CH 31

Chen Yuncheng was eager to know more about this murder case, but he had to go today. He had no one he was familiar with in this small county, and no one would reveal to him the situation of the investigation at the present; whether any property had been stolen, and whether any fingerprints had been found. He guessed that the police must have investigated the monitoring of the gate of the community for the past two or three days, but he did not know whether Zhou Yan had come back.

Ning Junyan was still the one who was driving on the way back, and Chen Yuncheng was very quiet all the way. He didn’t sleep because he couldn’t sleep at all and spent most of his time looking out of the car window quietly.

Ning Junyan parked the car in the service area and went to the mini-mart to buy two bottles of water. As he stood next to the car drinking, he asked Chen Yuncheng, “You have so little faith in Zhou Yan?”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t feel thirsty. He just unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, and suddenly stopped in surprise when he heard Ning Junyan’s words.

Ning Junyan’s bottle of water was taken out of the freezer, and the bottle was covered with a layer of mist. He said, “What are you worried about? Do you think Zhou Yan may have done it? He came back and asked his stepfather for money, and when he refused to give it, he picked up something in the living room and knocked someone to death in his anger?”

“No,” Chen Yuncheng said, “Zhou Yan is not such a person. You don’t know him.”

Ning Junyan said, “I didn’t know him at all. Since you know him well and don’t think he did it, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Chen Yuncheng raised his head and took a sip of water, and then said, “I know, I just don’t feel very good.” No matter what the real cause of Mr Qi’s death was, after witnessing all this, Chen Yuncheng felt very uncomfortable.

Ning Junyan seemed to understand what he meant and did not talk to him again after that.

They were delayed by making a statement at the police station, and it was past nine o’clock in the evening when they returned to Chongfeng City.

Ning Junyan parked the car on the street outside Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk. When Chen Yuncheng got off the car, he asked Ning Junyan, “Would you like to go in for a rest?”

They had dinner about three hours ago. After that, Ning Junyan drove all the way without stopping. The water Ning Junyan had bought before getting off the highway had all been drunk. Now Chen Yuncheng was not only tired but also began to feel thirsty. He thought that Ning Junyan needed a break as well.

Ning Junyan didn’t say much, took the car key and got out of the car with Chen Yuncheng.

He opened the shutter halfway and entered, Chen Yuncheng first felt a chill in the room. As Ning Junyan went to the bathroom, he hesitated and considered boiling a pot of hot water to drink.

When Ning Junyan came out, Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Sit for a while. The water is about to boil.”

Ning Junyan said, “No, I’ll drink cold water.”

Chen Yuncheng went to the kiosk outside to get a bottle of mineral water, and when he came back, he saw Ning Junyan playing with his heater.

“It’s broken,” Chen Yuncheng said.

Ning Junyan turned to look at him, “Why is it broken?”

Chen Yuncheng handed him the water, “It suddenly stopped heating up. Maybe there’s a faulty wire.”

Ning Junyan took the water and didn’t rush to drink it. He squatted down and fiddled with the heater and found that it really didn’t work. He stood up and said, “I’ll go buy a new one.”

Chen Yuncheng saw that he was going outside and grabbed him, “Where are you going to buy one so late?”

Ning Junyan said, “There will be somewhere open.”

In such a big city, there were always supermarkets or household good store that was still open.

Chen Yuncheng grabbed him and wouldn’t let go, “No need, it’s only for one night, I’ll go buy a new one tomorrow.”

Ning Junyan still insisted, “I’ll go and have a look.”

He headed outside with Chen Yuncheng still holding his arm. The palm of Chen Yuncheng’s hand slipped down from the smooth surface of the down jacket until he grabbed Ning Jungyan’s wrist and then pulled him again, “It’s really not necessary, I’m not that afraid of the cold.” For a moment, Chen Yuncheng felt that Ning Junyan was no different from the stupid boy who couldn’t turn his head, and began to coax him unconsciously, “Isn’t your down jacket still here? You can lend it to me for another day, so I won’t be cold if I put it on at night.”

Ning Junyan looked down at Chen Yuncheng’s hand that was holding his.

Chen Yuncheng hesitated for a while, but he still didn’t let go. Instead, he took Ning Junyan’s hand and walked to the side of the bed, pressed his shoulder to make him sit down, and said, “Sit here and drink your water. Go back and rest early. You have to work tomorrow.”

Ning Junyan didn’t insist any longer. He unscrewed the mineral water in his hand, raised his head and gulped half a bottle of water. When he got up, he said, “I’ll come over after getting off work tomorrow.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded.

The next morning, Chen Yuncheng waited until the dry cleaner across the street opened and sent Ning Junyan’s down jacket to be cleaned first.

When the young lady working in the dry cleaner was looking for the cleaning label of the clothes, Chen Yuncheng was a little worried and asked, “Can it be laundered?”

The little girl registered in the computer and said, “Of course, the down jacket can be laundered.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t know what brand it is. I’m afraid it’s too expensive if anything happens if it is laundered. Please take a closer look.”

The young lady rolled her eyes and said, “It can be washed. It won’t be damaged.” She then printed out a return slip for Chen Yuncheng to pick up the clothes and carried Ning Junyan’s down jacket inside.

Chen Yuncheng returned to the kiosk and opened the shutter door to start the business. The owner of the lottery shop next door saw him open the door and even came over to chat with him for a while, smoking a cigarette before slowly returning to his shop.

All morning, business was still slow.

Chen Yuncheng’s sprained foot wasn’t completely healed, so he didn’t go anywhere. He planned to wait for Ning Junyan to come over after getting off work and ask Ning Junyan to accompany him to the hospital to talk to Gu Yaojia.

Taking advantage of the lack of customers, he began to take inventory of the store’s goods. He never gave up the idea of selling the small kiosk. If no one took over, he planned to return the rest of the goods to the supplier and sublease the kiosk.

He didn’t make much money by opening this shop. He used to be indifferent to the before, and he simply wanted to have peace of mind. Now that he owed Ning Junyan so much money, he really didn’t plan to drag it on for several years or more. Even if it was a courier or a take-out delivery, it was always better to work harder and earn more money.

Chen Yuncheng was calculating in his mind. He originally took a pen and recorded the inventory in the store on a blank notebook. After walking for a while, he regained his senses and suddenly found that he had written Ning Junyan’s name on it.

He was flustered at first and quickly smeared Ning Junyan’s name with a pen. When it was turned into a black ball, he thought about what he was doing. The reason why he had unconsciously written Ning Junyan’s name was simply that he had just been thinking about the money he owed Ning Junyan

He moved his foot and felt the pain in his left ankle. Suddenly, he wondered whether Ning Junyan was the best person to him in the world? Why was he so nice to him? He was always afraid of owing people’s favour. If someone treated him well, he would like to pay it back with all his heart, but could he really afford to pay back what Ning Junyan wanted?

Chen Yuncheng was caught up in his thoughts when his phone on the counter vibrated twice, and he received two messages almost simultaneously. One from Long Zhanyu asking him: “Have you found Zhou Yan?” The other was from Guan Anlin, that said: “Zhang Wenyong was released, I think he might want to get you in trouble.”

He read the two messages and was about to ask Long Zhanyu why Zhang Wenyong could be released when three people suddenly appeared at the door of the store, blocking the light in front of Chen Yuncheng.