Chapter 12: Wise & Brilliant?
Translator: MintCatnip Editor: Chrissy
Xiang Wan’s neck was stiff as she looked at him as if she had seen a ghost. “What?”
Bai Muchuan replied succinctly and clearly, “Investigation!”
Why go to my house for investigation? Xiang Wan was perplexed.
…
The rain had become light showers from the sounds of pitter-patter on the car.
True enough, Bai Muchuan’s car entered the street that Xiang Wan was familiar with.
However, he did not turn into the alley but stopped at the side of the bus stop.
Xiang Wan wanted to remind him that he would be slapped with an illegal parking fine, but when she saw his serious expression, she swallowed her words—it was not her money anyway.
She got out of the car, took her laptop bag, and walked a few steps when she choked on a raindrop that went inside her nose, causing her to sneeze.
She heard the closing sound of the car door behind her, and an umbrella was extended to her.
Xiang Wan turned to look at the Bai Muchuan who was expressionless. She hesitated for a while before taking the umbrella. “What about you?”
Bai Muchuan walked ahead with big strides. “I don’t need that.”
The rain was not heavy.
The tall and upright figure walked up in front, his shadow stretched by the street lamp. Xiang Wan gazed at him for a while before she followed.
…
The narrow alley was right ahead, and the light seemed dimmer than when Xiang Wan ran out of the alley earlier.
She felt a gust of icy wind out of nowhere—it was so cold that even her bones were freezing.
Xiang Wan felt a chill behind her back and looked behind nervously.
There wasn’t anyone else in the dark and long alley…
She gulped and tried to walk closer to Bai Muchuan.
A little more, slightly more, some more…
Bai Muchuan noticed her subconscious behavior. He glanced at Xiang Wan from the corner of his eyes, but he did not say anything.
In the quiet atmosphere, somehow, there was a trace of unfathomable eeriness.
The two of them treaded along the wet alley. Neither of them spoke, but their footsteps seemed to be some kind of music note as each and every step was felt on the heart.
It felt heavy… the terror!
This terrifying place! She told herself to quickly look for another house and move out from here.
Xiang Wan continued to move closer to Bai Muchuan. When he stopped without a warning, she b.u.mped into him together with the umbrella.
“Ah!” Xiang Wan’s heart pounded again. “Sorry.”
“Where is it?” Bai Muchuan asked suddenly.
It was obvious that his mind and hers were not on the same frequency. He didn’t know that Xiang Wan’s dramatic brain had already written and acted out several short drama series in her imagination.
“What?” Xiang Wan was puzzled by the unexpected question.
Bai Muchuan stopped to look at the damp road, then slowly lifted his head to look at the closely built residential buildings that sat on both sides of the alley. “The place where the flowerpot fell.”
Xiang Wan was surprised and stared at him strangely. “How did you know?”
Bai Muchuan did not explain but instead repeated the question with his cold voice, “Where did the flowerpot land?”
Xiang Wan felt that dealing with a detective like this was a headache.
No matter what he asked, she had to answer truthfully, with nothing hidden from him.
However, as long as he did not want to answer a question, he could ignore her as he liked.
Such was a relationship not on equal footing. Xiang Wan had no way of fighting for equal rights either.
After all, Detective Bai had the right to investigate everything about her, including her privacy, her whereabouts, and even monitor and listen in on her phone…
With the umbrella on hand, Xiang Wan searched for a while in the vicinity and discovered that the dirt stains and the plant on the ground had been cleaned up, not to mention the rain had washed off any possible remaining trace—nothing was left behind. She had to rely on the surrounding residential buildings to determine the approximate location. When she found the spot, she stood there and pointed at the fourth floor of a residential building.
“This is the spot. When I looked up then, I saw someone by the window on the fourth floor!”
“Who is that?”
“I can’t see that person clearly, and… I can’t confirm as I don’t have any evidence to prove that.”
She now had a psychological barrier to the way Detective Bai had to prove everything with evidence. “What happened these two days is so bizarre that sometimes, I’ve even started to doubt life. I’ve even doubted myself, that maybe I’ve actually not seen anything at all…”
Bai Muchuan looked at her intently and signaled her to move aside.
… Her misery was being ignored?
Xiang Wan snorted softly to express her displeasure and moved backward.
Bai Muchuan stood at the spot she stood earlier and looked toward the window on the fourth floor with his eyes narrowed.
Under the dim lightings, his frosty side profile seemed more distinct and contoured; his eyes were like an abyss, black and endless.
Xiang Wan did not have the slightest idea what he was thinking.
About half a minute or so, he returned to normal and turned to Xiang Wan.
“Do you want to go back?”
“…”
The change of topic was too sudden for her to keep up.
“No need to go back?” He asked again, coldly, looking up and down at her. “For example, changing clothes?”
What Xiang Wan wore that night was prepared by Fang Yuanyuan for her blind date. According to Fang Yuanyuan, the dress would embody her slim, captivating form as it could accentuate her flattering curves. That dress was a little thin and short-sleeved as well.
When she was at the warm hotpot restaurant, she did not feel cold at all.
But now that she was inside this alley under the drizzling rain and freezing cold winds, she needed a change of clothes.
Did he hear her sneeze just now?
Nah! Since when is Detective Bai so kind?
