, what''s left of the meatballs were all marked with tooth marks. Apparently, camarade Luo Yiguo had the high spirit of scientific experimentation: it had tasted every single meatball to finally reach the solid conclusion that "none tasted good".


    The cat bowl was already empty. It had a little shine under the light, perhaps from the cat''s repeated licking.


    Fei Du grabbed a handful of the cat food like how he saw with Luo Wenzhou. He thought about it a little, then opened two cans of wet food and ced them on the side too.


    Luo Yiguo was starved to lick the bowl, so it didn''t take much of the luring. It slowly poked out its little head, but as soon as it saw Fei Du''s eyes, it disappeared underneath the sofa again.


    Fei Du paid it no attention. He washed his hands twice and finally got rid of the stink of the cat food. Then he found a broom from the kitchen and tried to sweep all the messes together. But he was anything but a house-work material. The more he tried the messier it got.  6.8M148K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.7M46.2K 20.3M629K 9.3M431K Paid Story224M6.9M 25.8M841K


    With one hand hanging in front of his chest and the other hand holding a broom stick, Fei Du objectively rated his own fruit ofbor and concluded that if he kept on sweeping the greasy floor it would turn more and more simr to the slick floor of the Bureau Cafeteria. He decisively stopped, and looked for the familiar house-cleaning service''s number in his cellphone to request for an hourly worker.


    At that time, he felt there was something on the back of his heel.


    Fei Du turned around and saw that Luo Yiguo had sneaked up on him. The cat bowl was half-empty again. It finished feasting and finally gathered more courage to sniff around Fei Du. Suddenly realizing that Fei Du was looking, Yiguo fled to six feet away. After a long while it decided that the human wasn''t going to approach, so it slowly ventured back.


    Fei Du squatted down, and reached two fingers out.


    Luo Yiguo jumped at first. But seeing that he didn''t make any further move it approached and started sniffing his hand. Perhaps it smelt the friendly scent of cat food. It finally lowered its guard and touched Fei Du with its wet nose. Nothing bad happened, so it pushed its head into his palm.


    Fei Du''s hand froze.


    Seeing that he was awkward and clumsy, Luo Yiguo rxed some more and lifted the rmpletely. Tail raised high, it sniffed Fei Du here and there while meowing in its squeaky girly voice.


    Fei Du finally was able to put a hand on it. He lightly stroked Luo Yiguo''s soft and silky fur from head to bottom. Luo Yiguo looked for afortable spot on him toy down. When it tried to poke its head inside his sleeves, Fei Du caught it and picked it up.


    "You don''t remember me any more?" Fei Du asked gently.


    Luo Yiguo''s head was smaller than his fist. It looked up at Fei Du. There was innocence, and a little bit of fear in its eyes. The animal''s instinct told it to be afraid, although it wasn''t sure what exactly it should be afraid of. At the same time, Luo Wenzhou raised Yiguo to be so soft-boned around food that one bowl of wet food was able to let it get over its instinctive fear.


    Fei Du looked at the cat. His palm suddenly became sweaty. He gently put Luo Yiguo down and hid away his hands.


    The soft body, light breathing, and heart beats of a small animal were all unbearable to him.


    He quickly stood up. To avoid Yiguo''s curious sniffs, he backed off until his back was against the wall.


    What is "life"?


    It seems to be a biology question, but most people learn about the word long before they started their first biology ss.


    Some people experienced it first hand because of losing a loved one or getting a baby sibling; others were taught by their parents who used simpler, or more romantguages than thenguage of science; still others read about it or watched it in movies and TV shows and formed their own blurry definition.


    Fei Du patted himself down to look for his cellphone and earbuds. Then he rushed to put them on like an addict lighting a smoke. The familiar mncholic song filled his world. He couldn''t help but hold his breath. His eyesnded on the annoying cat who was ying with the broken pieces of the te and the meatballs. More and more greasy stains appeared on the floor.


    "What is life?" He could almost hear the voice of that man.


    The man held his hand and ced it on top of a small animal. Maybe a small hamster, or maybe a quail or a bunny. Fei Du couldn''t remember exactly, but it was always a very small cub so that a kid could hold it with just one hand. He remembered a small furry ball curling inside his palm. It was warm and soft, with a faint, quivering heartbeat.


    It felt astonishing.


    "This, is life." The voice said.


    Suddenly, the hand that had been guiding and supporting his hand crushed in like a pair of iron mp. His fingers were pushed to close in on the neck of the little thing. The animal struggled under his hand and whimpered for life. He struggled too, but the man easily controlled him until the trembling heart beat and the pathetic struggle ended in his palm.


    "And this, is death." The voice told him, "See, the process from life to death is dull. There is nothing morous or horrific about it, not like what people describe. The reason why men glorify or mystify death is that as sinful social creatures, humans depend on each other to survive but also couldn''t resist their distorted selfish desires. So there has to be a value system that constraints every member, such as the so called w" and "morality". The former is a public contract with the society; thetter is there to regte private behaviors. Morality lets everyone buy in to the values of the group so they would willingly do what the majority does. Once you understand this, you''re already at a different level than the majority."


    "Now, shall we learn the truth about life and death again...you''re shaking your head? Little folks need to be humble. Reviewing is necessary for internalizing what you''ve just learned. Come, let us do it again ---"


    The knocking on the door by the house keeper interrupted his thoughts. Fei Du shivered. His temple was already covered by a thinyer of cold sweat.


    One hourter, Fei Du arrived back at the Bureau with cups of freshly grinded coffee. The victims'' families were pretty much all gone by then, only Qutong''s parents and Guo Heng still sat face to face, one refused to ept the truth and wished for the 1 in a million chance while the other waited for the truth that had been dyed for twenty years. Guo Heng was talking to Qutong''s father. Their conversation was regrly interrupted by the young couples'' tears. When that happened, they struggled to contain themselves and console one another.


    Right before Fei Du entered the office space of the Criminal Investigation team he saw a stout middle aged man with a faint scar on his eye-brow walking across the room, followed by a group of officers. The man was giving orders: "......those at home: let''s leave only the necessary folks on duty. And the rest should all go on site. Little Tao''s team needs more men. I will also request support from the local forces..."


    He saw Fei Du and suddenly stopped talking.


    Fei Du thought that this should be someone on top. He wasn''t sure how Luo Wenzhou reported to his Superior about him. Right when he hesitated on how to introduce himself, the middle-aged man gestured at those around him - signaling them to get to work - then walked up to Fei Du and extended one hand: "You must be Director Fei. I am Lu Youliang, the interim Chief of the Bureau. Your honorary banner was issued by me."


    Fei Du put down the cups of coffee and shook his hand like a serious man: "Chief Lu, my pleasure to meet you."


    Lu Youliang greeted him very courteously, then added, "Tao Ran''s team had already found the rough location of the bodies. With more hands and more time, the excavation should soon give us some answers."


    In the memorial hall Luo Wenzhou had mentioned that Su Hui came from the Pinghai County. It was under the jurisdiction of Yancheng and was the main source of water for the city. It was very likely the burial sight for the victims of this case.


    So Fei Du asked politely: "Is it the Ping Hai County? I happen to be involved in an ongoing construction project there. There are many construction workers on site. If you need any additional hands, don''t hesitate to let me know."


    "Oh?" Luo Youliang was a little surprised. He thought Fei Du might have misheard him, so he exined: "Maybe they weren''t very clear. It isn''t "Ping" Hai. It''s "Bin Hai", about 4 hours drive from here. Although it''s Yancheng''s closest ess to the sea, technically the area belongs to the neighboring province...there might be someplications in terms of coordinating forces across provincial jurisdictions..."


    In the dimly lit hallway, no one noticed that Fei Du''s pupils quickly constricted. When he finally found his voice again he asked: "Sinking the bodies into the sea? But we''re in Typhoon seasontely. Wouldn''t it be a problem for sinking the body?"


    "You are right. The ones that couldn''t be sunk were buried." Chief Lu replied, "and those buried ones are what we focus on now. Especially Qu Tong. This girl is the key."


    Meanwhile, Qutong''s parents and Guo Heng both overheard Chief Lu giving new orders. They rushed over hoping to get some information, but officers on call quickly stopped them from entering the main office.


    "Lads, easy." Chief Lu said, "Let them in. We all feel for the family. Let me talk to them."


    Fei Du coughed to clear his dry throat, and took this opportunity to say: "I will let you get back to work."


    Lu Youliang nodded at him, while sighing heavily: "The suspects of this case...well...arresting them is just the beginning of it. I will not see what happened twenty years ago happen again."


    Afterwards, he nodded at Fei Du again and headed toward his office.


    Perhaps because of the increasingly strict environmental regtions, although thends at Bin Hai had long been proposed for many projects, it had never obtained the necessary paperwork.


    The only livelihood in the vicinity were a couple of sanatoriums in the nearby inds and a small oil-painting vige. Very few locals lived there. Seasonally some contracted art schools would send students here to practice nature sketches, which brought in some business for the local home-stay and restaurants. During the off-season the vige was pretty much deserted.


    The offshorendscape here was quite hilly and uninhabited. One rarely-traveled old road stitched through the thick weeds and undisturbed canopies. Slightly salty wind blew from the sea.


    All the sections of the road had been closed down. The beautiful sights on the picture wall had been identified one by one. They spanned for more than ten miles and seemed to be linked by a deserted narrow trail. The police force from Yancheng teamed up with the local police force and circled countless suspicious sites with yellow tapes along the trail.


    "Vice Captain Tao, we found one...Ah, wait!! One piece of the body is still fresh!"


    Qutong''s tiny body was carved into eight pieces and buried separately. At dawn they finally reassembled all the pieces. The dissection marks fitted those knives found in the Xiangyang Road apartment. The Forensics team even managed to obtain some semen from the body.


    This tiny bit of fortune amid the tragedy led to a total melt-down of the mid-aged man that Langqiao had arrested.


    "I was following someone else: I already knew that her parents were busy and she usually went home alone. But then the school bus hijack happened -- who would''ve known -- I wanted to call the police at first, but that other girl - Su Luozhan - she kept pushing me. She said that she liked this one and that I should seize her. I was quite familiar with thendscape of Xiling, so I went hot-headed and..."


    "I didn''t kill her! I swear I didn''t kill her! Afterwards I just left...I swear...That man --- the cleaner, he barged in and grabbed Su Luozhan. He was very angry. I thought something was wrong so I ran out...I really didn''t know that they were so sick...that they... Please, you have to believe me!"


    "I loved her...I loved her so...How could I bear to hurt her?"

 Part 3 Chapter 59: Reading Out Loud

    Part 3 Chapter 59: Reading Out Loud


    ==================================================


    Luo Wenzhou came out of the interrogation room feeling a bit lightheaded. The intense lengthy questioning was a torture for both parties, especially with a tough-minded suspect like Xu Wenchao. Not leaving any breathing room for the other party means not leaving any breathing room for yourself either.


    While those on the field were still trying to gather more evidence, those in the interrogation room - both the grilled and the griller - were ying the game of the mind. Via expression and tone, the two sides were constantly trying to deceive and outsmart one another.


    How much evidence do they have? How much did Su Luozhan say?


    Where did he contradict himself? Which confession was sincere and which one was an understatement?


    Are they bluffing?


    How do I bluff to make him admit?


    A single ckened moment could let Xu Wenchao get the upper hand, so Luo Wenzhou couldn''t possibly take a break or use a substitute.


    Luo Wenzhou''s neck and above were now in an all-out strike. He pretty much auto-piloted himself back to the office based on muscle memory.


    Qutong''s parents had heard about the discovery at Bin Hai and had headed over despite the dissuasion. Guo Heng was now sitting in the waiting area alone.


    Seeing Guo Heng''s slumped back, Luo Wenzhou thought that he was dozing off. So he tip-toed to pick up a uniform left by someone else on the table and wanted to use it as a nket. But Guo Heng opened his eyes.


    The crow''s feet on his face were like the furrows on a thirstynd. The whites of his eyes were jaundiced and bloodshot, but there wasn''t a single trace of drowsiness.


    The usually bustling office space of the criminal investigation team was very quiet: people had either been sent out to the field or fallen asleep in their cubbies. The two waking men faced each other in silence. The air between them seemed to have clumped into a dreary cloud that even the strongest sweep from the AC couldn''t blow away.


    After a long while, Guo Heng finally managed to open his mouth: "You...I...Your Chief named Lu has told me everything."


    Slowly, Luo Wenzhou pulled over a chair and sat down across from him.


    "He didn''t say much detail." Guo Heng continued, "He said that a lot was still under investigation --- now, can you tell me more?"


    Luo Wenzhou hesitated, then said: "Twenty years ago, in summer, Guo Fei met a girl who imed to be visiting Lian Huashan with her teacher. She wore a floral dress, very pretty girl...but was very bad at directions and asked Guo Fei for help many times. One day after a tutoring session, Guo Fei ran into her again. She looked troubled because her teacher was hospitalized and she couldn''t find the way back to the hotel on her own. Guo Fei, the warmed-hearted child who always received the "kind and benevolent" remarks from her teacher at the end-of-semester evaluations -- we found it in the record room of the Lian-Huashan elementary school -- tried to exin the direction to her several times but she was still very lost. She thought: it''s only a short walk and it wouldn''t take very long to show her. So she decided to apany the girl back to her hotel."


    The moment that he mentioned the name "Guo Fei", Guo Heng started trembling uncontrobly. Cloudy tears dropped and wetted his innumerable wrinkles.


    Luo Wenzhou paused. He put one hand on Guo Heng''s shoulder, whose gangly shoulder de and seesawing chest seemed like an old battered bellows.


    Guo Heng struggled to take some air, then said: "Please, go on."  6.8M148K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.7M46.2K 20.3M629K 9.3M431K Paid Story224M6.9M 25.8M841K


    "That girl, Su Xian, gave Guo Fei something to drink to put her down. She kept her at the hotel and waited for Wu Guangchuan''s return. With the excuse of his hospitalization, Wu Guangchuan broke away from the rest of his colleagues. After killing Guo Fei, he hid her in the trunk and drove out of Lian Huashan. Su Xian kept Guo Fei''s pencil box." said Luo Wenzhou. Based on what they''ve gathered -- Su Xian''s diary, the consistency of the Modus Operandi, and others -- Su Xian was more likely to be the murderer, rather than Wu Guangchuan. However, Luo Wenzhou twisted the truth a little with the most objectivenguage he could find. He continued: "Because of the unhealthy rtionship she had with the murderer, Su Xian was very jealous of the victim. On the way back, they had a dispute and she jumped out of the car. After hiking over the sloped in she saw the telephone booth. She thought of a way to vent out the frustration: by making the screaming phone call and letting you hear the rattling pencil box."


    "Why would...why..."


    "Because she envied Guo Fei for having parents like you, for having a loving family. She envied her, for what a happy and innocent girl she had grown to be. What Guo Fei had was what she could never own, not even with twenty more years of life."


    Guo Heng looked up at Luo Wenzhou''s face,pletely wordless.


    "Uncle Guo, you did not kill the wrong man. You were just...too kind... to doubt the other person in the room. " Luo Wenzhou said softly, "But because you killed Wu Guangchuan right in front of Su Xian''s eyes, it deterred her. She learnt for the first time that doing these things had consequences. She suffered. Her life was miserable since then and shemitted far fewer crimes. You have saved many potential victims -- hundreds."


    But Guo Heng covered his eyes. His voice was choked up by tears.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Uncle Guo..."


    "Please..." Guo Heng frenzily waved his hands, "Don''t bother pretty things up for me...I know you meant it well, but...please..."


    Guo Heng might have been impulsive and quick-tempered. But he was not stupid. He spotted the obvious cracks in the story.


    "Where is my Fei Fei now?"


    "The main suspect, Su Hui, was not involved in this case, so we suspect that Guo Fei was buried somewhere along the interstate from Lian Huashan to Yan-cheng."


    "Can...can she still be found? Will you continue to search for her?"


    "Yes." Luo Wenzhou said, "A person cannot just disappear into thin air. She must still be hidden somewhere. There must be clues. Even if we cannot find her very soon, we will not give up. Even if the others do, I shall not. I promise."


    Guo Heng left the Bureau in another dawn. Luo Wenzhou saw him off, until his silhouette disappeared into the morning mist. He didn''t know what Guo Heng''s future ns were. But be it 60, 70, or 80 years of age, life must go on and eyes must look forward.


    It might''ve been his illusion, but Luo Wenzhou thought that Guo Heng''s back looked a little more straightened than before.


    Afterwards, Luo Wenzhou dragged his legs back to the office. He slumped onto the chair and exhaled deeply. Somehow, it felt like something was missing. He looked around. Suddenly, he saw a cup of coffee that had already turnedpletely cold.


    Snap... He asked Fei Du to wait!


    But obviously the young master Fei would not wait for him for the whole evening. He must have left a long time ago.


    Luo Wenzhou held the coffee cup with one hand and stared at it, half-awaken. Suddenly, another hand reached over his shoulder to take the cup away, while a dusky woody fragrance snuck into Luo Wenzhou''s nose. He unconsciously inhaled. It made his nose feel dry.


    God knows which exorbitant hotel room Fei DU emerged from. He had showered and changed. Under Luo Wenzhou''s confused eyes, he put down some coffee and breakfast taken from the hotel''s buffet.


    Naturally, Luo Wenzhou carped about it: "Don''t you still have a home? Who''d sleep in a hotel everyday? Are you running it or somethin''?"


    "You''re not technically wrong." Fei Du answered unabashedly, "I own 60% of it."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Big boss unting to the face of the poor working-ss...what a jerk.


    "Didn''t you ask me to wait cuz you had something to tell me? Go ahead."


    "Oh, yeah." Luo Wenzhou opened the coffee cup and drank a mouthful, trying to piece back parts of his lost brain with the help of the caffeine, "I wanted to say..."


    What was it?


    Luo Wenzhou paused, surprised to realize that he had cked out. Part of his memory waspletely nk that not even a single period or ama survived. This must be what the Elzeimers feels like, he thought.


    Looking up, Fei Du''s white shirt somehow started to glow and have double images.


    "I meant to say..."


    Luo Wenzhou murmured some more sybles without making much sense. Suddenly, his body slumped ---


    He fell asleep in the middle of the sentence. Fei Du nimbly caught Luo Wenzhou''s hand and saved the coffee cup from smashing the ground. After putting the cup away, he arranged Luo Wenzhou''s arm into a morefortable posture.


    The man''s eyebrows were slightly furrowed. His double eyelids now had more than three folds. The usually clean-shaved chin was covered by a thinyer of bristle, making his slim face even narrower. To be fair, no one could''ve continued to gleam after a 48-hour investigation marathon, not even a celestial deity. But somehow, the scruffy look suited him. It gave him a jaded yet seasoned look of a mature man. When his usual glib, yboy-ish vibe faded, something more weighty and earnest emerged.


    Leaning over the desk, Fei Du held Luo Wenzhou''s chin with two fingers and turned his face toward him. For a little while, he studied it, like an antique collector appreciating a precious piece of china from the Ru Kiln (1). Then he stood back up. With a silent sigh, he admitted to himself that he was touched by this face.


    (1). The Ru Kiln is an imperial court designated porcin production site in the Song Dynasty, famous for the extremely rare type of Chinese pottery called the Ru Ware.


    At that moment, Lang Qiao -- her legs as heavy as those of a dead dog -- barged in. She had thought that she couldy down anywhere on the street and fall asleep in a snap of fingers, but that was before she saw what she saw. Now, her headful of sleep-worms were shocked to flee helter-skelter. The fifty-shades of Grey and the likes that she had read throughout her life were all whistling and parading in front of her eyes right now. Our policewoman was so dumbfounded that she froze at the office entrance like a zombie.


    Naughty and spotted ''Mr. Grey'' wasn''t flustered at all. He even turned to wink at her, and smiled mysteriously while pointing at the big bag of food next to him, signalling her to ''help herself''. Then, he picked up the coffee cup which Luo Wenzhou had just drank from, took a sip, and then strolled away.


    Meanwhile, Tao Ran was struggling to adjust his eyes to the bright morning sun after getting substituted by a newly dispatched colleague. He absentmindedly patted his coat to get some dirt off, and randomly grabbed a car. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. It was a picture from Chang Ning with Chen Chen in her arms. Although the girl''s fingers still tightly gripped onto her big sister''s sleeves, she managed to smile at the camera.


    "The doctor said Chen Chen is ready to be discharged from the hospital now. My aunt wants to properly say thanks to you and your colleagues. Can she invite you all to a meal at her ce sometime?"


    For the first time in his life, Tao Ran didn''t reply to his godess''s text message right away: he had already fallen asleep.


    Fei Du took a taxi back to his office. It wasn''t time for work yet. He signed a couple paperworks that he owed assistant Miao, then sat alone in his beautifully decorated office.


    It used to be the office of Mr. Fei senior. There was a parlor by the entrance where he kept a half-hidden wine cer and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. On the top of the shelf there were many collector''s pieces of ancient scrolls, bamboo and wooden slips, and silk books. The bottom half disyed the old master''s watch collection. On the other side of the room was a showcase of ancient weapons. The one in the middle was a longsword said to be the possession of an emperor. Ages have passed since itst drank blood, but its de was still shiny and its handle ever so polished. Under the cool lighting of the disy, the sword looked ready to break free and quench its thirst again.


    In the middle of the sofa set stood another showcase. It was 1.4 meters tall and round in shape. The outer circle was filled with ancient coins that were no longer in cirction. A small disy in the middle exhibited three pieces of jewelry, each the winning piece from an international jewelry designpetition in three consecutive years. Only three, because before the fourth champion could be disyed here, the collector himself went lying like a corpse at the Bin Hai sanatorium.


    Every first-time guest here was stunned by this museum-like parlor. Staying here long enough and you will start feeling the wealth, power, ambition, and desire creeping out from your pores.


    The office and the parlor were connected by a narrow corridor that only allowed one person to pass at a time. The corridor curved, so that the light could not shine through from the office. The office had two small windows for venttion on the sides and arge French window in the middle. It looked down to the heart of Yan-cheng, where traffic moved slowly and pedestrians were as small as ants.


    Fei Du stood up. He opened a locked drawer and took out a thin folder with some contracts, financial reports, and asset transference briefings inside. They were all paperworks rted to the cooperation between hispany and the "Guang Yao Fund Management". When his father was still the CEO, they had business together. Hispany had regr donations to one of the charity funds operated by Guang Yao.


    When the contract expired, their cooperation halted. The other party didn''t seem to be expecting a renewal.


    Another paperwork lied quietly at the bottom of the stack. It was a proposal for a project named "Bin Hai ocean resource vacation paradise -- building the Maldives of China". The Guang Yao Fund Management advocated for this project and invited them to invest too. But back then, his father considered the project to be too hefty and doesn''t have a mature business model. The board -- which was basically his father''s pirrot -- turned it down. Consequently, the project became a stillbirth.


    "Bin Hai..." Fei Du scratched the words with his pen cap.


    The three principles for discarding a body ---


    First, discard the body somewhere absolutely safe, somewhere that no one else is able to dig. If so, then no one would ever discover the secrets underground.


    Second, mix the body with other bodies from natural deaths, such that even if they were excavated, no one would feel the need to call the police.


    Third, make the body unidentifiable so that even if the police were involved, they couldn''t identify the victim.


    The third principle could apply twenty years ago. But with today''s forensic technology, it is almost impossible. Then, with Xu Wenchao''s intellect he must follow the first two.


    Why would he have picked Bin Hai?


    If the bodies were thrown directly into the sea, there would be a high risk of them being caught by the fishing boats. If they could manage to sail further into the sea, it required certain weather conditions and was not suitable for every season. So there must be some of the bodies that had to be buried on thend.


    Neither Xu Wenchao nor the Sus had any history with Bin Hai. None of them were from there or had any rtives there. Then what was it that made Xu Wenchao choose this ce? Did this freence photographer just identally stumble upon it and decided that it was conveniently beautiful and deserted?


    One weekter, with cooperation of the police forces from two provinces, the extremelyplex and abhorring case that spun across twenty some years was finally wrapped up. The musician at the racing club who had abducted Qu Tong identified one of the four other men in the pictures. They had a strict membership policy where only trusted senior members could introduce new members into the club. The newbies would only be allowed to take little girl Su Luozhan out for dinner at first. They needed to spend a lot of money and time to prove their loyalty before bing ''senior members''.


    As the saying went: ''Pulling out the radish and you also pull out the mud''. The ''members'' were identified one by one as each new suspect confessed their introducers. Some of them weren''t in the pictures and had long rescinded from the group. Some were even high-profile celebrities or sessful business men. When the police came for them it made quite a lot of headlines.


    Following Fei Du''s hypothesis, Guo Fei''s body was discovered in an unregistered burial site for vigers next to the interstate from LianHuashan to Yan-cheng downtown. ording to the locals, before the cremation practices became popr, the ce was used to bury the bodies of those that died in idents. Because it was considered ominous, there were many folk tales surrounding it and no one went near it unless they had to. There was once a drunk viger who stumbled into the ce and found a new mound. He was scared out of his mind. There was even a ghost story about it.


    But because of the taboo surrounding this ce, no one took the time to look into it.


    Briefing the public, gathering evidence, prosecuting the suspect...tons of follow-up work left Luo Wenzhou hardly any time to breathe. When it finally settled down, Luo Wenzhou was shocked to realize that it was already mid September.


    Today he finally returned to his usual nine-to-five routine. But before he could celebrate for things returning to normal, he saw a familiar sports car parked in front of the Bureau''s entrance, with a familiar bastard standing next to it smiling at the parking enforcement officer who was writing the ticket.

 Chapter 60: Macbeth One

    Chapter 60: Macbeth One


    ================================================================================


    Before Luo Wenzhou had the time to react, the person behind him gasped for air: it was Lang Qiao.


    Lately Miss Lang''s mind often went to Fei Du''s mysterious smile the other day. Each day on her way to work, her imagination ran wild, conjuring up a whole season of an R rated TV show with the tags of "dominant-submissive", "psychological sadomasochistic", and the likes. Thank God she was insanely over-workedtely that she hasn''t found the time to ''spoil'' the plots for one of her male lead, Luo Wenzhou, yet.


    It had been rainytely, and, shocked by the sight of Fei Du, Camarade Lang Qiao tripped and stomped right into a water puddle. Almost losing her bnce, she clinged onto the side wall with all four limbs.


    Luo Wenzhou heard the noises and turned around. Seeing her disgraceful posture, this stupid homo delivered his signature ridicule: "Why do you bother to wear heels to work? It''s not like anyone here doesn''t already know that you''re short..."


