The elder stood together with his cane on the entrance of the corridor whereas Lu Hui sat on the edge, his look seeming to state: For those who don’t inform me, I’ll demolish your ancestral corridor. 

Ji Fanyang couldn’t act as scoundrelly as Lu Hui. In his thoughts, he measured Lu Hui and the elder. If he admonished the elder, he may very well be surrounded by the villagers and overwhelmed up. If he admonished Lu Hui…Ji Fanyang appeared on the stick in Lu Hui’s tight grip. To not point out damaged bones, he may even lose his job. 

After his inner deliberation, Ji Fanyang opened his mouth to admonish the elder: “Chief Lu is simply impatient to unravel the case involving Li Peng’s dying—”

He hadn’t completed talking when the elder interrupted him, his voice raised: “Whose dying?!”

“Li Ying’s youthful brother, Li Peng.” Ji Fanyang answered. 

Lu Hui supported his chin in his hand as he watched the younger officer and the elder work together with one another. The stick slanted throughout his knee, like he would bounce up and viciously beat folks up on the slightest change. 

“It’s positively foul play!” The elder banged his cane round, his eyes huge, “Have to be homicide!”

The elder hollered loudly, however his bluster was missing, even sounding barely hole. Lu Hui picked up on it instantly, asking: “Who do you think?”

The elder mumbled some issues vaguely, then shouted: “How ought to I do know! Aren’t you guys the police, aren’t you investigating?! Asking an outdated man like me, attempting to drag down the ancestral corridor, do you all have any conscience, any morals?!”

Seeing that the elder was beginning to make a scene, Lu Hui flashed a short derisive smile, then stood up together with his stick and entered the corridor. Ji Fanyang acquired nervous and adopted Lu Hui step-by-step, fearful that he——

There was no want for him to relate specifics sooner or later tense in any respect, as Lu Hui lifted his stick and propped it up on the memorial pill furthest to the entrance. He turned his head towards the elder and smiled barely: “Say the identify, or…” He made to drag again the picket stick, “I’ll play some dominoes?”

The picket stick flashed; if he hit the primary pill, the tablets lined up behind it could additionally fall in sequence. The scene would certainly be spectacular. 

The elder inhaled deeply, and the muscle tissue in his cheeks twitched. Ji Fanyang counted in his coronary heart silently, fearing that after he reached ten, the elder would abruptly endure a coronary heart assault. 

“You gonna speak?” Lu Hui waved the stick round, like if the elder remained stubbornly reticent, the Li Household’s ancestral corridor might flip right into a batting cage.

The elder bit the within of his cheek, and his wrinkly face trembled for a second earlier than he lastly retreated in defeat within the face of Lu Hui’s bastardly habits: “Li Weiguo!” He shouted, “He left for work, and his spouse and Li Peng…” He halted for a second, then stopped talking. 

“What about them?” Lu Hui feigned ignorance, lifting the picket stick, “I’m not very affected person. Make clear.”

The elder’s lips spasmed and he gritted out two phrases: “Slept collectively.”

Lu Hui laughed, the sound stuffed with ridicule and scorn: “How are you associated to Li Peng?”

“I’m his uncle.” The elder deflated, his head reducing to hide his face.

However he didn’t decrease his head out of disgrace. Lu Hui thought of the elder thoughtfully, his sharp, knife-like gaze making the elder’s shoulders shrink again. 

“Then…we’re going?” Ji Fanyang mentioned irresolutely. He glanced at folks gathering on the entrance of the ancestral corridor. If these folks continued grouping collectively, they won’t have the ability to escape with their lives. 

“Mm.” Lu Hui picked up the stick, main the best way out of the corridor. He crossed the edge, lifting his chin like a wild beast patrolling its territory, or maybe simply bluffing. 

Rao Feifei and the native police did their finest to interrupt up the gang to guard Lu Hui and Ji Fanyang. 

With Lu Hui’s sort of investigation technique, they actually couldn’t exit with out help. 

Six within the night. 

Supper time. 

Director Gao authorized the squad’s request for funds. Given the earlier doubtful suicide case with further issues, Director Gao indulged Lu Hui a bit. With the present suspected drowning case, Director Gao thought, if it actually turned out to be a case of falling and drowning, then the cash may very well be used to appease the deceased’s household, but when it was not so easy, then the funds have been apportioned precisely. 

Luowan County’s native police station helped them discover an financial system lodge. They booked two normal rooms; with two girls and two males, the squad may cut up evenly in half. 

