Killer Nights

The next day, when Jiang Zhengkai came to visit Wei Xin again, he was surprised to see that her mood had improved considerably.  She was talking and eating again, although she still didn’t want to talk about her abduction.  It looked like A-Jiao was able to heal her damaged soul but not open her walled-off mind.

The walls around those repressed memories were quite high, and the only person who could tear them down was a man who, unfortunately, did not have a place in his heart for her.  He only had one woman in his heart, and that woman was a prost.i.tute.

Since Wei Xin’s emotional condition had improved, Jiang Zhengkai no longer planned to visit her everyday at the hospital.  However, Wei Xin also betrayed her oath of office as a police officer, which was keeping her promise to A-Jiao that she would keep their meeting a secret from Jiang Zhengkai.  Sometimes, the person you are looking for could be so very close, yet also so far away.

Whenever A-Jiao had free time these days, she would go to A-Tao’s internet cafe and help him run the place.  She also set aside some time to find herself a new job.  The new A-Jiao had new life goals, which meant that she was no longer nostalgic about her past life.  A-Tao never asked her where she had been all those days.  In his eyes, A-Jiao was perfect no matter what she did.  He didn’t care what her chosen profession was; he only cared that she was happy.  Besides, it wasn’t like he was an upstanding citizen himself, so what more could he ask of a woman who had once saved his life?

Time heals all wounds.  Under Dr. w.a.n.g’s expert treatment, Wei Xin’s body quickly recovered.  Unlike A-Jiao, her injuries, while severe, were the result of one incident, not sustained over a prolonged period of time.  Therefore, she stayed in the hospital for only about half-a-month before she went back to work.

“Wei, just take it easy at work, alright?  Let Liu Na do all the heavy lifting,” Jiang Zhengkai told Wei Xin on her first day back at the sub-bureau, “From now on, you’ll spend most of your time doing desk work.  Let your other colleagues go out into the field.”

“No, thank you, Inspector Jiang.  I can handle myself,” Wei Xin responded with red cheeks.

“No need to rush.  Give yourself some more time to recover,” Jiang Zhengkai said smilingly before returning to his office.

Wei Xin sat helplessly back at her desk.  She didn’t know if she was imagining things or if it was real, but she had a feeling that her colleagues were all looking at her weirdly ever since she returned.  That feeling was especially acute whenever she ran into officers from the local station who came to the sub-bureau for business, or when she went to munic.i.p.al headquarters for a meeting.  She just couldn’t help shake the feeling that her colleagues were talking about her behind her back.  This feeling had caused her quite a lot of stress, to the point that it was adversely impacting her sleep.  After a while, the only way she could fall asleep was by taking sleeping pills.

That sick, twisted murderer seemed to have given Yao Tianyu some face for the time being.  The alley had gotten a lot calmer in recent days, and the seventh murder still hadn’t occurred.  However, both Yao Tianyu and Jiang Zhengkai knew that just because a new murder hadn’t happened didn’t mean it won’t happen.  Perhaps the killer was waiting for the right time to strike.

Inside the alley, the police continued with their sting operation.  However, after Wei Xin’s attack, Yao Tianyu ordered the implementation of much stricter safeguards for the officers operating in the alley.  The surveillance room must be manned at all times, no matter what was happening outside.  Also, no female police officers were allowed to travel alone in the alley and had to be escorted by at least one other police officer.  Yao Tianyu did not want a repeat of what happened to Wei Xin.

Jiang Zhengkai continued to struggle between the twin vortexes of work and emotion.  The more he wanted to find A-Jiao, the harder it was for him to locate her.  Right now, he didn’t just want to find her because he had feelings for her, he also wanted to find her because she might hold the key to cracking the case.  Furthermore, everyone around him knew that she had returned, but n.o.body bothered to tell him.

In the evening, Jiang Zhengkai, as usual, parked his car outside Uncle Cai’s noodle shop.  “Uncle Cai, a large bowl hand-cut noodles with an extra portion of fermented paste!” Jiang Zhengkai yelled loudly at the kitchen as soon as he walked in.

“Got it!  Coming right up!” came Uncle Cai’s voice from the kitchen, “I want you to try something new that I’ve cooked up.”

About ten minutes later, Uncle Cai came out holding a serving tray.  On it was a large bowl of hand-cut noodles, a small bowl of paste, and a portion of strange-looking frozen pastries.  “Here, try some of these!” Uncle Cai said happily as he placed the strange-looking food in front of Jiang Zhengkai, “I bet you’ve never had anything like it before.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that, Uncle Cai.  What is it?”  Jiang Zhengkai picked up one of the frozen pastries and put it in his mouth.  It tasted a little sweet but also a little salty and was completely delicious!  He couldn’t help himself but ask, “Where did you get this stuff?”

“Hehe, hold on a second!”  Uncle Cai saw that it was raining outside, so he said, “Young man, it’s raining right now.  How about joining me for a few drinks tonight?”

