Ding! Ding! Ding!The crisp ringing of bicycles resounded throughout the misty dawn.
People who got up early to jog; the elderly uncles walking their pet dogs; children going to school, as well as adults going to work…
Xiang Wan walked leisurely in the neighborhood, smiling throughout her journey. Her gaze also subconsciously searched for her fourth floor neighbor—the mother and son.
She noticed that sometimes, she seemed to have compulsive behavior.
Once a thought had been planted inside her head, she couldn"t control herself not to think about it.
However, she did not see the mother and son.
Xiang Wan started to skitter out of the alley. Bai Muchuan was standing right in front, waiting for her.
"Didn"t you say you"re at the breakfast eatery?" She stopped to ask. " Why are you here?"
With his hands in the pocket, Bai Muchuan smiled radiantly yet there was a somewhat chilly and bad*ss feeling about it.
"I"m worried you might get kidnapped again."
Goodness! Can"t anything good sprout from your mouth!? Xiang Wan cussed in her head.
Xiang Wan swept a glance at him and chose not bother with him since she was having a good mood.
The two of them walked together to the breakfast eatery.
He asked, "Did you use the osmanthus sachet? Is it effective?"
She asked, "Why are you alone? Where"s Captain Cheng?"
Both of them had spoken at the same time.
Bai Muchuan immediately pulled a long face and didn"t look too happy about it.
Xiang Wan took a peek at him. "I think it"s nice and effective."
He grunted a laugh, "Breakfast eatery."
Once again, they opened their mouth at the same time.
Xiang Wan smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She didn"t say anything more.
Cheng Zheng was really at the breakfast eatery. He occupied a table all by himself.
Maybe people who dealt with dead bodies for a long time had a different disposition. All other tables were filled, yet no n.o.body dared to sit beside him.
"Hi," greeted Xiang Wan.
Cheng Zheng nodded his head and looked at the menu.
Oh, it was the noodles menu.
Xiang Wan could vaguely remember that he seemed to be eating noodles every time he came here?
"What do you want to eat?" Bai Muchuan asked.
Xiang Wan took a look at Cheng Zheng and was thinking if the noodles here was nicer.
She answered reflexively, "Noodles!"
Bai Muchuan wore a cold face. "Boss, give us two cups of soybean milk, one serving of small steamed meat buns, and a serving of steamed dumplings."
Xiang Wan looked at him with a face full of questions.
"?"
Why did he ask her what she wanted to eat?
And why when she answered him, he behaved as if he had not heard anything?
The boss of the eatery recognized Xiang Wan and quickly came over to clean the table for them.
Bai Muchuan sat directly opposite Cheng Zheng and looked up at Xiang Wan.
"Come sit!"
For such a breakfast eatery, they only have two long benches for every table.
Thus, Xiang Wan could either sit beside Cheng Zheng or sit beside Bai Muchuan.
This is totally a question of choice?
Xiang Wan grimaced and sat beside Bai Muchuan.
She had a reason for doing so—Bai Muchuan had called her, whereas Cheng Zheng did not.
So the three of them sat down in a table strangely.
Cheng Zheng ordered a bowl of noodles with soybean paste. He took a look at Xiang Wan but did not say a word.
The soybean milk, the small steamed meat buns, and the steamed dumplings were soon served, as well as the bowl of noodles with soybean paste.
"Maybe that"s why business is good?"
Everyone was in a hurry to get breakfast. This shop owner was fast and friendly to the customers. Coupled with decent food and a good location, it was only natural that his eatery had become popular…
The three of them ate slowly.
"You were saying that there"s a major discovery?"
Xiang Wan mumbled as she ate a steamed meat bun.
Her curiosity was almost at the limit, but Bai Muchuan replied idly with another question. "Are you sure you want to hear it now?"
Xiang Wan frowned. "Aren"t you the one who said to talk over breakfast?"
Bai Muchuan responded leisurely, "We"ve got a major finding from the samples we took from the wall last night."
"What about it?" Xiang Wan took another bite at the steamed bun.
"Human tissues were found inside the samples. The human flesh were being made into minced meat and blended with the cement…"
"Uhh~" Xiang Wan felt a lump in her throat.
Bai Muchuan"s description brought about a distinctive scene in Xiang Wan"s head. She instantly felt uncomfortable in her digestive system. She found it hard to swallow that bite of meat bun inside her mouth.