They assembled by the pond. Ji Fanyang went to a small stall and purchased 4 bottles of water, giving two room-temperature ones to Rao Feifei and Yang Jie and conserving the remaining two ice-cold ones for Lu Hui and himself. 

Ji Fanyang was a heat, thoughtful individual. He had at all times been this manner: opening doorways for girls, performing attentively and politely, coming into the workplace early to make tea for everybody so the temperature can be good for everybody once they arrived. He had a delicate, good-looking face and a gentle, clear voice. He was slightly glowing solar—with out the gaudiness—that warmed everybody round him. 

Somebody like this had, throughout the first few months of his arrival, gained the fond affection of each girl, younger and outdated, within the Metropolis Bureau. 

And Lu Hui, who was from the identical squad, was an entire distinction to the little angel. 

Ji Fanyang wore an impeccably clear and ironed T-shirt on a regular basis, whereas Lu Hui’s shirt was wrinkled. Lu Hui didn’t even like shaving his beard, so he would present as much as the workplace wanting like a homeless individual. Although he would look good-looking clean-shaven, he couldn’t be bothered with the maintenance. 

Returning to the topic at hand, Ji Fanyang handed the bottles of mineral water to Rao Feifei and Yang Jie, each of whom thanked him. 

Simply as he stretched out his hand to move the iced mineral water to Lu Hui, his cellphone rang. 

It was midsummer, the most popular time of the yr. Lu Hui unscrewed the bottle and chugged half of it and poured the remaining half over his physique, sighing in aid. Lu Hui stood beside the pond, and because the solar slanted to the west, the pond’s water mirrored the golden mild. 

As Lu Hui stood there stiffly, Rao Feifei and Yang Jie mentioned what they need to have for dinner. 

The forensics technician, in addition to Lu Hui’s white board, wouldn’t come till tomorrow. With out the whiteboard, Lu Hui refused to ponder too deeply. 

Ji Fanyang, who had simply completed his name, walked again over. The expression on his face was considerably uncommon, which Lu Hui interpreted as dejection. 

“Would you’ve got just a few drinks with me?” Ji Fanyang mentioned. His shoulders have been weighed down and he tightly clenched the cellphone in his hand. 

“No.” Lu Hui rejected him firmly. 

Ji Fanyang checked out him, his expression clearly stating “I knew you’ll refuse.” He performed his final card: “Earlier than, you knocked on my door and dumped two glasses of water on me. Bear in mind?”

Lu Hui straightened his neck and didn’t reply. 

Ji Fanyang sighed: “You don’t want to speak, simply take heed to my complaints, okay?”

Lu Hui’s black eyes stared at him, from the ends of his hair to the guidelines of his toes and from the guidelines of his toes again as much as his eyes. He frowned, like he had simply engaged in a strenuous psychological battle. Together with his full unwillingness revealed inside one phrase, Lu Hui mentioned, with problem: “Advantageous.”

Ji Fanyang pinched the bridge of his nostril, then turned to face Rao Feifei and Yang Jie: “We…”

“Me and Sister Yang will go discover one thing to eat, you each can discover your personal place.” Rao Feifei anticipated him, and he or she blinked, “We’ve got some issues to debate between girls.”

“Alright, alright.” Ji Fanyang lifted each arms, “That’s excellent, Chief Lu and I’ve some issues to debate between males.”

Lu Hui snorted. 

As soon as they parted methods with Rao Feifei and Lu Hui, Ji Fanyang and Lu Hui sat down at a random restaurant by the facet of the street. 

In a single breath, Ji Fanyang ordered ten bottles of beer and an enormous plate of meat skewers. He raised his head and requested Lu Hui: “Chief Lu, what do you wish to eat?”

“Not hungry, order no matter you need.” Lu Hui targeting taking part in his function: the viewers. 

The beer and skewers got here, and Ji Fanyang mentioned: “I…” As soon as he uttered this single syllable, he abruptly didn’t know what to say. 

Lu Hui picked up a skewer and began chowing down. Ji Fanyang may solely see the black hair on the crown of his head. 

“…I broke up with my girlfriend once more.” Ji Fanyang mentioned. His voice was stuffed with confusion—no hoarseness of deep disappointment—solely confusion and lack of know-how, “Why did she counsel breaking apart?”

Lu Hui’s actions halted for a second. He lifted his eyelids to indicate his disinterest. 

