CH 150

After they finished buying the crawfish, they returned to the night market street.

They still needed to buy a change of clothes for Wang Chao, which could be solved by finding a small supermarket. As Lin Chen walked along the street, he suddenly saw a small street stall.

The stall owner was a young college student who was taking a nap. He was listening to music on his phone and seemed to have no intention of doing business. There were two simple iron racks beside him. On one rack were two rows of scattered clothes. Lin Chen glanced at the playback track on his phone and found that he was listening to an early album by Song Shengsheng.

Probably at the moment when Lin Chen passed by, the young college student glanced at him, then held up his phone and stood up excitedly. “Lin… Mr. Lin Chen?”

Lin Chen stopped. It was the first time he had been stopped by a bystander, and he was at a loss for words.

“I… I like Shengsheng very much. I’m a big fan. Thank you, for today…” The little boy said with eyes flushed. “Although it’s uncomfortable, thank you very much.”

Under the streetlight, the young college student’s eyes were red, and his expression held some excitement. In the night, he was covered by the faint light of the streetlight, and behind him was the smoke rising into the sky from a barbeque stall next door.

Lin Chen was stunned.

“That… I’m not mistaken, am I?” The college student looked at him in a daze, and suddenly became timid.

Lin Chen thought for a while. It was the first time he had been thanked in person. Looking at the student’s young face and hopeful eyes, he felt he should say something, but he couldn’t say anything.

He suddenly remembered Song Shengsheng. The singer’s face when he was young gradually coincided with the student. He suddenly wanted to know what the other party would say to him if he faced Song Shengsheng one day. If it was Song Shengsheng, he might thank him for avenging him or blame him for meddling in his business. Song Shengsheng was such a strange alternative.

In the end, it was Xing Conglian who put his hand on his shoulder to break the deadlock.

Xing Conglian greeted the student and said, “It’s so late, and you’re still setting up a stall?”

“Yes, yes… To earn tuition money!” The student became excited again. “Do you want to buy any clothes? I can pick them out for you. Really… I don’t even know what to say. I’m kinda brain dead right now.”

“It’s okay.” Lin Chen turned around, embarrassed.

His actions probably made the college student think he was buying clothes, so the boy’s excited voice rang in his ears. “Are you buying men’s clothes? I have a summer style in the small commodity market. It’s pretty hot right now…”

“Men’s clothing… Hm….” Lin Chen picked up a large pink t-shirt with a small strawberry pattern from a simple hanger. He thought about how Wang Chao would look wearing this and glanced at Xing Conglian and asked, “Is it cute?”

“Cute,” Xing Conglian said with satisfaction.

Lin Chen nodded, took out his wallet, and paid.

Then a round of tug-of-war over paying ensued. In the end, Xing Conglian secretly stuffed the money into the student’s pocket and settled the matter.

This was, of course, a small matter. When they returned to the express hotel, it was past ten.

Wang Chao had already showered and was wrapped in a thin blanket, soundly asleep.

Xing Conglian stood by the bed, carrying a large basket of crayfish takeout, as if he wanted to wake him up.

Lin Chen grabbed him, put the strawberry t-shirt by Wang Chao’s bedside, and said helplessly, “He didn’t sleep all day yesterday, so he’s probably really tired.”

“What about the crayfish?” Xing Conglian irritably asked.

Lin Chen glanced at the pot full of peppers, then at the knife wound on his hand, and said naturally, “I’ll watch you eat it.”

In order to appease Xing Conglian, he smiled and asked, “Do you want to go downstairs and buy some beer?”

As a loyal lover of spicy crayfish, Xing Conglian couldn’t refuse this request.

There were a pair of small sofa chairs by the window. Xing Conglian put the crayfish on the coffee table, then, as if thinking of something, suddenly turned to Lin Chen and said, “It’s late. Consultant Lin should shower first.”

Seeing that Xing Conglian was going to be munching on crayfish all night, Lin Chen nodded and agreed.

Before he could even take off his clothes, Xing Conglian turned around again and said, “Wait, the wound has to be kept from water. Will it be inconvenient for you to shower by yourself?’

“Of course it will be.” Lin Chen opened the bathroom door. When he heard him say that, he had already entered the bathroom. He rarely got the chance to tease Xing Conglian, so he stuck out his head and said, “Is Captain Xing going to help me wash?”

“I’m very willing to serve you.” Xing Conglian made a gesture to get up.

“Why don’t we go together?” Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian with a smile, then turned around and locked the bathroom door.

