Chapter 135: The Joke That’s Not Funny
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The shoulder that Bai Muchuan patted on earlier felt a little heavy.
That “see you at night” from him threw her into a tizzy.
She had never felt that way before. She was excited, nervous, confused, and she couldn’t control her emotions.
She stayed still for a few moments before going back to her seat.
While on the way back, she met several colleagues. Everyone’s expression was normal, but when anyone looked at her for an extra second, she would feel herself going stiff and thought there was a mischievous glint in their eyes.
Such a strange feeling persisted for around 10 minutes before she knew what was going on.
… This was known as having a guilty conscience that caused her to think of others that way.
Hence, what Bai Muchuan said about everything being the same was fake after all.
Things and moods have changed, so how could everything be in its original state?
As she thought of that, she was confused, disconcerted, and distracted. She didn’t want to be controlled by the “after effects of a fake love”, so she opened her laptop to look at the review and comments page of her novel.
“Murder The Dream Guy” was Xiang Wan’s best novel so far, as well as the one that was most talked about.
In the past when her novels were not doing as well, no one took notice of her as she was not popular in the industry and barely surviving. But after “Murder The Dream Guy” got popular for a period, ‘dramas’ had never stopped since then.
Although the thread and related posts on Wen Quan Book Treasury’s Forum that accused her of being promiscuous during her training period had long since been deleted, it had a far-reaching impact on her. There was one thing that everybody had in common: they didn’t care about the truth. When they deemed that she was guilty, then she was guilty. If they deemed her as innocent, she would be innocent.
Hence, since then, she had been tagged.
These were common traits of being under scrutiny online.
Probably the one who started that malicious thread had already expected this to happen.
It was like spilling ink on a piece of paper—even though she was innocent, the paper, once tainted, could never be clean again.
Regardless if she clarified or not, regardless if the post got deleted or not, when such a thread was made, there would be people who would believe it and attack her with that…
There was a period that Xiang Wan really hated to look at the reviews and comments page of her book. It was because on and off, there would be specious and groundless comments that frustrated her.
But in no time, she was able to get out of it.
n.o.body knows what they will be like when said from someone else’s mouth. If she cared about every comment that she saw, she need not go on living anymore…
Therefore, she did not bother to look at these things anymore, leaving all these malicious remarks out of her world.
Except for the mysterious ID.
Xiang Wan was always looking out for the ID.
Unfortunately, that ID had not appeared in the review and comments page for a long time.
No matter what Xiang Wan wrote, that ID did not appear.
That made Xiang Wan a little skeptical of her previous judgment…
Could it be that there was no “manipulator” behind all these? That could just be an ordinary ID that was registered using a mobile number. That ID only said what he wanted and left. Maybe she was the only one who still harped over it?
After thinking for a while, Xiang Wan felt her scalp going numb. Then, when she went to get water, she glanced toward Bai Muchuan’s office.
That door was closed the whole time, not sure what he was talking about with Xing Liehuo.
Sigh!
She puffed a sigh inside her head.
She felt a little lost.
The job nature of the Advisor was casual. At the moment, besides Cao Mengjia’s case, there wasn’t any major case that required her profiling skills, and therefore, nothing much for her to do.
However, everyone in the office was busy. Besides the two teams that Bai Muchuan had a.s.signed to keep Ye Lun under surveillance, there were always other minor cases and trivial matters in the jurisdiction that they need to deal with. There was never an end to work.
It could be said that the work of the police… Everyday when they wake up, they had to settle problems for the civilians.
Xiang Wan walked one round and was ashamed that she was the most idle person in the whole unit.
Thus, she decided to volunteer and help with simple tasks like making drinks, photocopying doc.u.ments, and running errands…
“Come, Little Liu, drink some water!”
Her a.s.sertiveness shocked Little Liu who quickly got up from his seat.
“Teacher Xiang, please let me do it myself. I’ll do this myself!”
Little Liu was sitting beside her in the office. He was the least experienced police officer in the team. After receiving the water from her, his face was already red and couldn’t stop thanking her for it.
“Why are you standing on ceremony with me?” Xiang Wan chuckled. “I see that you’re so busy with work that you don’t even have time to drink water. Since I’m also getting water, I got a cup of water for you!”
Little Liu laughed and said his thanks one more time. He chatted with her for a short while when he suddenly turned to take a look at Bai Muchuan’s office. “Teacher Xiang,” he said softly, “did you notice that there’s something unusual with boss today?”
Xiang Wan was interested to hear gossip relating to Bai Muchuan.