Ji Fanyang opened a bottle of beer and drained half the bottle. He had zero intention of drowning his sorrows in alcohol; if he deliberate on getting drunk, he would have picked baijiu as an alternative.1 

“She was my fourth girlfriend.” Ji Fanyang mentioned, “She was mistreated by her step mom when she was little. She was actually depending on me, calling eight or 9 instances a day. We dated for a yr.” He squinted, falling into his reminiscences, “I picked her up, like choosing up a kitten. She introduced up being collectively, and he or she introduced up breaking apart. Why?”

“Discuss your first girlfriend.” Lu Hui picked up a second skewer, fulfilling his function as a listener with dedication, asking questions and discovering subjects to keep away from awkward silence. 

“The primary one? That was within the second yr of junior excessive.” Ji Fanyang swirled across the beer within the glass bottle, took a sip, then mentioned, “Initially, she was clever and intelligent, good at her research, however within the second yr of junior excessive, her mother and father acquired divorced. She spiraled, and I, as an excellent class consultant, went to her home.”

“She was hiding in her room. After I pushed open the door, she was crying beneath her blanket.” Ji Fanyang mentioned, “I walked over to her and dug her out of the blanket and introduced her to high school. Then, I helped her do her homework.” The uncertainty in his voice deepened. After all, given his angelic nature, he refilled Lu Hui’s water glass and continued, “Perhaps as a result of I used to be the one one who had seen her as susceptible, she confessed to me and I accepted.”

Lu Hui ate too rapidly, so he put down the skewer and took a break. His gaze was sharp, and he stared immediately into Ji Fanyang’s coronary heart: “Then she dumped you?”

“With my assist, she stopped hating her mother and father as a lot.” Ji Fanyang mentioned, rubbing his nostril, “She wished to interrupt up, and after I requested her why, she mentioned the emotions have been incorrect.”

“Ha.” Lu Hui let loose a brief sound, like amusing. 

“The second was in highschool. I used to be the category president.” Ji Fanyang mentioned. He’d already completed two bottles of beer, “There was a woman at school who sat within the nook and was very timid. She didn’t dare to lift her head, and nobody at school talked to her. Usually, I’d take pains to speak slightly to her.” Ji Fanyang picked up his first skewer and took a chew, “She was too timid, and he or she by no means replied to me or checked out me. Later, a buddy from one other class got here to me and gave me a letter she wrote, and I accepted it.”

“We did homework collectively. Her math abilities have been good, and although I didn’t ask her to show me, she would move me a paper with the steps she wrote on it.” Ji Fanyang completed nibbling on the rooster wing skewer, and he piled collectively the bones, “We have been collectively for a yr. Ultimately, she may say her first phrases to different folks, maintain her voice even, and keep eye contact. Then she wished to interrupt up.”

Lu Hui additionally opened a bottle of beer, motioning for the younger man to proceed with a nod. 

“She mentioned that I by no means favored her.” Ji Fanyang compelled a smile, “What really is liking somebody?” He inhaled, then continued slowly, “In faculty, I joined a gaggle of volunteers, and I met a affected person with despair. She favored to sit down up on the roof and nearly jumped off as soon as, however she was pulled again up by me.”

Lu Hui picked up a scorching cake and took a chew; it was crisp and seasoned. 

“I volunteered to present her steering, supervised her when she took treatment, took her on walks, purchased her slightly canine.” Ji Fanyang supported his brow on his proper hand, saying helplessly, “She step by step acquired higher, even began touring. We organized to go on a visit to the mountains collectively, however ultimately, she left me and went on her personal.”

“She left me a be aware.” Lu Hui mentioned, “Written on it was, ‘Thanks, although you by no means cherished me’.” He raised his voice, only a tad, which made him appear extra depressed, “I handled them nicely, did my finest for them, was by no means indecisive, by no means concerned them in cash troubles. Why did they at all times resolve to depart me?”

Lu Hui put down his beer bottle, picked up a brand new one and opened it, then pushed it over to Ji Fanyang: “Drink.”

4 girlfriends, 4 instances getting confessed to, 4 instances getting dumped. Even a saint would want to drink away their worries. 

Lu Hui’s gaze was clear and sober. He understood the issue, however held his tongue. He didn’t care, didn’t concern himself with different folks’s emotions. He was solely liable for listening and consuming, not for commentating. 

Six bottles of beer in, and Ji Fanyang was slightly muddle-headed. He pulled on Lu Hui’s arm: “Sharing drinks collectively like this. Are we associates?”

Lu Hui stared at his eyes, that pair of heat eyes, which have been as clear as a flowing brook, and mentioned: “No.”

1 白酒, interprets as white wine, however it’s extra like sake or soju. These things will mess you up, belief me, particularly a budget stuff.