    Lang Qiao: "..."


    She rolled her eyes, fixed her heels, and swallowed the warning she was about to give him, thinking: "Bah! Like I care if you''re bled white."


    To be fair, even when Fei Du was ''courting'' Tao Ran back in the days, he didn''t frequent the Bureau but only asionally dropped by to ''bug'' him when he had something exciting to show off. Afterall, he had a job to go to during the day and many clubs to visit at night. Luo Wenzhou used to think of him and worry about him a lot, but that was before he had grown into a 360 degree dickhead. After that, there wasn''t much to think of.


    A city is a worldly ce filled with busy people. A megacity like Yan-cheng separates souls by distance, traffic, or simply other souls. So it is very normal for ordinary friends to go for months without seeing each other.


    However, although it has only been a couple weeks since Mr. Feist graced the Bureau to "send warmth" (1), to Luo Wenzhou it seemed, strangely, like ages.


    Send warmth: This literal trantion may sound a bit strange. It''s a Chinese expression used a lot to describe volunteers (usually elementary or middle school kids) going to themunity to send their love and help those in need (mostly the elderly, and the poor).


    Fei Du''s car was shy as usual, but he dressed much more low-key.


    He didn''t wear sses this time. An earphone hung loosely from one of his ears. His cotton dress shirt was buttoned up neatly and he even wore a pair of jeans -- a rare sight. His hair was pushed back, revealing his well-defined contour and beautiful eyes. It was as if something had cleansed his soul and washed off his usual facade of a polished scum. Now he looked like a cool art major student who''s got a little attitude but nothing over-the-top.


    Hands in his pocket, Luo Wenzhou strolled casually towards Fei Du. But inside he was cursing the F word:


    There were a million types of beautiful men in the world, and Luo Wenzhou''s taste was diverse. He appreciated the muscr hunky type that''s popr in the western world and also had an appetite for the traditional jade-like gentlemen... all were wee that is, except Fei Du''s type.


    Mr. Fei belonged to a category that he couldn''t handle: a human cobra. He was well-groomed and charming on the outside but had a million holes in his heart (2) that could cause a trypophobia reaction if anyone took a peek. From top to bottom this man was armed with something sharp and invasive. If you don''t want to be manipted you''d have to be on guard all the time. Just thinking of him gave Luo Wenzhou a headache, let alone ''appreciating''.  6.8M148K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.7M46.2K 20.3M629K 9.3M431K Paid Story224M6.9M 25.8M841K


    (2) Holes on his heart: There is a saying in Chinese to describe someone who is shrewd and calcted: having lots of holes in his heart (). This saying probably originated from the Chinese folk mythology "Canonization of the Gods" where one character, Bi Gan, was said to have a heart with seven holes (


    Meanwhile, what attracted Luo Wenzhou the most was the bright, clean, and moderately rebellious type. A pretty face would be a plus --- today''s Fei Du, for example.


    After all, Fei Du was still very young. All it took was retracting his fangs and tuning up his youthfulness, and there you have it: a sunshine boy from the next door.


    Luo Wenzhou waved to dismiss the parking enforcement officer. Then he tapped on the top of Fei Du''s car and pointed to a business building across the street: "Make a right turn there by the shopping center, and you''ll see the closest parking lot. You can''t just park in front of the Bureau like this unless absolutely urgent. You''ll have to have a parking permit."


    Fei Du replied with an innocent smile: "Where can I get the permit?"


    "Our long term permit is neither for sale nor for wholesale...Well, first you''ll have to be an employee at the Bureau. Or, you could be the spouse of someone that works here." Luo Wenzhou looked down impassively to try to hide his inner turmoil and to rest his over-feasted eyeballs. Then he continued with a half-hearted smile: "So which one are you, Mr. Fei? A couple days out of the ster and looks like someone''s already fooling around again --- What do you want?"


    Fei Du replied to his question with another question: "Where''s your car?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "Lent to a colleague for his first date."


    Fei Du squinted his eyes, then pulled open the passenger door: "Cool. Want a ride?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    With Fei Du''s movements came a light breeze. To Luo Wenzhou''s surprise, Fei Du didn''t wear one of his collections of cologne today. Instead, the scent was a mixture of some fabric detergent and shaving cream: fresh and clean, like the autumn wind washed crisp by the cold rain.


    This kid must be doing it on purpose.


    Luo Wenzhou''s brain sounded the rm, but his limbs had betrayed the brain and had automatically climbed into the car.


    Fei Du closed the door for him like a gentleman. Right when he was about to go to the driver''s side, he saw a ''frizzy hair'' with a worn-out briefcase walking out of the Bureau and looking around as if waiting for someone. It was Tao Ran.


    Fei Du paused, and waved at him: "Brother."


    "Hey," Tao Ran scratched his head as he walked towards him. Although his eyes were big, they were not observant: hepletely missed Fei Du''s different look today. "Thesezy bones...they knew we won''t work overtime today. I only went to the restroom and ''poof'' they''re gone... except for the ones on call... Why are you here?"


    Fei Du: "Got something to take care of."


    "Oh, Okay." Tao Ran''s mind was clearly elsewhere. He didn''t continue asking him what that something was, but instead asked, "I was looking for you actually. Chang Ning said that Chen Chen''s parents wanted to invite us over for a meal. Are you going?"


    Fei Du replied with a long "Oh~~"


    Tao Rar: "What?"


    "Go to Chen Chen''s house --- then the rest of us will chat with the parents and keep them upied, while you help sister Chang Ning clean up and prepare the meal?" Fei Du leaned on the car idly, "Or you could encourage people to bring wine. Then after everyone''s had some drink, Chang Ning offers to send them home and you can be the chauffeur. Better yet, right after we get out of the door, the rest of us ''third wheels'' can just go and take the subway together. You can then take her out for a drive, or even for a movie."


    Tao Ran had nned none of those. But this n was so inspiring that he waspletely enlightened. Even his eyes were visibly lit up. A little embarrassed, he didn''t reply, only stood there and smiled, mesmerized.


    At that time, the car window facing Tao Ran rolled down. Luo Wenzhou said to him peevishly: "Alright alright... I have received the message about this meal and will ry it to the camarades. Now could you please stop torturing the single dogs on the street? Watch your manners!"


    Tao Ran couldn''t have imagined it in a thousand years that he would one day see a Luo Wenzhou, alive, in Fei Du''s car. He was bbergasted. He looked at Luo Wenzhou, then at Fei Du, then back at Luo Wenzhou for a couple rounds as if making sure that he wasn''t hallucinating because of extreme fatigue. "O...Okay." He replied absentmindedly, rubbing his eyes. Then he walked away following Luo''s protest.


    Vice Captain Tao had walked aplete 50 meters until his reflex arc finally caught up. A sh of lightning struck him: Wait! It was Luo Wenzhou on the car?


    Luo Wenzhou: gender: male; interested in: male.


    Fei DU: gender: male; interested in:...human!


    Tao Ran abruptly turned his head - his neckined with a loud "crack" - only to see that the sports car had already happily departed. It quickly merged into the traffic and disappeared.


    "Hallucination." Tao Ran concluded with a nod in all seriousness, then dragged his heavy legs and walked away.


    "Turn left on the next crossing: there is a detour ahead due to construction." Luo Wenzhou gave out unruffled directions as if he was really just getting a ride home. He asked about Fei Du''s true intention once, but the little bastard kept it in the cloud. So Luo Wenzhou decided not to ask again, but wait for him to reveal it when the timees.


    Little did he expect that Fei Du drove silently the whole way, without a single unnecessary word until finally: "Arrived."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Wait...so? What now?


    "I meant it. I just wanted to give you a ride." Fei Du keenly caught the hint of confusion from Luo Wenzhou''s eyes. The corner of his mouth curved into a faint, Fei Du-ish smile.


    And so long to the innocent "sunshine boy" image that he had kept the entire way. Underneath the painted skin, it was still the usual ingredients and the familiar taste. Fei Du lowered his voice intentionally so the atmosphere turned ambiguously steamy. He whispered in Luo Wenzhou''s ear: "What were you expecting, Captain Luo?"


    It was the usual flirting tactic of the yboys: inviting in this moment but aloof in the next; tinker with the line but never cross it; vaguely amorous but retreat as soon as the fish starts biting the bait...if the prey was curious and followed suit, it would be led into the trap one step after another.


    Luo Wenzhou used to be an insider of the circle too and a pro at using these tactics. But being the target of them was quite a new experience. He couldn''t really find any faults in Fei Du''s words, and he couldn''t ask about anything directly. The anticipation was built up high, but nothing followed up. This teasing had really worked, for he now felt like some bonobos were scratching his heart making him hard to concentrate and unsure whether to cry or tough.


    Luo Wenzhou took a deep breath to help ease the scratches, and decided to employ a "steadfast" move, that is, to make no move in response to any move. He paused shortly, then went straight for the door handle. He opened the door, then patted it: "Nice car. But wasted in the city roads...what a shame. Thanks bro, see ya."


    Luo Wenzhou dashingly jumped off the car and headed back home to feed his cat. He didn''t look back, not even once.


    Fei Du stayed in the car, but his eyes were with Captain Luo as his back disappeared into the hallway of the apartment building. Then, slowly, he restarted the car.


    "My pleasure." He said to himself, "See you tomorrow."


    The next day, Captain Luo picked up his breakfast delivery business again and barely made it to the office on time. As soon as he walked in, he saw some colleagues moving a desk.


    "What''s up?"


    "Director Zeng just dropped by and said that someone new is arriving today." Tao Ran poked his head out of his cubbie and answered, "They''re making room for the new colleagues."


    "Oh, yeah right." Luo Wenzhou put down the breakfast food. He signaled his underlings to help themselves as he continued, "Too much was going ontely that I almost forgot: I''ve received his transfer order a while ago. So today is the day huh --- actually you guys know him. It''s ''small-sses'' from the branch office. When Wang Hongliang was taken down, he was under investigation leave too. Afterwards I thought, hey, this kid was quick and capable, so I filed a request to transfer him over to us."


    Tao Ran was surprised: "It''s Xiao Haiyang?"


    Before Luo Wenzhou could answer, another head popped in at the door and said: "Captain Luo, Director Zeng wants to see you in his office."


    Luo Wenzhou nodded. He grabbed a bean-curd to-go cup and poked in a straw as thick as his thumb. After a casual stir he started drinking, and by the time that he arrived at Director Zeng''s office, he had already finished the whole cup.


    Luo Wenzhou was aszy as a slug. To avoid walking the extra steps, he shot the empty cup at the trash can from two meters away. Following a nice hyperbolic trajectory, the stic cupnded in the middle of the can with a bang.


    Before he saluted himself for the perfect long shot, an office door opened from the inside.


    Zeng Guangling pushed his sses and nced at Luo Wenzhou coldly: "What a waste of talent. You should have gone to the NBA."


    Director Zeng started out as a forensic doctor. Later he was promoted to the managerial position because old Chief Zhang appreciated his professionalism and rigorous work ethic. But since then, he was handed lots and lots of ''career growth opportunities'': drafting the reports, organizing the Party member meetings, weighing in on the HR decisions, etc., which were killing him. The more he was involved in these ''growth opportunities'' the more miserable he was, and the more rigid and icy he became.


    When Luo Wenzhou was just starting out at the Bureau he often followed Zeng around at the crime scenes. Zeng Guangling, a strict and serious man, wasn''t a big fan of Luo Wenzhou''s yfulness. He often scolded him. Consequently, Luo Wenzhou had already developed a steel-forged thick skin in front of him. He lightly brushed it off with a cheeky grin: "You bet. But I also have a heart for servicing the people so I had to give up the $20,000,000 sry. What a touching story --- Anyways, I heard that the newbie was an old..."


    Before the word "friend" made it out of his mouth, Luo Wenzhou was stunned to paralysis.


    There were two guests in Zeng Guangling''s office. One was Xiao Haiyang, just as he expected. As Xiao Haiyang saw himing in, a well-behaving kid that he was, he immediately stood up to salute him: "Captain Luo."


    As for the one beside him: wasn''t quite so well-behaving.


    "An old friend indeed." Fei Du finished Luo Wenzhou''s sentence. His eyes patrolled, delightfully, from Luo Wenzhou''s chest down to his knees and back up again. After the free tour, he smiled and continued, "I was just at Captain Luo''s home for dinnerst month."


    Zeng Guangling had been around for very long: he basically watched Luo Wenzhou grow from a know-nothing youngd to the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Squad. Although he never mentioned it, he knew very well about Luo Wenzhou''s "unconventional" private life. So Fei Du''s words immediately sent Director Zeng the wrong message. He rolled his eyes at Luo Wenzhou and spoke with an undertone: "Since you all knew each other before, I will skip the introduction. Last year the Bureau and the Yan-cheng Police Academy''s Graduate school had a joint project, remember? Old Chief Zhang was leading it. The goal was to study the cases to develop theories, and then use the theories to direct future operations on simr cases. For example the child abduction case this time -- spanning over twenty years -- is very worth studying. The YCPA (3) had formed a focus research group, and Little Fei here is the liaison --- Wenzhou might not look like a serious superior, but is actually quite good at separating the personal role from the professional one, right?"


    (3). YCPA: Yan-Cheng Police Academy


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    What sketchy research group would appoint such a liaison! Did everyone else die?


    Zeng Guangling continued: "Little Xiao, it''s your first day today. Go ahead and introduce yourself to your colleagues. Many here are about the same age as you. I am sure you will find yourself at home in no time. Fei Du---"


    Fei Du put his crossed-leg down and, under Luo Wenzhou''s tooth-aching glower, answered with the most innocent and benign voice: "Professor Zeng."


    "Oh well, don''t call me ''Professor''." Zeng Guangling was apparently pleased by this address. His otherwise stern voice warmed up a little and a hint of smile appeared on his icy face: "I only taught for two years. I am more like an upperssman. Your Professor Pan had called about you. If there is anything you need, feel free toe to my office."


    Luo Wenzhou stayed for a one-on-one with Director Zeng afterwards. Apparently this middle-aged man''s understanding of what''s going on waspletely astray. Luo Wenzhou had to endure his bboring about conduct and professionalism, then sit through a meeting for this lousy research project at Chief Lu''s office where the old man expounded the meaning and significance of the project all the way up to political correctness. When he finally dragged his fatigued heart and legs back to the main office, he found his own office barely recognizable ---


    ===============================================================================


    A fan girl''s rambling:


    OMG guys, I just found this precious fan-cut of Silent Reading on bilibili! I can''t paste the link here, but go to bilibili and search for av79167161. Let me know what you think!! I am blown away...I literally watch it several times everyday hahaha.


    I actually got into Silent Reading after watching some fan-cuts featuring Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu (hence the cover of this book. Guardian fans, you know what I''m talking about ;) I used to think they were perfect for the roles and actually pictured their faces while I was reading the book. But now this new fan-cut video haspletely changed my mind! I have discovered someone more perfect for the roles: Wang Yibo and Chen Xiao.


    Yibo, well, he''s literally the reincarnation of Fei Du, without question (another brilliant fan-cut video with Yibo being Fei Du for 4 minutes straight: av57555856). As for Chen Xiao in the role of Luo Wenzhou, at first it took me some time to get used to -- I thought that he looked too young for the role. But then I checked and the actor was born in 1987. He and Yibo (born 1997) actually had the perfect age difference! And Priest wrote it herself that Luo Wenzhou looked young for his age. AND Chen Xiao is such a good good good actor -- I would say at Zhu Yilong''s level, if not higher. AND he is so good looking too... T___T AHHH his double eye lids...


    Anyways. Don''t worry about spoilers because this video doesn''t follow the plots very closely. It''s rumored that these two are going to shoot a show together this year ( ice, rain, and fire). The story is also police/crime rted. I can''t wait for more resources for fan-cuts of these two after this show is aired!

 Chapter 61: Macbeth Two

    Chapter 61: Macbeth Two


    03/26/2020


    Luo Wenzhou stared at the additional table that had sprung up in his office. With one hand on the door frame, he stood there silently and waited for an exnation from Tao Ran.


    "We can''t find room for two tables outside." Tao Ran spoke behind Luo Wenzhou, sheepishly, "But don''t you worry. I just asked Fei Du and he said he will only be here twice a week, not everyday. When this project is over their folks will be gone. He''s just temporarily sharing the space with you..."


    Luo Wenzhou''s eyes swept across therge air purifier on the corner, thennded by the door -- therge pile of mess that upied the corner had been cleaned up and reced with a mini fridge and an borate espresso machine. The fridge was filled with beverages from all over the world. On the fridge door there was a sticky note that said "Help yourselves. "


    It looked nothing like "temporary".


    Vice Captain Tao was out of excuses. He smiled awkwardly and kept scratching his naturally curly hair. His head could double as a cleaning wire ball right now.


    He carefully judged Luo Wenzhou''s mood, then added guiltily: "Well, I saw you in his car yesterday and thought you guys were getting al..."


    Luo Wenzhou turned around and stared at him, emotionless.


    Tao Rao: "...ong."


    Luo Wenzhou exhaled through his nose.


    Tao Ran paused. But before long, he couldn''t hold back the curiosity any more: "What is it with you two?"


    "God knows what quirky drug he took without lights on..." seeing that it was during lunch break and not many people were in the main office, Luo Wenzhou sighed, thenined to Tao Ran like he was having a toothache, "He stopped picking on metely, but started teasing, and flirting. Son of a b**ch. Doesn''t he know that Daddy''s taste is "cheek like the cherry --- beyond ordinary"?" (1)


    "Cheek like the cherry, beyond ordinary": this was a popr line from amercial for face cream in China back in the days. The literal trantion is "white cheeks with pink blushing (makes you) different from the crowd". It rhymes very nicely in Chinese and sounds really catchy.


    Tao Ran: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "What? Spit it out."


    "I mean...Fei Du, well..." Tao Ran struggled to find the right words, "I always thought that children who grew up in aplicated environment like him, they had to grow up quickly and learn the boundaries and the social rules fast. Especially in front of the girls, sometimes you can tell that he says pretty words just to make you happy, with no strings attached. He is very good at ying the subtexts and suggestions. If he didn''t want to step across the line, he would be careful to avoid it."


    Luo Wenzhou understood what Tao Ran was trying to say --- Either his narcissistic ''cancer'' had spread beyond saving, or Fei Du "wanted" to step across the line.


    He didn''t answer. Tao Ran stopped there too. The two stared at each other in an awkward silence. Luo Wenzhou''s reaction was hard to tell, while Tao Ran was apparently unsure about whether he hadmunicated the inexplicable mess clearly.


    Luo Wenzhou''s feelings for Fei Du had been quiteplicated since the very beginning. On the one hand, he did spend a lot of time worrying about him and (secretly) taking care of him, while on the other hand he was constantly driven out of his mind by him. They had know each other for more than seven years. The majority of the times during those seven years they fought head to head. But in the rare asions when they fought side by side, both felt camaraderie and saw the other as a matching equal.  6.8M148K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.7M46.2K 20.3M629K 9.3M431K Paid Story224M6.9M 25.8M841K


    No matter what Fei Du did, Luo Wenzhou''s default reaction was "what trick is he ying this time?" But Tao Ran''s words had opened up a brand new perspective for him.


    After a long pause, he finally asked: "Where is he now?"


    "He took everybody out for lunch." Tao Ran answered, "I was waiting for you to walk you over. It''s the restaurant by the front entrance..."


    He stopped midway again because he thought of the extravagantte-night treat a month ago. Finally he realized where it all came from.


    The majority of the team members had already met Fei Du, since he was more or less involved in the two biggest cases that year. However, most of them had no idea where he came from, or what he wanted. It was not until he booked threevish VIP rooms in the expensive restaurant that they finally realized --- this "Beverly Hillbilly" was here to be everyone''s friend!


    From now on, as long as Fei Du was among them, the on-call officers can dly toss away their instant noodles and lowly cheap thrills for killing time. The moment that they realized this new reality, the underlings of "Captain China" Luo Wenzhou immediately turned on him, and that included Miss Lang Qiao, who had the additional "insider''s information".


    Even before Luo Wenzhou opened the door to the VIP room, he already heard Lang Qiao selling him out enthusiastically: "You''ll be gone when the project is over? But are youing back? How about applying here after you graduate? C''mon you are meant to be one of us! See how many times your path has crossed with us! We''ll definitely keep a desk for you...Captain Luo? Of course he wouldn''t mind! He is only thorny on the outside. Actually he is really nice to be around. Every morning he buys us breakfast. Sometimes when he makes a big dish at home, he''d bring some to the Bureau for us. And his cooking..." Someone next to her poked her shoulder.


    Lang Qiao pushed the hand away at first: "What?"


    Then she heard Luo Wenzhou''s voice saying: "What about our cooking? (2)"


    Luo Wenzhou used the self pronoun "" to address himself, which was only used by emperors.


    Lang Qiao''s back suddenly stiffened. Cracking like a jerky gear, her rigid neck slowly turned. She saw Luo Wenzhou leaning at the door and staring at her with a skin-deep smile. Gently, he continued: "Princess Royal, go pack up your stuff now and get ready to marry into North Korea."


    Lang Qiao lost color on her face: "Father emperor, please pardon me!"


    Luo Wenzhou looked away and his eyes directly caught those of Fei Du. Fei Du continued to dress like a well-mannered rich boy who had put his ying days to the past. His whole outfit was eye-scorchingly charming and easily started a fire in the heart of the spectator.


    Tao Ran''s words were on repeat in Luo Wenzhou''s head and felt like a fish bone stuck in his throat. His blood pressure was quickly rising.


    He strolled towards the empty seat next to Fei Du, trying to pay no attention to the man beside him. He folded up his sleeves, then spoke in a bureaucratic tone that he almost never used in front of the team: "Let me announce the message from my meeting with Chief Lu --- This project that we are coborating with the YCPA on is named the "sketch-book project". It took off many years ago but was paused for some ssified reason. Last year Chief Zhang proposed to runch it. After many rounds of revisions the proposal was recently approved. If valuable findingse out of this, it will be useful to your field work in the future too. So I hope everyone cooperates to their best."


    Luo Wenzhou was seldom this serious in private. No one else dared to interrupt him.


    "I will be enforcing the rules strictly. When the research team requests for files, everything has to follow the Bureau''s internal protocol. Everything needs to be on record. Certain files may contain ssified details that haven''t been disclosed to the public yet. Those should never be photographed, photo-copied, and should never leave the Bureau. Byw, everyone from the research team must sign the confidentiality agreement. Also ---" Luo Wenzhou quickly nced at Fei Du, then continued, "I hope the liaison person can put away their indolence: the Bureau is different from your school, or your family business. It is not a ce where you can stroll in and out whenever you want. So I heard from Director Zeng that you will be here every Tuesday and Friday, right? Then on those two days you will abide by the required work hours. Tardiness will not be tolerated. If you need toe in on a different day you must provide valid excuses ahead of time. Is it understood? If you think there will be a problem, I suggest your team change a different liaison."


    Everyone listened seriously at first. But as Luo Wenzhou got to the second half of his speech, the whole team stared at him inexplicably. No one said a word. They just silently watched to see how the "king of indolence" yed the big-tailed wolf.


    The big-tailed wolf wasn''t done yet. He pondered, then spoke directly at Fei Du: "Also, our working condition is quite limited, as you can see. Usually what gets transferred to us are the big and important cases. There may be all kinds of gruesome scenes on site. Flesh and blood are the least. Even in the face of a bloated cadaver..."


    Lang Qiao could take it no more: "Emperor father, are you still going to eat?"


    "...you must remain professional, and eat and drink as usual." Luo Wenzhou rolled his eyes at her, "We only have forensic doctors here, no paramedic or ambnce. Those who vomits and faints at the sight of blood should give it a second thought."


    Fei Du kept his cool: "Thanks, Captain Luo, for your consideration."


    In half a year, these two had upgraded their bickering from ''sshing waves'' into ''crossing undercurrents'', but all the more aggravating.


    Tao Ran had to y the mediator again. He awkwardly interrupted Luo Wenzhou''s pre-dinner lecturing: "Wait, howe I never heard of a ''sketchbook'' project?"


    "Itunched and paused more than 10 years ago. You weren''t even in college then." Luo Wenzhou did him the favor and temporarily let Fei Du off the hook, "back then the psychological profiling techniques have just been introduced from abroad. There were many still-born trial projects."


    The quiet Xiao Haiyang suddenly asked: "Why did it pause?"


    Luo Wenzhou was wiping his hand with a towel. Hearing the question, his movement halted. But then he answered nonchntly: "The timing wasn''t right. And many theories didn''t stand the test of time and didn''t offer much useful guidance...Alright, get back to your food now. Don''t ''indulge in the pleasure and forget about the Shu'' (3) here. Don''t you have work to get back to in the afternoon?"


    3. Indulge in the pleasure and forget about the Shu: this is a saying that originated from a Three Kingdoms story: Liu Shan, the second and thest emperor of the Shu kingdom, surrendered his kingdom to Sima Zhao. One day at a banquet, some Shu performers put on a Shu dance. When asked whether he missed his home Liu Shan answered that there was too much fun here and he doesn''t think about Shu anymore.


    There wasn''t any real important work to get back to in the afternoon. No meetings either. Luo Wenzhou sat there and casually skimmed through a document on "strengthening the security patrolling during Patriots Day". He had already unwillingly epted the fact that the space is now shared with Fei Du and had mentally prepared himself about the restless days toe.


    However, to his surprise, Fei Du was very quiet. No provocation, no scene-staging, nothing. He only sat there and quietly flipped through some files, not even making as much noise as the air purifier. The biggest scene he had caused since he arrived was that everyone else tossed their instant coffee and lined up with their mugs to get the freshly ground one.


    The air purifier buzzed. Beside it there were the asional sound of fingers brushing through the paper. As the saying goes: "Sleepy Spring, Tired Autumn". Luo Wenzhou''s eyelids grew heavier and heavier as he stared at the boring official document with the red seal. Finally he dozed off. When he woke up again, Fei Du was still in the same position as before. But somehow a coat covered Luo Wenzhou and the window behind him had also been closed.


    Luo Wenzhou caught the slipping coat, then peeked through the crevice between his two monitor screens --- Fei Du was indeed an eye candy: everyone who''s got eyes had to admit that. Luo Wenzhou carefully thought about Tao Ran''s words again and concluded that the man had gotten a point.


    Fei Du was not a socially clumsy pup, nor was he the horney Zhang Doni who couldy with just about anyone that breathes. He was the master of the unspoken social rules. Others may know the "ambivalent chemistry" only as an abstract concept, but Fei Du was able to dissect it into 100 levels and urately exhibit each level to the point.