"What"s the matter?" Bai Muchuan asked in a calm manner while taking another steamed meat bun and chewed on it with relish. "Are you scared?"
How could she admit this? Xiang Wan looked at him calmly as she contemplated whether to swallow or spit out that mouthful of food. She went silent for a few seconds and decided to swallow it—only to choke on it and cough so hard that her cheeks became red…
"Drink this!" Bai Muchuan placed the soybean milk in front of her.
This fellow!
Xiang Wan coughed two more times and scrutinized him as she narrowed her eyes.
She was quite sure Bai Muchuan did not rest yesterday as his eyes were red from exhaustion, so much so that his pair of charming deep-set eyes looked cloudy. But, even if he was tired, there was an irrepressible smile in his face which did not escape Xiang Wan"s face.
"Bai Muchuan, you did it on purpose?" Xiang Wan asked as she stared at him.
Xiang Wan drank some soybean milk to swallow that feeling of discomfort.
"Hm?" Bai Muchuan seemed puzzled, an enchanting smile formed on his face. "You don"t like the food? I actually find the food here pretty good? The meat has been minced nicely, the taste is good as well as the quality of meat. At the very least, it doesn"t taste like those poor quality meat… The human flesh within the walls of "The Palace" should have been minced to this extent as well…"
"Bai, Mu, Chuan." Xiang Wan gritted her teeth. "Don"t say it anymore! I still want to eat my breakfast."
"Aren"t you the one who wanted me to talk about the case while eating?" He laughed innocently.
What?!
She was the innocent one. She did not even offend him. Why did he want to make her feel disgusted all of a sudden?
Xiang Wan looked at the sneer on Bai Muchuan"s face, then took a glance at Cheng Zheng who was indifferent to what was happening
She did not even hesitate and slowly lifted her leg to step on Bai Muchuan"s foot.
"Oh I"m so sorry!" She gnashed her teeth and showed him a vengeful smile.
"Tsk!" Bai Muchuan"s inspecting gaze swept past her face. "Don"t push your luck!"
Xiang Wan pouted her mouth and slowly finished up her soybean milk while pus.h.i.+ng the steamed buns and dumplings over to him.
"I"m full. You can have the rest. These are good quality meat which if mixed with the cement, I think it should be similar to the human minced meat…"
"…"
Bai Muchuan took a look at her and continued eating.
Chen Zheng did not even react to her words as he ate his noodles.
Both of them are not normal!? Xiang Wan was actually surprised inside.
Tch! Tch! She watched them eat their food and asked, "Did you find out the ident.i.ty of the one whose meat got blended into the wall? How did it get chopped up and minced to blend into the cement mixer? Was it raw or cooked before it got mixed?"
"…"
Cheng Zheng slowly lifted his head to look at her. "Raw meat. It was minced then thrown inside the cement mixer. As for whose meat it belonged to, we have not gotten any conclusion yet. We"ve sent the sample to the Inst.i.tute of Forensic Science for a DNA test…"
He focused on answering the question with a very serious att.i.tude.
At the same time, he even slurped his soybean paste noodles.
As for Bai Muchuan, he acted as if he had not heard anything.
Xiang Wan watched how he stuffed the meat bun into his mouth and chewed on it.
Sh*t! This is nothing to them?
"You want to eat?" Cheng Zheng asked, puzzled. He had noticed that on and off, she was watching him eating the noodles.
"No, no, no, please eat." Xiang Wan smiled awkwardly as she rejected the offer.
The next moment, Bai Muchuan placed a steamed dumpling in her bowl. "Eat."
"…" Xiang Wan speechless. "I"m full and not eating it."
"Not eating? So you"re not following me to visit Huang He?"
Hur, hur, hur, hur…
Xiang Wan felt like thras.h.i.+ng him up.
This guy could always find a suitable "threat" that he was absolutely sure she would listen to.
"I"ll eat." Xiang Wan smiled as she picked up the dumpling with her chopsticks.
As she no longer had appet.i.te, she found the food harder to swallow than medicine.
Xiang Wan used a lot of willpower to not think about the meat stuffed inside the steamed dumpling and managed to swallow it down. By then, her eyes were watery.
"I"m not eating anymore. I"ll fight whoever makes me eat again!"
Bai Muchuan glanced at her lazily. "How can you be an advisor for the police if you can"t even stand this?"
Advisor?
Xiang Wan suddenly perked up.