When he came out after showering, Xing Conglian had already eaten a third of the crayfish.

Naturally, an express hotel wouldn’t have tall floor-to-ceiling windows like the Cohen May. The floor where they were staying was also very low, so there was no sense of grandeur from a panoramic view of the city with its thousands of twinkling lights. Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s back, who was sitting on a round stool; one person, with a beer, and crayfish. Under the dim light, he felt Xing Conglian had gone through a thousand sails. At that time, Lin Chen suddenly thought, ‘Who could enter Xing Conglian’s heart?’

He wiped his wet hair with one hand and sat down beside Xing Conglian.

“It’s a bit inconvenient, right?” Xing Conglian took a sip of his beer and asked him.

“It’s not that troublesome.” Lin Chen glanced at the coffee table. At some point, while he was taking a shower, there was an extra bottle of Yongchuan draft beer.

Xing Conglian put down his cup and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. When he came out again, he directly took the towel from Lin Chen’s hand and began to dry his hair for him without looking at it. Xing Conglian moved gently. Lin Chen could feel the strength of his hand holding the towel around his head. His ears were touched by Xing Conglian’s rough palms from time to time. Lin Chen suspected that they had probably turned red, but luckily they were covered up under the dim light.

“When you saw that student just now, did you regret doing the live broadcast?” Xing Conglian suddenly ask out of nowhere.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s thoughtful and serene face in the reflection of the glass window and said honestly, “Yes, I was thinking just now. What if what Song Shengsheng wanted wasn’t revenge but a peaceful life? Did I instead violate his wish?”

“This is not something you can decide.” Xing Conglian finished drying Lin Chen’s hair and started to fold up the towel. “Similarly, this is something he can decide.”

Lin Chen shook his head. Xing Conglian’s words were powerful. Truly he deserved to be Xing Conglian.

Because Xing Conglian could easily resolve his knot. Lin Chen suddenly remembered his other friend, who also wanted to resolve his knot. “Where is Su Fengzi?”

Having said that, Lin Chen realized his phone hadn’t rung all night. With Su Fengzi’s temperament, it was difficult for him not to call him after being locked up for a day…

“That man of God…” Xing Conglian put the towel back in the bathroom. His voice gradually became smaller. Footsteps sounded as he walked out of the bathroom again and stopped by the table. Lin Chen heard the sound of the electric kettle, he turned his head, and saw that Xing Conglian was opening the tea bag and putting it into a porcelain cup.

He quietly made a cup of tea, then brought it over and put it in front of Lin Chen and said gently, “Jasmine tea. It doesn’t have caffeine.”

“Thank you.”

Lin Chen picked up the teacup. The tea bag gently floated, and the aroma wafted. It seemed that Xing Conglian was going to continue chatting with him.

“It’s said that when the staff at the Xinni Embassy went to release him, the room was already empty,” Xing Conglian said.

Lin Chen’s eyes widened in disbelief, but after thinking about it, this kind of thing was indeed similar to Su Fengzi’s style.

“Your friend is really incredible.” Xing Conglian picked up a crayfish and began to peel it.

Lin Chen really wanted to say, “You’re more incredible than him”, but of course this kind of thing could only be hidden in his heart.

“Fengzi, to be honest, I don’t know what he’s doing.” Lin Chen blew on the tea. It was just common jasmine tea, but because Xing Conglian was by his side, Lin Chen felt that this cup of tea was sweeter than the ones he drank in the past. “When we were in college, he often skipped classes, so we sometimes wonder if he has a secret identity like Superman, who is saving the world, or part of Overwatch*. In short, he’s very mysterious.”

*FPS game. Members of Overwatch are kind of like protectors of the world. 

Xing Conglian pondered for a moment before saying, “How interesting.”

After that, he talked with Xing Conglian about Su Fengzi’s life in college. He planned to go to bed early, but instead he sat on the sofa by the narrow window of the express hotel, watching Xing Conglian eat crayfish while continuing to chat.

Xing Conglian would sometimes say some strange regional knowledge, and Lin Chen would listen carefully. Sometimes he couldn’t help but insert a sentence or two, and then occasionally talk about some patients he had encountered. In short, it was a chat between men, so he involuntarily talked about experiences that made him proud.

At that time, Lin Chen thought this was actually good. There was no need for any more changes between him and Xing Conglian. He was already satisfied.

If there was no Song Shengsheng, then the time between him and Xing Conglian would have passed through decades without a trace, like tonight.

But fortunately, Song Shengsheng was in the world.

……

The next day, they were completely woken up by the sudden ringing of Xing Conglian’s phone.