    He knew all too well that Luo Wenzhou was not straight. If he only wanted to y a joke, he shouldn''t have used this level.


    But...


    Luo Wenzhou moved his mouse to get rid of the screen-saver.


    He thought he shouldn''t tter himself too much --- why would the project appoint Fei Du, a freshman, to be the liaison? Have the upperssmen all went extinct? He wouldn''t believe it in a thousand years that the current situation wasn''t the product of someone''s intentional arrangement.


    Fei Du had been nning to get into YCPA sincest year and received the admission in April. Then he immediately found ways to frequent the Bureau and became familiar with everyone in the Criminal Investigation Team -- even with the whole Bureau.


    Thinking back, could the Graduate College appoint him as the liaison for his connections at the Bureau?


    Such clear strategy, such crisp execution. Every bit of this process smelt of deliberation.


    Fei Du was like an inviting poisonous apple. Dangerous, but mouth-watering nheless. Luo Wenzhou did a constrained stretching of his stiff back and tried to tame his wild thoughts. He thought of one thing that Fei Du mentioned: he said that his essay, the one cited by the textbook, was on the victims of criminal cases...why this subject?


    As Luo Wenzhou peeked at Fei Du between his two monitors and was buried deep in his thoughts, Fei Du suddenly stood up and started walking this way.


    Luo Wenzhou almost jumped. But Fei Du seemingly didn''t notice his peeks at all. He walked towards the fountain, took Luo Wenzhou''s cup along the way, and filled it for him.


    Luo Wenzhou thanked him. But when he reached to take the cup, Fei Du didn''t let go. His fingers casually brushed on Luo Wenzhou''s palm.


    Fei Du put one hand on Luo''s desk and looked at him from above. He slightly bent down and lowered his voice: "If Captain Luo wants to look, there is no need to be sneaky: I won''t charge."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t move. He replied with the same whispering voice: "Is it trendy now for you college pups to harass the boss during work time?"


    Fei Du stared right into his eyes in a way that a predator eyed its prey. Then he smiled, and turned back to his temporary desk: "''He who looks for faults shall always find them''. If Captain Luo believes that my sheer existence is harassment, then there is nothing I can do."


    Luo Wenzhou took out his cigarette case. But seeing the air purifier on the side, he tugged it back and walked toward the men''s room. "Abstinence for too long..." he thought.


    Finally, it was five o''clock. But Fei Du didn''t seem to be leaving any time soon.


    As Luo Wenzhou picked up his car key, he unintentionally nced at the document in Fei Du''s hand then realized that it was a copy of Xu Wenchao''s confession. Fei Du''s eyes had been staying on the same page for a long time.


    Luo Wenzhou''s steps slowed down.


    Either Fei Du had eyes on the back of his head, or he could tell "curiosity" from Luo Wenzhou''s footsteps. Fei Du opened his mouth, slowly: "ording to Xu Wenchao, he was spotted by Guo Heng when stalking Wu Guangchuan. As they talked, Guo became suspicious about the rtionship between Wu and Su Xian. He went to the police but in vain. Then Guo started following Wu himself, with the help of Xu."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Yes?"


    Fei Du slightly leaned back: "This part sounds a bit strange."


    Luo Wenzhou ced one hand on the back of his chair, and read the sentences over Fei Du''s shoulder as he pointed at them: "How so?"


    "With no one else to turn to, Guo Heng asked for Xu Wenchao''s help. We assumed that Xu Wenchao learned the details about Guo Fei''s case from Guo Heng."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Guo Heng said so himself."


    "It had been twenty years. Guo Heng might not remember every single word that he had said. But I find it odd that he would reveal details such as the ''bell in the pencil case'' to Xu."


    "This detail wasn''t considered important at all by either Guo Heng or the police back then. Other than proving that the phone call was indeed rted to Guo Fei, it doesn''t offer any additional information. Not to mention that it must be very traumatic to Guo Heng to recollect it --- imagine in his shoes: under what circumstance would he talk about it to Xu?"


    Luo Wenzhou said: "for example, maybe Xu Wenchao asked: ''How do you know it was your daughter over the phone''."


    "How do you know it was your daughter, " Fei Du shook his head, "it sounds like Xu Wenchao was checking the credibility of Guo Heng''s words."


    Luo Wenzhou suddenly realized -- only someonepletely naive about everything would try to check for the authenticity of the details when he first heard of them. However, Xu Wenchao had already known about the sick rtionship between Wu Guangchuan and Su Xian. He also knew that Su Xian was the brain of the serial abduction cases. His heart was as clear as a mirror. Would he really be able to y the "innocent" so well?


    "If so, then Xu Wenchao is truly an extremely dangerous fou." Fei Du said, "but if not, why would Guo Heng volunteer such a detail? Was he only looking for an emotional outlet? If you were Guo Heng, a middle aged man with a teenage daughter, would you vent in front of a teenage boy?"


    "Su Luozhan said that she read Su Xian''s diary and it inspired her to copy. But when I read the diary closely, I did not find any mentioning of the pencil case at all. There were only descriptions of the excitement of calling the victim''s family." Fei Du knocked on the desktop, "then, how did the girl know about the bells?"


    Luo Wenzhou was a bit shocked by the ghastly possibilities that this idea led to. But before he could dive deeper, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang.


    He picked it up.


    "You''re still here? Good." Chief Lu said, "There is a tricky case... Wenzhou, take some of your men with you -- you''ll want to be on site in person for this one."

 Chapter 62: Macbeth Three

    Chapter 62: Macbeth Three


    "A car ident?" Luo Wenzhou was surprised, "Why...The traffic police team is the next room down the hall."


    Lu Youliang said: "Have you heard of Zhou Junmao before?"


    "Which Zhou Junmao?" Suddenly Luo Wenzhou felt his adrenaline rushing. Even the warm twilight sun became turbulent. "You don''t mean THAT Zhou Junmao?"


    Next to him, Fei Du stopped reading. He looked up silently.


    Zhou Junmao was a famous overseas Chinese businessman. The seventy-three-year-old was born in the East Alley Ditch area on the outskirts of the Yan-cheng city. He had immigrated abroad many years ago and earned his first bucket of gold in the construction business. A self-made millionaire, he built the multinational business empire, the Zhou''s, from nothing. Lately, perhaps old age had brought feelings of nostalgia towards his homnd -- as the saying goes: leaves ultimately fall back to the roots -- the Zhou''s altered their investment strategy to focus on projects in the maind.


    Zhou Junmao wasn''t the regr kind of celebrity. He kept a low profile, lived a simple life, and was very active in phnthropy. He donated a fortune toward the development of his hometown and was responsible for at least half of the prosperity of the East Alley Ditch area. There was even a road called the "Junmao road", the only one in the Yan-cheng City that was named after a living man.


    Just half an hour ago, Zhou Junmao was on the way from the airport back to his residence in Yan-cheng. Suddenly his car was rear-ended by arge truck. The back of the car waspletely destroyed and squeezed inward. The old man, sitting on the back seat, lost his life immediately. His driver and the bodyguard on the passenger seat were critically wounded and were rushed to the hospital.


    It was such a gruesome ident. Undoubtedly once the news gets out the stock of the Zhou''s Corporation would go through an earthquake.


    Meanwhile, the younger son of the Zhou family happened to be in Yan-cheng. He rushed over, then insisted that it was a murder and that the Criminal Investigation Police shall be involved.


    "Director Zeng already headed over with his forensics team. Let''s go to the scene first and talk to the traffic police crew, then go to Zhou''s house." Those that went with Luo Wenzhou included Lang Qiao, who happened to be on call, Xiao Haiyang, who didn''t have the thick skin to leave early on his first day, and Fei Du, the extra. They were driving on the Airport freeway, "Put your hearts back to your stomachs -- we won''t be working overtime for another month -- even if the crash was more than an ident, the investigation will probably be led by the Economic Crime Investigation team. We''ll at most be assisting."


    Lang Qiao turned to the backseat curiously: "Director Fei, you know so many rich people. Have you met this Zhou Junmao before?"


    "Only once, and we didn''t talk much." Fei Du could almost pass for a dorky teacher''s pet now: even in the field-work vehicle, he didn''t forget to take a textbook, "I am more familiar with his younger son -- the one that insisted on calling the criminal police."


    Lang Qiao quickly searched on the inte: "Zhou Junmao has two sons. The elder one, Zhou Huaijin...Wow...an Ivy league graduate, and started handling the family business from very young. He usually stays abroad. Then the younger one Zhou Huaixin...he''s a painter? Wait, Director Fei, is this him? How did you two bond? Over the love of art?"


    "Oh, no." Fei Du answered, "it''s because we are both the good-for-nothing spendthrift sons."


    Lang Qiao: "..."


    The Airport freeway didn''t have much traffic on the direction going out of the city. Before it turnedpletely dark out, the team had arrived at the scene.  6.8M148K Paid Story264K14.5K 1.7M46.2K 20.3M629K 9.3M431K Paid Story224M6.9M 25.8M841K


    Fei Du was about to get off, but Luo Wenzhou mmed the door shut in his face. Surprised at first, Fei Du quickly realized what it was for. Then, like a weasel whose heart got ironed t by arge chicken drumstick, he nced at Luo Wenzhou''s back, then quietly waited in the car. Not much was shown on his face.


    Luo Wenzhou quickly toured the scene and saw that the wounded were already sent away by the ambnce, and the scene had more or less cleared up. As long as one didn''t look far into the areas circled by the yellow masking tapes, it was hard to see any blood. He finally waved Fei Du out of the car.


    Fei Du followed him and spoke softly by his ear: "Captain Luo, how considerate. I''m surprised, and ttered."


    "Already?" Luo Wenzhou nced at him cidly, "what a turbulent emotional world full of ups and downs that you have --- Lao Qiu, over here!"


    The traffic police officer in charge of this ident was Officer Qiu, another friend of Luo Wenzhou -- Our captain Luo''s friends spreaded all over the world and spun across every profession.


    Through Fei Du''s passive observation, he thought Luo Wenzhou was the kind of person that grew up in a very open-minded andid-back environment. When he was young, he must have enjoyed conditionless love and attention, which allowed him to keep loving the world even after experiencing the frost and the windter in life. He had seen the darkside of humanity, and he had grown to be shrewd and wary because of his profession, but deep down he still weed the world with an open arm.


    Sometimes, standing on the streets, what you see are the men, the women, the old, and the young, all wearing simr shirts and pants. The retired old man who''s taking a walk and the exotic-looking foreigner might be wearing the same brand of sneakers. It almost creates the illusion of "one world, one dream".


    But those that live under the sun cannot imaging what unescapable yet habitual torture the buddy next to him is enduring; those deeply depressed cannot understand how the lively passerbys really aren''t faking their smiles.


    Like right now, he was standing right next to Luo Wenzhou. It almost seemed like they came from the same world.


    Sometimes the skin covers up the truth and hides it well.


    "As for whether there is some hidden story behind this, I''ll leave it to you guys. But if you ask me, this is clearly an ident with the rear truck''s full responsibility." The traffic police Lao Qiu waved them over to look at the monitor, "The Bentley is Zhou Junmao''s car. They drove out of the airport, everything was normal. The driver drove very carefully. The truck got on from the "North Yuan Bridge" entrance. If we number the traffic cameras from the North Yan Bridge entrance as number one --"


    Lao Qiu rearranged the footage from various traffic cams ording to their distance to the entrance, and showed them one by one: "On this direction, at the time, the traffic wasn''t bad. From camera number four, the truck entered the samene as the Bentley. A couple other cars were between them, but they gradually passed the Bently one by one. By camera number sixteen there were no more cars between them. But the distance in between was still safe. Then look---"


    When the truck drove past camara number eighteen, its distance from the front car started to shrink. Looking closer, the truck was elerating at a consistent rate, as if the driver had ced his foot on the gas pedal and forgot to remove it.


    When it went past camara number twenty, the speed detector showed that the truck was going 140 kmph, way above the speed limit. Then, like the driver had gone blind, the truck mmed into the rear end of the Bentley. Camara number twenty one captured the whole collision. It was such a brutal crush that even though the watchers were mentally prepared, they still lost a heart-beat.


    Luo Wenzhou: "Where is the truck driver now?"


    "Dead. Didn''t make it to the hospital." Lao Qiu said, "the dashboard camera showed that he had been driving the truck non-stop for ten hours -- textbook fatigue driving. It seemed quite clear to me -- if not for the family insisting otherwise so firmly -- that the driver fell asleep because of fatigue and left his foot on the gas. The truck elerated, then "boom" --- all doomed."


    Luo Wenzhou asked: "Who is the driver? Did he have a record for misconduct?"


    "The driver''s name is Dong Qian, forty-nine years old, a truck driver in a transportationpany. Just now his colleague came to identify the body. He said Dong Qian was an honest man, that he had traveled this road for close to 10 years and had never had an ident. C''mon, are there really so many malicious criminals running around each day? Not to mention that this Dong doesn''t look like someone who''d have any rtionship with a Bentley...more like a Xiali (1)." Lao Qiu took the cigarette that Luo Wenzhou passed over, "Captain Luo, how trust-worthy is this family member? Could it be another attention-seeking trick of the rich celebs?"


    Xiali: A local economy car model


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t agree hastily. But when he saw Zhou Huaixin with his own eyes, he quickly realized that he might be a piece of work.


    After meeting Zhang Doni and Zhou Huaixin and the sorts, Luo Wenzhou had to admit that among the locally-grown spendthrift sons, Fei Du was a normal.


    Zhou Huaixin was overly slender for a grown man. To be honest, he was nothing more than a walking hemp stick. The way that his cheeks sunk almost made the professionals on site suspicious that he has a drug problem.


    He wore a graffiti T-shirt with an oversized suit vest that dragged all the way to his knees. The sides of the vest were ripped up to the waist, so it looked like two pieces of hanging fart curtains. His right ear had seven, or eight piercings crowded by metal studs.Tears had turned his thick eyeliners into two giant ck eyes.


    Behind him, one of his oil paintings hung on the wall. It was more than three meters long. The color tone was very gloomy.


    Luo Wenzhou did not have the eyes for art pieces. His taste still stayed at the level of "the more lifelike the better". Nevertheless, even he could feel the inexplicable but strong sense of suffocation when looking at the painting. The lines were messy and the colors were dreary. At first sight, it seemed to be depicting a thunderstorm. However, a closer look revealed that there was a sun hanging on the upper left corner, and those rusty lines weren''t the rain, but the sunshine.


    Under the bloodshot sun there was arge field of reeds. All the nts were slouching and lifeless. A couple faceless skeletons interspersed in between.


    Staring at the painting for long is sickening.


    "It''s hard to keep up with your trends these days." Luo Wenzhou asked Fei Du secretly, "What is the young master Zhou trying to express in this ''masterpiece''?"


    Fei Du nced at the painting. Perhaps the color of the contour resembled the blood too much. He quickly turned his eyes away: "If I remember correctly, he painted this one by the sea. It was at his seaside cottage. Some supermodelsid in the sand to pose for him."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Turned out the theme of this painting was "beauty is death, form is emptiness".


    "His style was edgy and unpleasant indeed. Don''t know about the others, but I only bought his paintings for the sake of his father." Fei Du finished exining quietly. Meanwhile, he saw Zhou Huaixin walking down the stairs like a shaky skeleton, weeping.


    Fei Du raised his voice to call out: "Brother Zhou, are you alright?"


    Zhou Huaixin was relieved to see an old acquaintance. Grievance flooded his eyes. He called out in a trembling voice: "Fei!", then threw himself into Fei Du''s arms like an oversized baby swallow rushing to its forest.


    A smell of baby-powder-like perfume attacked Luo Wenzhou''s nose. He turned to the side and sneezed.


    Fei Du was pushed back a step by his eager pounce. He then rebnced and stood steadily to offer him his shoulder, but didn''t go beyond a gentlemen''s hug. He consoled Zhou Huaixin with a gentle voice, then offered him an arm and guided him to the sofa to sit down.


    Zhou Huaixin sobbed: "What brought you here?"


    It was hard to exin, so Fei Du simplified it to: "I went back to school, and just got an internship at the Bureau."


    That was when Zhou Huaixin finally noticed the rest of the team. He leaned over to take a tissue from the tissue box on the table, and sobbed: "You...you guys are the police? Master Fei, your t...taste is so peculiar...oh no, my heart hurts so bad, can I borrow your shoulder..."


    As he spoke, he slouched in Fei Du''s arms like a boneless mollusk. Luo Wenzhou''s dog nose was quite bothered by the smell of "baby powder" so he didn''t see eye to eye with Zhou Huaixin. He replied coldly: "You insisted that Mr. Zhou senior''s car crash was not an ident. What led you to believe it?"


    Zhou Huaixin struggled to lift his thick and heavy eyelids: "My father exercised everyday. In the Spring he evenpeted in the marathon. There is no way that he would suddenly leave us like this. There must be someone behind this!"


    On the side taking notes, Lang Qiao was awed speechless by his logic. She put down the notebook and interjected, "Mr. Zhou, I understand that you are having a hard time processing all of these emotionally. But Mr. Zhou senior was killed in a crash. Let alone the marathon...even if he trained for the triathlon, he can''t be immune to car crashes."


    Zhou Huaixin sobbed loudly as if he was about to pass out. He stared at Lang Qiao like she was the big-eyed witch who bullies innocent princesses.


    Fei Du waved at her, then lowered his head and spoke softly: "Brother Zhou, this cannot be used as evidence."


    Zhou Huaixin bursted into tears: "Even you won''t believe me? My sixth sense is always urate. Dad always drove that big SUV with the anti-bullet windows. Today he switched to a weaker car, and that''s when the ident happened? This cannot be a coincidence. Last week he just had his seventy-third birthday. In the celebration he said that he was ready to retire, and was going to write a will to leave some of the stocks to my brother and I. He just got back this week and then..."


    Zhou Huaixin suddenly stopped, as if he just realized he had slipped something that he shouldn''t. He buried his head in Fei Du''s chest like he couldn''t bear even the slightest blow of the wind. Rubbing his own chest, he kept his mouth shut.


    "Mr. Zhou senior only has two sons. Even without a will, his heritage will pass to you and your brother." Luo Wenzhou''s eyes darted at Zhou Huaixin, "Why do you think that this might be the cause of his death? Mr. Zhou, I know that you''re very upset right now. But since you have called the police, please treat it like a serious matter. Can you sit up to answer my question?"


    "I don''t know. I paint, and that''s all I do. I don''t know anything about the family business. You''ll need to talk to my big brother. I already called him and he will be here tomorrow morning." Zhou Huaixin put his face in his palms to avoid Luo Wenzhou''s eyes, "Cars are such big weapons. It''s more efficient than knives and guns. Everywhere on the street there are men with this legal ''weapon''. When they kill, all they have to say is "I didn''t mean it", and it can be excused as an ident? What is the use of you?"


    The speaker might not mean it, but the listeners all got an underlying message. The worries on Fei Du''s face seemed to have fainted a little.


    Luo Wenzhou gruffly pulled Zhou Huaixin off of Fei Du: "The truck driver has died, Mr. Zhou junior. Are you implying that someone wanted your father dead so badly that they would trade their own lives for it?"


    Through his smoky dark circles, Zhou Huaixin looked at him and asked, ghostly: "Officer, do you not believe that money can buy lives?"


    Luo Wenzhou and the team wasted almost an hour with Zhou Huaixin. They weren''t sure whether he was truly retarded or just acting. Sometimes they could clearly tell that he was withholding something, something he wanted to share but couldn''t. Only when they were about to leave did Zhou Huaixin grab Fei Du and asked, mysteriously: "Have you heard? About the rumors?"


    Fei Du gave Luo Wenzhou a look, then turned to pat Zhou Huaixin''s shoulder: "Don''t mind it."


    Zhou Huaixin didn''t want to let go. He asked: "Could you keep mepany until my brotheres?"


    Before Fei Du spoke, Luo Wenzhou answered for him: "Quit the dawdling. You still have a report to submit this evening --- ''intern''."


    Fei Du shrugged at Zhou Huaixin regrettably. In the next second, Luo Wenzhou thrusted him out of the room: "Hurry."


    Fei Du staggered. But he didn''t mind it at all. Instead, he looked down and smiled. Luo Wenzhou shooed him back into the car.


    Her eyes wide open with curiosity, Lang Qiao whispered a question to Fei Du: "Director Fei, was that serpent, Zhou something, having a crush on you?"


    "Nope." Fei Du replied in an equally low voice, "he was just bored and lonely."


    Lang Qiao eximed: "You lots are rotten!"


    Luo Wenzhou mmed the door shut. He pulled the two apart and pointed at Lang Qiao: "If only you had that much estrogen, you wouldn''t be worrying about finding a husband --- Fei Du, what was it that Zhou Huaixin hesitated to say?"


    "Rumor has it," Fei Du sat up straight and answered, "that the moral and respectable Mr. Zhou senior has an illegitimate son."

 Chapter 64: Macbeth Five

    Chapter 64: Macbeth Five


    5.1.2020


    ===============================================


    <i>What, can the devil speak true?</i>


    -- Macbeth


    "ording to Dong Xiaoqing, Dong Qian often worked long distance shifts. This one was not an exception. Because she lost her mother at a very young age, her father felt guilty about her abnormal childhood and wanted her to marry well. So he had always been working very hard to save up for her dowry. Then the customers who pay well usually are picky on punctuality, and stopping for restroom breaks means more time wasted on the road, not to mention that there may be gas-stealers at the rest areas. That''s why many long distance truck drivers choose to push the hours. Driving for more than 10 hours non-stop is verymon. As for why the crash happened there and then, I suspect that it was purely by ident. You see, Dong Qian was hospitalized for an allergy reaction earlier this year and somehow that had since left him with insomnia, aggravating the fatigue...Captain Luo, I also learnt that Dong Qian''s wife died from a car ident, and because of the mental trauma he couldn''t get back behind the wheel for a very long time. Would someone like him really hit another person intentionally?"


    Luo Wenzhou listened to Xiao Haiyang''s reporting without interrupting. He held back on his mentoring instincts to avoid little Xiao jumping at any trifling instructions andunching himself into the air again. Instead, he only replied with terse "yes"-es to show that he''s got it, and then suggested Little sses not to stay at work toote.


    Judging from this additional information, Mr. Zhou Sr.''s death seemed less likely to be a tropy, heritage-battle-induced murder. For a celebrity family like the Zhou''s however, anything could make the news headlines and fuel conspiracy theories. So it made sense that Zhou Huaixin wanted to involve the police early on to sway the public opinion and clear himself out of the mess. Fei Du might have a point on this one.


    Fei Du also said...<i>well, that asshole</i>... Luo Wenzhou''s chest tightened as soon as he thought of him.


    Heavy chested and empty stomached, He turned to the kitchen to microwave something to eat. Just as he was washing hands, Luo Yiguo waltzed over to him, fat hips swaying.


    The Lord Kitty might have just woken from its afternoon nap. Butt up and belly down, it did a big,fortable stretch and then "Meadow-ed" cheerfully and rubbed its body against Luo Wenzhou''s ankles.


    Yiguo almost never fuzzed over Luo Wenzhou like a pet''s supposed to, except when begging for a treat. ttered by its sudden, nice gesture, he bent down to pet it despite his freshly-cleaned hands.


    Yiguo''srge round eyes were fixed on those reaching hands. Then suddenly, its fangs gleamed, and it pounced on them. But Luo Wenzhou was a seasoned ''poop scooper'' too, so he had suspected that something fishy was going on as soon as the cat smooched. Familiar with the preludes to its attack, he sessfully retracted his hands. The stinky booger missed. Then, his hand pped back at Yiguo''s face and quickly quelled the ''rebellion'', squishing it on the ground: "I knew it!"


    Since the day the ''poop scooper''s autumn pants became too hard to bite through, Yiguo started incorporating more hunting tactics like this -- god knows where it learnt them from -- <i>But the enemy was too cunning: he was never home on time and never respected my provocations.</i> Yiguo thought while growling angrily. In the next moment it was picked up again, rear feet dangling in the air.


    "What the hell do y''all want from me? Hah?" Luo Wenzhou asked grumpily, "Daddy feeds you, daddy warms you, daddy''s patience from the next life was used up on you...and look what shitty things you did in return? Do you even have a heart? Hah? Unbelievable..."  Paid Story264K14.5K Paid Story675K32.4K 677K144K Paid Story9.5M453K 6.2M225K 1.5M201K 27.7M596K


    Yiguo protested loudly.


    Luo Wenzhou yelled back: "Shut up, you little brat!"


    Yiguo quickly surrendered. Its tail danglednguorously. Its four limbs sheepishly held onto Luo Wenzhou''s forearm.


    Luo Wenzhou glowered at it for a while, but still walked towards the pantry for wet food. The cat never held grudges as long as there was food. It jumped off and rolled onto its feet, then rubbed its head against his palm andmitted to a one-sided truce.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    He was so fed up with these frivolous folks.


    Luo Wenzhou sat down on the floor. His right hand was still warm - the one that was harassed by Fei Du. When he closed his eyes he could still see that face with the skin-deep smile, a smile that messed up his heart rhythm. Then he felt cranky about that messed-up rhythm.


    That bit of the crankiness peaked when he woke up before dawn from a messy, loaded dream and found that a part of him was, disharmoniously, wide awake.


    It was not even five am. Luo Wenzhou sat up, stayed in bed for a while, then finally gave up and got off to ''unload himself" in the bathroom. Afterwards, he sshed some cold water on his face and stood in front of the bathroom sink-table, hands pressing down. After a couple deep breaths, he thought that if that shameless, spoiled brat Fei Du kept messing with him like this, he would go ahead and get even. Son of a b**ch...why should upholding one''s moral standard be punished? What kind of a world is this?


    Suddenly, he heard a muffled "bump": Yiguo jumped off his bed and walked to the bathroom too.


    Luo Wenzhou: "What do YOU want?"


    Yiguo turned its head towards the bedroom and wiggled its tail. He could faintly hear the "Anthem of the Five Rings" ying. Luo Wenzhou was confused at first, then was finally fully awake --- it was his ring tone. His nket-buried cell phone was ringing.


    "Zhou Huaijin''s flightnded on time, at around 2 am. He texted his family right away, told them not to pick him up and that he''ll just take a tax. At that hour of the day the roads were practically empty, so it shouldn''t take him more than half an hour to get home. However, The Zhous waited for a full 2 hours. When they tried to reach him again, his cell phone was powered off!"