She had almost forgotten all about this matter if Bai Muchuan had not mentioned it.
From hope to disappointment and from disappointment back to hope…
She smiled. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?" Bai Muchuan was calm. "There"s an opportunity, but you need to earn it yourself."
"?" She looked expectantly at Bai Muchuan.
"Don"t look at me like that." Bai Muchuan"s lips curved upward. "I"m not a person to get someone a job because of their relations.h.i.+p with me. If you can make it, that"s only because you"re capable enough."
"…"
The way he put it was as though they had a relations.h.i.+p.
What Xiang Wan wanted to know was when would be the time to "earn" her opportunity and how to do that.
Nevertheless, Bai Muchuan did not explain anymore.
He finished the remaining meat buns and wiped his mouth with a clean tissue. Then he got up from his seat and smiled at Cheng Zheng.
"Captain Cheng, I didn"t bring money with me. Do help me out."
"I have." Xiang Wan lowered her head to get her mobile phone but was stopped by Bai Muchuan.
"There"s no need for you to pay," he said, "don"t make Captain Cheng look like a miser."
Cheng Zheng seemed to give a sneer, but he was expressionless as always. "It"s nothing. Although I"m not as rich as Captain Bai, I can still afford to pay for your breakfast. You two can go first."
These two men!
Still engaged in their own little battle?
Xiang Wan was curious about the relations.h.i.+p between the two of them.
After walking out of the breakfast eatery, she secretly asked Bai Muchuan about it, "You knew Captain Cheng since long ago?"
Bai Muchuan was opening the door of the car and paused to look at her. "Long ago? How long ago?"
Xiang Wan thought it over and asked, "Before coming to Jin City?"
Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows and smiled, but his expression was as if he had eaten 10,000 pounds of bitter herb. "The capital is only so big."
Such an answer was considered to be very vague.
But if she delved deeper in it, his answer meant that they had known each other back in the capital.
"Could it be that you two have a grudge or something…"
Xiang Wan was guessing with a look of excitement.
Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh and raised his eyebrows. "I remember telling you before?"
"Tell me what?" Xiang Wan was confused.
"If you used such a mentality to write your novel, your book would have been popular long ago."
"…"
…
The detention center of Jin City was located along the suburbs in a town. It was about 20 to 30 miles away from the main city.
While on the way to the detention center, Xiang Wan actually hesitated if she should get Fang Yuanyuan to come along as well.
As soon as she revealed her suggestion, it was vetoed by Bai Muchuan.
His reason was very simple. It was something that Huang He would not want to see.
"Hmph! I don"t understand the way men think."
"Where"s your IQ?"
"?" What has this got to do with IQ?
No matter what happens, isn"t it better to bear the pain together than suffering alone?
Instead of letting Fang Yuanyuan feel sad and miss him everyday, why not tell her directly?
"Two of the three great sorrows of life are "a beauty who pa.s.sed her prime" and "a hero who met his downfall"." Bai Muchuan gave her a sideways glance. "Therefore, men are most reluctant to be seen by women when they are being held as prisoners just as women are unwilling to let men see their faded beauty or show their ugly faces."
"… That"s just you. You don"t represent Huang He."
"Hurhur, I"m more good-looking than him."
"… Hurhur."
"Hurhur!"
Only he can give such an explanation! Xiang Wan thought. So if the good-looking ones are not willing, that means the non good-looking ones would be more reluctant?
After they mocked at each other, Xiang Wan rolled her eyes at him.
"Fine, you"re good-looking so everything you say is right! Then may I ask you, what"s the third sorrow of the three great sorrows of life?"
Bai Muchuan looked confident and smug. "Well it is, "the one who lost their creative inspiration". But you need not worry about this as you won"t have this sorrow."
"… Of course." Xiang Wan imitated his confident and smug look.
"Well, you are not Master Jiang, you don"t have talent like him."
"…"
When Xiang Wan hung out with Bai Muchuan, many a times she would be "bullied" by him during their conversations. She had to admit that even though she might be left speechless, she was not really angered. In fact, there were times she was even pleased about it.
That kind of feeling was hard to describe.
It felt relaxing and free without a care.
On the contrary, when she was with Cheng Zheng, she would feel stifled for no reason.
Women are sensitive beings. Most of the time, they make their choices based on their intuition.
Xiang Wan was like that.
She treated herself very well as she was very concerned about her emotional comfort. She would hang out with the one whom she was comfortable and feel happy with.
