Chapter 1029: Perplexed and Smitten (89)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It had never occured to An Xiaoning that humanity could be so twisted. “You… you mean those two people pretended to commit suicide? You mean, it was a deliberate act?”
“Yes. I got gooseb.u.mps right after I heard about it. I think things are getting serious. However, it’s not that easy to find out the truth with just his statement alone. I’ve reported this incident to the Chief.”
“What did Pan Zhenghui say?” she asked.
Shaking his head, Ma Jianguo took a seat and answered, “He told me and another colleague not to intervene.”
“What?” An Xiaoning gaped.
“That’s why I’m telling you about it. I know you’re very busy, but I really hope these things won’t happen again in the future. However? I understand that the world is too vast and there are too many twisted incidents. It’s difficult for one person to solve all problems.”
The other three of her former colleagues broke their silence.
Zu Dong said, “Team Leader, those people are out to harm others. Could you step in to help?”
Gong Le chimed in, “There are no outsiders here. I shall be brazen and say this. I have a feeling that the Bureau Chief might have received bribes. He might not seem like such a person on the surface, but who knows what his true colors are?”
“Team Leader, this may seem like it’s someone else’s affairs, but as the police, we ought to do something about it. We’ve discussed this amongst ourselves and we all think that things are going to get out of hand if we don’t keep it within control. Perhaps one day, our children might suffer the same fate. Thus, Team Leader, you must intervene,” said Ding Liang.
“Since I know about it now, I can’t ignore it. Rest a.s.sured, I’ll do something about this.”
“Xiaoning, will you tell the Chief about this?”
“Not at the moment.” An Xiaoning looked at Ma Jianguo and said, “Don’t tell him about it yet for the time being either. If he has really received bribes, wouldn’t we be alarming him unnecessarily? How are we supposed to get the evidence we need then? We shall see what he says once we get sufficient evidence.”
Ma Jianguo gave her a thumbs up and said, “No wonder you were our team leader. You’re so dauntless and motivated.”
“Forget it, I’m no longer your team leader.”
“But you always are, in our hearts.”
“Old Ma, you’re such an expert at bootlicking.”
“I meant every word I said from the bottom of my heart. By the way, you said you wanted to get evidence. Shall we go with you?”
“You guys are busy enough with solving cases. How would you have the time to do it?”
“It’s not like we don’t get to get off from work.”
An Xiaoning waved and said, “Forget it, you guys must be exhausted from working endlessly every day. Just take a break after work. I’ll call you guys when I need your help. Just give me the address of the site.”
Ma Jianguo made an OK sign with his fingers and said, “It’s south of the bridge along the river below Mount Heyuan. You’ll see that bunch of people once you’re on the bridge.”
“Is this a widespread occurrence all across the country?”
Shaking his head, Ma Jianguo said, “I’m not sure about the other areas but it’s not the case for all rivers in our country. Well, everyone’s mentality is different, how could we compare all of them against the same criteria? At least we know that that bunch is up to no good.”
“Is that river near Mount Heyuan a tourist attraction?” asked An Xiaoning, who had never been there before despite having heard of it.
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s a tourist attraction. Besides, it’s summertime now. There’ll be more tourists.”
“Got it. I’ll go take a look when I’m free in the next two days,” said An Xiaoning.
“We can rest a.s.sured with that said, Xiaoning.”
“Alright, I’m leaving now. Continue working on your cases.”
“You’re leaving so soon, aren’t you going to sit here for a while longer?” Everyone stood up one after another.
“Nah, I’ll contact you guys if there are any new updates or progress on this.”
“Alright, sure.”
An Xiaoning had a peaceful journey home from the police station. The moment she returned home, she sent Pei Yi the simulated sketch.
Ten minutes later, he called.
She switched on the voice recording function the moment he answered.
As expected, the first thing he asked was, “Where did you get those portraits?”
“I drew them based on what I saw. Don’t you find them very similar?”
“When did you see them?”
“How can you expect me to answer you when you haven’t answered my question? Master Pei, how do you find my simulation sketches?”
“Nothing great about them.”
“You’ve got a poor sense in admiring sketches,” she said, pursing her lips.
“Where did you see those people on the sketches?”
“Must I really answer you? You seem very eager to find out.”
“I was just asking a casual question. You may choose not to answer as well.”
Seeing that it was impossible to sound him out because of how careful he was with his words, An Xiaoning decided to drop the subject. “Someone tried to kill me today, but too bad, he sent a bunch of amateurs. I thought about it for a long while and I finally realized that there could only be one reason why he did that, despite knowing that those amateurs are no match for me.”
“What reason?”
“He’s testing me on purpose.”
Pei Yi chuckled over the phone.
“What are you laughing about? Is your mother no longer forcing you to go for matchmaking sessions?” she asked.
Just like she had expected, he stopped laughing as soon as he heard her words. “Could you not be a wet blanket?”
It was An Xiaoning’s turn to gloat. “Seems like she hasn’t been cutting you any slack. I hope you’ll marry a beautiful wife soon, Master Pei. I won’t impose on you any further. I’m hanging up now.”
Not giving him the chance to answer at all, she ended the call immediately.
After replaying the voice recording of their conversation, she deleted it, feeling a little more enlightened.
—
Soon after she posted the thread on Weibo, Fang Erlan gained 100 thousand followers, which was a ma.s.sive number.
However, it was not because of how interesting her Weibo page was, but rather, it was the photo of her handsome bodyguard that had gone viral.
Various female netizens could not fathom just why a handsome man like him would be willing to be Fang Erlan’s bodyguard.
How ridiculous!
Fang Erlan read through the comments, only to discover that, apart from the harsh criticism about her not deserving to have such a handsome bodyguard, there were numerous netizens asking for ways to contact him.
Only after having a significant number of followers did she understand that everyone had a different perspective when judging matters.
Take the recent post for example. Mei Yangyang wanted her to post the photo, just so the media would not jump to conclusions and spark rumors if they were to photograph the two of them together in the future.
Yet there were many different comments about it, including these:
“Who cares if you’ve got a hunk for a bodyguard? What’s the big deal?”
“It’s such a pity that such a handsome man like him has decided to become your bodyguard. Seems like you have given him a ton of money.”