Xiang Wan shivered, scared by her own thoughts. “Alright… thank you.”
Seeing her slow reaction, a tint of faint dislike flashed past Bai Muchuan’s eyes, and he lifted his wrist to check the time. “I’ll give you half an hour, is that enough?”
He’s not going up? Xiang Wan took a glance at the long dark alley and stayed quiet.
Bai Muchuan walked in front again. “Hurry up!”
Fireworks exploded inside Xiang Wan’s heart. She followed Detective Bai happily like a child, “… Thank you, Detective Bai!”
…
This time, Xiang Wan was not scared about returning home.
With the detective beside her, she felt as if a deity was protecting her and no spirit would be able to get close to her.
When she went inside her house, Bai Muchuan waited outside her door.
He lit a cigarette and smoked till the cigarette was half in size while pacing to and fro several times outside Xiang Wan’s apartment. However, Xiang Wan still had not come out of her house. He ran out of patience and knocked on her door with a gloomy face. “Hurry up!”
Xiang Wan was actually behind the door. She opened the door slowly while wearing an innocent look. “By letting me return to change clothes, you’re preparing… to hold me in custody officially?”
This was the only reasonable explanation for Bai Muchuan’s nice behavior tonight.
Bai Muchuan’s tightly pursed lips twitched heavily.
“We’re going to the Criminal Investigation Unit! Your suspicion has not been lifted,” he said impatiently with a grim looking face.
Criminal Investigation Unit? They wanted to interrogate her again?
Carrying the laptop bag with one hand and holding an umbrella with the other, Xiang Wan followed behind the tall Bai Muchuan with a face of unspeakable grief.
In this bizarre case, she was no longer the author who controlled the world in the book. She was unable to control the story plot and the emotions of the characters. She could only be helplessly involved in an uncontrollable mess, waiting for the verdict that could decide her fate.
…
In the end, she made a wrong guess.
Bai Muchuan took her to the Criminal Investigation Unit, but they did not interrogate her nor put her into the detention cell.
Inside the office of the 720 Special Task Force, he pointed at a chair and a table, asking her to sit down and write her novel.
That’s right! It’s her novel “Murder The Dream Guy”…
“You haven’t updated today,” he said, “go ahead and write it.”
What? Seriously? Xiang Wan totally had no idea what was with the situation—she had a face full of questions.
“… Did I hear you correctly, Detective Bai?”
Bai Muchuan pulled a chair and sat beside her. He said seriously, “I’ll tell you the key points, and you write accordingly!”
…
The reason why the 720 Task Force had their eyes on Xiang Wan was with valid reasons.
The case in her book was too similar to the 720 criminal case. Even the female protagonist of the novel was also an author of online Chinese literature. The similarity of the case in the novel was as high as 80% with real life that it would be weird if n.o.body suspected her!
In the story, the death of the local tyc.o.o.n that Xiang Wan used Zhao Jiahang as reference also had the same situation as reality—the police had yet to crack the case.
Yes, her update yesterday did not mention the key points of the case.
Today, Xiang Wan went for her hotpot blind date, and had yet to start writing the next chapter.
She was not a “frequent offender” to break her daily update one to two chapters habit, but—writing her story in the Criminal Investigation Unit, was it really suitable?
Xiang Wan scratched her head, irritated with the many doubts that filled her mind. “Detective Bai, are you my fan?”
“I have no interest in literature on romantic desires,” said Bai Muchuan with his brows knitted closely.
Literature on romantic desires? Xiang Wan gave a light cough. “Ahem! Then why did you come before the author and chase her for updates?”
“So far, you’re still the biggest suspect,” said Bai Muchuan coldly, “and you’re the one who urgently needs to clear your name. Do you want to cooperate with the police? ”
“… Yes.”
Xiang Wan gritted her teeth and stopped arguing. “How do you want me to write?”
Bai Muchuan said each word slowly, “Just write that as the criminal case is very similar to the plot of the novel, a detective looked up the female protagonist to understand the situation…”
“Ah!?” He wanted the case to be fully in line with reality?
“The police have gotten hold of the vital clues of the case and have successfully extracted the suspect’s fingerprint from the alleged vehicle.”
“…”
“The suspect even tried to create an accidental death of the female protagonist…
“Write what you have experienced and seen at the alley, the flower pot incident, the tailing to Ocean Sky Hotpot, and the car chase in the city!”
“?”
“Also, mention that the police have their sights on the escaped black car… and they are not far from the truth.”
“…”
Excuse me, who’s the author of the novel?
In her main outline for the story, it was still far away from the truth.
Solving the case without any major twist, that would be presumptuous.
Furthermore, he was the one who warned her not to disclose the details of the investigation.
Now, he was still the one who allowed her to reveal the details of the investigation via her novel deliberately.
Xiang Wan narrowed her eyes. “Detective Bai, why? I don’t understand.”
Bai Muchuan looked at her and stood up slowly. “I’m giving you two hours! I’ll come back later.”
Just two hours to finish writing so much information? Did he think of her as an octopus?
Xiang Wan made a face at his back view.
Bai Muchuan suddenly turned around. “Oh right, remember to write about that detective in your story being wise and brilliant!”
Xiang Wan froze on the spot. “?”