Especially now that she no longer felt restrained in front of Bai Muchuan, even when there might be some flirting or teasing at times, she could handle it perfectly. So much so that she would not feel awkward and was much more comfortable with him.
At the same time, she felt that she understood him more now.
His pride had come from his own personal excellence, while his irrepressibility had come from his outstanding capability.
Maybe all other people were just idiots in his world?! Maybe he felt that he was trying hard to uphold the dignity of an idiot and got emotionally tired, so he would pick on her at times?
Maybe…
Maybe he was not as carefree as he seemed that he needed to seek some forms of solace to synthesize with his unhappy life. Through her clumsy reactions, he could maybe feel the joy of simplicity which was very different from the unfeeling world he lived in?
"Xiang Wan, I"m very surprised by your update yesterday. This is the reason why I decided to look you up today."
"Hm?" Xiang Wan was pulled out of her thoughts by him all of a sudden, and she looked back at him in a dazed manner.
"Have I ever told you that you"re always in a daze?"
"… I"m thinking about things, thank you." Xiang Wan rolled her eyes.
"Hur!" Bai Muchuan"s hands were on the steering wheel, and his eyes were on the busy road. "Tell me, how did you think of that? The walls contain human tissues that were minced and being mixed in the cement thoroughly… So perverted!"
"Don"t tell me you"re suspecting me again?" Xiang Wan felt tense all of a sudden.
Yes, that"s right. She had a lot of inspiration last night and stayed up late to write a chapter. What she wrote was the same as the test results. This time, her "supernatural" ability was at work again, that she was able to foresee the case details before the police could find or ascertain certain clues. This was another corroboration of her having the profiling ability.
"If you don"t clear things up," Bai Muchuan dragged his voice, "it"s difficult for others to not suspect…"
"Oh please!" Xiang Wan was unhappy. "Mind using some brains? Xiao Tian barked ferociously at the wall last night, but there was nothing on the wall. That means there are only two possibilities. Firstly, drugs, and second, a corpse… If it were drugs, which stupid idiot would mix it into the wall? How are they going to take it out to use or sell? In other words, drugs are out. So it could only be… a corpse. Moreover, all of you have created so many holes on the wall, but there are no visible corpse parts hidden in there. Hence, what kind of result would fit into the plot?"
"So simple?" Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, this is a consequence derived from a given condition. It"s that simple." Xiang Wan glanced at him. "What do you expect?"
"Hm." Bai Muchuan mulled over for a while. "You have a strong ability in profiling. Did you learn this in Zhong Zheng?"
Profiling? Xiang Wan was confused for a moment. "What is that? I"m a law student back in Zhong Zheng. Didn"t you already know by now?"
Bai Muchuan eyeballed her seriously.
After a while, perhaps he managed to ascertain that she was not lying, he laughed.
"This should probably mean you have a gift in this area."
Anyone would love to be told that they are gifted. Xiang Wan, however, did not understand what exactly she was talented in.
"I"ve heard of profiling, but what does it really mean?"
"Ask Baidu!"
"Okay, Baidu! Tell me quick, please?"
"…"
Bai Muchuan broke into a laughter at her seriousness although he was a little displeased that she referred him as "Baidu".
His finger tapped on the steering wheel as he gave an explanation leisurely. "Profiling is a term also known as criminal profiling. It is making inferences to the mental state of the criminal according to the way the criminal acts. From there on, the profiling also extends all the way to a.n.a.lyze the character, living environment, occupation, the education, the background, and so on."
"Oh!" Xiang Wan was enlightened. "So that"s profiling? If that"s profiling, I definitely am talented!"
Bai Muchuan slowed down the driving speed when he heard her speak with conviction, and his att.i.tude started to get serious. "In your opinion, what is the criminal like in the 805 case[Fountain G.o.ddess Case]?"
"Let me think!"
Xiang Wan contemplated for a while, cleared her throat and started to talk.
"The criminal is around one meter to two meters tall, may either be male or female and may have an introvert or extrovert personality. He or she is a modern human who might have grown up in the eastern part of Eurasia and west sh.o.r.e of the Pacific Ocean…"
"Xiang Wan," Bai Muchuan interrupted her.
"Hm?" Xiang Wan had an innocent look. "What"s the matter?"