    Luo Wenzhou strode across a pool of police cars towards the family home of the Zhou''s -- for the second time in 24 hours. He murmured to himself: "Isn''t Zhou Huaijin supposed to be some rich heir to a business empire? Why would he take a taxi cab from the airport in the middle of the night..where''s his chauffeur? His bodyguards?"


    Then he heard the annoying voice interjecting, indolently: "This is him. Zhou Huaijin likes to keep a low profile. He is very polite and considerate, and doesn''t like to inconvenience others. He''s got a reputation among his folks -- although some say that he is a bit too soft. Landing at this hour and not wanting to disturb his men -- That''s very much like him."


    Luo Wenzhou looked ahead and saw Fei Du, fully dressed, waiting at the entrance of the Zhou''s family house. He nodded to Luo Wenzhou and greeted: "Captain Luo."


    Both the nodding and greeting seemed very at ease. It was as if the one that parted with Luo Wenzhou on bad termsst night was someone else entirely.


    Zhou Huaixin was already wailing beyond himself. Like a pile of mud he sshed on the sofa and couldn''t manage to get up at all. Before Luo Wenzhou even approached, he could hear him whining: "What did I say! I told you...that my dad died of a murder...but noone listened. Now my brother is missing too! Are you going to wait until everyone of us perishes? Where are the police now? Well...what use do they have...the police are just a bunch of good-for-nothings...."


    Luo Wenzhou''s brows knitted together.


    Then Zhou Huaixin saw that the one standing next to him was Fei Du, so he added to the moaning: "Sir Fei, I didn''t mean to offend YOU...My brother...what would I do if I lose him? Those wolves are going to swallow me alive...Oh God...No...I can''t...I can''t take it anymore...my heart aches...My medicine..."


    The maid hurried over and handed him a bottle covered with foreign words -- it was some vitamin pills from god knows which country. Fei Du took the bottle and helped him with the pills, so that the Mr. Zhou Jr.'' brittle heart could be pampered.


    Luo Wenzhou glimpsed at them, then realized that Fei Du had already changed out of his pretentious ''good-student'' outfit. He was now wearing a semi-formal shirt, and the sses. His shirt was a little wrinkled from wearing, so obviously Fei Du had been up for sometime now.


    At that time, the notification for news pushes on people''s phones were going crazy. It looked like every stock that could be remotely tied to the Zhou''s were plummeting. The foreign stock markets became a feast for the big short. Fei Du''s attire hinted at where he had been after he left the bureaust night. This guy still stank of ''vested interests'', yet here he was, consoling Zhou Huaixin''s lost soul with utter sincerity, like every noble man.


    "Have we located the cell-phone? Hurry! Tape off the scene, don''t allow irrelevant parties into the Zhou''s house because now isn''t the time to disclose the information to the public yet. Has Tao Ran arrived at the airport? Let him collect the camera footage of the shuttle and taxi station at the airport." Luo Wenzhou walked to the vitamin-drugged Zhou Huaixin and asked, "Mr. Zhou Jr.,do you know when your brother decided on his itinerary? Does anyone else know his flight number?"


    Zhou Huaixin pressed on his chest with both hands like the beauty Xi-zi frowning for heart-ache (1): "Yesterday after Dad''s ident, I called him...Who else would know his flight? Everyone could know...I...I don''t know. His ne tickets were usually booked by his secretary I think."


    Xi-zi: a famous Chinese beauty in history. She is known for her frailness, and one famous posture of her was frowning because of a heart ache.


    Right then, a neatly-dressed, middle-aged man broke into the room while shouting: "Huaixin! Huaixin! I got on the road as soon as I heard. What happened? Why are there so many Police here?"


    Hearing his voice, Zhou Huaixin tossed his vitamin bottle and struggled to get up from Fei Du''s arms: "Brother Hu, my brother went missing!"


    Fei Du fixed his shirt corposedly, and nodded to that worried man. Then he turned to Luo Wenzhou on his side and introduced in a low voice: "This is Hu Zhenyu, the man in charge of the Zhou''s maind businesses. He is Zhou Huaijin''s college friend, clearly an ally of the ''Princeling''.


    Luo Wenzhou''s eyes couldn''t help but notice Fei Du''s cor-fixing hand. They wandered along his neck andnded on his cor bones. Then he forced those eyes away, nodded perfunctorily, and turned to Xiao Haiyang: "Now that we have two rted cases on the two generations of the Zhou''s, they are less likely to be idents any more. I want you to dig deeper into Zhou Junmao''s car crash. Don''t take the girl''s words at face value."


    Xiao Haiyang epted the order and dashed off.


    At that time, the dawning daylight had already colored the skyline. The quiet city was about to wake up and delve into a new day of hustle-and-bustle.


    Tao Ran''s call came through: "The taxi''s been found. The te number is YBXXXX. The driver was knocked unconscious and left at the side of the road. When he woke up he managed to get to the hospital, and five minutes ago he reported to the local police station with the help of the hospital. We''ve just located the car, it''s at..."


    A staff on the technology team raised his head at the same time and said, "Captain Luo, we''ve located Zhou Huaijin''s cell-phone!"


    Luo Wenzhou looked up. The voices in and out of the cell phone mingled together:


    "On the bank of the Baisha River ---"


    "Near the Baisha water banks!"


    Zhou Huaixin almost fainted at the news. Hu Zhenyu managed to catch him before he fell. With the help from many others, he carried him to the sofa. When Zhou Huaixin finally regained consciousness he broke into loud tears again: "Brother Hu, my brother...will they sink him into the river? I will kill that bastard Yang Bo! Where the hell did Zheng Kaifeng go? Why isn''t he back yet after Dad''s ident?"


    Hu Zhenyu''s face paled. He tried to signal Zhou Huaixin to shut up, but it was impossible to control this entric psycho. With sweat running down his cheeks, he still managed to squeeze out a polite smile at the officers: "Huaixin is too young. With this sudden cmity his mental state is a bit unstable. Please don''t mind his nonsense."


    Hearing this, the red-eyed Zhou Huaixin suddenly sat up straight like a resurrected zombie: "But it wasn''t nonsense! He IS a bastard. Don''t think that you guys can keep me in the dark on this! That son of a b**ch has had his eyes on us for a long time. Now that he''s schemed to take out my dad and my brother, he must think he can have his way with me now right? Cuz'' I am a know-nothing outsider? Even Uncle Zheng is on his side!"


    Hu Zhenyu suddenly raised his voice: "Huaixin!"


    "Send a team to Baisha River." Luo Wenzhou ordered quietly, then turned to Hu Zhenyu and asked, "Mr. Hu, because of the abduction and the suspected murder, this has turned to a criminal case. Your family business is no longer a private matter now. There could be important evidence in the details, and there are grave consequences for hiding them. I hope that you are aware of the seriousness of the situation here."


    Hu Zhenyu was quite an experienced crisis handler. Even under the pressure of a serious Luo Wenzhou, he didn''t falter much, only wiped away some sweat on his forehead and said, "Yes, yes, of course. Ipletely understand. Many of you here might have already heard of Mr. Zheng. He has been the hand of our President Zhou Sr. since they were both young. Now despite his age, he is still the pir of the Zhou Enterprise."


    "As for Mr.Yang...Mr. Yang Bo, he is Mr. Zhou Sr. ''s secretary, a bright, capable young man. He has achieved a lot, and maybe that has attracted him some unfriendly rumors. Some of the rumors that Huaixin heard, well...you know...Mr. Yang is the kind of young man who''s ''the kid next door'' -- like how you young people put it -- who does everything better than you in your parents'' eyes. So thete Mr. Zhou Sr. often scolded Huaixin inparison to him. It''s not surprising that the two didn''t quite see eye to eye. But if you use him of harming Mr. Zhou Sr. and Mr. Zhou Huaijin, I''ll be the first one to disagree." As Hu Zhenyu exined, he gingerly assessed Zhou Huaixin''s expression, worried that he would run amok again. Hu continued, "Plus, those two are both abroad. I contacted them as soon as yesterday''s incident. Now they should be on the flight back. Let me give their flight number to you. Please, may I trouble the officers at the airport to offer them special protection? We cannot afford to have a third victim!"


    Yang Bo, the bright rising star who was only Zhou Huaixin''s age but already upying an important managerial position in the Zhou''s empire...Judging from this, he does indeed sound like a stereotypical ''bastard son''.


    Luo Wenzhou peeked at Fei Du and saw him nodding back silently, approving his hypothesis.


    At that time, Lang Qiao rushed into the room while calling out: "Oh no oh no...Boss, it''s going down!"


    Luo Wenzhou noticed all the Zhous pricking up their ears, so he gestured at Lang Qiao and took her outside, then asked: "What''s wrong?"


    "Look." Lang Qiao took out her phone.


    The "Zhou Huaijin, sessor of the Zhou''s Empire, Kidnapped" news headline took over the inte in no time. There was a hyperlink underneath, but was deactivated.


    "I asked the Net Surveince team to delete the linked video." Lang Qiao said, "It''s this one."


    Following her finger point, a video popped up on the screen. The shaky camera was facing an unconscious man tied up on a chair. The camera closed in on his face, then slowly panned around it, showing his face from all different angles. The well-groomed man looked in his thirties. Even under such extreme circumstances, one could still easily tell that he was good-looking and gentlemanlike.


    "It''s Zhou Huaijin." Fei Du recognized him in one nce.


    Luo Wenzhou''s scalp almost went numb.


    The abductor did not ask for money or for life. Nor did he contact the victim''s family. Instead he uploaded the video online. What the heck did he want?


    Did they watch too many British TV shows or what?!

 Chapter 65: Macbeth Six

    Chapter 65: Macbeth Six


    5.8.2020


    The camera man was very careful not to show anything unnecessary. Only Zhou Huaijin and a wobbly old chair that he''s tied to were in the shot. The background waspletely dark and didn''t reveal anything valuable. The video was less than one minute long. From start to finish, it filmed Zhou Huaijin''s closeup in all possible angles in case anyone might misrecognize him.


    The abductor did not speak a single word.


    "The uploader used a ton of proxy servers. Tracking is gonna take a while." Lang Qiao said, "Boss, I''ve never met such a ''creative'' abductor. What does he want? What do we do?"


    Luo Wenzhou stared at the phone and didn''t answer.


    Lang Qiao already responded very quickly to take down the video, but the news still got out, and took flight. Despite the surveince team setting up multiple keyword ckages, the headlines and hashtags about Zhou Huaijin''s abduction stubbornly upied the trending list.


    Luo Wenzhou asked: "When was the video uploaded?"


    "Six am sharp."


    <i>Six sharp, the time that the city wakes up.</i>


    <i>Besides rm clocks, what could have been more refreshing and exciting than a gossip that unfolds in real time with multiple twists and turns?</i>


    Standing next to him, Fei Du signed: "Captain Luo, should I step away now and wait to be questioned?"


    Lang Qiao waspletely lost and slipped a one-word question: "Huh?"


    " ''Huh'' what? He is a suspect too." Luo Wenzhou tossed the phone to Lang Qiao and turned to Fei Du, asking with entitlement, "I need to know who could''ve been involved in this -- which group could be behind the publicity stunt. Give me a list."


    Afterall, Zhou Huaijin was very low key and seldom engaged with the press. True, the public may know about actors or singers, but who would know what a rich second-gen who lived abroad looked like? There weren''t even many clear photos of him online.


    Then why would the short video clip attract so much attention in such a short time? Who was the driver behind this?


    The car crash of Zhou Junmao and the abduction of Zhou Huaijin seemed closely rted at first nce. First the old man, then the crown prince... It''s tempting to conclude that someone must have been after the Zhou family. There were also the mysterious, tropey tales about the bastard and the war on inheritance which made the whole scheme against the Zhous sound legit. But upon a closer look, things didn''t quite check out.


    Suppose Zhou Junmao''s car crash was not an ident, then the organizer undoubtedly wanted him dead and he wanted the death to be quiet --- since the truck driver was killed on site, as long as the police did not obtain any robust murder evidence the case wouldl be processed as an ordinary car ident.


    However, Zhou Huaijin''s abduction was too showy, with a clear intention to unt and to gather public attention. The two cases hadpletely opposite goals.


    It didn''t make any sense.


    So what good would the publicity do, other than attracting the probing eyes from the police and the public? Who would it benefit? Perhaps only those capitalists who profited by sucking the blood of the Zhous -- only they would benefit from spreading such sensitive information during such a sensitive time.


    Such as Fei Du, and the likes.


    If the Bureau were for sale, that one probably earned enough over one night to pocket two of it.  Paid Story264K14.5K Paid Story675K32.4K 677K144K Paid Story9.5M453K 6.2M225K 1.5M201K 27.7M596K


    "I can give you some names that I know." Fei Du casually sent an email on his phone, then said, "But beware: we live in an opportunistic world and everyone is searching for the opportunity to specte. There must be countless institutional investors involved, not to mention individual investors. I am not going to know all of them. I''m not omniscient afterall."


    "To be able to take someone away so easily, it must be someone local." Luo Wenzhou''s eyes fell on him like knives, "There''s no one that you don''t know on this one point three acres (1), no? Director Fei?"


    ''One point three acres'': this is a Chinese saying. It means a very small piece ofnd that you own and are very familiar with.


    "Well then, this active-duty suspect here will give you one piece of advice. Only for reference. Could be totally wrong." Fei Du deduced, "I guess the abductor and the pusher might have been in contact, but are not in the same camp. The pusher might not be the mind behind the crimes at all. Although <i>Das Kapital </i>wrote that ''100 percent profit will make it ready to trample on all humanws'', in my opinion this is a very biased and unfriendly evaluation. In reality, as we all know, even if the profit is 1000 percent one has to have the life to take it. Captain Luo, although we eat menblood-drenched Mantou, we do not eat<i> men</i>."


    These words were cold-blooded and impudent as f*ck. Luo Wenzhou''s eyes shot at him like cold daggers. In no time, the two seemed to have returned to the day that Fei Du gave bi for Zhang Doni and delivered his impertinent speech at the Bureau.


    "Well, if I were to be more exact, "Fei Du shrugged, and added oil to the fire with his indolent smile, "at least we do not eat men under broad daylight."


    Lang Qiao was chilled to the bones by the stiff and sullen atmosphere between the two. She thought they were going to start a war in the next second. Their eyes crossed fire like the light swords in the sci-fi movies. She stood on the sideline in fear, wanting so badly to ease the tension but knew absolutely not why they were fighting or what word to say. How she wished to teleport to the Liusha river banks and switch ces with Tao Ran.


    But right at that moment, Luo Wenzhou looked away first and withdrew from this round of silent sh.


    Instead, he asked calmly: "The video only took half an hour to go viral. The pusher seems experienced. It is probably not their first time. Also, they could be rivals with the Zhous in certain fields. Adding these two criteria, how long will you be able to get me a list?"


    Right when Luo Wenzhou finished the question, Fei Du''s cell phone buzzed. It was a pleasant notification alert for email.


    Fei Du threw the phone to Luo Wenzhou without even reading it, as if he knew too well what wasing: "Then it''ll narrow down to only two or three. Here is the list that my assistant sent. You can go ahead and arrange the questioning now."


    Then he didn''t look at Luo Wenzhou any longer. One hand in the pocket, he walked back into the grandiose house of the Zhou''s, took a cup of ck tea from the maid along the way and went to talk to the sobbing Zhou Huaixin.


    Luo Wenzhou skimmed the email. The one running errands for Fei Du was very capable. With such a short notice, she not only listed the potential pushers'' names, but also included their contact information and the previous simr cases that they were involved in. It was like reading a short and neat report.


    Luo Wenzhou forwarded the email to Lang Qiao and said: "Here, take care of the paperworks first. This time we''ll not only summon their heads for questioning, but also search their work email, call history, and financial status. There''re a couple permits you''ll need to obtain first. Probably need help from brothers in the Economics Crime Investigation Team too."


    The instructions were only a couple lines, but for Lang Qiao it meant mountains of misceneous work. Quite a headache already, but then Luo Wenzhou added: "If Fei Du''s hypothesis about "pusher not controlling the abductor" is correct, then God knows what''ll happen next. The psycho might do outrageous things to the victim to get attention, then Zhou Huaijin is in real danger. Hurry, we''ve no time to lose!"


    Lang Qiao gasped at the 2.5 tons of pressure towering on her shoulder and had to put aside the sour note between her outdated superior and the fresh meat for now. Off she went.


    Fei Du''s phone auto-locked because of a long period of idleness. He had the default screen lock page. The metal backside was burning from Luo Wenzhou''s tight clench. He looked up, eyes following Fei Du''s back. Thetter was speaking to Hu Zhenyu and Zhou Huaixin like an old friend. He might be briefing them on Zhou Huaixin''s updates. Luo Wenzhou didn''t worry -- <i>certainly Fei Du wouldn''t tell them inappropriate things</i>.


    Long ago, Luo Wenzhou thought Fei Du was a dangerous man, a risk factor ---


    Although human-beings'' nobility and depicability both knew no limit, the normal folks who grew up under the rule ofw still had quite predictable mindsets - except under absolutely extreme circumstances maybe - like if hearing someone was about themit a crime, normal people''s reaction would either be to "take a secret peek out of curiosity", "report to the authorities", "don''t care and walk away", etc. asionally there could be the bad bloods who''d be tempted to join the criminals.


    But thoughts like "kill someone else and leave the body in the criminal activity area so as to lead the police there" is quite out of ordinary.


    During peacetime, even the diabolical murderers know deep down that killing someone isn''t a mundane business like eating or drinking. The societal norms had the red lines of thew woven into it, and after years and years of socialization, the moral taboos such as killing had already been stamped in people''s subconscious.


    However, Luo Wenzhou could clearly sense that Fei Du was an oddball. In his mind, the taboos were only rules of the game. Killing was no different from things like "tax evasion" or "securing an illegal cash flow from abroad": he wasn''t doing them only because he didn''t want the troubles, but when it bes necessary, he''d do them without a blink of an eye. He even enjoyed fantasizing about ''ways to y'', in case one day they be handy.


    Yet when Fei Du apanied He Zhongyi''s mother Wang Xiujuan on that cold bench, paid hundreds of thousands to give a speech on the sky screen for her, or saved Chen Chen from Su Luozhan''s ughter despite his broken arm, Luo Wenzhou felt he was perhaps only pretending to be callous.


    It was only until just now, in a split second, that Luo Wenzhou suddenly sensed something new from his invincible fake smile.


    Luo Wenzhou thought of the ambiguous words Fei Du said yesterday evening in his car, and realized that they weren''t casual, vague remarks about humanity. He was talking specifically about himself. Fei Du was like someone that grew up in another dimension. His nobility was genuine, and so was his despicability. The rules in that dimension were different from our world and Fei Du knew it. He knew very well how he misfitted, so he carefully put on other people''s skins and limited himself in afort zone. He copied Tao Ran, copied Zhang Doni, copied everyone around him all the time...except when facing Luo Wenzhou, who used to be the pontifical hothead who loved tearing people''s masks. Fei Du basically gave up on pretending in front of him and let his human skin dishevel, revealing the eerie fangs.


    For some reason, as soon as Luo Wenzhou realized it, he didn''t hold grudges against him any longer. The strange behavior and fickle temper of Fei Du in thest 12 hours made sense now. Having sensed his cunning, tout, and reticentyer of self-protection, Luo Wenzhou''s heart softened. A thousand emotions drowned him.


    A phone call from Tao Ran suddenly interrupted Luo Wenzhou''s thoughts and staring.


    "We found that taxi." Tao Ran breathed heavily, "it was abandoned by the river. There''s a strong smell of Ether inside. No obvious sign of struggle, except for a footprint on the back of the driver''s seat. There were probably more than one abductors, otherwise how can one control a grown man while driving? Oh, and, Zhou Huaijin''s briefcase is still in the car, and his ID, cell-phone, and wallet are all intact...Shhhhi!"


    Tao Ran paused, then inhaled angrily. Luo Wenzhou could tell that he cut off a curse word. He asked: "What happened?"


    "Someone''s taking pictures." Tao Ran answered quickly, "perhaps they followed us from the airport. I''ll go deal with it."


    Luo Wenzhou hung up and rubbed his forehead. <i>God knows how this news had already fermented online. </i>He really didn''t have the heart to get online to check. He gave out several orders: "The taxi that the victim took has been located. Now Zhou Huaijin is above 1.8 meters, not some child who could be taken by one hand. So they have to have another car to transfer him. Search the camera within three miles radius, look for suspicious vehicles. Also, give a word to the press: if they keep fueling the feud like this I won''t be so polite anymore. Ask for backing from the surveince team...


    Before Luo Wenzhou finished, a tech staff member suddenly raised his head: "Captain Luo, the same source uploaded another video!"


    Luo Wenzhou''s heart sank.


    It was the same passed-out Zhou Huaijin in the same pitch dark background, except this time a gloved hand appeared in the foreground. It was holding a shiny dagger against Zhou Huaijin''s neck, then suddenly pressed down. Amidst exmations and gasps of the watchers, a cut appeared on a very dangerous spot on Zhou Huaijin''s neck. The unconscious man twitched involuntarily. Blood rushed out.


    Then the camera panned down. The gloved hands torn Zhou Huaijin''s shirt open, took a small brush and wrote on his chest with his blood: "One cut for one deletion."


    The surveince team ready to delete the video was covered in cold sweat. Their call immediately came in: "Captain Luo, what do we do? Delete it, or not?"


    A brand new day was dawning. The morning rush has just begun.


    Only a split second of hesitation, and the video was already spread across the inte at the speed of an explosion.


    Zhou Huaixin obviously saw it too. He screamed his head off. The sound almost shattered the roof. Fei Du had to put his arms around his waist and snatch the cell phone away. To the clueless maid he said: "Take him upstairs to rest."


    Amidst the chaos, a car pulled in the driveway and off came a young man in his twenties, rushing inside. When stopped by the police by the entrance he scrambled to take out his ID: "Pardon me, this is my ID and name card. I am Mr. Zhou''s..."


    Zhou Huaixin turned around and saw him. Immediately he started fighting to get to him: "I won''t! Take that bastard down! He is the murderer!! You shameless asshole. How dare you set foot here! How DARE YOU!!"


    Even though Zhou Huaixin was practically a walking skeleton, when running amok he was still a force to be reckoned with. Both Fei Du and Hu Zhenyu, who never toiled their four limbs, weren''t able to hold him down. Zhou Huaixin''s arms waved frantically like a weapon and almost knocked off Fei Du''s sses.


    Suddenly, a hand appeared from nowhere and strained Zhou Huaixin''s two ''waving wooden clubs''. Luo Wenzhou grabbed him like grabbing a chickling and shoved him back on the sofa. He towered over him and asked: "Should I give you a shot of tranquilizer or the rabies vine?"


    Zhou Huaixin was extinguished. The young man by the door smiled bitterly, finally got to finish his self-introduction: "I am Mr. Zhou Sr.''s assistant and the secretary of the board. My name is Yang Bo."


    His words drew everyone''s eyes --- THE Yang Bo, the suspected bastard of the family, the suspect, the one who''d benefit the most by taking down Zhou Junmao and Zhou Huaijin..."


    He was quite early to show his face.

 Chapter 66: Macbeth Seven

    Chapter 66: Macbeth Seven


    05.20.2020


    TL: QuantumC


    "I was on a business trip in Canada and got on the ne as soon as I heard about Mr. Zhou. Then, halfway through the flight I heard about Brother Huaijin..." Yang Bo couldn''t bear to finish the sentence. Elbows on the knees, he rubbed his face vigorously, took many deep breaths, then finally continued: "Pardon me...it all happened so fast and I was...I really don''t know what to do..."


    The officer across the tea table studied him from head to toe. Then he opened a small notebook and took a straightforward approach: "Mr. Yang, let us go straight to the point - for all the victims'' sake - there have been words that Mr. Zhou Sr. and you are actually father and son. What do you say to that?"


    Yang Bo must have been quite used to the meandering as he waspletely caught off guard by such a hard, straight shot. He pulled a long face: "Listen to yourself!"


    He quickly added: "That isplete nonsense. It is not only an insult to my professionalism, but also an outright ambush to my mother''s name and Mr. Zhou Sr.''s reputation. I do not know where you heard these rumors from. You..."


    He glowered at the officer. He had to bite his tongue really hard to swallow the next sentence -- "you have nothing better than gossip and hearsay"


    On the other side of the room, Zhou Huaixin, who had finally quieted down a little, ''erupted'' again at those words. He used his diaphragm voice to deliver a powerful spit: "Bah! Bullshit!!"


    But before the spitnded, Luo Wenzhou had called in another officer and pointed at the bamboozled Zhou Huaixin: "Question these two separately. Zhou Huaijin was abducted in Yan Cheng. All relevant stakeholders are suspects, including the rtives."


    "What? I am a suspect? Are you out of your mind?? Or are you f**king blind?" As he spoke, Zhou Huaixin was "helped" up by two police officers. Outraged, he turned to Fei Du, who had "sorry to hear that but can''t do nothing" written all over his face, "Sir Fei, what is wrong with these policemen? What is his name? I want to file aint! F**k you!! You are going to pay for this...You are going to regret it...I...Get your hands off of me!"


    Meanwhile, Yang Bo expressed his own curbed fury: "My mother and Mr. Zhou Sr. were old friends, and I initially benefited from this rtionship to work at the Zhou''s. That''s true, but I fought my own way from the bottom to where I am today. There wasn''t anything nasty like you imagined."


    Meanwhile, Zhou Huaixinpletely threw away his grace: "You really had the face to say that?! You son of a dirty..."


    Yang Bo could take it no more. He retorted: "How does a weed-soken, promiscuous drunkard like you get to judge what''s dirty, Mr. Zhou?"


    Seeing the two young masters fighting like dogs in front of a roomful of police, Hu Zhenyu thought his head was about to burst. He wished he could just bury both of them in the flower pods.


    Meanwhile, Fei Du drank the tea on the bench with relish. But just when he reached for a refill, Luo Wenzhou knocked his hand out.


    Fei Du: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Are you just here for the tea? I suggest that you put away your stinky old habits -- the CIT (crime investigation team) isn''t your home. I don''t care whether you are an intern or an official employee, as long as you are here you''ll follow our rules and my orders. The next time I catch you cking off will be thest time that you''re here."


