Silhouettes could be seen swaying in front of the windows. A boisterous wave of cheering erupted from the bar. On the projected screen at the front of the bar, footballer number thirteen fiercely scored a goal. It was the first hat-trick of the season this year.
Yu Baiqing ended the call with Zhang Yu. He informed Ying Wan, “My colleague called. He wants me to return to the bureau again.”
Ying Wan nodded. “There’s a case?”
Flinging his handphone back into his pants pocket, Yu Baiqing fished out a cigarette from his pocket and proceeded to light it. “Nothing to do with you, you don’t have to bother about it.”
The summer night breeze brushed past gently. The flame cast his face in alternating shades of light and darkness. He sucked in a deep breath of cigarette smoke. The inexplicable feeling of dryness in his heart subsided a little. He gazed at the person before him with knitted brows. “Next time, focus on manning your stall. Let me know if you want to do anything else, I won’t stop you. Don’t come to these sorts of places anymore, it’s like you’re a hoodlum.”
Ying Wan blinked at him. “Does ge find me shameful?”
He uttered this question nonchalantly, as if completely unconcerned about the kind of reaction Yu Baiqing might have.
Half the cigarette still remained. The light glinted at Yu Baiqing’s fingertips. Shaking off the cigarette ash, Yu Baiqing opened his mouth with the intention of saying something. Just then, his face stiffened abruptly.
The neon lamp above their heads flickered for a moment. Ying Wan took a small step forward.
One hand rested on his cane, and the other reached out. His fingertips slowly came closer and closer to Yu Baiqing’s nose bridge.
His fingers unfurled slightly midair. The palm of his hand inadvertently brushed across Yu Baiqing’s tense lower jaw before coming to a halt midair. Gray-white smoke spilled out of Yu Baiqing’s mouth, weaved through the gaps between Ying Wan’s fingers, and gradually dissipated into the night sky.
As if having momentarily lost grasp of Yu Baiqing’s position, Ying Wan tiptoed slightly. He came even closer and extended a tentative hand into the coils of smoke.
Ice-cold fingertips met warm lips for a brief moment before parting. Ying Wan extended two fingers and plucked the remaining half of the cigarette from Yu Baiqing’s mouth.
He stubbed out the cigarette. Ying Wan’s tone was light, but seemed questioning to the ear. “Didn’t you already quit?”
Without his cigarette, Yu Baiqing’s breathing was greatly intensified.
He had smoked for a very long period of time. Like other criminal investigators, it wasn’t an issue for him to refrain from drinking, but it was quite a challenge to quit smoking. Though there wasn’t anything good about nicotine, it allowed him to remain clear-headed even with little rest, enabling him to join new battles.
The little alley house they used to live in wasn’t big. At that time, he was afraid that Ying Wan would choke on the smoke and hence forced himself to quit smoking. He was half-alive, always in the palm of the god of death during the two and a half years he’d spent carrying out his mission. Adding on the lack of supervision from his didi, he gradually picked up this old habit again.
“…”
Yu Baiqing stood stiffly for a while, his face blank. Then, he decisively chose to change the topic. “I’ll send you back. Pack up your things and wait at the roadside for me, I’ll drive the car over.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I’ll take a taxi back on my own,” Ying Wan threw out this statement, turned, and left with the support of his cane. “The house isn’t far, I don’t need you to send me back.”
Te Djldlcu kjr pera jybea ab mjamt eq ab Tlcu Qjc ktfc atf qtbcf lc tlr qbmxfa nlygjafv bcmf wbgf.
Pa kjr sfa jcbatfg bcf bo atf Ymabqer’ vfjvis mtjlc bo mjiir. Te Djldlcu mbeivc’a olcv la lc tlwrfio ab fnfc ufa jcugs. Vajglcu ja Tlcu Qjc’r yjmx jr tf tegglfvis vfqjgafv, Te Djldlcu vfmlvfv cba ab mtjrf joafg tlw joafg ulnlcu la rbwf atbeuta. Pcrafjv, tf vljifv Tlcu Qjc’r cewyfg. “Jjii wf ktfc sbe gfjmt tbwf, uba la?”
His call was answered. Ying Wan gave him a curt ‘en’ and then quickly ended the call. There was completely no intention of paying him any heed.