When he sat up from the bed in a daze, Xing Conglian was already awake and had picked up the phone.

“Jiang Chao?” Xing Conglian scratched his head and said in a surprised tone.

“Fuck, Xing Conglian. Can you not come to Yongchuan? Every time you come here, there’s always big news!” Vice Captain Jiang’s loud voice came through the phone’s speaker.

Lin Chen covered his head and realized the caller was the deputy captain of Yongchuan’s second criminal investigation division, whom they assisted in investigating the case of the mass suicides. His heart sank, and he woke up instantly. Lin Chen sat straight up and looked at Xing Conglian.

“What’s wrong? Why are you calling me so early?” Xing Conglian asked solemnly.

“Consultant Lin’s there too, right? The group case we investigated last time has made progress. I want to talk to you for a bit. I know you’re busy with what’s going on yesterday. I’m sorry to disturb you. Are you free this morning?”

The room was too quiet, and Lin Chen was very close to Xing Conglian’s bed, so Jiang Chao could clearly hear his movements.

Lin Chen nodded.

Xing Conglian asked, “Where are you?”

“Downstairs,” Vice-Captain Jiang replied naturally.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, while Wang Chao didn’t seem to hear the phone at all and was still sleeping soundly.

The quality of the teenager’s sleep was so good that it was quite envious. Xing Conglian got up and removed Wang Chao’s shirt that was soaking in the sink. Lin Chen could only express his appreciation for Xing Conglian’s mannerisms.

Although he only slept for 6 hours, it was always good to have breakfast.

Jiang Chao sent them a location and waited for them at a beef noodle shop near the express hotel.

As soon as they entered, the enthusiastic Captain Jiang patted the table and said, “This beef noodle shop is really good, famous only in Yongchuan. I just ordered a bowl for you guys. If it’s not enough, you can just order more.”

Lin Chen pulled out a chair. As he was sitting down, Xing Conglian whispered to him, “Isn’t there a similar shop like this near our house?”

Lin Chen looked at the name of the store on the menu, determined not to tell Jiang Chao that this famous Yongchuan noodle shop was actually an ordinary national chain store.

The waiter served them large bowls of beef noodle soup. The soup was clear, the meat was red, and there was a lot of cilantro as garnish. Xing Conglian broke open a pair of bamboo chopsticks, carefully removed the wooden thorns on them, handed them over to Lin Chen, then said to Jiang Chao, “Let’s get down to business.”

Lin Chen squeezed the bamboo chopsticks. These casual gestures from Xing Conglian were like torture to his heart. Xing Conglian was an excellent model for a lover.

“I didn’t catch the mastermind behind it,” Jiang Chao swallowed his noodles and said very depressingly.

“What?” Although the police of the two precincts were communicating about the progress of the case, Lin Chen didn’t know that Jiang Chao had actually carried out an arrest operation on the mastermind behind their previous case. What he didn’t expect was that the progress coming from Jiang Chao’s mouth would be so depressing.

“Hey, Consultant Lin, you also know that those children were brainwashed very thoroughly, so the interrogation process was extremely troublesome. Later, if it weren’t for you asking a few psychology professors from Yongchuan University for help, we wouldn’t have been able to get this valuable information.”

“Nn, continue.”

“According to the confessions of some students, we confirmed that the main messenger behind the scenes was a middle-aged man around 40 years old who called himself ‘Mr. Meijing’.”

“Mr. Meijing?” Lin Chen paused his chopsticks and interrupted Jiang Chao.

“Yes. Isn’t this name particularly sick*? Like an island, but it shouldn’t be his real name but a code name.”

*Clarity: [Meijing] (美景) Means beautiful scenery, which is why Jiang Chao made this comment, as the meaning doesn’t match his insidious actions.

“A beautiful sight on a fine day*,” Xing Conglian suddenly said. “How cultured.”

*(良辰美景) [Meijing] is part of the idiom underlined. Xing Conglian is saying the full idiom [liangcheng meijing] which means a beautiful day and scenery.

“Hey, Lao Xing. Can’t you not interrupt and let me continue?” Jiang Chao waved his hand.

Xing Conglian shook his head helplessly and continued to bow his head to drink his soup.

Jiang Chao said, “Then the technician of our bureau drew a picture of Mr. Meijing based on the student’s description. We plastered an arrest warrant all over the city. Just four days ago, a local newspaper reported that someone had seen ‘Mr. Meijing’ in a new village in the Honghu district. The people in our bureau went to squat for a while and decided to carry out an arrest operation yesterday. But when we rushed in… he was gone.” Jiang Chao waved his chopsticks.