    By being an intern at the Bureau Fei Du obviously had his own agenda. The shield of the internship gets him ess to many ces. However, he never really considered himself as part of the organization. So when greeted by the sudden ''p'' from the ''captain'', he was dumbfounded at first.  Paid Story264K14.5K Paid Story675K32.4K 677K144K Paid Story9.5M453K 6.2M225K 1.5M201K 27.7M596K


    In his not-so-long lifetime, Master Fei had never been ordered around like an underling by anyone before. Unsure about how to react, Master Fei froze there initially. After quite a long pause, he finally replied, baffled: "O~kay. What do I do?"


    Then he was shoved into the tech team. Per Captain Luo Wenzhou''s order, he was to erge the abductor''s video and analyze it frame by frame, pixel by pixel, to look for anything worth noting.


    Compared to Tao Ran or Lang Qiao''s jobs - nket searching the Liusha River banks or running around getting the paperwork approved - sitting there analyzing a video seemed like a breeze. But Fei Du got bored just a couple minutes in -- It was still repetitive, physical work.


    Fei Du swam the sea of sinful money for the whole nightst night. Then, with only a couple minutes of rest, he galloped over to Zhou''s house to catch the ''big show''. Now the lost sleeptime had finally got to him. Before long, his eyelids started drawing closer to fight with each other.


    He tried a couple times but realized that he really wasn''t an ''underling material''. He got up to stretch, and strolled back and forth to keep awake. As he walked past Luo Wenzhou, he heard him telephoning Chief Lu to ask whether to delete the video.


    If the video was left there, they were effectively granting the criminals the upper hand, and the video would continue to go viral, causing very bad publicity.


    But if they deleted it, with the bargaining chips they have gathered so far --- close to nothing --- it would be subjecting the hostage to grave danger.


    Even Lu Youliang was hesitant and out of ideas.


    Fei Du turned around to hide a yawning, then said to Luo Wenzhou drawsily: "If I were you, I''d delete it."


    Luo Wenzhou nced at him, then rushed to end the call with Chief Lu.


    "Take a look here." Fei Du waved him over to the screens, and fast forwarded the video to the part where Zhou Huaijin''s blood was taken to write the message on his chest. Head resting on his propped arm as if he''s got no bones, Fei Du casually continued, "the abductor made a cut, then took out a brush to write with the blood. Don''t you think that''s a little...considerate? If I were him, I''d directly cut out the words on his chest."


    Luo Wenzhou stood beside him, with one hand on the back of his chair and the other propping on the desk. Hearing Fei Du''s deduction, he looked down at his face, expressionless.


    Fei Du was basically using him as a mint to keep himself awake at that point. Mischievously, he looked back at him, right into his eyes: "Usually when a beauty stares at me like this, I''d assume that he''s asking for a kiss."


    Luo Wenzhou let it slide. Instead, he calmly asked: "Alright, the abductor''s action was a bit redundant. So?"


    "So, I think the abductor didn''t want to hurt Zhou Huaijin. He was only using the hostage in exchange for something else, and wouldn''t fancy the trouble of bing a wanted murderer. Also, from how he ''treasured'' the hostage, he was probably his only bargaining chip. Even if you deleted the video, he probably wouldn''t kill him. So why not all in, and let him show his cards."


    "Oh, ''probably''," Luo Wenzhou stared at him and answered in a whispering voice, "when I file the case report I''ll just say, ''ording to my hypothesis, the abductor pro----obably did not n to hurt the hostage, so I decided to take a chance, delete the video, and see whether Zhou Huaijin would be killed or not. Master Fei, did I understand you correctly?"


    Fei Du didn''t get the chance to reply because Luo Wenzhou''s hand was now pressing on the back of his neck. Luo pushed Fei''s head down and lowered his own head to whisper by his ears: "Kid, we don''t do this job based on guessing and brain teasers. Everything that we do follows "logic, evidence, rules, and thew". Now which one of those four words do you not understand? Feel free toe and ask your upper ss man. I asked you to gather information from the video and locate the abductor, not to y poker with him online!"


    Boneless Fei Du was caught off guard by the thrust and almost bumped his jaw on the desk.


    Commander Luo Wenzhou took back his hand, and continued with a skin-deep smile: "Also, you were mistaken. That look wasn''t for kissing. It''s for a beating. So next time when you see it, make sure to hide away."


    Before Fei Du protested against his barbaric actions, they were interrupted by an uproaring.


    "Boss, another video!"


    Luo Wenzhou let go of Fei Du and put on an earphone. Everyone in the room -- including the suspects -- held their breaths for the new message.


    In this video, Zhou Huaijin had woken up. He was far more battered than in thest one: his well-groomed hair was now like a bird nest; his face was colored with bruises; his shirt was inked by the blood from his cut; and the ropes were tighter than before. Chest panting like a seesaw, he seemed to have just fought back but got squelched.


    A morphed voice instructed: "Read."


    Zhou Huaijin''s eyesnded on the note, then the veins bulge on his neck as he eximed: "You..."


    Before he managed to say a second word, his chair was kicked and fell back, bringing him onto the ground too. Then, the camera shook violently as the camera man beat and trampled on the victim. Not much of an image could be rendered, but the sound of the beating and the cry of the victim were clearly heard. Then, the screen went dark.


    The air surrounding the tech team was stagnant and somber: they''ve still got nothing.


    Zhou Huaixin''s legs turned to jelly. He had no time trashing Yang Bo anymore. Instead, he grabbed an officer''s sleeve and begged, "I''ll pay...can we get more hackers on this please? I''ll pay for them, no matter how much. My brother...my brother..."


    The video was taped and had been edited. After a short ckscreen, Zhou Huaijin appeared again. He was still on the ground. The morphed, hoarse voice said: "Read."


    Zhou Huaijin''s lips trembled. The man has lived afortable life and didn''t take much beating to sumb. He struggled to focus on the note that was posed outside of the camera frame somewhere, and stammered to read the message: "I will ask you some questions. You must answer within...ten... ten minutes. You must post the answer to the main page of the Zhou''s Enterprises'' official website. I already know the a...answers, so if...if you lie, I will... "


    Zhou Huaijin breathed heavily, and sobbed: "I will c...cut off a part from Mr. Zhou. Let''s take off the painted s...skin of somebody and take a close look."


    "First question. Is Zhou...Zhou Junmao a hypocrite...who hid his bastard by his bedside and secretly raised him as his heir? This...Is this paternity test real...You stole my...Ahh!" Zhou Huaijin suddenly realized what they meant and became unrested. The abductor kicked his head to shut him up. He moaned, twitched, then stopped moving. Seemed like he had passed out.


    A crumpled piece of paper appeared briefly in front of the screen. It was the paternity report.


    The hoarse voice spoke again: "10 minutes."


    Immediately, the screen went dark again, and a 10 mins timer appeared.


    For a second, the whole room was dead silent. Everyone stared at the monstrous timer counting down from 10:00. At the same time, in the optical-fiber-constructed virtual world, a bomb had just exploded and blew out mountains and seas.


    "Zhou Junmao''s bastard son!"


    "The heir of the Zhou''s abducted!"


    "A real-world <i>Dynasty Behind the Lavish Gates</i>!"


    Within minutes, the cell-phones of Luo Wenzhou and the others in the room started ringing non-stop. The whole Zhou''s house turned into a live call-center as the nosey world tried to get its hands onto more details of this breaking news.


    For Luo Wenzhou, it was a call that he cannot ignore: a call from Chief Lu. He picked up. But before he even managed to say a "Hello", Chief Lu berated: "What the heck, have you still no news on the hostage''s whereabouts? No lead at all? Get more men from the sub-bureaus if you need more hands on the field! Dig up three feet of the ground if that''s what it takes. Heavens...My office phone is about to explode!"


    Luo Wenzhou was just about to brief Chief Lu on the progress. Meanwhile, Zhou Huaixin had already jumped up and grabbed Hu Zhenyu''s shirt cor: "Reply, reply to him! Brother Hu, reply at once! Yes, yes, the paternity report is real. That Yang is the bastard!"


    Yang Bo''s face paled. He froze, as if just struck by a thunder.


    Hu Zhenyu: "Huaixin, calm down."


    "The paternity test was ordered by my brother secretly. He mentioned it to me a while ago. That must be the one! They must have found it from my brother''s briefcase. It is hard evidence. There is no way we can get away with lying, brother Hu! Didn''t you hear what they say? They knew the answer already! My dad has already passed, and a dead man wouldn''t mind losing a bit of his reputation. Screw the face-saving ploys there''s no time for that... My brother''s safety is paramount!"


    Luo Wenzhou''s left ear was filled with Zhou Huaixin''s screaming while his right ear received Chief Lu''s stern orders: "Take this under control at once. Or I''ll wait for your self-criticizing paper."


    Zhou Huaixin pushed an officer away and reached for hisptop on the desk: "If you won''t do it I will!"


    "Haixin!"


    "Mr. Zhou, think twice!"


    Out of all the people on site, only Fei Du had neither stakes in Zhou Huaijin''s safety nor performance pressure from some higher-ups. He was free from strains or sensibility. Very calmly, he looked up and spoke to Zhou Huaixin: "Brother Zhou, I suggest that you do not answer as they told. Otherwise what''s waiting for you might not be such an easy question any more. Do you believe me?"


    Zhou Huaixin waspletely helpless: "Then...then what do I do?"


    Fei Du didn''t answer him. Rather, he turned to the tech crew beside him and asked: "Could you separate the audio tracks from when Zhou Huaijin was kicked? I think judging by the sound, the ''floor'' might be hollow."


    Luo Wenzhou heard his words too, and those words dropped a lightning bolt in his head. He hung up on Chief Lu without exining, then strode toward the screen: "y it from the beginning, double the speed."


    Every frame shed across the screen again.


    Fei Du: "Except for theplete ckout part, the camera has stayed very close to the victim. Not even one full-body shot was made. It might be because the space was too crammed and they didn''t want to reveal the rest of the room because that may point to some location information...Hmm, the horizontal panning of the camera is quite limited."


    Luo Wenzhou tapped to stop the video right where Zhou Huaijin was kicked. Even the way that Zhou Huaijin fell was to the back, rather than sideways!


    Luo Wenzhou pressed on the shoulder of a tech guy: "Could you estimate the width of the space based on the camera movement?"


    "Around 1.5 meters...1.8 meters at most."


    "Captain, listen to this part!"


    When Zhou Huaijin and his chair fell onto the ground, the sound of the "Tomb!" was quite bizarre. It seemed very hollow and was apanied with some sort of an echo.


    The "ground" was empty, and the width of it was only 1.5 meters...


    Fei Du: "Could it be the back of a van truck?"


    In the next moment Luo Wenzhou had already reached Tao Ran: "The abductor could be hiding in a moving van truck. Screen the traffic cams around the Baisha river banks and barricade the roads. Stop and search every van truck."


    Then he immediately called Lang Qiao: "Any news?"


    Lang Qiao hastily reported: "We''ve narrowed it down to the Heng Da Corp. Their market is very simr to the Zhou''s and they used to be a local big shot. Ever since Zhou Junmao stepped in the maind market, the twopanies were in fiercepetition. The only time that the two attempted a cooperation, Zhou Junmao turned his coat and kicked them out midway. Heng Da runs a fund that started shorting the Zhou''s stocks in foreign markets since early this morning. Butst night they didn''t move, as if they didn''t realize what was going on then..."


    Suddenly Hu Zhenyu yelled: "What are you doing!"


    Luo Wenzhou turned around. He saw that Zhou Huaixin had snatched Hu Zhenyu''s cell phone when he wasn''t looking where he had already logged into Zhou''s official website.


    When he was taken down again, a "Yes" had already been sent out.

 Chapter 67: Macbeth Eight

    Chapter 67: Macbeth Eight


    6.5.2020


    "A van truck?" Tao Ran asked via one of Luo Wenzhou''s ears, "Lao Luo (1), mind you, the Bai Shai river banks are right by one of the arteries of Yancheng: manyrge trucks take this route to go in and out of the city. Are we supposed to check every truck that goes in, ores out, or both? The abductors could have easily sneaked Zhou out already...Do you think that they are still in Yancheng''s jurisdiction?"


    (1). Simr to the "Lao Yang" that you saw before, here Tao Ran is addressing Luo Wenzhou with "Lao" (Old) plus "Luo" st name), typically used to address someone older than you but is close to you. When used between very close friends, sometimes the age doesn''t matter.


    Meanwhile, Lang Qiao reported via his other ear: "Boss, should I take the head of theirpany back for questioning? Or should I check their email history on site?"


    Meanwhile, behind him, Hu Zhenyu was yelling at Zhou Huaixin, utterly difited: "You...you...look what you''ve done...Oh Lord... That was very stupid of you! Very stupid!"


    Meanwhile, next to him, Yang Bo protested on the top of his lungs, his face and neck boiling red: "I will sue you for smudging my name!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    The <i>Chicken Soup for the Soul </i>type articles often asked questions like: "Why would humans grow two ears but only one mouth," and now he finally could answer it: even four ears wouldn''t be enough!


    Fei Du''s eyes swept across Hu Zhenyu and fell on Zhou Huaixin.


    Zhou Huaixin''s neck was extended and stiff. His addict-like face was covered by thick, smudged eyeliners, and something else: something that was hard to put into words, but that somehow had made him look a little bit more human.


    "I don''t care what others might say...I don''t give a shit...If the stock plummets, let it -- I don''t really understand these things and I don''t care to know. But Brother Hu, all I know is that I only have one blood and that is my brother." Zhou Huaixin''s voice fell lower and duller after he had posted that reply. He looked directly into Hu Zhenyu''s eyes. But Hu avoided him.


    Zhou Huaixin smiled bitterly, either mocking the others or himself: "Let me speak frankly: If the old man did it, then sooner orter someone is going to find out: after all, <i>paper cannot wrap up fire</i>. Did you people really think that your good name is going to be passed on for a thousand years?"


    Hu Zhenyu probably never expected to see ivorying out of his mouth (2). He was awed speechless.


    (2). There is a saying: the ivory neveres out of a dog''s mouth. It''s used to ridicule someone who is always foul mouthed. Here the author is implying that Zhou Huaixin actually spoke some senses, and it surprised Hu Zhenyu.


    "Are you able to find my brother within 10 minutes?" Zhou Huaixin''s eyes swept across the police officers around him, "then keep working on it! What are you staring at? I AM my father''s legitimate son, and I am his heir. Now I have decided to sacrifice the reputation of the dead for the life of the living. Do I not have the authority to do that?"


    He did seem to have a point there.


    "To get my brother back," Zhou Huaixin proimed, with a red eye, "I would do anything, even if it means denouncing my old man to be a turtle. <i>A great man knows when to yield. </i>I don''t mind being the turtle egg (3). If dad''s spirit is still around, he''d know to go after the real enemies, not me!"


    (3) turtle egg is amonly used profanity in Chinese.


    Hu Zhenyu''s forehead was covered with sweat.  Paid Story264K14.5K Paid Story675K32.4K 677K144K Paid Story9.5M453K 6.2M225K 1.5M201K 27.7M596K


    At that time, a loud cough was heard by the entrance. Then, a cold voice spoke: "Your ARE your father''s heir, but the corporation does not belong to you alone. There are many stockholders and partners on this boat, and even yourte father had not ruled over everyone. Who are you to single handedly make that decision? Arrogant fool!"


    Luo Wenzhou turned around and saw the crowd by the entrance parting for a bony old man. He was less than 1.7 meters tall, and his slightly hunched back made him look even smaller. A pair of deepugh lines dropped from the side of his nose all the way down to his chin, separating the chin into three parts. The corners of his mouth sagged so heavily as if he had never smiled in his life.


    Seeing who he was, Hu Zhenyu unknowingly stood straighter: "Zheng Lao." (4)


    (4) Puting "Lao" (old) after thest name "Zheng" shows very high respect for an elderly. This is different from what you saw earlier, where the "Lao" was put before thest name, which, depending on the context, can sometimes be used yfully between friends of the same generation.


    Yang Bo took a deep breath and quickly walked to his side. Like a little eunuch, he curled up his brawny body and snuggled beside the old man: "Director Zheng, you''re finally here."


    Zhou Huaixin smirked. He glowered at the old man and did not say a word.


    Luo Wenzhou had by now figured out that this old man was Zhou Junmao''s hand, his lifelong business partner, Zheng Kaifeng.


    Zheng Kaifeng obviously treated the Zhou''s house like his own. Ignoring the roomful of police, he sauntered in, and immediately identified the one in charge. So he walked directly to Luo Wenzhou and reached out one hand, saying sincerely: "What a family misfortune. My apologies for all the trouble it had brought the officers."


    Right from the beginning, this old ginger subtlyunched his attack --- originally the police were investigating an abduction case while everyone from the Zhou''s, including Zheng Kaifeng, were potential suspects. However, with less than 15 words, Zheng had turned it around and made it sound like the Zhou''s were fighting off some evil forces, and hired the police to be their thugs.


    Luo Wenzhou shook his hand perfunctorily, then subtly attacked back: "You are too kind. There is no trouble at all, since my team is built to solve these vicious criminal cases. Our number one goal is to rescue the hostage safely. On top of that, we will try to lower the negative publicity on the Zhou''s and reduce its negative impact on society. When possible, we''d like to ask the family and relevant parties to cooperate to your best ability."


    The corner of Zheng Kaifeng''s eyes twitched. His face straightened.


    Luo Wenzhou couldn''t care less, especially in front of these ''important'' people. He casually took away his hand, and turned to Zhou Huaixin: "Especially Mr. Zhou Jr. We understand the worries and frustration of the family. If ites to that, we will agree to the abductors'' request to ensure the hostage''s safety. However, I hope that that is the veryst step. Could we at least wait until thest minute of the countdown to give them the reply?"


    Zhou Huaixin smirked sharply.


    "Oh, and Mr. Hu," Luo Wenzhou politely turned to Hu Zhenyu with a grin on his face: "you were ming Mr. Zhou Jr. for being too imprudent. But it seems that you were pretty hasty yourself. See, you''ve even logged in to the back end of yourpany''s homepage already. Now I say enough of the quibbling. Everyone ought to go take a statement separately. Here, take them, individually."


    Following his order, some officers came and separated the big shots in the Zhou''s empire and took them into separate rooms.


    It was already autumn, and they were in an air-conditioned room, but Hu Zhenyu''s sweat seemed to never run dry.


    Zheng Kaifeng looked at Luo Wenzhou frigidly and said: "Young man, you are very good at what you do."


    Luo Wenzhou gave him a wide grin: "Thank you, I think so too. But as a criminal investigation police, I shall say that I do not hope to serve you again in the future. Mister, after you."


    He quickly dealt with those pains in the butts. Turning around, he found Fei Du''s eyes fixated on him, half smiling. Luo Wenzhuo felt his heart string plucked when he saw his eyes. He thought that Fei Du''s peach blossom eyes were truly one of a kind. They must have been blessed with some extraordinary gifts: had he been given a pair of binocrs too, he''d be able to lift Chang''e''s skirt with those eyes (5).


    (5). Chang''e is the goddess of the moon.


    "Cut the crap." Luo Wenzhou said to Fei Du in exhaustion, "If you want to praise my handsomeness and express your affection, go to the end of the line."


    Fei Du: "I just want to let you know, that the inte team has found something about the video uploader."


    Luo Wenzhou was prepared to fight a long-drawn battle with the psychotic abductors. Hearing this, he was quite surprised: "Already?"


    "Yes, so you''d better keep your expectation low, " Fei Du pause, then -- god knows what he was after -- he added: "Shixiong." (6)


    (6) Shixiong: (I forgot whether I exined this one previously or not...) Shixiong literally means ''upperssman'' (male). It''s used frequently in Wuxia novels to address someone (a male) who trains under the same master with you and started earlier than you. But in the modern day context a lot of students use it to address their upperssman. Since Fei Du is enrolled in the graduate program at YCPA, where Luo Wenzhou is an alumni, he is technically his Shixiong.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    How could he manage to use such an ordinary tone to speak of such an ordinary address, but make it sound so R-rated? Luo Wenzhou couldn''t understand it in a thousand years.


    Right when the inte team were excited to have "snatched him", the abductor brazenly uploaded a third video.


    This time, the camera backed off a little and took a full-body shot of Zhou Huaijin. At the same time, it revealed the space that he was in: the whole room was covered with ck stic film. The width was less than 1.8 meters, and the height was also quite limited: only slightly taller than a grown man. It was indeed the back of a van truck!


    Fei Du was surprised. He scratched his chin, pondering, while exchanging a look with Luo Wenzhou. Thetter immediately understood it. Luo Wenzhou frowned: in the previous two videos, it was clear that the abductor was very careful with the camera to avoid leaking any information about their surroundings. The camera stayed very close to Zhou Huaijin and only took close-up shots, including when Zhou was beaten up.


    But right after they had deduced that the abductors were in a truck, the abductors released this wide shot...


    Did this magical abductor manage to tap the Zhou''s house, or was someone in this house in contact with them in real time?


    Luo Wenzhou whispered to the officer beside him: "Take control of everyone in this house. Everyone, including the cooks, maids, and gardeners. Go!"


    In the video, Zhou Huaijin was even more battered than before. Water dripped from his face and hair. Even the most handsome and elegant man couldn''t possibly stayposed anymore. He seemed to have been beaten and had given in. This time, without much resistance, he stared into the camera and tly read out the abductor''s note: "You have admitted it. Good. Now I will ask the second question. Like always, you have 10 minutes. Why is Zhou Junmao, the famous businessman and phnthropist, so enthusiastic about phnthropy? He has three charity funds under his name. Are they for publicity or for moneyundering? Zhou Junmao --- Zhou Dalong (7), did he really think that changing the name would make him a noble? Did he really think no one would know what is truly underneath his skin?"


    (7) Dalong means "big dragon". It is Zhou Junmao''s old name, a very down-to-earth and mundane nameparatively.


    The malicious video suddenly ended. The countdown clock of 10 minutes appeared again.


    The air in the Zhou''s house was on the brink of snapping. Everyone, including the servants and the hourly workers, were quarantined and monitored seperately.


    Meanwhile, the police finally located the video uploader''s IP. At the same time, Lang Qiao, who was still searching the Heng Da Corporation''s building, received the message. She took one quick nce of it, then directly took out a handcuff and cuffed the manager who had been crapping with them: "They are in on it. Search on!"


    10 minutes. It can be very short, and it can be very long. In the real world a person was barely able to climb a couple floors, but on the inte 10 minutes was enough for any news to travel across the globe for countless times.


    In no time, there was an explosion of rumors on the inte. Some people sworn that Zhou Junmao''s old name was indeed Zhou Dalong. Some even found old pictures of him and dug out his early sess stories. Allegedly, Zhou Junmao went abroad to seek shelter from a distant rtive. The story covered his life from how he worked for this distant rtive to save up for the first bucket of gold all the way to how he started his own business. It ended with the provoking question of why the other founder of the Zhou''s were rarely mentioned in all these years.


    Then the topic quickly turned from Zhou Huaijin''s abduction to Zhou Junmao''s car ident. The old phnthropist''s long built noble image hadpletely copsed after the video. Some spected that he was in the moneyundering business; some said he sold national secrets to foreign countries; some even used him of international human trafficking...it was nothing short of an urban legend creativity contest.


    As the key figure of the stories, the truck driver Dong Qian, who was directly responsible for Zhou Junmao''s death, also didn''t dodge the bullets. His eighteen generations of ancestors were all dug up and checked out. People studied him to the bones and looked for traces of conspiracy from every one of his hair follicles.


    "Captain Luo, the time''s almost up!"


    "Take over their official website''s main page. Reply to the abductors in the name of the police." Luo Wenzhou paused, then said, "say that the economic crime investigation team is already investigating the case. Ask the public not to spread any rumors. Encourage them to report any evidence. Urge the abductors to surrender before it''s toote."


    "Boss, it''s toote. The Zhou''s official website had just crashed because of the surge in traffic!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    There was only one minute left on the countdown.


    Lang Qiao''s call came in: "Boss, we found the emails proving that Heng Da hired inte marketers to hype the news. We also found some of their payment receipts. We can now be sure that they were the ones who uploaded the abductors'' video..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Don''t tell me that they do not know the abductors."


    "They said that they didn''t know who the abductors were." Lang Qiao said very fast, "This morning after Zhou Huaijin went missing, the public rtions department at Heng Da received a mysterious email. There were some blurry pictures attached. They thought the pictures were fake. But since Zhou Junmao''s death had brought the Zhou''s under the limelight, Heng Da''s management wanted to muddy the water and seek an opportunity to profit from it..."


    "Then the sender told them that the pictures were photoshopped, and they believed it and broadcasted it, thinking that even if they got caught, it was at most a businesspetition gone out of the line, am I right?"


    Lang Qiao: "Ummm....Yeah, exactly."


    "Bullshit! Who would use so much anti-tracking technology just for a hoax? Take everyone in! Continue to track the email sender!" Luo wenzhou peeked at the countdown. Time flowed away relentlessly like the running water. The official website was still paralyzed like a vegetable!


    "Boss, look! This phone was found on the driver of Yang Bo."


    Luo Wenzhou took the phone and saw that the suspicious driver had just logged into a newly registered ount on Weibo. Histest status was exactly: "the police found out that the ''meat'' is in the truck."


    The countdown has reached zero --

 Chapter 68: Macbeth Nine

    Chapter 68: Macbeth Nine


    TL by QuantumC


    6.21.2020


    ==================================


    The Zhou''s official website copsed. And almost at the same time, Lang Qiao arrested the video uploader. Meanwhile, the police were racing time to locate the email senders who provided the video.


    However, this also meant that the delicate bnce between the police and the abductors was knocked off, because their only line ofmunication was cut off.


    The whole realm of the inte was filled with scouting tentacles that flowed along the current of gossips.


    At that moment, Zhou Junmao was no longer a person. His past life has be an open book where each and every punctuation had been officially published, standing nakedly in front of the public gaze to be savored, judged, andmented on --


    "Backed by solid evidence: the real identity of the Zhou''s bastard."


    "Zhou Junmao and his mistresses: stories you don''t know."


    "Zhou''s stock price plummeted at opening today: implication of difference in rules and regtions between the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets."


    "The vanishing partner: investigating on the other early-deceased founding figure of the Zhou''s Enterprise."


    "Other used name: Zhou Dalong -- check out the sess story of the slum-dog millionaire."


    "Zhou Junmao''ste wife was actually the widow of his cousin? Discussing the famous wives in history."


    "The killing of a father by his illegitimate son -- Let''s talk about the mysterious Oedipus Complex."


    ...


    The likes of these topics flooded every corner of the inte. There was absolutely no way to delete them in time, except perhaps to censor the word "Zhou" and expel if from the list of surnames.