She asked softly, “What’s unusual?”
Little Liu wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I don’t know what exactly. I just feel that the atmosphere in office seemed better and boss’s face was as though changed from a gloomy day to a sunny day… There’s more, I met boss at the entrance today, and he actually took the initiative to say h.e.l.lo to me. His smile was so nice…”
“…”
Isn’t it normal for him to smile nicely?
Xiang Wan noticed that the Bai Muchuan she heard from this colleague and the Bai Muchuan she knew were somewhat different.
It was as though they were not talking about the same person…
That also meant he did not smile to just anyone?
Xiang Wan was filled with a sense of sweetness that she never felt before. Just by hearing his name, her nerves were already tense…
Oh no! She could really be poisoned by him.
“Teacher Xiang, why are you smiling?”
Little Liu saw the corners of her mouth curved upward. In his perspective, she was smiling to herself which seemed a little creepy and little out of nowhere.
“Why did I feel that your smile was somewhat similar to boss?”
Eh? Xiang Wan quickly regained her senses, stopped smiling and cleared her throat. “How can it be? I was listening to your description and felt it was funny…”
“I see!” Little Liu nodded his head and made another guess. “Do you think that boss might have fallen in love?”
“Eh?!” Xiang Wan seemed to feel a lump in her throat, unable to say a word.
“I really feel that way. He really do look like that,” Little Liu kept muttering to himself and suddenly got excited. “If it’s really like that, that will be great. The Criminal Investigation Unit won’t be called the Bachelor Unit by others anymore…”
“The Bachelor Unit?”
It was a strange name.
“Yup! You never heard from Tang Yuanchu about this? The whole of Criminal Investigation Unit from the top to bottom, including our captain and instructors, all of them are bachelors. The only one who got married, w.a.n.g Chengming, just got divorced, initiated by his wife. Isn’t this the Bachelor Unit?” Little Liu shook his head and said helplessly, “Being a detective is the worst actually. Working hours are never fixed, and there’s no time to fall in love and get into a relationship. They don’t have a high pay either. Which girl will like that?”
So serious?
Xiang Wan only knew the hardships of the detective but did not know that detectives had difficulty finding their other half.
“But I feel that being a detective is a great job! Righteous, heroic, manly…”
“Just cut it out! Haha!” Little Liu laughed and suddenly blinked. “Have you heard of the joke that Tang Yuanchu said?”
“No.” Xiang Wan was a little distracted as she suddenly felt that she should try to think of a way to help these group of detectives to solve their “single” problem.
“Hur! Do you agree that Tang Yuanchu is not bad looking, right? Most girls would like him, right? Actually, before he was a.s.signed here, he had a girlfriend whom he dated for a month. But when she knew that he got posted to Jin City as a detective, that girl broke up with him…”
“Ah!” Xiang Wan was quite shocked.
Tang Yuanchu actually encountered something like this? She really did not know that.
After giving it a thought, Xiang Wan puffed a sigh. “She broke off with him just because he’s a detective? Isn’t it ridiculous?”
“It’s not ridiculous, but practical. Tang Yuanchu was a trainee back then, he didn’t have much money. He did not even have money to get his girlfriend a branded handbag as a birthday present. His girlfriend broke up with him by leaving with another man who could buy her a branded handbag…”
It must be a bitter experience.
Xiang Wan pressed her lips together. “But, how is this a joke?”
Little Liu paused for a while and seemed to have thought of something funny. “Please don’t go ask him about this,” he chuckled, “otherwise, I don’t know how he would deal with me! He actually revealed this accidentally when he was drunk…”
She did not expect that Little Liu to actually like gossip.
Xiang Wan felt a little amused and nodded her head. “I won’t tell.”
“That night, after being snubbed by his girlfriend, he could not take it lying down so he sent her a sarcastic message: ‘Congratulations, for the sake of a branded bag, you finally lost your chast.i.ty!"”
“And?” Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow. She was curious.
“That girl gave an even harsher reply. She said: ‘Congratulations, not only you got into your ideal job, you can even keep your chast.i.ty for life!"”
“Hahahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
The two of them laughed.
In the beginning, the joke might have sounded funny, but it was actually somewhat upsetting if one thought about it.
That was enough to show that detectives were not popular among women.
Another reason, of course, was that they hardly had chances to get to know girls.
Xiang Wan suddenly had a thought…
Isn’t their career a good match with the female novelists?
