Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Everything that had happened seemed forgotten by the world. The woman struggled through the crowd. Amid the uproar, Qiao Yu opened the window and shouted down.
“Delivery guy!”
The rider in the bright-yellow vest looked up at the “punk” young man on the third floor and frowned in confusion.
Seeing him maintain speed, Qiao Yu shouted, “You dropped money.”
The rider slammed on the brakes and anxiously looked behind him.
The moment the woman reached the opposite side and a roaring truck blocked her pursuer, Qiao Yu grinned. “I lied. Happy April Fools’ Day.”
The rider glared furiously as Qiao Yu shut the window and fled. “Are you sick?”
It was already mid-October. April Fools’ Day, his ass!
“No manners!” After cursing, the rider gripped his handlebars and sped away.
With no spectacle left, the crowd dispersed to walks and work. That horrific accident seemed to exist only in Qiao Yu’s memory…
After he closed the window, Shang Yan entered the bedroom yawning.
Under Shang Yan’s sleepy gaze, Qiao Yu… called the police again.
“Hello, Uncle Song?”
Director Song asked, “What now?”
“I saw human traffickers downstairs, and they’ve developed a new method.”
Shang Yan instantly woke and stared. “You secretly changed careers and became an enthusiastic neighborhood informant?”
Ignoring him, Qiao Yu rattled on to Director Song. “The suspects pretended they were catching a mistress and openly abducted someone. They’re exploiting the public’s hatred of home-wreckers to commit crimes without restraint.
“There are five suspects: a slightly heavy middle-aged woman and four younger men. They’ve entered the Galaxy Internet Café diagonally opposite. Uncle Song, hurry!”
After hanging up, Qiao Yu felt satisfied.
He hated human traffickers more than anything. They should all be executed!
“When did you become… so righteous?” Shang Yan exaggeratedly rubbed his eyes.
Qiao Yu laughed dryly. “Force of habit.”
Forget it. Not important.
“Come on. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Qiao Yu grabbed his clothes and headed out. Seeing Shang Yan slowly putting on a jacket behind him, he snapped, “Can you hurry up?”
Shang Yan looked over lazily, mischief in his eyes. “Never call a man fast-especially your boyfriend.”
“A dirty mind hears everything as dirty.” Qiao Yu scoffed. “I’m a man too, and I’m not that sensitive. What? Did ‘fast’ strike a sore spot? Did it break your defenses?”
Qiao Yu tried to run. Predictably, Shang Yan proved very “fast” and grabbed him by the back of the collar. “How fast am I… Want to try again?”
Qiao Yu struggled. “Why don’t you die of horniness?”
An arm wrapped around his waist. His center of gravity shifted, and he was thrown over a shoulder.
Qiao Yu thrashed twice, suddenly wary. “What are you doing?”
Shang Yan laughed fearlessly. “Don’t you know? Of course I’m doing you.”
Doing you… you… you! (groundhog scream)
When Qiao Yu landed on the bed, he went blank.
“Wait, Shang Yan. You’re serious?”
His voice trembled faintly. He truly seemed frightened.
Seeing the normally fearless man look this way softened Shang Yan’s heart. Yet his fingers landed on the zipper of Qiao Yu’s newly donned jacket and pulled it down.
He bent close, stroked the soft ends of Qiao Yu’s hair at his neck, and soothed hoarsely, “Relax. You said I’m fast. I won’t delay you long.”
“I was wrong, Shang Yan. You’re not fast at all.”
Qiao Yu was not the sort to keep charging into a wall. When an apology was needed, he offered one with utmost sincerity.
Shang Yan scoffed and murmured slowly beside his ear, “Too late, Qiao Yu.”
“Shang Yan, are you asking for a beating?”
Shang Yan touched Qiao Yu’s trembling lower lip, his smile bewitching. “You promised me one more time after the Instance… Coax me properly. Be good.”
Qiao Yu: ??
If he remembered correctly, he had promised nothing!
**
Time passed. After three in the afternoon, Qiao Yu finally ate the hotpot he had craved.
The price had been rather high, but never mind that for now.
His hand ached too much to lift, so he obediently opened his mouth for a certain person to feed him, adding a free eye roll each time.
As he ate, vague memories flashed of himself pestering Director Song.
Apparently, he had helped solve quite a few cases over the past six months…
“Wait!” Qiao Yu suddenly looked at Shang Yan. Under his puzzled gaze, Qiao Yu quickly swallowed the meat in his mouth. “I solved several cases with rewards for Director Song. Now that I’m alive again, shouldn’t they pay me?”
Once he decided, Qiao Yu could not wait a minute.
Before dark, Shang Yan drove him to the police station-Qiao Yu’s second visit, in a manner of speaking.
Before Qiao Yu could ask for money, Director Song grasped Shang Yan’s hand, visibly moved. “Xiao Shang, why are you here? Is it about today’s case? Didn’t you say on the phone that you would send a Ms. Kong? Why did you personally come supervise?”
Questions struck Shang Yan from every direction. He did not know which to answer first.
Director Song was simply too… too, too, too enthusiastic.
Qiao Yu hurried forward, waving for attention. “Uncle Song, never mind the case. I came for the rewards I never collected-”
“We can discuss that later. Xiao Shang, this way.” Director Song ignored Qiao Yu completely and smilingly pulled Shang Yan away. “We’ll talk as we walk.”
Qiao Yu: “…”
My money!
“Here’s the situation. A serial murder case has occurred at No. 4 High School. Our preliminary investigation found no useful clues. There were no usable fingerprints on the murder weapons, nor any trace of a second person.
“Every suspect has an alibi for one reason or another. There’s also a ghost story circulating in the school. We suspect the case may involve something supernatural…”
Kong Xianya rushed through the entrance in a panic. “Sorry, sorry! Reporting to Director Song. I accidentally fell asleep on the subway and missed my stop, stop, stop… Director? Why are you here?”
She looked at Qiao Yu peering over Shang Yan’s shoulder, equally baffled. “Why are you here too?”
Shang Yan did not answer. Expressionless, he struck her with a thunderbolt. “Kong Xianya slept on duty. One day’s pay deducted.”
“Why?!” Kong Xianya’s eyes widened. She pointed at Qiao Yu to divert the disaster. “He sleeps in the office! Every single day! I only slept for a little while!”
Shang Yan glanced at Qiao Yu. “Three days’ pay deducted.”
Kong Xianya always spoke before thinking. She covered her troublesome mouth and pitifully apologized to Qiao Yu. “Sorry. I got carried away again…”
Qiao Yu waved magnanimously. “It’s fine. He meant three days of your pay.”
Kong Xianya stared and hurriedly sought confirmation from Shang Yan. When he nodded, she collapsed. “Why?!”
Qiao Yu tilted his head and added the final blow. “Because… love?”
At that, Kong Xianya forgot her money and eagerly asked, “The substitute got promoted that quickly?”
Before Qiao Yu could answer, Shang Yan’s cold voice arrived. “Kong Xianya reads novels at work. One week’s pay deducted.”
“I…”
Qiao Yu quickly pinched her lips between two fingers, showing rare kindness. “Stop talking. At this rate, you’ll work the whole month for free.”
Kong Xianya pouted with a “duck bill,” nearly crying. “…”
Why, why, why?
Displeased that Qiao Yu still held Kong Xianya’s mouth, Shang Yan grabbed his arm and pulled him behind himself. “Director Song, please continue.”