    The words "0:00" flickered on the kidnappers'' final countdown screen. With the arrest of Heng Da''s shit stirrer band, the kidnappers stopped sending new messages. Ominous silence tortured everyone''s nerve.


    Countless eyes were fixated on the lifeless screen.


    Luo Wenzhou almost lifted Yang Bo''s driver off the ground by his cor: "Sneaking things right under the nose of the police...Bravo, it''s been years since Ist saw such a ballsy suspect. My friend, you have some gall!"


    The driver was a thirty-some-year-old, in looking individual whose face and demeanors don''t attract attention. He entered the room together with Yang Bo, but in such a long time no one took notice of him at all.


    Suddenly being singled out, the driver''s shaking legs almost couldn''t withstand his own weight anymore: "I...I...I didn''t do anything...I was...just posting a Weibo message..."


    "Posting with a newly registered ount? In argot? Who is your intended reader?" Luo Wenzhou handcuffed him brusquely, "Were you writing a diary online, or expressing your feelings to the air?"


    Fei Du hurried to back off so he wouldn''t obstruct Captain Luo from using his hands in full-fledge. He shook his head in sympathy: "I know, the person you take orders from is right in this house. He might even be watching you right now. But think twice about it, Mister, if something worse happens to Zhou Huaijin, what you''re doing here will take on a whole new meaning. What could this person possibly have promised you to make you sell out your life? "


    Before hisst sentence even finished, someone on the side yelled, "Captain Luo, a new video!"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."  Paid Story264K14.5K Paid Story675K32.4K 677K144K Paid Story9.5M453K 6.2M225K 1.5M201K 27.7M596K


    As soon as he said the words "something worse", the new video came. This Fei Du is such a jinx. If only he could sew those "beaks of crow" (1) together, he might as well be able to grind an iron rod into a needle (2).


    (1) crow beaks refer to someone who always makes misfortunate forecasts and they always turn out to be true.


    (2) this saying refers to something that''s very very difficult, almost impossible to achieve.


    Now without the tech support of Heng Da, the abductors seemed to be at the end of their wits. They uploaded the fourth video in such a haste.


    This time the video was only less than a minute long. The camera was very shaky, and it even caught the profile view of another man. He was obviously one of the kidnappers. He was covered by dark fabrics from head to toe and not even a single strain of hair could be seen. The camera man held the machine in one hand and focused it at his other hand -- the hand that held arge chopper intended for severing pork ribs.


    Zhou Huaijin curled himself up desperately. The panic in his voice was so discernible that it had almost taken forms: "I don''t know, I''m not familiar with the Asian branch. My father and Zheng were in charge. I really don''t know anything about the charity funds...Don''te close, stop...Don''t...Ahhhhh!"


    At that moment, another distorted voice came from the aplice, urging: "Hurry! Stop the filming. The cops are very quick!"


    But the camera and chopper - holding kidnapper ignored him, and slowly raised his chopper.


    Zhou Huaijin struggled like a fish on the cutting board, and somehow managed to get on his feet despite legs being tightly tied to the chair. Staggering, he tried to back away from the knife, but stumbled on something and lost his bnce. The poor young master didn''t have a particrly bright cerebellum. He screeched and fell sideways out of the camera view.


    Meanwhile, together with his falling, the camera shook vigorously as if the kidnapper had charged.


    Luo Wenzhou included, everyone''s heart sank to the bottom.


    In the next moment the camera became steadier again. They saw that because of his falling, Zhou Huaijin barely missed the chopper. It fell instead onto the wall of the van. Following a loud "Bang!" the ck stic film was shed apart. It surely was ready to chop Zhou Huaijin into pieces.


    The kidnapper made a "tut-tut" sound, seemingly in regret for his miss.


    His aplice asked anxiously: "Come On! Are you done already?!"


    Luo Wenzhou quickly raised one hand trying to cut off Fei Du''s line of sight from the scene --


    "No, wait! Wait!! I confess...You''re right! You arepletely right!" Zhou Huaijin was too panicked to pick his words.


    The knifed kidnapper heard it and paused, his head slightly tilted.


    The antsy aplice cursed something, then turned to push open the door of the van. A light shined through and fell on Zhou Huaijin''s dejected face.


    The bright sunlight blinded him. He helplessly toiled on the ground, while continuing breathlessly: "There are thr...three charity funds domestically. One of them is normal, the other two are cover-ups for moneyundering and tax evasion. There are many loopholes in the regtion of international fund transfer and it will be difficult to track. But I promise that what I said is true! What else do you want to know? I will tell you everything!"


    The kidnapper waited patiently for him to finish, then nodded his head in satisfaction. However, the next moment, he suddenly raised the knife and chopped down.


    "Ahhhh!!!!"


    A bloodcurdling scream followed from the video. Then, before the worried audience was able to make out what was going on, the whole van jolted wildly into motion, and the video abruptly ended.


    Fei Du tapped on the back of Luo Wenzhou''s hand, then turned to the handcuffed driver and shrugged: "See, what did I say?"


    The driver was so shocked and scared that he was on the brink of passing out. But Luo Wenzhou would never give him the chance. He mped his neck to bring him closer and shook him violently: "I''ll ask you onest time: who are you working for? If you keep lying, then you''ll be the main culprit."


    The driver''s eyeballs wandered frantically. Utterly stupefied, he stuttered: "I...I..."


    Luo Wenzhou suddenly let go of him, and ordered loudly: "Check his personal ount, bank ounts, rtives, including kids. Check all of his recent contacts and his socialworks -- I''ll be damned..."


    "Dir. Yang! It''s Dir. Yang!" The Driver cried out, "Please don''t go to the kids. We don''t know anything...It''s all Dir. Yang''s order!"


    "Dir. Yang?" Fei Du asked collectedly while leaning on a Dalbergia wooden desk, "Yang Bo? You mean...kidnapping Zhou Huaijin, exposing his own illegitimate identity...all of these are the doings of Yang Bo? What did he order you to do exactly?"


    The driver slumped hopelessly into his chair. His elbows rested on the knees, his handcuffed hands covered his face. He whispered: "Just...he just let me register for a new Weibo ount and use it to post updates...to let "them" know where you are...so they can run in time."


    As soon as he heard the word "in time", Fei Du slightly squinted his eyes in surprise.


    Luo Wenzhou saw it, and immediately pressed on: "You mean you know where the kidnappers are?"


    "No no...I don''t know."


    "Bull shit!"


    "It''s true! I really don''t know. I had always worked under Dir. Hu, not Dir. Yang. He doesn''t really trust me with everything. I was told to just post anything that I see or hear. It will be their job to decide whether it''s useful information or not. I only know that they are still in Yan-cheng city, because therge van-trucks will have to go through check points if going out of the city. Now that Dir. Zhou is missing, the police will tighten the control and the risk is even higher. So it''s better to ''stay under the light where it''s the darkest". A...After all..."


    Fei Du: "After all, they have you to keep them informed."


    The driver raised his head very briefly to peek at him, but avoided his eyes as soon as he caught them, "They said...that they would find a deserted ce to drive the car into the river. The kidnappers would break out from the windows and hide in the mountains. They said that because of the water, the police dogs wouldn''t be able to find their smell...not even the gods or the ghosts could."


    Luo Wenzhou quickly picked up his phone: "Tao Ran, look for a van truck around 2 tons that passed between yesterday afternoon and now...Oh and, the kidnappers are still hiding in the area. Within a 10 km radius, exclude the shallow water, the viges, the tnds,..."


    Tao Ran interjected: "Then it can only be the forrestnds to the Northeast. It''s less than 1km from where I am."


    Luo Wenzhou agreed: "Turn your siren up. There are two kidnappers. If the stress could break one of them and cause a quarrel or a fight, it''ll give us more chance to rescue."


    "It sounds like a perfect n: Yang Bo, the unacknowledged bastard son of Zhou Junmao who worked all those years to secure the management position, finds a good opportunity to get rid of Mr. Zhou Sr. Then he kidnaps Zhou Huaijin to force the Zhou brothers to officially legitimize him so he can get his share of the hesitance." Fei Du took off his sses to wipe them, then continued, "Just curious: what did Yang Bo promise you?"


    "My son..." The driver squeezed out an answer, "My sick son needs to be treated abroad. I don''t have the money or the resources..."


    Fei Du shook his head, looking quite disappointed, "A little tropy, don''t you think..."


    Luo Wenzhou had just hung up the phone. He warned him with a re to cut his word game.


    So Fei Du exined, "I mean, Zhou Huaijin could have easily afforded to do that too. Even Zhou Huaixin could make it happen. Why go to Yang Bo? Your upper and bottom lips smack and vo, Yang Bo''s usation is in ce. How could we know that you''re not framing him?"


    Luo Wenzhou pressed on: "Colluding with outsiders to hype the Zhou''s scandal, causing his ownpany''s stock price to plummet. What good does it do for Yang Bo? Would he really do something just to hurt others, without bringing any palpable benefit to himself?"


    "N...No!" The driver shook his head in a frenzy, "as soon as they acknowledge Yang''s identity, the Zhou''s website would crash -- even if it doesn''t crash on its own, they''ll find someone to crash it. By then no one would be able to post anything there. Regardless of what the kidnappers ask, thepany wouldn''t need to admit to it. And it''s a good opportunity for them to get r...rid of Dir. Zhou. Otherwise, why don''t the kidnapper ask them to answer on their official ount on Weibo? Why else would they required the answers to be posted on thepany''s own website?"


    "Then afterwards, they only need tomemorate thete Zhou Huaijin, denounce the cruelty of the kidnappers, and pronounce all the unanswered questions as nder. When the public is done with feasting on the gossips, they will remember ''political-correctness'' again, and quickly take the side of the victim to deride violence. Thepany likely won''t really take a big hit. Not to mention that then, without Zhou Junmao and Zhou Huaijin, the leftover ''skeleton painter'' Zhou Huaixin isn''t even worth weighing. It goes without saying whose hands thepany would fall into." Fei Du shrugged, "The logic and the details all check out. It''s indeed a perfect n."


    The driver stared at him,pletely stunned. Somehow he had a feeling that there was more between the lines of Fei Du''s words.


    "Take him back to the Bureau!"


    Baisha river banks.


    The roaring police cars arrived in three teams. They charged into the north-east forrestnds from different directions and turned the otherwise deste area into a frantic war zone.


    The autumn rain two days ago had wetted the soil into mud.


    "Vice Captain Tao, there are fresh traces of tire marks!"


    Tao Ran wiped away his sweat andmanded: "Follow it!"


    The Baisha river is lightly flooding. As they followed, the sound of the flowing river grew louder and louder. Faint tire marks quickly lead them to the river bank.


    "Over there!"


    "In the water! In the water!"


    A white van truck was slowly sinking into the river. Meanwhile, the rapid water current pushed it to flow downstream towards the deeper waters.


    In the Zhou''s house, everyone - except Yang Bo, who was taken away to be questioned alone - held their breaths and waited for the news. Their expressions were different, and their agendas and hopes were different too. Only Zhou Huaixin was unambiguously worried about his brother. He mped onto the arm rest of the wooden chair, his long nails scratched the wood and made uneasy noises.


    Every second seemed to have been stretched thrice as long.


    "Captain Luo, " finally, Tao Ran''s choppy voice was heard amidst the thundering water, "The van door is open but no one is inside. Not sure if the kidnappers took him away, or if he fell into the water."


    Zheng Kaifeng''s face slightly paled; Hu Zhenyu''s back suddenly stiffened.


    Zhou Huaixin shot up. His pelvis bone hit the wooden table hard, but he paid no attention. What was left of the color on his lips waspletely gone. He looked like a frail, hung-over joker.


    Luo Wenzhou ordered solemnly: "Continue the search."


    Tao Ran -- having gone in the river himself -- just choked on the water. He coughed it out, then called out: "Continue the search --- !"


    "Captain Tao, look! Over there!"


    The kidnappers must have left the scene in a hurry, because the door to the van was not securely locked, and Zhou Huaijin, together with the wooden chair he was tied to, was flushed out of the van. The wooden chair was like an awkward life buoy. Carrying a motionless man, it flowed in the current like a leaf in the wind.


    "I got it!"


    "Hold on tight, don''t let go! Wait...wait he''s still alive!"


    Twenty minutester, the updates of Zhou Huaijin''s rescue made it to the Zhou''s house. Zhou Huaijin was wounded on the leg. Luckily no vital damages. One of the more nervous kidnappers didn''t give his aplice the time to kill and dismember the body: startled by the siren, he quickly mmed the gas and drove the truck into the river. Then the two kidnappers fled, while Zhou Huaijin flowed in the river.


    Hu Zhenyu''s heart finallynded in his stomach. Zheng Kaifeng quietly closed his eyes, seemingly praying to the buddha.


    Zhou Huaixin crumpled to the floor. When he finally made it to the bathroom, he vomited his guts out.


    Someone followed him into the bathroom. Zhou thought it was the maid. His eyes closed, he panted and reached out a hand, asking in a hoarse voice: "Water please."


    A bottle of water was handed to him. The cap was already loosened.


    Zhou Huaixin gulped a mouthful and gargled. Then he heard the voice of the person behind him saying: "Seriously, brother Zhou? Didn''t you already know this ending?"


    Zhou Huaixin identally swallowed the gargle water, and almost choked.


    ==================================


    Hey guys, I found a brilliant fan cut of the whole book, starring Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu! This is by far the best cut I''ve seen out there, in my opinion. I love it so much that I spent 2 hours adding English subtitles. It''s on Youtube and the thumbnail looks like this:   Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.


    Just copy and paste these two words "" in the youtube search box and you should find it. I added the link to the summary page of this book too(can''t paste the link here for some reason). The video follows the plot, but I wouldn''t worry too much about spoilers since it''s hard to understand what''s really going on if you haven''t finished the book yet. For the chapters that you have read, the plot of the video will make a lot of sense.


    And the lines...oh my lord the lines...they are delivered so well and they immediately bring the scenes alive. The lines were taken from the audio book of Modu, produced by 729 Sound Studio, starring Yang Tianxiang as Fei Du and Liu Cong as Luo Wenzhou. The music: the first two songs are the theme songs of the audio book too. The lyric was written specifically for our dear Captain Luo and little Fei Du. I love it so much so I tranted the lyrics in the video too.


    In sum, highly, highly, highly rmend that you check this video out :)

 Chapter 70: Macbeth Eleven

    Chapter 70: Macbeth Eleven


    TL: QuantumC


    07-04-2020


    Bonus update for the holiday :)


    ===================================================================


    Dong Qian lived in the "Lan-wan" neighborhood.


    It was a newly-built residential area. Just a couple years ago, the ce was still an old dingy alley. But it soon benefited from the sweeping flood of city-reconstruction projects and consequently, Dong Qian and his daughter got to move into a remodeled modern apartment built at the same ce of their demolished alley hut.


    These young apartments were equipped with many high-end technologies such as the floor heating system, central AC, air cirction and purification systems, etc. Merely a couple years ago these were still fancy terms, yet today they have be the new standard. The rising middle ss in this city wanted to purchase a quality life by seeking tranquility, good service, and a convenient location for their home. Meanwhile, the old upants seemingly got a free ride to the same ''quality life'' by unwittingly signing a contract to trade in theirnd. But of course, only after moving back to the new apartments did they realize that it all just ''seemed'' beautiful.


    Their apartments and those built for sale were separated by a thick concrete fence, one side of which was heavily decorated by flowers and bushes, while the other side was left barren. The hierarchy couldn''t be made more apparent.


    When Xiao Haiyang and his colleague left Dong Qian''s home, they found their police car surrounded by onlookers.


    "It''s parked here since early morning." An old man walking his dog pointed to the vehicle and said, "I saw it when I came down to buy breakfast. God knows what is taking them so long to investigate."


    "Haven''t you heard? A murderer used to live here. I saw his leaked address online, and it''s this building." A young student showed the oldman his phone, theter squinted his eyes and seemed awed by the information tornado that swept the inte - what he wasn''t familiar with.


    "Look, are those two police officers?"


    Before Xiao Haiyang made it to the car, he was almost drowned by the mouths and tongues of the people.


    "Uncle Policeman, I heard that the murderer driver lived here. Are you here for that case?"


    Xiao Haiyang was taken aback at first, but then quickly shook his head: "No, we''re not. Stop guessing. Please let us pass."


    The young boy holding his cellphone asked curiously: "Was there really an illegitimate son?"


    Before the question finished, the boy was cut off and dragged aside by a well-groomeddy: "Quit being so nosy! If you keep reading about this nonsense online, I will not allow you to use your cellphone anymore --- Officer, I just want to ask a quick question: did the driver die? If not, was he arrested? Imagine being the next door neighbor to a murderer..."


    Xiao Haiyang''s hand briefly paused on the door handle. But he quickly pretended that he heard nothing, and went in the car silently.


    "Wait...are you leaving? What does it take to answer a question, huh? It''s an important public safety question!"


    A man was parking his car on the other side. Heined to himself: "What did I say about buying an apartment next to these trade-in ones? You never know what kind of people would live next door..."


    Xiao Haiyang stepped on the gas before the colleague even closed the door properly. As if being chased, he rushed out of the parking lot. At the exit of the residential block they ran into a minivan with the logo of a local media. The colleague saw the logo from afar and quickly tapped Xiao Haiyang: "Make a turn here... Let''s keep away from the trouble."  146M3.7M 1M42K 3.3M66K 531K102K 1M226K 322K32.5K


    Xiao Haiyang quickly turned into a side alley. From the side mirror he saw some reporters and camera men jumping out of the minivan and trying to chase behind them. Luckily, they soon realized it was impossible and gave up. Instead, they snapped some shots of the police car swooshing away.


    The colleague turned around and checked nervously. Seeing that the ''trouble'' was far behind them, he finally rxed and said: "The news travels fast. Haiyang, you see: it''s all so different nowpared to before. If you see something like this in the future, make sure to hold your tongue. If you do know how to y Tai-chi (1), then better run fast. <i>No word should be leaked to the press besides onesing from the official spokesperson. </i>This is a very important discipline. Otherwise, wait for a good scolding from the big boss."


    y Tai-chi: it means ''to beat around the bush''. When ying Tai-chi, one diverts the blow from the opponent with strategic moves. This is simr to when some politician or spokesperson dodges questions with pretty talks..


    Xiao Haiyang first nodded absentmindedly. Then, after a long while, he suddenly asked: "Can Dong Xiaoqing still live here?"


    The colleague first replied with a confused "Huh?", then quickly realized what he meant and waved his hand indifferently: "It will be tough, for a while. But it will pass. After all, everyone is so busy with their own shitty lives. Who would remember this for long? Don''t worry, after a month or two everyone will forget about it."


    Xiao Haiyang agreed arduously. His driving wasn''t like his blunt and hasty personality at all. Quite the opposite, he drove very cautiously -- perhaps too cautiously. He started breaking for a changing light long before reaching the crossing. The shaggy police car slowly came to a stop and barely jolted.


    "But she will never forget it." Xiao Haiyang suddenly replied.


    The colleague looked at him in surprise.


    "If we couldn''t find clear evidence to prove Dong Qian''s innocence, then this page will never be turned in her heart. At first, when others question her she would argue back and defend her father''s innocence. But it will remain like a fish bone in her throat that pokes out every so often. It will be like Schrodinger''s box."


    The colleague didn''t expect such deep reflection from him. He asked back: "Schrodinger? You mean the cat?"


    "The box that holds the cat." Xiao Haiyang''s eyes remained on the traffic light. His sses were slightly drooping. The top of the thick frame covered his eyes -- those sad, gloomy eyes: "So long as you don''t open the box, you''ll never know if the cat is still alive. The box will be stuck in your heart forever and will take up all the space and nothing else could fit. Every night you will doubt yourself. Everyday your thoughts will be upied by it...the long and slow pain is like a sword that hangs above your head."


    Ordinary people typically chat about daily hassles or discuss work rted matters with their colleagues. In the Eastern culture, discussing one''s feelings with a colleague, especially one that you don''t know well, seemed a bit out of the ordinary, and it more or less made the colleague a bit ufortable.


    He stammered. Not knowing what to say to this philosophical remark, he gave a hollowugh.


    On the other side, Xiao Haiyang seemed to still be lost in his own thoughts. He did not sense the awkwardness of his teammate at all, nor did he really expect any answers from him. After delivering the remarks, he shut his mouth and sunk deep into his own thoughts again.


    Meanwhile, inside the Lan Wan residential district, Dong Xiaoqing sat in the living room alone, holding the phone. The TV was on and the local news program was showing updates on Zhou''s case in a program re-run. The driver "Dong"''s name frequently shed in some corners of the screen. On the tea table, there were three cups of tea that had already gone cold, indicating that some guests were here minutes ago.


    The person over the phone talked very nicely. It was her HR manager: "Xiao Dong, you see..tely so many things were going on with your family. It''s the peak season but everyone is very considerate about what happened. I''ve talked with the big boss already, they all agree that you deserve some time to rest and adjust. Don''t worry abouting back to work for now...If there is any difficulty, do let us know. Thepany will try its best to help you out. Alright?"


    They were firing her, politely. Dong Xiaoqing got the message. She didn''t want to lose her grace. It took her all the strengths to control the trembling in her voice: "Okay. Manager Wang, sorry for the trouble."


    "Ahem...there is no trouble at all." The HR was pleasantly surprised for how easy it went. Seeing how cooperative and understanding she was, his voice grew even softer: "I wish I could be more helpful, truly...I just filed a report to the big boss and applied for an additional quarter of wage and benefits for you..."


    There was a persistent knocking on the door: "Miss Dong, are you home? We are from the Yan-Capital Evening News. We would like to ask you some questions."


    "...when it''s approved, I will mail you the check in one go. Although it''s not much, it is better than none. If you need rmendation letters in the future, don''t hesitate to let me know."


    "Miss Dong! Miss Dong? I heard your voice already...Hello? Anyone home?"


    Dong Xiaoqing struggled to take a deep breath, and hid her head in her arms.


    Those loud voices were like water. Water flows in and out, following the momentum. It doesn''t mean good, and it doesn''t mean evil. But only those stuck in the whirlpool know how it feels to be suffocated.


    Yet she can not me this water drop, nor that one, for the suffocation. All the drops of water are innocent.


    Then who could she me?


    No one has figured out the answer, not even over a thousand years.


    Dong Xiaoqing didn''t know how she managed to finish the call with HR. She had turned into a walking dead. After god knows how long, she finally regained consciousness. By then, most of the people at her door had left. Her stic phone cover was somehow cracked. The attention-seeking news program has ended too, and an entertainment show was now ying.


    She unintentionally curled herself up into a little ball. Her unfocused eyesnded on a slip of paper left on the tea table --- it was left by that policeman. He asked her to reach out to him anytime if she thought of something, or if she needed anything.


    <i>Fake.</i> Dong Xiaoqing thought, expressionlessly.


    At that time, the rowdy doorbell suddenly rang again.


    Dong Xiaoqing almost jumped. Her rage and frustration was rekindled. She shot up, grabbed a cup on the table and threw it at the door. However, an angry curse was stuck at her throat, because she heard:


    "Package --- anyone home?"


    Dong Xiaoqing froze. The cup didn''t make it to the door, and water spilled all over the sofa. The delivery man at the door knocked again. Then, following a faint murmuring was the squeak of the storage closet door: he left the package inside the cupboard at her entrance, and left in a hurry.


    Dong Xiaoqing roughly pressed some napkins on the sofa to soak up the tea. After a short hesitation, she went to check through the peephole. Seeing that no one was outside, she quickly opened the door ajar and took in the package.


    It was very light, but very heavily wrapped. She didn''t remember buying anything onlely. Who would mail her anything at this time? Dong Xiaoqing confusingly checked the writing on the package. Then she froze again---


    It was from the address of Dong Qian''s truck carrier. Both the sender and the receiver names were ''Dong Qian''.


    Since Zhou Junmao died and Dong Qian became the suspect, every single belongings of his, both in his office and at home, had been thoroughly screened by the police. Everything that is, except for this slow package that took three days to arrive even for a same-city delivery.


    Dong Xiaoqing ripped the package apart with her shaking hands. A ck-and-white picture of a woman fell out first. It was the same photo as the one hanging on the wall of her living room --- her long deceased mother. There were also some gruesome shots of the car ident that took her, and a death certificate provided by the hospital.


    On the backside of the death certificate, there were coges of newspaper articles of the car ident.


    Dong Xiaoqing first thought that these were her father''s cherished memory of her mother. Right when she was about to put them away, she noticed a line on the old newspaper. It was like someone had poured a barrel of ice water over her head: she suddenly ''woke'' from the trance --- the main character of those reports were not the poor woman who lost her life in the ident. Rather, it was a quite famous local entrepreneur.


    The entrepreneur was driving his car and suddenly got rear-ended by arge freight truck. The car lost control and headed to the oppositene, crashing into another truck. It had resulted in multiple collisions. The entrepreneur and the freight truck driver were killed on scene. One unfortunate vehicle on the oppositene carried Dong Qian and his wife. Both were heavily wounded and rushed to the hospital. The wife did not make it.


    Dong Xiaoqing shook the package upside down. Everything fell out: some random maps with marked routes, some hand-painted diagrams, a photocopy of a veryrge bill, and many close-up shots of license te numbers and a stack of personal information of some strangers.


    And one of them was Zhou Junmao!


    Zhou Junmao''s paper had a picture stuck on the back. It was exactly the Bently that the old man rode when the ident took ce.


    Dong Xiaoqing''s heartbeat thundered. Her hands shook uncontrobly. She found a small envelope buried inside the stack of papers. On top, it was the scribbling of Dong Qian that said "To Xiao Qing".


    Days soon passed, but the talk about Zhou Huaijin''s abduction case not only didn''t subside, but even heated up more intensely. The ancient photos and news reports about Zhou Huaijin attending public events were all dug out and scrutinized. Even the mysterious founder of the Zhou''s Empire was frequently discussed, despite decades of absence from the public''s eyes.


    "This man''s Chinese name is "Zhou Yahou"...Jeez, a handsome one..." Lang Qiao paced around the office, "He was half-Chinese and half-White...well, slightly more Chinese than White. He married a Chinese wife too. He was a second generation immigrant from a well-to-do family, dropped out from Ivy-league to start his ownpany --- Zhou Junmao was merely a minor sidekick of his back then. Zheng Kaifeng wasn''t even a sidekick. When Zhou Yahou started hispany, Zheng had just stowed away to America and was still living in hiding.


    Tao Ran asked, surprisingly: "Zheng Kaifeng was an illegal immigrant?"