Ying Wan’s footsteps were quick. The tip of his cane tapped out thudding sounds against the stone pavement. Disdain was written all over his face.
His personality had not changed in the slightest since childhood. When he was obedient, he was incredibly obedient. And when he was angry, he would pull a long face. But no matter how long of a face he pulled, his feelings of injustice could never be concealed.
Realization dawned on Yu Baiqing. The child was throwing a tantrum.
–
Before returning to his stall, Ying Wan glanced back from the corner of his eye. He confirmed that his ge was indeed not following him. Yu Baiqing was currently on the phone while hastily making his way to the jeep parked on the opposite side of the road.
After the gray-colored jeep vanished around the corner, Ying Wan took his phone out from his pocket and pressed a few buttons.
A string of vibrations sounded from behind a rubbish bin at the street crossing. A while later, a beggar walked out noiselessly, waist bent over, from the shadows at the corner of the wall.
The beggar didn’t seem very old, around the age of ten or so years. It was a mystery where they’d picked up the clothes they wore, as the color and design did not match.
Seeing Ah Bu coming over to his stall with a dusty gray face, Ying Wan casually tossed him two pieces of chocolate.
Ah Bu unwrapped the pieces of chocolate with a mischievous smile. “Boss, something the matter?”
Ying Wan took out a fistful of coins from his jar of change and placed them all into Ah Bu’s hands. “Do you have inside information on that newly-opened bar at the alley?”
Ah Bu’s cheeks bulged. “I’ll know right away.”
The night market was nearing closing time. The two stalls beside Ying Wan had already closed for the day. Occasionally, people would pass by and glance curiously at the squatting Ah Bu and the little blind person manning the stall.
Ah Bu accepted the coins Ying Wan handed him. He chewed on the chocolate and got ready to leave with a face full of smiles. All of a sudden, Ying Wan called out to him from behind.
“What have the police been doing lately?” Ying Wan asked him.
Casting a scrutinizing gaze around their surroundings, Ah Bu approached him and made a ‘shh’ gesture.
He opened his eyes wide, pausing after every word uttered. “Boss. There. Are. Ghosts.”
–
Upon rushing back to the the criminal investigation team’s office, Yu Baiqing saw Zhang Yu and the team leader responsible for technical analysis, Guan Xingwen, seated in front of the monitors, playing the scene on the screen over and over again.
Yu Baiqing stood behind them and finished watching the replay on the screen. He asked in a low voice, “Where’s the evidence that the deceased was dead before being crushed by the loader?”
“F*ck – Captain Yu, when did you arrive? You scared me to death!”
Guan Xingwen received quite a bad shock from Yu Baiqing. He leaped up from his chair, nearly knocking over the instant noodles on the table with his raised hands.
“Yes.”
Zhang Yu didn’t look back, merely shifting his crossed legs. “The report from the forensic investigator indicates that the deceased’s time of death was at least ten to twelve hours before he was crushed by the loader.”
“So what’s with the person captured on camera?” Yu Baiqing asked.
Zhang Yu yawned. “Old Yu, I know what you’re thinking. Although his face can’t be seen clearly, the deceased was still scrolling through his phone before he was crushed. He even held up his phone and took a picture of the sky. He’s definitely a living person.”
“That corpse isn’t his,” A trace of gloom could be seen in Yu Baiqing’s eyes as he stared at the figure reflected on the screen. “The corpse was swapped out.”
He took a few steps to the control desk. He had just picked up the mouse when he heard Zhang Yu saying unhurriedly, “Don’t bother looking, Little Guan and I have watched it tens of times. The deceased’s face can’t be seen from the front with this camera, only from the side. The people from Gaoxin District said that the other construction workers on-site were all asked to watch the surveillance tape individually. Every single one of them insisted that he was the deceased and that they had just drunk together the previous night, so there was no way they would mistake someone else for him.”
Yu Baiqing was silent for a long time.
A while later, he said, “Sitting here and watching surveillance tapes won’t be of any use, we might as well visit the site itself.”
Zhang Yu was confused. “You think there might be a problem with those people?”