Female novelists did not have the time to get to know guys, too. The nature of their work required a great deal of peace and quiet. And they especially hate being disturbed. If they were paired up with detectives, it would be a great match. The detectives would be busy with nabbing criminals, while the female novelists would be busy writing their stories. If they had time, they could meet up. Otherwise, they would be busy with their own work. Wasn’t it a great combination?
The moment she thought of this, she suddenly felt glad about it.
Perfect match! Perfect!
“What are you two laughing at?”
Suddenly, they heard Tang Yuanchu’s voice.
The two of them who were gossiping lifted their head in surprise and cleared their throats concurrently.
“Nothing…”
Tang Yuanchu eyed them suspiciously. “Why did I feel that you two are talking bad about me?”
Uh! This young brother is surely sensitive!
Xiang Wan looked at his neat and tidy police uniform and quickly changed the topic. “Detective Tang, you’re wearing the uniform… Why so formal today? Going somewhere later?”
Tang Yuanchu took another dubious look at her and Little Liu. “I’m going for a patrol!”
Patrol? Xiang Wan knew that the Criminal Investigation Unit would often organize for their police officers and detectives to patrol the streets at night. Their aim was to deter the occurrence of crime. But she never knew that there were also daytime patrols.
“It’s going to be National Day soon!” Tang Yuanchu explained, “Maintaining stability is an important task.”
Then he paused for a while and took a glance at Xiang Wan. “A filming crew will be shooting at the Avenue of Stars today. Boss wanted us to stay vigilant…”
Oh. When he said that, Xiang Wan understood it right away.
After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Do you need more manpower?”
Tang Yuanchu grinned. “You wanna go?”
Xiang Wan straightened her posture. “Yes, me. Treat me as one of the police officers or a.s.sistant! I’m free anyway.”
Tang Yuanchu chuckled. “No way. Boss…”
Xiang Wan knew what he wanted to say while looking at the glint in his eyes… But she really did not want them to overthink her relationship with Bai Muchuan. So, she interrupted him quickly, “Don’t worry, I’ll get boss to approve!”
Tang Yuanchu looked at her, seemingly wanting to say something, but he closed his mouth slowly in the end.
“Fine! If boss agrees, it’s not a problem.”
…
Xiang Wan actually had no idea if Bai Muchuan would agree to this.
She went to the restroom then walked past Bai Muchuan’s office.
The door was still closed, not a single word could be heard from outside.
It’s almost 40 minutes, what are the two men talking about?
She thought curiously for a moment but felt not appropriate to go in and disturb them when they were talking about business. She got back to her desk and sent Bai Muchuan a message instead.
“I don’t have anything on today, so I would like to go patrolling with Tang Yuanchu and the team. Please approve my request, boss!”
Very soon, she received Bai Muchuan’s reply.
“Okay, keep safe!”
Yes! He approved.
Xiang Wan was a little excited.
First, she could go patrol the streets. Second, Bai Muchuan gave her full freedom.
She quickly checked her attire before going to Tang Yuanchu.
However, Tang Yuanchu furrowed his brows when he looked at her attire. “Are you sure you’re going to patrol in this attire?”
Xiang Wan looked at herself then at Tang Yuanchu again. “Do I have a choice?”
Tang Yuanchu puffed a sigh. “Go get a set of uniform!”
Xiang Wan’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”
Tang Yuanchu pursed his lips as he nodded lightly. “I think it should be alright!”
The police a.s.sistant uniforms did not have the police number them. The shoulder badge, chest badge, and sleeve badge were different from the official police officer uniform. But the uniform, when worn, was still valiant looking. When Xiang Wan looked at herself in the mirror, she felt a sense of righteous ardor within her.
“Tsk, so cool!”
Tang Yuanchu snapped his fingers when he saw her coming out.
“Teacher Xiang, I think you might as well take the exams for being a police officer…”
When Xiang Wan heard that, her smiling face slowly dimmed.
“I… I can’t.” She smiled awkwardly.
“Why not?” Tang Yuanchu was a warm person. As he walked, he offered her some advice and suggestions. “Actually, the exam can be hard and simple. If you really want to become a part of the police force, you’ll definitely make it. All of us can help you with it as you are a part of us by working in this team…”
Blah, blah, blah, he said a lot.
Xiang Wan lowered her head, walked up to him and laughed self-mockingly.
“I do not have a degree…”
Without a university degree, she did not even have the qualification to take the exams. How would she be able to take the exams?
Tang Yuanchu stood frozen at the spot as he looked at her slender back view. He did not say a word more .