He asked innocently as he tapped his finger on the steering wheel. "The Fourth Hospital is not that far right up ahead and it"s on the way. Do you want to seek help there?"
Xiang Wan smiled, "Thank you, but not for the time being."
"Really?"
At the moment, the car made a small screeching sound and stopped.
The traffic light had turned red in front and Bai Muchuan stopped the car. Xiang Wan did not see clearly when he unfastened the seat belt.
The next moment when she realized what happened, his handsome face appeared in front of her, as if magnified. He was wearing a cool smile, she was in between the seat as well as him where he was almost leaning on her. His domineering aura seemed to be all around her that she could hardly breathe.
"What are you doing?" Xiang Wan"s heart was racing like a freight train.
"This red light lasts 70 seconds, so there"s another 65 seconds." Bai Muchuan"s hand was on Xiang Wan"s head, gently ruffling her hair but doing nothing else. He only looked at her already flushed red face with a sly half-smile, as if forcing her yet at the same time allowing her a suitable amount of s.p.a.ce for breathing. "Think it over and answer my earlier question. Or else… hm?"
The earlier question? Which one?
Or else what does he want to do? Be a rogue in public?
Xiang Wan"s heart almost jumped out of her mouth. How could she be able to think of which question he was referring to?
Her breathing was rapid and shallow, her hand was resting on his solid chest but she did not actually dare to push him… for they did not actually have any body contact.
Hence, her action seemed really awkward.
The speed of her heartbeat was so much faster than the flas.h.i.+ng red light…
Thump! Thump! Thump Thump!
In the small enclosed area inside the car, the atmosphere was particularly tense.
Xiang Wan was really worried that before the red light finished flas.h.i.+ng, she would have been suffocated due to the lack of oxygen from Bai Muchuan"s action.
"Hey, Bai Muchuan! Go back to your seat so we can talk it over nicely, alright? You know, there"s traffic police about three meters away behind you…"
"I didn"t violate the rules!" Bai Muchuan liked to see her acting calm although she was as frightened as a little rabbit. After looking at her for another moment while showing another sly smile, he suddenly lifted his hand and landed it on her head…
Xiang Wan closed her eyes reflexively.
She did not know why, but she closed her eyes.
Shortly, she heard him chuckling as if he was pleased and his hand knocked lightly on her forehead.
"It"s green light now! I"ll let you off."
… Let me off for?
Xiang Wan hastily opened her eyes but he had not moved back to his seat. The handsome face still looked at her with the same sly smile from a very close distance. His focused gaze was similar to a wolf who was staring at its prey. When she noticed that she was being fooled, she wanted to hurl abuse at him. But right at that moment, he rose gracefully back to his seat, fastened his seat belt, and stepped unhurriedly on the accelerator.
"Sit tight!"
The warm suns.h.i.+ne shone through the car windows.
The sky was fully bright now, and it was another beautiful day.
Xiang Wan turned her head to look at the traffic outside the window. As she thought of his eyes which were half-joking and half-serious, her cheeks started to burn.
She was thinking, the weather must be too hot.
…
There was some traffic congestion on the way to the suburbs. Both of them spent more than an hour to reach their destination.
This was Xiang Wan"s first time to the detention center. Everything was full of novelty, new and unexpected.
In the past, she had scary impressions of such places:
Humid, chilly, darkness, poor conditions, and coa.r.s.e food as well as old criminals beating up new criminals…
Nevertheless, never did she expect that the real detention center was clean and bright. The standard of hygiene seemed even better than her own place…
…
Bai Muchuan went through the formalities and soon met Huang He in the visitation room.
It had been a while and he actually… gained weight!
Was the food at the detention center too good or life here was too relaxing for him?
Thinking of Fang Yuanyuan who had lost close to 10 pounds, Xiang Wan felt bitter and was gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth.
The heart of this guy was indeed generous and relaxed enough to not care what was happening around him!
Xiang Wan"s thoughts were running wildly inside her head as she looked at Huang He and suddenly gave a sneer.
"Detective Huang, you seem to be having a good time here?"
…the one who lost their creative inspiration (江郎才尽) - During the ancient times, a well-known scholar named Jiang Yan (江淹) was renowned for his talent in literary poems. This idiom came about when he reached the age of 35 years old (he became an official) and people noticed that he did not make anymore leisurely poems, leading to the belief that he had lost his inspirations.Master Jiang (江淹) - Refers to Jiang Yan, the well-known scholar mentioned above.