Hearing what Jiang Chao said, Lin Chen had a subtle sense of fear in his mind. The mysterious Mr. Meijing and Song Shengsheng, who they haven’t heard from in more than a year—could it be these two people were the same person?

But considering the age, Song Shengsheng wasn’t that old…

Thinking of this, Lin Chen took a deep breath. Xing Conglian stopped his movements and frowned at him. Obviously, they seem to have the same thought again.

Lin Chen said to Jiang Chao, “Can you show me that picture of Mr. Meijing?”

“Why are you asking? Isn’t this why I called you guys out?”

As Jiang Chao spoke, he took out the warrant from the information file.

Lin Chen opened it and looked at the sketch on the white paper. He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and then felt that his nervousness just now was simply an unexplained occupational disease.

If Song Shengsheng was Mr. Meijing, Jiang Chao would have reacted a long time ago. How could he come to them to inform them now?

Lin Chen looked at the middle-aged man on the white paper again, only to feel that it matched quite well with Mr. Meijing, who had committed such heinous crimes.

The middle-aged man was wearing a checkerboard scarf around his neck and black-rimmed glasses. His appearance looked bland, but when combined, he had a special charm, like that of a scholar who has years of wisdom.

He was gentle and could give guidance. Whether it was a boy or girl, they may have prayed that their father was like this in their sleep; he would hold a child on his knees, and, with a vivid and gentle tone, tell them a fairy tale; he would take them to the countryside and explain to them all the wild animals and plants; while he knew many things, he never showed off, yet he was perfect from ordinary people.

In short, only a person as charming as this could make people put their lives aside for him.

Lin Chen retracted his gaze and handed the sketch to Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian glanced at it, folded up the warrant indifferently, and stuffed it under the soup bowl as if that was just some ordinary criminal.

“Do you know Mr. Meijing’s real name?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Lao Xing, if I did, would I still come to see Consultant Lin?!” Jiang Chao’s tone changed. “I’m really at a dead end here. I don’t know anything. That Mr. Meijing is like a ghost.”

“Since it’s a new village, there should be fingerprints left behind. Have you done a fingerprint inspection and recorded it?”

“There are no records!”

“Oh, so it really is a ghost.” Xing Conglian finished speaking and continued to sip on his soup. “Don’t be too anxious. You will catch him eventually.”

“Hey, Consultant Lin. Look at him. There’s no friendship between colleagues at all,” Jiang Chao grumbled.

Lin Chen pondered for a moment, then said seriously, “But it’s just one picture. I don’t have a better way.”

“Can’t you dig a pit for him like you did with Li Jingtian?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “It’s too risky. Mr. Meijing is cautious, cunning, and an extremely clever criminal at first glance. He’s far more dangerous than Li Jingtian,” Lin Chen said solemnly. “You must be careful. You can’t be as reckless as last time.”

“I know, but I have to catch him even if I die,” Jiang Chao said unsteadily.

If he had to divide temperament by types, Jiang Chao would be the hot-blooded; lively and enthusiastic but also quite thick-headed. Lin Chen glanced at him deeply and didn’t know what to say. In the end, he had to poke Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian understood. He put his chopsticks across his bowl and said, “Jiang Chao…”

“What?”

“You’re not afraid of death, right?”

“Of course I’m not afraid.”

“Then, are you afraid that your colleagues will die one by one as a result of your recklessness?”

Xing Conglian was serious, majestic even. The temperature in the small shop had dropped a few degrees.

Jiang Chao glanced at him and became timid.

“You’re not allowed to act without authorization next time. If you have any questions, you will notify me and Consultant Lin first.” Xing Conglian settled the matter.

Sometimes, Lin Chen felt that Jiang Chao was like the older version of Wang Chao. Unfortunately, Wang Chao was a child raised by Xing Conglian, while Jiang Chao obviously didn’t have such a blessing.

The beef noodle soup was eaten quickly. Jiang Chao didn’t dare refute what Xing Conglian had said, but because of the silence, the otherwise beautiful breakfast became bland.

Jiang Chao thanked them and hurriedly left.

They walked to the hotel, and after opening the door to their room, they found that Wang Chao was already awake.

The teenager had the little strawberry t-shirt in his hand; not wearing a shirt and had turned on the TV at some point.

He looked at the picture on the TV with confused eyes, then turned his head and said to them, “A… A’Chen, Captain… Song Shengsheng has been found.”