…
Going out to patrol was an entirely new experience
For the sake of gaining new experiences and content for her novel, Xiang Wan treasured this chance a lot.
There were four of them in the patrol car. Besides Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu, the other two were He Wencai and w.a.n.g Chengming respectively. The earlier gossip that Xiang Wan heard of a detective who got divorced, was this w.a.n.g Chengming. The four of them did not have a wide age gap, so they were able to talk with each other comfortably. Besides Tang Yuanchu who would crack jokes, the other two were more shy and honest. They got along pretty well with each other.
Xiang Wan joined the team without receiving any relevant training. So, she was not considered a police officer. Actually, when she first started work there, she felt confused. There were many times where she did not feel a sense of belonging.
Especially for the past few days when Bai Muchuan did not allow her to partic.i.p.ate in the case, she was in an even more awkward position in the team. However, she was included in their meeting today. Hence, they need not worry about revealing more information than required as she was allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the case again. Due to that reason, her relationship with them was better now…
Xiang Wan was also interested to know the life of a detective and was willing to communicate with them. They talked about their work and their lives with her. It was a pleasant exchange.
Soon, the patrol car was near the Avenue of Stars.
This street was particularly famous in Jin City.
That street alone could offer several scenic spots and all around the year, so there would be filming crew coming here for shooting.
The filming crew of “The Grey List” was also shooting at the street recently.
As soon as the patrol car reached a junction, they saw some girls holding their SLRs, taking pictures while walking along the street or sitting down and chatting amongst themselves, faces filled with excitement. From the looks of it, they should be the loyal fans of some celebrities. Even if they might not be able to catch a glimpse of their idol, they seemed to be happy at the thought of being in the same place as their idol…
“What happened to the people today?” Tang Yuanchu shook his head and remarked helplessly, “What’s there to admire about an idol? Each and everyone of them is placed on a pedestal like G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses!”
w.a.n.g Chengming expressed his views. “This is also an indication that most civilians have spiritual emptiness? Celebrities are merely people who provide entertainment. But with the increase of chuunibyou teenagers, the worth of celebrities increased tremendously as well…”
“I feel that this is the result of capitalism. Without these celebrities, where will the capitalists earn money from?…”
The detectives fell silent at the mention of money.
The money the celebrities made for a drama or movie was something that they could never earn in their lifetime.
They offered their blood and sweat but were often not recognized and respected…
Under the silence, the patrol car continued to drive along the road.
A long while later, Tang Yuanchu gave a chuckle.
“Brothers, don’t brood over this. People have to pursue something when they are alive, don’t they? We just make sure we don’t do things that p.r.i.c.k our conscience!”
“p.r.i.c.k our conscience? I have no time for that! I have not been sleeping enough for the past few days!”
“Alright! Since we’re not on duty today, I’ll treat all of you drinks today! After that, we’ll have a good night’s sleep. Is that fine?”
“… Yo? Treat us drinks? Did I hear wrongly?”
“Of course!” Tang Yuanchu grunted a laugh and suddenly made a generous comment. “I’ll fix the venue at Grand Orchid Pavilion then. Teacher Xiang, you come too. I’m treating tonight. ”
Everyone knew that Grand Orchid Pavilion was a cla.s.sy night spot. That meant the costs would be very high.
However, as Tang Yuanchu already said that, they found themselves in a difficult spot
As men generally valued their pride more, so it might be disastrous for them to tell Tang Yuanchu that the place was too expensive for him and therefore not a good venue to treat them.
w.a.n.g Chengming looked at him. “Brother, you’re preparing to contribute a month of your salary to us?”
Tang Yuanchu stared at him a little. “Hey, what one month’s salary? Don’t look down on me, it’s three months of my salary at least!”
w.a.n.g Chengming gasped. “Hey, young lad, something wrong with your brain?”
Tang Yuanchu smiled casually. “I can’t treat you guys more than this. But once or twice is fine with me.”
w.a.n.g Chengming sighed and wanted to stop him. “Brother, you sure you’re not crazy?”
He Wencai patted on his shoulders heavily. “w.a.n.g Chengming,” he laughed, “be more serious! How long has Tang Yuanchu come to the team? He has been persisting to save every single penny, isn’t it hard on him? Why don’t you let him do what he wants! Enough, just shut up and enjoy ourselves tonight…”
The few of them chatted happily.
Just then, in the lane near a teahouse ahead, a person suddenly dashed out, blood dripping from his forehead that ran down his cheek. Hurrying down the road, he saw the patrol car coming from the front and was startled for a moment. He suddenly turned around and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could…
…