He had vied with Yu Baiqing for the number one position in the police academy for four years. He knew very clearly that Yu Baiqing never believed in intuition, only evidence. The fact that Yu Baiqing had voiced these words meant he had some level of certainty that it was true.
“The problem isn’t with the people,” explained Yu Baiqing. “The loader isn’t quite right.”
–
“–And then, the gigantic shovel just slammed down and directly crushed that person to death!”
Ah Bu gesticulated as he spoke, his two skinny arms waving in the air.
Ying Wan’s head hurt. “…That’s all?”
Ah Bu sneered “That’s all, but it’s enough to keep the police officers busy the whole day. Boss, should we lend them a hand?”
Ying Wan firmly shook his head in rejection. “No.”
If even this little bit couldn’t be resolved, his ge wouldn’t be Yu Baiqing.
“…This case won’t keep my ge occupied for long.” Ying Wan’s tone took on an added layer of indifference. “Hurry and get down to proper business.”
A chestnut hit Ah Bu square on the forehead. Ah Bu covered his forehead and directed a glare at Ying Wan.
“Another group of people came by two days ago. This is already the third group. Your fake death can’t completely pull the wool over the eyes of that old fox Yuan Shan,” Seeing his boss’ furrowed brows, Ah Bu finally stopped smiling and replied conscientiously. “They went looking for Owl, Grayback, and the rest. But nobody will rat you out, don’t worry. Grayback even thought you died for real and charged at them on-the-spot wanting to fight. I was tickled to death–”
Ying Wan nodded. “Get Owl and the rest to continue operating according to the plan. Don’t bother about me. Get me all the information on that bar as soon as possible. Notify me immediately once you have a general idea of things.”
“Go now,” Glancing at the bureau in the distance that was blocked by trees, Ying Wan picked up his cane. “I don’t know when my ge will be back, don’t come over tonight.”
Ah Bu responded with an ‘okay’ and then left as swiftly as he came, turning and slipping into the alley darkness.
It was late at night. Even the barbecue stall opposite had closed for the day. Ying Wan finished packing up his stall and had just made his way to the roadside to flag down a taxi when he saw Ah Bu running back in dismay.
“…Boss, something came up again.”
Ah Bu looked up, panting as he told Ying Wan, “I’m afraid your ge won’t be able to return for the time being.”
–
Sirens pierced the wee hours of the morning. Yu Baiqing was seated at the front passenger seat of a speeding police car. Beside him was Zhang Yu, whose face was devoid of any cheer.
He could relate very strongly to how Zhang Yu was feeling now. Any newly-appointed officer who encountered two murder cases on their first day wouldn’t have an expression any better than the Octopus.
“…It’s crazy, it’s exactly the same!” A furious male voice came from the walkie-talkie in the car. “There was nobody in the driver’s seat and that thing moved on its own as well. The person was crushed to death by the shovel too. They were killed right there and then!”
“Their identity?” Yu Baiqing asked. “Who is the deceased?”
“Cui Shengde, the construction worker you said was the most suspicious,” The person speaking raised his voice a notch. “He died at 2.14am. He’s already been dead for a while!”
So… Maybe the “Robin” is Ying Wan? THIS WOULD BE SO……………..!!!!
Thanks for the chapter 😊
ohhh i haven’t thought of that!! now that you’ve mentioned it, that’s really a possibility!!
Living the double life 😳 and so many mysteries to uncover.. Maybe ying wan dabbles with suspicious guys just to find out who murdered his parents..
i will probably continue reading it through mtl because i just couldn’t wait, but i’ll definitely come back here every update! thanks for the translation!
i just finished reading this novel through mtl and oh my god, it’s soooo freaking good!! very intense from beginning to end, the plot itself is very intricate, the revelations are really unexpected, and there are some painful moments as well! i think i would have loved it more if it wasn’t through mtl, thought i didn’t regret reading this despite the mtl making my head ached, but i will definitely come back here for the translation because I would surely re-read this.
@yellauraya will you please let me know the mtl translation site. I searched but the title won’t appear I am curious to read further. Please let me know 😇
Erm, sorry may i have the link also?
@yellauraya Will you let me you know where to find this mtl translation. I searched but this title just won’t appear. I already read these 10 chapters and now I am just too curious to read further. Please let me know😇