“Uncle Cai, I have to drive home later,” Jiang Zhengkai reluctantly refused.

“Ai, I’ll give you some money for a cab later,” Uncle Cai said after seeing Jiang Zhengkai’s reluctance, “It hardly ever rains here, so think of it as the two of us drinking to the rain G.o.ds.”

“Ok, let’s do it!  But you’re going to have to let me sleep here tonight if I pa.s.s out, alright?” seeing that Uncle Cai wasn’t going to take no for an answer, Jiang Zhengkai accepted the offer.

“No problem!  Ok, you wait right here,” Uncle Cai told Jiang Zhengkai as he ran into the kitchen and took out a case of beer.  He then proceeded to close up the shop, “Now we can drink in peace.”

“Hehe, are you able to handle this busy noodle shop all by yourself?” Jiang Zhengkai asked as Uncle Cai handed him a bottle of beer, “What do you think about me coming here to work for you?”

“That’s a great idea!  You’ve got yourself a deal!” laughed Uncle Cai.  After downing a few beers, Uncle Cai suddenly turned to Jiang Zhengkai and asked, “Say, Jiang, what do you think of A-Jiao?”

Jiang Zhengkai hesitated for a moment before answering, “A-Jiao?  She’s a good girl.”

“Then do you have any… feelings for her?” Uncle Cai asked mysteriously after taking another gulp of his beer.

“Hehe, well…” Jiang Zhengkai smiled.  He didn’t know how to respond to Uncle Cai.  If he said no, he wasn’t even sure if he believed himself, much less Uncle Cai.  But if he said yes, then there’s the little problem where he was a cop and A-Jiao was a prost.i.tute.  Was it possible for the two of them to ever have a normal romantic relations.h.i.+p?

“Come on, it’s a yes or no question!  Either you have feelings for her or you don’t!  You don’t need to think about it that hard,” exclaimed Uncle Cai.  He then squinted his eyes at Jiang Zhengkai and said, “Boy, this is the only time you haven’t been frank with me.”

“Then… I guess I do,” Jiang Zhengkai finally admitted before chugging the rest of his beer.

“Haha, that’s more like it!” Uncle Cai said as he pa.s.sed Jiang Zhengkai another beer, “Now come and drink some more liquid courage!”

“But the problem is even if I have feelings for her, it doesn’t do me any good since if she’s not around.”  Jiang Zhengkai’s tolerance for alcohol wasn’t great, and chugging that first bottle of beer was already making him a bit light-headed.

“I was wondering why the two of you haven’t been coming here together!” Uncle Cai spoke and drank at the same time.  “Here, try some of these,” Uncle Cai said as he pushed the plate of frozen pastries in Jiang Zhengkai’s direction again.

“They’re delicious,” Jiang Zhengkai superficially complimented Uncle Cai’s new creation again.

“Then in that case, I’m going to tell you a secret.”  Uncle Cai then leaned in close to Jiang Zhengkai and whispered, “A-Jiao’s back.”

“She’s back?”  Upon hearing what Uncle Cai had just said, Jiang Zhengkai immediately regained his composure, “How long has she been back, Uncle Cai?”

“For a while now,” Uncle Cai replied, “But that little girl wouldn’t let me tell you.”

“Really?” Jiang Zhengkai asked as he stared blankly at Uncle Cai.

“Yes!  She was one that gave me this recipe, and I tried making it based on the instructions she gave me,” Uncle Cai said with a smile, “It’s called khapsey.”

“So, Uncle Cai, do you know where she is staying now?”  Jiang Zhengkai had originally wanted to ask where she was staying and what she was doing, but ultimately decided against asking the second part.

“Where is she staying?  I honestly don’t know.  She never told me,” Uncle Cai shook his head, “But I did tell her how often you would come here.”

“And what did she say?” Jiang Zhengkai eagerly asked.

“She said you would never like her in that way,” Uncle Cai sighed, “I think the two of you are both good kids, so why can’t the two of you be together?”

“We can!” Jiang Zhengkai was so excited when he said these words that he literally jumped out of his chair, as if to tell the world how much conviction he had in his words.

“That’s good.  Now sit back down and drink some more,” Uncle Cai gestured for Jiang Zhengkai to sit down in his chair.  As for what Uncle Cai said after that, Jiang Zhengkai had no recollection whatsoever.  All he remembered was a million different thoughts swimming in his mind.  He also remembered continuing to drink with Uncle Cai until the point where he pa.s.sed out on the table and fell asleep.  What he didn’t remember was what he said to Uncle Cai after he got drunk.  He sincerely hoped he didn’t give away A-Jiao’s secret.  After he sobered up, this question continually weighed on his mind.  He later asked Uncle Cai several times in a roundabout way, but each time Uncle Cai told him that he was a quiet drunk and that he didn’t say much before pa.s.sing out.  After repeated a.s.surances by Uncle Cai did Jiang Zhengkai finally feel at ease.