    "Ran away when he was a teenager," Lang Qiao continued, "worked under some people smugglers, then somehow got a legal identity after meeting Zhou Junmao. Seeing him now and seeing his poor early years...tut tut...fate is such a naughty yer..."


    Someone objected: "Qiao-qiao, could you stop pacing around already? You''re making me dizzy."


    "I am staaarving to death, my dear camarad." Lang Qiao moaned, "The feeder is 10 minuteste already. My stomach is currently digesting itself..."


    Before she finished, the aroma of fried pancakes seeped in from the hallway. Lang Qiao dashed towards the entrance and greeted the food bearer like people in the upied region weing the liberation troops: "Boss--!"


    Luo Wenzhou stepped aside to avoid collision: "Mind your manners."


    "A hungry child knows no manners." Lang Qiao picked through the food he brought, "Wow, why so many varieties today?"


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t answer. He thought: <i>Who knows what that drama queen does not eat.</i>


    It was a Friday, the day that Fei Du came in. Luo Wenzhou at first bought breakfast for the team as usual, but then thought of this and went back to buy some more. So he identally ran a little behind.


    He pretended that nothing happened, and nonchntly walked into the office, but only to see Fei Du''s empty desk. His face immediately straightened: "Didn''t I already stress on the rules? Now this? Tao Ran, give him a call right now. Look what the time is already! Where the heck is he fooling around this time?"


    Tao Ran: "..."


    Luo Wenzhou finally realized the weird expression on everyone''s face: "What are y''all staring at?"


    Lang Qiao made an exaggerated mischievous face and pointed at the coat on Fei Du''s chair. Using a whisper that''s loud enough for everyone to hear, she said: "He arrived half an hour ago...just left for Chief Lu''s office..."


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    Tao Ran added, word by word: "Oh, and, Chief Lu called the office just now looking for you. I picked it up, got quite a scolding, and was asked "Can Luo Wenzhou ever quit his cking andck of discipline? Ever?"


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    The whole criminal investigation unit, while enjoying Captain Luo''s food, gave him a loud and unanimous "boo --- "


    ========================================================


    Many exciting things happen starting the next Chapter (wink

 Chapter 71: Macbeth Twelve

    Chapter 71: Macbeth Twelve


    TL: QuantumC


    07-10-2020


    ==========================================


    Think about what a dickhead Fei Du was in front of Luo Wenzhou: that''s how much of a good boy he was in front of Chief Lu.


    He wore a very schoolboy-ish outfit today -- with a price-tag that''s not so student friendly of course. But old people don''t really pay attention to the expensive details, so Lu Youliang simply thought that this young man looked especially clean and bright. When he entered the office and smiled, the whole room seemed to lighten up.


    Of course, if only thed could get a crew cut, that would be perfect.


    Lu Youliang handed him the list of archives that the YCPA research team requested for: "I skimmed through it: seems fine to me. Except for a couple unnecessary cases... which I''ve highlighted. Once you revise the list, just print another copy and follow the regr procedure."


    Fei Du thanked him respectfully, took the list, and quickly skimmed through. Before he asked anything, Lu Youliang added some exnation: "Those cases are all very old and they''ve been studied in the previous round of the ''Sketchbook" project already. I think it''s not worth going over them again. I don''t want you to waste time --- if your advisor Pan asks, you can tell him this. He''ll understand."


    What kind of a boss would spend his own time to screen through the list for his underlings just because he didn''t want them to ''waste time''? Fei Du was not deaf -- he could tell that this was just an excuse, so he agreeably swallowed his questions down.


    After Chief Lu finished instructing on the project, he amiably chatted with Fei Du about thetter''s personal life. Right when their topic was about to switch from schooling to courtship - the most popr topic of aunts and uncles when they''re around young people - the phone on the table rang and interrupted them.


    Chief Lu gestured at Fei Du and picked it up. After some short exchanges, his eyebrows furrowed.


    Fei Du was observant, and remained quiet. He heard Lu Youliang instructed in detail: "...must be just and impartial. Especially pay attention to the appropriate wording. Send the final draft to me before publishing...Okay. This is an important and urgent matter --- the rich heirs fighting for their inheritance case can wait. It wouldn''t change what''s for the next dinner for the average John Doe''s after all. The children''s case is what the people truly care about."


    Fei Du waited until he hang up and then asked: "It''s about that children''s abduction case, right?"


    "-Sigh- yes, it has been transferred to the Procuratorate and what will happen next is beyond our control now." Lu Youliang paused. Unintentionally - or intentionally - he peeked at Fei Du''s expression, then added, "This is the story of our lives a lot of times, you see. The victims and the family count on you for justice. But even if you can find out who did it, in the end it doesn''t always turn out well. Sometimes you justcked a bit of luck and missed the key evidence. Sometimes you even have all the evidence, but thew still cannot punish the perpetrator."


    Fei Du agreeably nodded: "The rules and procedures are designed for the majority. There is always going to be fishes that slip through the."


    Lu Youliang''s eyelid unnoticeably twitched. He had a feeling that Fei Du''s next sentence might cross the line.


    But surprisingly, Fei Du added nothing outrageous: "But this is already the best working system that bnces the needs of the most parties. It''s the result of years of frictions and struggles and now the system is still roughly "Pareto Efficient". Without it, there will be worse injustice. So even if it may hurt certain individuals, the system still needs to be maintained and respected. "  146M3.7M 1M42K 3.3M66K 531K102K 1M226K 322K32.5K


    Chief Lu was surprised: "What...what ''efficient''?"


    "In other words it''s the best option when considering the aggregate benefit of everyone." Fei Du smiled, "My family runs a small business so I learned some theories from the elderly."


    Chief Lu slowly nodded his head. Seeing Fei Du''s casual and calm expression, he seemed relieved: "Good. Young people should be learning things like this. Learning helps build a healthy mindset too --- your advisor Pan used to be a radical reformist. That''s why he went into academia."


    Fei Du appropriately showed some curiosity at the topic.


    But Chief Lu stopped it at that, and waved his hand: "Alright. I''ll let you go back to your work."


    Fei Du followed his orders and stood up. Meanwhile, his eyes swept across Chief Lu''s desk.


    On the corner of his desk there was a picture frame, holding an old photograph of men. In the picture the men were not yet bald and their waist measures were still ''moderate''. Only their eyes and noses still resembled their current versions. From left to right, there were Chief Lu, old Chief Zhang, Professor Pan - whom Fei Du had to use some tricks to be a student of - and Yang Zhengfeng: Luo Wenzhou''ste Shifu.


    There were originally five people in the photo. Yang Zhengfeng''s right arm held another person''s elbow. But that man''s face was obstructed by the wooden picture frame and only a portion of his left shoulder was visible. Fei Du nced at the picture, then quickly looked away. As if nothing happened, he picked up the marked copy of the "archived cases for viewing" from Chief Lu''s desk and walked towards therge office.


    He walked slowly and quietly. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. His peach blossom eyes were looking down and had a bit of uninvolved aloofness --- until he heard Luo Wenzhou''s ''heart-broken'' usation:


    "Traitors..." god knows who Luo Wenzhou was denouncing - the voice could be heard even before entering the office, "What a roomful of ssic, textbook traitors."


    Fei Du raised his head and saw Luo Wenzhou backing out of the office, one hand in the pocket. As he backed out, he pointed at the white-eyed wolves in the office: "You guys...you were obviously adopted..."


    Before he finished the sentence he bumped into Fei Du, who had no intention of ducking.


    "Oops, sorry." Luo Wenzhou didn''t know who he bumped into and was about to turn around. But an arm circled his waist and helped him bnce -- in the way of an embrace.


    Luo Wenzhou: "..."


    The hallway had plenty of space but Fei Du just had to squeeze past the narrow opening beside Luo Wenzhou. His shoulder lightly bumped into Luo Wenzhou''s chest while his extended arm quickly ''measured'' Luo''s waist circumference. Then he said, unabashedly: "Chief Lu asked me to tell you that if you arete for one more time he''ll start deducing your yearly performance benefit."


    Lang Qiao rubbed it in: "Oh Sir Fei, boss was just asking about you. He said ''where the heck is he fooling around this time?''"


    "Well, " Fei Du answered, with a smile from ear to ear, "let''s not tarnish dear old Chief Lu''s name like that, shall we?"


    "Have you eaten yet?" Tao Ran pointed at the desk that''s covered by breakfast food, "Help yourself. I don''t know if you have any dietary restrictions."


    Judging from how Fei Du found the time to dress himself up fully in the early morning, he obviously had ample time for breakfast too. Indeed, he waved his hand at Tao Ran and answered, "Nope, I..."


    The words "I already had breakfast" was at the tip of his tongue.


    But Tao Ran added: "Wenzhou bought these. Don''t worry."


    "...don''t have any restrictions. Anything will do." Fei Du managed to turn his words 180 degrees around, then casually picked a packet of red bean paste pie, "Thanks, Shixiong."


    So shameless!


    Luo Wenzhou witnessed the world-ss ''lying through the teeth'', and was awed speechless.


    Xiao Haiyang sat at his desk in the corner and quietly listened to the others joking around. He didn''t know how to join them so he kept quiet on the sideline.


    Tao Ran noticed Xiao''s embarrassment. But as soon as Xiao Haiyang realized Tao Ran''s eyes he awkwardly pushed his sses and lowered his head, pretending to focus on some work in order to lessen the awkwardness of his misfit.


    Tao Ran noticed these uneasy reactions too. A momentter, he went to fill his cup and stopped by Xiao Haiyang''s desk along the way: "Little Xiao ---"


    Xiao Haiyang''s back tensed as he replied: "Vice Captain Tao."


    "Rx." Tao Ran patted his shoulder, then leaned on his desk casually, "This is not Wang Hongliang''s territory anymore. Take it easy."


    Xiao Haiyang had no sign of rxing at all. He sat up straight like a coffin board and waited for the Captain''s scolding.


    Tao Ran sighed silently. His eyes peeked at the report on Xiao Haiyang''s desk -- it was the autopsy reports of Zhou Junmao and Dong Qian. Both died on the scene. There were no suspicious wounds or remainder of illegal drugs in their bodies - that part is crystal clear.


    "We''ve questioned Zhou Huaijin the other day." In order to let Xiao Haiyang rx, Tao Ran picked a topic within hisfort zone - a work rted topic - to start the conversation.


    "He said that he got on to the taxi driven by one of the abductors from the airport. When they drove past a remote area, another man stopped the car and asked to share the ride --- that was the second abductor. Zhou Huaijin found it inconvenient, so he declined. But he wasn''t rmed by anything yet. The pretended passenger acted angryly and caused a scene. Then he attacked him, with the help of the driver...Hey, little Xiao, don''t take notes. There''s no need to take notes...I''m just casually chatting."


    Lang Qiao picked out the crispy wafer from the pancake wrap and chewed on it first, like a squirrel. While chewing, she interjected: "I think there is actually a missing link here: how could the abductors make sure that Zhou Huaijin getson his taxi, not any other taxi?"


    Tao Ran pondered: "We''ve screened the security footage next to the Airport taxi stand. It was close to morning, and the dispatcher had left the post. There were very few passengers waiting for a taxi, and not many taxis either. So everyone lined up in one singlene. If the abductor was waiting outside of thene at first, and joined it once he saw Zhou Huaijin, it is possible to calcte and manipte so that he ''happens'' to pick up Zhou Huaijin."


    "It''s possible. But a bit risky, don''t you think? What if someone cuts the line?" Lang Qiao asked, "Have you heard? Yesterday Yang Bo cracked under our ry race of interrogation. He broke down and yelled in the interrogation room that Zhou Huaijin''s abduction was nothing but a self-directed, self-acted show."


    "That''s impossible." Another officer said, "What''s the point of all the beating if it''s just an act? He almost got drowned...and he even caused bad publicity for his ownpany and now hearings are called and a public investigation on hispany has started. Why would he do these to himself?"


    Lang Qiao spected: "What if the Zhou''s wasn''t going to belong to Zhou Huaijin in the first ce?"


    Tao Ran put down his cup: "And where did these hearsaye from?"


    "They''re not just hearsay. I did my research and flipped through this many old newspapers." Lang Qiao gestured, "When the founder of the Zhou''s -- Zhou Yahou -- died, his widow married Zhou Junmao in just a few months. Think about it: that''s like marrying the sister-inw shortly after your brother died -- I know they''re not rted, but their rtionship was very close -- not to mention that this ''sister-inw'' owned arge portion of the stock shares. I found a HongKong tabloid article that called the couple "Ximen Qing" and "Li Ping-er" and said that they must have been together before Zhou Yahou was dead." Lang Qiao knocked on the desk, "Alright, friends, herees the key part: I checked Zhou Yaohou''s time of death and Zhou Huaijin''s birthday. They are within the same year. Now that''s something to think about."


    "You mean...Zhou Junmao killed Zhou Yaohou and identally raised his son. Now Zhou Huaijin found out the truth and came after him for revenge?" Tao Ran shook his head, "Get your head back to the case. Didn''t I ask you to look for potential witnesses at the airport taxi stand just now? Stop pulling out ''theories'' and get back to the evidence."


    "It''s not just a theory." Lang Qiao said, "when we left the Zhou''s house the other day, boss went straight to Director Zeng and asked to inspect on Mr. Zhou Sr. and his three ''suspected'' sons'' blood rtionship'' -- right, boss? You and I must be ''the heroes sharing the same point of view''! "


    Luo Wenzhou ignored her question and walked back to his own office: "Focus on your own part. Don''t you worry about what I do. Besides, the inspection results aren''t even out yet."


    Xiao Haiyang had remained silent the whole way. But at this time he finally asked: "But there isn''t any traceable connection between Dong Qian and Zhou Huaijin. If Zhou Junmao''s car ident was really man-made, then how did Zhou Huaijin get Dong Qian to do the dirty business for him?"


    "But Dong Qian had no connection with anyone else from the Zhou''s either." Lang Qiao said, "We''ve established this before: supposed that Zhou Junmao was murdered, then the murderer kept a very low profile and tried to disguise his death as an ident. On the other hand, Zhou Huaijin''s abduction case was loud and mboyant --- these two cases have clearly contradictory styles. So I was thinking, could it be that Zhou Junmao''s death was really an ident, but then Zhou Huaijin made use of this opportunity in order to destroy his ''father''s'' reputation and legacy?"


    Xiao Haiyang''s face was somber and pensive.


    "We need evidence, not theories and guesses." Tao Ran waved his hand and cut everyone''s wild imaginations short, "Alright alright, finish the breakfast and get back to work."


    The portrait of the abductors had been drawn ording to Zhou Huaijin''s descriptions and shared with the public, but they haven''t heard anything back yet.


    Til this day they haven''t found a single eyewitness. The van truck that sank into the Bai Sha River was a stolen one. The taxi was a robbed one. Nothing valuable was found from either the van truck or the taxi.


    Both Zhou Junmao''s car ident and Zhou Huaijin''s abduction case were full of unexinable points. Not much progress was made.


    Besides the driver who attempted to contact the kidnappers and got caught on scene, everyone seemed suspicious. Yet none of the suspects were cooperative. They were all busy attacking one another, and their stories were impressive for sure, but allcked supporting evidence.


    Even Yang Bo, who was the focus of the investigation, was bailed out by hiswyerst evening.


    So far, the criminal investigation team seemed to have reached a bottleneck. They could only wait for results from the economic crime investigation''s side and hope it would provide some useful leads.


    Luo Wenzhou read the confessions of the suspects from start to finish: Zhou Huaixin bit on Yang Bo like a mad dog; Yang Bo insisted that Zhou Huaijin had iting; Hu Zhenyu muddied the water, iming that Zhou Huaijin and Zheng Kaifeng had conflicts in their perspectives for thepany, and that Zheng Kaifeng was very close with Yang Bo in the recent years; Zheng Kaifeng insisted that Yang Bo was not rted to Zhou Junmao -- the old fox was sly and slippery and kept ying Tai Chi...


    Luo Wenzhou rubbed his chin. Meanwhile, his cellphone on the desk vibrated.


    He checked the phone. It was a message from Fei Du -- Fei Du, who was sitting across from him in the same room.


    In this small room where a fart could''ve easily knocked over another person''s heal, Mr. Fei, rather than opening up his mouth directly, had to take up the public wifi resource and send him a Wechat message,: "Shixiong, can I ask you out tonight?"


    Luo Wenzhou looked up at him. Fei Du was staring at the screen of hisptop, fully focused. If not for the faint, suspicious smile on the corner of his mouth, he could almost pass as a virtuous, hardworking intern.


    The "hardworking" Mr. Fei moved his finger tips. Another message pped Luo Wenzhou''s eyes.


    It said: "I like your abs."


    Luo Wenzhou peeked at his never-shutting office door. In this almost wide-open space, peoplee and go without ever needing to get his permission. Manye in to get drinks from the mini-fridge, and some would even stop to have a chat with Fei Du. Everyone''s every move is visible to everyone...


    Yet some people chose to ''harass'' him in this environment.


    Luo Wenzhou''s throat felt a little tight. The way he looked at Fei Du through the middle slit between his two monitor screens seemed like a predator.


    But right when he was about to text back, an unfortunate colleague barged in and reported: "Cap Luo, been waiting for this, right? Director Zeng asked me to deliver this to you."


    Luo Wenzhou almost dropped his cellphone on the floor.


    The thick-nerved college did not notice anything abnormal. He dropped the folder then went back to his own desk.


    Luo Wenzhou coughed, adjusted his extending legs under the desk, and tore open the folder absentmindedly.


    After a couple lines, his sluggish eyes turned serious.


    The DNA test results showed that the Zhou brothers were indeed Zhou Junmao''s sons, while Yang Bo had no rtion to Zhou Junmao.


    "Is Zhou Huaijin still at the hospital?" Luo Wenzhou stood up and put on his coat, "I want to talk to him."


    Fei Du: "Let me go with you."


    Luo Wenzhou gave him a look.


    Fei Du lightly licked his lips. His eyes casually swept across the office. Although he didn''t say a word, the message seemed to be that "there''s too many people here."


    Luo Wenzhou paused, then kept walking and allowed him to follow.


    Not long after the two left, Xiao Haiyang received a text message from Dong Xiaoqing.


    He was very surprised that Dong would actually contact him so soon. She said: "Officer Xiao, could I please trouble you toe to my home again? I have something to show you."


    Xiao Haiyang immediately dialed back, but Dong Xiaoqing''s cell-phone was already powered off. He had a weird ominous feeling.


    "Vice Captain Tao," Xiao Haiyang shot up and said, "I have to go somewhere too."

 Chapter 72: Macbeth Thirteen

    Chapter 72: Macbeth Thirteen


    TL: QuantumC


    8.15.2020


    Robbery, violence, murder...the goals and consequences of these acts are very clear and the punishment for them clear too. So long as the perpetrator could be nailed and some evidence be identified, at least justice could be served.


    But not always.


    Consider the cases where some kids throw rocks across the highway for fun but results in a car ident that kills an innocent passerby, or that where a poor beggar steals a sewer cover on the street but causes a traveler at night to fall into the well and drown, or that where the social elites make a light decision that end up causing others to bankrupt andmit suicite in despair...who could the victims turn to for justice then?


    Their family isn''t any bit more lowly than the rest; their suffering and pain isn''t a penny lighter or an inch less real. If the ones that have wronged them lived with guilt and repent, perhaps it''ll give them a little constion. But the nobility of men is so easily fractured: when faced with the grueling torment of one''s conscience, most would choose to self-hypnotize and sumb to the plentiful choices of excuses:


    I didn''t mean it.


    I wasn''t after you.


    I had no idea that it would turn out a catastrophe.


    I am a victim of the society myself...


    Howe you were so unlucky?


    Afterall, life itself is the real evil-doer to me.


    The wreck that the two of them drove - the vehicle they were assigned that day - had a wonky steering wheel that never returned to center after a turn. The break was bumpy too. Many times it felt like they were about to rear-end the car in front of them. In a word, not many parts of the car were properly functioning and it probably needed a thorough service. Luo Wenzhou first thought that Fei Du, who was used to driving Mercedes like a bumper car, would be pissed off by it pretty soon. But to his surprise, he only lightly frowned at the very beginning, then soon grew on the old government vehicle and operated with ease.


    Luo Wenzhou noticed the odd route he was taking and asked: "Where are we going?"


    "The Heng''ai Private Hospital". Fei Du answered, "Zhou Huaijin only stayed at the public hospital for one day. Right after hepleted the written deration with you guys, he transferred to that private hospital which he owned shares of. His brother said that it''s because the noise and crowds at the public hospital aren''t good for his recovery. I bet they were just trying to avoid the press."


    "Didn''t he just get a little scratch on his leg? I heard from Tao Ran that it didn''t even reach the tendon. We strongly condemn such waste of medical resources (1)." Luo Wenzhou patted Fei Du, "careful you: extravagance is usually the first step into corruption of the character!"


    (1). We strongly condemn...: jargon used by governmental officials, especially whenmenting on international affairs.


    Fei Du the psycho just could not bear to speak normal humannguage for more than three sentences. Hearing this, he immediately saw the opportunity to sneak in a flirt: "You call this extravagance? Then with you sitting in my car right now, my extravagance must warrant a death sentence."


    Most of Luo Wenzhou''s face was covered by sunsses. Hearing this, he sighed, and then, under the broad daylight, managed to hold a straight, serious face when he replied: "Honey, you''re lucky that my skin is thick enough to withstand your ''cultured'' pickup line. Did you use it on those silly boys that you tricked to bed before? I bet it worked every time."


    Fei Du retracted his not-so-serious eyes from him, and smiled silently.


    The buildings for the Public Security Bureau, the Procuritorial Bureau, and the People''s Court were all at the city center of Yan-cheng, and not far from each other. Because Fei Du took a different route, they were now driving past the back gate of the Procuritorial Bureau.  146M3.7M 1M42K 3.3M66K 531K102K 1M226K 322K32.5K


    The early autumn sky was high and drizzled with thin, hazy clouds. The sun shined generously through the cool and dry air. When their police car quietly cruised past the back gate of the Procuritorial Bureau they saw a mid-aged woman standing on the side of the street. She held a half-empty bottle of water and wore a card on her neck with posters of some smiling girls. The woman''s eyes were wandering andcked focus. When she saw the police car, her eyes spontaneously followed. There were hints of a twilight in those eyes.


    "That''s Qu Tong''s mother." Luo Wenzhou nced at her, and said to Fei Du, "I saw her a couple times when she came to the Bureau toplete the written deration. She''s aged so much in a few months."


    Fei Du: "Chief Lu talked about it today."


    Luo Wenzhou: "Huh?"


    Fei Du hesitated, then unintentionally - or intentionally - followed where the topic led: "Maybe I''m oversensitive, but I feel that he was probing me for something."


    Thanks to the sunsses, Luo Wenzhou didn''t leak out any expression despite his attentive eyes: "Probing for what?"


    "I don''t know. It sounds like...perhaps he thought that I would root for the victim''s family to pay someone to execute Su Luozhan and the pedafiles." Fei Du shrugged, "I guess I somehow came across as someone with a great sense of justice?"


    Luo Wenzhou did not reply. Shortly after, he adjusted his slouching,id-back posture and sat up straight. He immediately looked much more serious.


    "He also striked out some of the old cases that I requested for ess." Fei Du continued, "From what I know, those happened to be ones that were more or less closed with blemishes. Somecked the deal-sealing key evidence; some had suspects who filed for the insanity defense..."


    "Fei Du," Luo Wenzhou asked, smiling, "Was the old man probing you, or are you probing me?"


    They were approaching an empty crossing and the signal was turning from yellow to red. Fei Du slowly hit the brake pedal.


    "I actually do know a little about this. Once my Shifu had too much to drink and slipped out some details." After a short silence, Luo Wenzhou said, "If I''m not mistaken, then the ones that Chief Lu crossed out must be ones that had already been researched during the first phase of the Sketchbook project, right?"


    Fei Du didn''t expect to get an answer from him so easily. He peeked at him in surprise.


    "Besides the one case that used the insanity defense, the other ones were all stalling cold cases. Back then the principle investigator of the sketchbook project wanted tob through those cases from a different angle and see if there could be a breakthrough."


    Fei Du quietly listened.


    "But because of the limited technology, much evidence was not properly retained. What''s more, the psychological profiling technique was never epted in court as stand-alone evidence. Whatever findings that came out of the project could only be used for research and can''t help put the suspects on trial anymore. The experts that were involved in phase one of the Sketchbook project had a lot of pent-up frustrations. Yet, right about then, the suspects involved in those cases got into some sort of idents one by one.


    "idents? What do you mean?"


    "Some had random car idents; some went missing; onemitted suicide and left a note that admitted to his crime. One by one those names on the list disappeared. There was too much coincidence: if the heaven did not suddenly decide to deliver justice, then there is only one exnation left: murder. The murderer is a high-functioning expert who knows the victims better than themselves. And he is also very familiar with how the police system works. He is 100% an insider. Consequently, the sketchbook project came to an abrupt end. A secretmittee was assembled to investigate it, and every person that was involved in the project was temporarily suspended and questioned.


    Fei Du finally understood why Luo Wenzhou did not answer Tao Ran''s question when he asked about the "Sketchbook project" over the lunch table: those who were involved in the project were most likely the top-notch talents of the field. If they haven''t retired yet, then many must have already climbed to high-up positions.


    "And then?"


    "Then, the investigationmittee finally zeroed in on one suspect." Luo Wenzhou said, "I don''t know much details. But I do know that there wasn''t any solid evidence to charge him. This person was the soul of the project. Many senior officers that participated were his students."


    Fei Du asked immediately: "Who is he?"


    Luo Wenzhou shook his head: "I am not sure. Yang Lao did not tell me. I tried looking into it myself, but all of his files and records were sealed. ording to Shifu though, it seems that the man has already died."


    "You''re not sure." Fei Du said in a low voice, "meaning that you did find something."


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t agree nor disagree: "I''ve already disclosed a lot. Now it''s your turn: Why did you get yourself into the YCPA? Why go through all that trouble to join the "Sketchbook project"? Don''t say you''re just curious."


    Fei Du dropped silent.


    The two sat in the constricted space shoulder to shoulder. There was hardly any distance between them, yet somehow there seemed to be a cold and thick wall in between.


    Fei Du''s eyes were twinkling. Luo Wenzhou thought that he heard squeakings of the gates in his heart as they slowly opened. The owner of the gates were calcting how many to open, and how many hidden contents to show, in order to exchange for what he wanted.


    Not until the GPS showed that they were almost at the destination did Luo Wenzhou finally crack open Fei Du''s mouth and get another sentence out:


    "You know, I had always suspected that my father was involved in my mother''s death." Fei Du said, "Even though you guys have concluded his innocence, I still couldn''t resist this feeling. It''s like an instinct. Theoretically speaking, instincts are tied to a person''s subconscious. I really want to know why I would have such a deeply ingrained doubt in him, so I tried to recollect things from my childhood.


    "I remember that our house had a basement which only my dad had ess to. Even my mom wasn''t allowed to enter. It was like Bluebeard''s locked room. I plotted for almost half a year and finally got the key and the passcode. When I broke in...


    Luo Wenzhou astutely sensed that there was a rugged pause in his voice.


    "...I saw an open folder on his desk. It was...ahem..."Fei Du suddenly started to cough, as if he choked on the wind. He turned his face to the window, rolled the car window up, and then continued with a slightly hoarse voice: "Choked on the cold air, sorry --- it held a stack of journal articles. I took a peek -- I was too young and didn''t understand most of the jargons -- I remember seeing something about "psychological trauma". The author''s name was Fan Siyuan. I looked into this personter and found he was very low-key, essentially a mystery. Other than that he used to teach at the YCPA, I couldn''t find any other information about him.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t answer. He could clearly tell that Fei Du was bullshitting again --- Luo had also seen many papers on his parents'' desk when he was little, but he sure didn''t remember a single punctuation from those papers...except for the rough beating that he got from his dad once when he torn his meeting minutes to make paper airnes.


    "For a businessman, why would he read papers like those in his secret study? Don''t you think it''s odd?" Fei Du drove the police car into Heng''ai Hospital''s parkinglot, "Shortly after my break-in, my dad moved things out of the basement and never used the room again. For all these years I kept looking but couldn''t find the things that he moved from the basement again. That stack of mysterious papers was myst memory."


    "I see." Luo Wenzhou answered coldly, not showing whether he bought Fei Du''s exnation or not. He unbuttoned his seatbelt as the car came to a full stop and said: "Next time when you want to ask something from me, just ask it. I like to be frank. For the things that I can answer, I''ll answer them right away, and you don''t have to sell yourself to pay for it. If it''s something that I can''t tell you, then I would not say a word even if all of my brain cells have lost half of their chromosomes. There is really no need for all the flirts and tricks."


    Fei Du was taken aback by his reaction at first. Then he realized: "Wait, you think that this is why I asked you out?"


    Luo Wenzhou paid him no attention and reached for the door. Fei Du suddenly grabbed his shoulder.


    "Shixiong," Fei Du not only wasn''t pissed off, but even chuckled in amusement, "I wanted to ask this a long time ago: are you a little afraid of me?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s long eyebrow almost flew out of the frame of the sses: "Me? Afraid of you? For what?"


    "For wasting your heart, for toying with your feelings, for losing control, for an ugly ending..." Fei Du spoke, word by word, "Which one of them is correct?"


    Luo Wenzhou''s face straightened. He flipped his hand off of him and said, "Don''t tter yoursel..."


    Fei Du: "Or... are you worried that I''ll make you too sore to get out of bed?"


    Luo Wenzhou "..."


    He truly hasn''t seen anyone so brazen and shameless in his entire life. What an eye opener.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t know what to say. So he silently flipped Fei Du out of the car.


    They barely exited the parking lot when they saw the press vehicles and heavy equipment circling the main entrance of the Heng-ai hospital. A sea of people were eagerly scouting at the entrance. Suddenly, someone yelled:


    "There hees!"


    The sound of camaras'' shuttering blended into one another.


    "Get ready get ready!''


    "Hey hold on, wait until theye closer."


    "Don''t push!''


    "Oops." Fei Du took a peek, "Zhou Huaixin didn''t tell me that his brother is discharged today."


    The wound on Zhou Huaijin''s leg wasn''t even as serious as the mouthful of river water he choked on. A simple treatment at an outpatient clinic would have been enough, but he stayed at the hospital for a full three days. It appeared that he was, after all, still a privileged, pampered child born with a silver spoon whose skin and flesh were more fragile than those of the ordinary Joes'' somehow.


    Zhou Huaixin pushed out his brother''s wheelchair. Having prepared for the trouble at the front gate, he quickly ordered a group of ck-clothed body guards to separate Zhou Huaijin and the others. He even took off his ry overcoat and shrouded Zhou Huaijin''s back from the camera lenses.


    Zhou Huaijin smiled agreeably: "It''s already. Let them do their jobs. There is no need for the covering."


    Zhou Huaixin pushed the wheelchair out. As he walked, he slowly asked: "Brother, have you nothing else to say to me?"


    Zhou Huaijin was so poised and well-mannered that even when sitting on a wheel-chair and looking a little pale, he was still eye-grabbingly charming. He looked nothing like the blood brother of Zhou Huaixin indeed. He replied: "What do you mean?"


    Zhou Huaixin turned his head towards the reporters on his back. Amidst the hustle bustle, he answered softly: "Brother, no matter what it is...no matter what you did...you are always my brother."


    "Or what? What else would I be if not your brother?" Zhou Huaijin grinned after a short pause. As he spoke, he reached a hand out to Zhou Huaixin.


    Thetter was like a shaggy, bony dog which, after staring at the hand for a little while, bent down and offered its head to be petted. As Zhou Huaijin patted him, Zhou Huaixin''s shoulder gradually rxed. His ghostly face showed an almost peaceful grin.


    Zhou Huaijin said gently, "Come, let''s go home."


    Zhou Huaixin nodded agreeably. He moved the overcoat to cover his brother''s legs, and carefully avoided the small rocks on the road as he wheeled him out to the parking lot.


    A pair of eyes was gazing at them from afar, thinking, <i>what a warm and fuzzy image</i>.


    What harm does it do to let those nosy outsiders get a taste of the gossip? They were still the privileged upper-ss brothers that would always live above the cloud. Let those spectators snap some pictures today, and tomorrow''s news will be filled with "the touching brotherly bond between the two future masters of the Zhou''s".


    They would never hear about the dirty business under the pretty skin. The public was just waiting to read the social elites''s exaggerated acting and no one really cared about the lost lives hidden between the lines.


    Perhaps for some, neither their living nor their death was worthy of a headline.


    But who said so? Who was it to decide?


    Zhou Huaixin''s cell phone started ringing. Surprised, he picked it up: "Fei?"


    "Look up, across the street."


    Following those words, Zhou saw Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou in the parking lot across.


    "The police have some matters to discuss with you and your brother." Fei Du waved at him, "Is it a good time? Shall we find somewhere private?"


    "Alright, let''s..." Zhou Huaixin answered while looking around. Suddenly he found that those cameras that had been following them had all turned elsewhere: to a young woman holding a bouquet of flowers. She stayed afar and seemed too shy toe closer. Facing them, she bent down to take a bow.


    "What the heck is this?" Zhou Huaixin frowned, "Fei, give me a sec. I''ll call you backter."


    A bodyguard trotted over and whispered by Zhou Huaijin''s ear: "Dir. Zhou, that girl is a rtive of the truck driver that crashed Mr. Zhou Sr.''s car. She hasn''t shown her face before. We''re not sure how she heard about your schedule today...and we don''t know what she is here for."


    Before he finished reporting, the girl had already opened her mouth, stuttering: "I am the only one left in my family. My father has caused this ident, and I know I wouldn''t be able to make up to you no matter what...I...I just want toe and...and say sorry to you directly. I..."


    Zhou Huaixin looked to Zhou Huaijin.


    "Let her pass." Zhou Huaijin said, "It''s not her fault. She has suffered enough."


    Zhou Huaixin wasn''t too surprised at his brother''s reaction, since he had always kept a kind and gentle image in public. He turned and instructed the bodyguards to make way. Amidst the loud protests of the reporters, the girl was let in.


    Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou were still across a wide road from them. Fei Du squinted his eyes to try to get a clearer look, murmuring: "Interesting...the girl looks kind of familiar."


    "Wait...she looks like...Dong Xiaoqing?" Luo Wenzou was taken aback. Then he quickly took out his cellphone --- Tao Ran had just texted him to report a leave of absence because he needed to apany Xiao Haiyang to Dong Xiaoqing''s ce: thetter said that she had something to turn in to the police. "Howe? She''s supposed to..."


    Suddenly, a chill creeped up Luo Wenzhou''s spine. He didn''t have time to think things through before his body reacted: He directly flipped over the fence of the parking lot.


    Fei Du was surprised, but quickly followed.


    At that time, Dong Xiaoqing had already gotten in front of Zhou Huaijin''s wheelchair, flowers in her hand. Her face was pale and her body was slightly shaking. She bowed prudishly at both Zhou Huaixin and Zhou Huaijin and kept saying how sorry she was.


    Zhou Huaijin reached out to take the flowers: "I understand. It was an ident. Miss, it will be alright."


    Luo Wenzhou dashed towards the hospital entrance but was blocked by the sea of reporters and body guards. He yelled: "Police! Make way!"


    Dong Xiaoqing''s eyes glistened with tears. She bent down and pushed the giant bouquet of lily flower in Zhou Huaijin''s arms: "I''m here to..."


    Zhou Huaijin tried to stop her: "My brother is allergic to pollen..."


    But before the word ''pollen'' came out of his mouth, he noticed a cold gleam behind the bouquet. Things happened in a sh and Zhou Huaixin didn''t have the time to think at all. Instinctually, he pushed away Zhou Huaijin''s wheelchair and in the next moment he felt the coldness of a de on his skin, followed by a sharp, piercing pain. Zhou Huaijin''s wheelchair was knocked over. His whole body was on the ground, face down. In disbelief, he struggled to turn his head and saw ---


    Dong Xiaoqing thrusted the de deeply into Zhou Huaixin''s stomach and cried out hysterically: "I''m here to end your life!"


    Meanwhile, Tao Ran and Xiao Haiyang had just arrived at the Lan-Wan apartmentplex. They weren''t able to even drive into the alley -- it was blocked by fire trucks.


    Xiao Haiyang looked up. He saw heavy smokeing out of a window and battling with the Firefighters'' high pressure water hose. The sound of angry yelling and crying was everywhere...


    His heart sank.


    The apartment on fire looked like Dong Qian''s home!


    ============================================


    Words to my readers:


    Hey guys! Really, words can''t exin how grateful I am to have you apanying me through this journey thus far. I started tranting Mo Du in Jan. 2018. It started out as a challenge to myself -- to see if I could take on a long term project out of pure enthusiasm and love; to see how far I could keep going without much external reward. The sweetest moments along the way had been to get to trante my favorite lines and share them with you guys (my single most cherished moment is in Chapter 76, woohoo I''m almost there!)


    When I started this project I was still a student with some free time at hand. Lots have happened in 2 years, andtely I have just ended an important life chapter and started a new one. I still hope to continue this project. The love for Mo Du hasn''t waned. But now with a much more packed daily schedule I will no longer be able to keep up the bi-weekly update schedule that I promised a while ago (I know...even a bi-weekly frequency is like nothingpared to other professional trantors'' offer. Thank you guys again for your patience and toleration in the past). Also, I am thrilled to hear thattely some other team has picked up the project from Section IV (Chapter 90: onward), and another trantor evenpleted the whole book already (check out the link to their work at NU).


    I will still try to update at least one chapter monthly until I get to the end of the current section. After then, we''ll see. For your best reading experience though, the wait here will probably be too tedious so I would suggestpleting the novel elsewhere now (while you still remember all the names and plots haha). Then, if your love for this story and the characters is too strong (like mine), I hope you woulde back here once in a while to check out my version. I hope it can bring you a little bit more of Luo Wenzhou and Fei Du.


    Peace.


    QuantumC

 Chapter 73: Macbeth Fourteen

    Chapter 73: Macbeth Fourteen


    9.24.2020


    God knew where a youngdy like Dong Xiaoqing got such fierce strength. She thrusted hard and then yanked hard, and somehow pulled the dagger out of Zhou Huaixin again.


    Eyes bright read and face twisted in madness, she waved the bloody knife and plunged into the stunned crowd like a Yaksha in human form.


    People screamed. A few brave souls managed to snap a couple shots, but the rest did not fancy the idea of "dying for work". They pushed and pulled each other to make way and ran in all directions. The frantic crowd formed a perfect human barrier that separated the Zhou''s dumbfounded bodyguards.


    Luo Wenzhou''s adrenaline rushed and almost erupted like a volcano. He started chasing after her without a second thought. Only after some strides did his thoughts catch up with his steps. They were thoughts of Fei Du. He turned to check on him.


    To his surprise, Fei Du neither fainted nor vomited. Instead, he stood stiffly by the side of Zhou Huaixin. Without the camouge of his sses, his eyes showed a hint of panic. But he was stillrgely sober and functional. He was facing Luo Wenzhou sideways in order to avoided the direct sight of the blood. When noticed his attention, he even calmly waved at him.


    For a second, Fei Du''s hematophobia seemed not too serious at all.


    Luo Wenzhou had a weird feeling but was too busy to attend to it. Seeing that Dong Xiaoqing had already cut through the crowd and was about to run out of the hospital campus, Luo Wenzhou quickly estimated her route, circumvented the crowd, and went in pursuit by borrowing way from the roadside flower beds.


    From Dong Xiaoqing''s attack to her escape, everything happed too fast.


    Fei Du''s head "buzzed". The sight of oozing blood on Zhou Huaixin''s stomach smacked his chest like a heavy duty hammer, cracking his fragile body and dibobting the soul inside.


    In the day to day living, his hematophobia was at most a small inconvenience. After all, there weren''t that many opportunities to see blood. asionally he might get a small cut but the nausea would go away quickly.


    Fei Du didn''t know how long it had been since hest faced such a bloody scene. His ears rumbled, his limbs were almost unresponsive, and his fingertips convulsed uncontrobly. But luckily every inch of his bones and muscles tightened instinctively at once which kept him standing upright. He may seem Okay - but his mind was hazy.


    Fei Du clenched his fist fiercely. His joints rattled chaotically. He tried his best to look away, and strode towards Zhou Huaijin despite his rumbling, irregr heartbeats.


    Zhou Huaijin''s one leg was caught in the overturned wheelchair. His other leg kneeled, helplessly. The next moment, someone dragged him up by the shirt cor.


    "He was stabbed on the stomach. Abdominal bleeding is very dangerous," Fei Du said in a cold and hurried tone, "Do you want him alive or not? Call out the best emergency personnel in your hospital immediately. Mr. Zhou, I know you are notme yet, so stand up!"


    Zhou Huaijin stumbled, but managed to get on his feet. He stared at Fei Du in horror for two seconds, then, as if freshly awoken, he grabbed his phone.


    Zhou Huaixin was like a freshly dissected fish on a cutting board, flopping in vain. Although he was circled by people, no one dared to touch or move him. The blood pool on the ground grew wider as he struggled. Fei Du heard Zhou Huaijin stuttering in his phone call while holding his brother in his arms. He mumbled useless things like "look at me" and "it''ll be alright". For some inexplicable reasons, Fei Du raised his sweat-soaked eyshes and caught Zhou Huaixin''s gaze.  146M3.7M 1M42K 3.3M66K 531K102K 1M226K 322K32.5K


    The light in Zhou Huaixin''s eyes grew dimmer and dimmer. His pupils gradually lost focus. In Fei Du''s eyes, he was undergoing some peculiar changes: from a friend to a strange pile of organic waste.


    He could clearly feel the divide in himself: half of him was nauseated by Zhou Huaixin''s bleeding wounds; the other half acted like an outlier of a herd, staring at Zhou Huaixin''s eyes in confusion and unable to associated this dying man with the Zhou Huaixin that he knew. He couldn''t feel the others'' anxiety and pain, but instinctively he tried to blend in, searching hard for the trace of empathy from the bottom of his heart -- what a normal person should''ve had, in theory.


    But there was nothing, no matter how hard he searched.


    "People fear death. But what they really fear is the unknown. Death itself is not painful. There is even a high -- you should''ve experienced that already."


    "Have you paid attention to the eyes of dying animals? Those are eyes that have found the truth. And the truth is: ''living'' itself is an illusion created by the nervous system, a fake self-consciousness."


    "The human consciousness is like flowing water that''s changing all the time. Death is its final destination. This life does not truly belong to you unless you can understand and take control of the whole changing process of a certain stream of consciousness. Very few could manage. So for this ''life'' that doesn''t belong to you, its every change deviates from yourmand. Every moment you are basically dying. What''s unchanging is the skin bag made of carbohydrates. You have feelings for this skin bag? That''s just like anthropomorphizing pork on the te. Delusional."


    The heavy smell of blood flooded Fei Du''s nose like a tsunami. His internal organs were being grilled. Emergency personnels rushed out of Heng''ai Hospital in sweats, treated Zhou Huaixin, and then carried him away like a wind. Fei Du followed them all the way to the emergency room. But in the end he could take it no more. He left Zhou Huaijin and turned to the restroom.


    Meanwhile, Dong Xiaoqing, the murderer in broad daylight, was drenched in blood herself and running in a frenzy. Her hair band was broken. Her carefully permed long hair were flying up and down in the wind as she ran. Some wrapped around the horrendous weapon in her hands.


    "Dong Xiaoqing!" thanks to his long legs, Luo Wenzhou was quickly catching up with her. Seeing that she already got on the main road, he yelled, "Freeze, do you really think you can get away?"


    Perhaps because she was already out of breath, Dong Xiaoqing started slowing down. When she heard this, she suddenly stopped and turned around, raising her knife at Luo Wenzhou.


    Luo Wenzhou didn''t mind if she charged at him: Ten Dong Xiaoqing together wouldn''t cause him much trouble. What worried him was the girl''s state of mind. He could not understand her motives at all and he feared that she would hurt or even kill herself under such a frantic state. So he quickly stopped a few steps away.


    "Easy." Luo Wenzhou pressed his hands down and looked at Dong Xiaoqing with his most calm and firm gaze, hoping to calm her down. Then he made up a lie on the spot, "Listen, girl, the person you just stabbed is not dead. You''re not in big trouble yet. Don''t be scared, it''ll be okay."


    Dong Xiaoqing was still very distressed, but have perhaps processed his words a bit. Her knifed hand was trembling uncontrobly, maybe from fear, or maybe from the regret that she didn''t finish Zhou Huaixin off with another stab.


    "I am a policeman," Luo Wenzhou said in a deep voice. He took out his badge and held it up, "Tell me, I am listening. I can help."


    Dong Xiaoqing stepped back. Her gaze finally focused a bit. After a while, the mania on her blood-stained face gradually subsided and was reced with bone-deep grief and anger. Her eyes were red and filled with tears. Like a dumb person who had never been spoken to, when suddenly there was a pair of attentive ears, she did not know where to begin.


    Luo Wenzhou carefully took a step closer: "Easy, would you put the knife down, Miss? Isn''t it heavy? How dangerous..."


    "I..." Following his words, Dong Xiaoqing subconsciously dropped the tip of the knife slightly and stumbled, "My father, he..."


    Luo Wenzhou peeked at the knife and carefully calcted whether he could take her down with one blow. While slowly approaching her, he continued: "Your dad was wronged. We all know it. We will definitely make things right in the future and prove his innocence."


    To his surprise, Dong Xiaoqing''s tears flooded as soon as she heard him: "My father...my father was not wronged."


    Luo Wenzhou puzzled: "What?"


    "He was also one of them. They..."


    Suddenly, a gust of wind blew across them as a darting car smashed into Dong Xiaoqing after making a sharp turn out of nowhere. Before Luo Wenzhou could do anything, Dong flew across his eyes. Not even the sound of her cry had the time to make it out of her throat.


    The shards of the front windshield sshed all over Luo Wenzhou like hail in a storm. In the next moment, the car elerated again and headed for Luo Wenzhou! He probably used up even the strength in his past life to duck it, but was still hit by the rearview mirror. The mirror waspletely shattered. Despite the sharp pain, he covered his head, tensed his muscles, and rolled towards the road side.


    The assant obviously had a clear mind. He knew that the more he dyed fleeing the scene therger danger he was in. So although he missed Luo Wenzhou in the first attempt, he did not waste time to turn around for another try. The car dashed away immediately.


    The back alley of Heng''ai Hospital was a bit secluded, not to mention that it was not during peak hour so the road was practically empty. The frantic car whizzed away with its broken mirror.


    Half of Luo Wenzhou''s body was numb from the crash. It took him a while to get back up. At that time, the others finally caught up with what''s going on and approached. As Luo Wenzhou hurried to Dong Xiaoqing''s side he called the Bureau Office: "Nanshan Road at the back of Heng''ai Hospital, a white XX car with a license te Yan CXXXXX... search the whole city... No, the whole province, the whole country... even if he fled to the Pacific Ocean, drop an anchor and pull him back!"


    Dong Xiaoqing''s head waspletely deformed. A shoe flew directly across the road. Her bare hands and feet were covered with dust and blood. She was beyond dead.


    "FXck!" Luo Wenzhou cursed. His eyebrow was itchy so he scratched, but saw blood covering his hand--it was a cut from the flying sses.


    Luo Wenzhou breathed heavily: "Anything from Tao Ran and Xiao Haiyang? Are they at Dong Xiaoqing''s home yet?"


    On the other side of the line, Lang Qiao had just carried out his orders without a question. Only then did she have a chance to speak: "I was just about to tell you: Vice Captain Tao just called and said Dong Xiaoqing''s home was empty. And there was an arson... Boss, what''s going on? And, why are you looking for this car?"


    Luo Wenzhou squeezed his eyes shut.


    People who were scared away by Dong Xiaoqing gathered around again. But they did not dare toe close, only whispered to each other on both sides of the road.


    Dong Xiaoqingid there, in the middle of the road, under broad daylight.


    The girl was bad-tempered and stubborn. On one hand, she imed that she was ready to give out everything she owned topensate the victims. On the other hand, she resolutely defended her father''s reputation at all times.


    Then why on earth would she take the risk to assassinate Zhou Huaijin?


    And why then, did she contact Xiao Haiyang beforehand?


    What did she want? What did she want to give Xiao Haiyang?


    And... what she said before her death, <i>He was also one of them</i>...


    Who were "them"?


    Who would be so audacious to kill in front of a criminal policeman?


    Luo Wenzhou felt short of breath.


    Meanwhile, inside the Heng''ai Hospital, Fei Du had almost threw up all of his internal organs. His hands were visibly shaking when he rinsed his mouth.


    He fidgeted to undo two shirt buttons, sshed some cold water on his face, pushed the wet hair back, and popped in two mints. Not until the mints havepletely melted did he finally find the strength to walk upright again. Fei Du carelessly peeked at his own blue-tinted face in the mirror, then hid those trembling fingers in his pocket.


    Zhou Huaijin curled up on the hospital bench. His bloody hands nervously tangled together. The tendon on his neck were bulging out hideously. Suddenly, a wet towel fell from the air. Zhou Huaijin raised his head nkly and saw Fei Du walking up to him, eyes staring at the red light of the operating room.


    "Here, this might help," Fei Du opened up his mouth first, "Mr. Zhou, you probably don''t know me yet: I asionally hung out with Huaixin."


    Zhou Huaijin managed to gather some strength to deal with him: "Ah, Mr. Fei, your name precedes you..."


    "It''s me who must say that," Fei Du interrupted him. "Huaixin couldn''t say three words without mentioning his brother. Every time he mentioned you he sounded like a baby that hadn''t been weaned yet. My ears are growing calluses because of that."


    Zhou Huaijin inhaled deeply and tightly sped his hands.


    At the moment, a few medical staff rushed past them. Startled, Zhou Huaixin shot up in rm and stared at the operating room for a while. Then, as if he could not sit still anymore, he started pacing back and forth. His mask of gentleness had fractured. Hair cluttered, he unconsciously folded his hands in front of his chest as if praying for the mercy from some unknown gods. He muttered tofort himself: "It''ll be okay, it''ll be okay...it must be okay. "


    "With such a long knife pushed in and pulled out, there is very little chance that it will be okay." Fei Du interrupted him ruthlessly again, "Mr. Zhou, although people say life and death are both predestined, at the end of the day, he did it all for you."


    Zhou Huaijin copsed his shoulders: "I know, I just..."


    "I''m not talking about him taking the stab for you," Fei Du pushed on aggressively, "Mr. Zhou, you understand what I mean, no? (I mean) the true cause of this whole thing. Do you believe that there are consequences to every lie that gets told? The lies maye true one day."


    Zhou Huaijin shuddered.


    Fei Du: "How about starting with how you nned the kidnapping?"


    Several ck-clothed bodyguards quietly approached and closed in on Fei Du nervously.


    But he smirked and paid them no attention: if they were any good, Zhou Huaixin wouldn''t be in the operating room right now.


    After a long while, Zhou Huaijin finally waved his hand and spoke softly: "You are right."


    "You are all dismissed, now leave us," Zhou Huaijin said to the bodyguards, "Let me talk to Mr. Fei."


    Fei Du walked over to the vending machine, bought two bottles of water, and handed one to Zhou Huaijin.


    "I contacted them first." Zhou Huaijin downed half a bottle, took a deep breath, and then said, "It was also me who chose Heng Da."


    "Aren''t you worried that if the police got there toote, you might have really drowned in that river?"


    "Someone was keeping an eye on me. If things got out of hand they''ll intervene. We used only locals who were familiar with thendscape and could easily escape from the police''s searches. Even if they were caught, it''ll be alright, since I could just testify that they were helpful bystanders. "


    Convenient indeed.


    Fei Du nodded: "You are mostly abroad all year round and probably unfamiliar with the locals. Did Hu Zhenyu help you contact the two kidnappers? Why did you choose the Baisha District?"


    "I was the nner and the decision maker. Others just followed my orders. Let''s not involve the innocents." Zhou Huaijin paused, then nodded reluctantly, "I chose Baisha District because it is easy to get there from the airport. Also, our helper happened to be from there. And none of us had any obvious associations in the Baisha District so nobody would be easily suspected."


    Fei Du: "Your helper?"


    "It was just a friend I have helped before." Zhou Huaijin shook his head, "He had nothing to do with this matter."


    "On...on that day, I suddenly learned of his death and realized that it was an opportunity." Zhou Huaijin said in a hoarse voice, "In the corporation I am just a mascot. Zhou Junmao held everything in his hand. Even after he died, there is still Zheng Kaifeng theckey. I still won''t have a say in anything."


    Fei Du: "I thought that from legitimacy to experience, Mr.Zhou is at least better than Yang Bo."


    "Legitimacy?" Zhou Huaijin forced a smile, "What legitimacy do I have? I''m just a fig leaf."


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