Chapter 269: Grilling Fish in the Rain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du drove Sophie home, and only once he made sure that everything was okay did he leave.
Before leaving, Li Du said, “Set my number on speed dial. If anything happens, call me immediately, ok?”
Sophie showed him her phone and said with a bashful smile, “I’ve already set it. I feel that you’re someone who’s reliable.”
That bashful smile blew away all the worries caused by Rose’s recount of her past. After seeing the lights of Sophie’s home go off, he finally drove back.
He overslept. The next day, it was late in the morning when he awoke. He went out of bed, opened the door, and a familiar face appeared in front of him. It was Rose, who was staring straight at him.
Li Du jumped in shock, and yelled, “Sh*t, what the hell?”
Without expression, Rose asked, “Yesterday, I was drunk, right?”
“Seemed so,” Li Du nodded.
“What did I say last night? Did I say anything personal?” Rose’s face started to turn grim.
Li Du shook his head. “Don’t think so—do you think you said something private?”
“From what I remember, I said some stuff when I was feeling groggy.”
Li Du continued to firmly deny it. “You must have hallucinated when you were drunk. You didn’t say anything, and went to sleep once you came back.”
Aghast, Rose asked, “Then who changed my clothes last night? Who wiped my face and arms?”
“Don’t look at me with those eyes, it wasn’t me,” Li Du hastily tried to explain. “Sophie helped you.” He was worried that the female cop might reach for her gun at the way things were going.
Hearing his words, Rose deflated. “D*mmit, I knew I wasn’t hallucinating. I really did say some nonsense when you and Sophie were beside me!”
“Huh?”
“I remember saying a bunch of things after getting into my room,” Rose said. “You and Sophie both heard me, and then Sophie helped change my clothes and clean me up.”
Li Du said, “If I said that only the first half of that was a hallucination, while the latter half did happen, would you believe me?”
Rose coldly said, “If I said that the bullets in my gun were made of rubber, would you believe me?”
“No,” Li Du replied helplessly.
Rose gave a furious kick to the door, yelling, “D*mn it! I really said those things! D*mn it, d*mn it! Why did I get drunk? It must have been your alcohol!”
“Hans made the liquor—nothing to do with me.” Li Du quickly tried to clear his name.
Rose sat on the couch, her face as grim as the sky outside.
After two continuous months of strong heat and sunshine, it was finally about to rain.
Li Du didn’t know what else to say, so he sat beside her silently.
Ah Meow stretched and walked out. It was a sensitive cat. Once it detected the abnormal atmosphere, it immediately stopped stretching and plodded onto Li Du’s lap, also keeping silent.
Crispy Noodles came out, and seeing Ah Meow being quiet, it too hushed up.
After half an hour, gales started to form outside. Rose finally spoke: “Did you shut the windows?”
“No,” Li Du replied.
“Have you made breakfast?” she asked.
Li Du blanked out for a moment, and then said, “Also no.”
“Then what are you sitting here for?” Rose shouted angrily. “It’s going to rain soon—hurry up and close the windows, and go make breakfast!”
Li Du shrugged. He guessed that he should just do what Rose wanted for now.
With the incident brought to a close, Rose never said anything about it again, and Li Du refrained from speaking of it.
Following the gales, heavy rain came pouring down.
Li Du stood near the windows and stared outside. The streets were starting to flood. The drainage system could not drain the rainwater in time. Rivers started flowing with the clogged rainwater.
When the wind slightly weakened, he opened the window.
The wind was cool from the rain. After such a long period of heat, being able to experience such winds suddenly felt so good that the hairs on Mr. Li’s legs quivered with pleasure.
Rose opened the door and prepared to leave for work. Li Du asked, “With such heavy rain, do you want to just call in sick?”
The female cop scoffed and exclaimed, “I’m a cop! We can’t just do that!”
She walked out of the door, and came back again, saying, “What happened last night, just treat it as gibberish. Do not tell anyone anything, understand?”
Li Du replied with a displeased tone, “Do I seem like one those people who have such loose tongues?”
“You don’t, but you might accidentally tell Hans. That b*stard Hans is definitely one of those people!” The lady cop said.
Li Du thought that this made sense, and couldn’t argue with it.
The lady cop hesitated. “Please pass the message to Dr. Martin, and ask her not to spread anything either.”
“I will,” Li Du said.
The lady cop remained hesitant, and continued, “Li, I’m serious. Please don’t let this out.”
“I won’t,” Li Du promised.
She shook her head and said, “No, you don’t understand. The reason why I came to Flagstaff to be a cop was all for this case. The killers might be in Flagstaff!”
Li Du thought that the reason why she didn’t want her personal information leaked was to protect her privacy. He didn’t expect there to be a much more serious reason.
“Really?” he asked. “How do you know?”
“I investigated it, but the case eventually turned cold. The morons in San Fran couldn’t crack it in the end. After getting into college, I studied criminology, and have been investigating the case all this time. Finally, I’ve found out that those two pieces of trash could very well be in Flagstaff.”
As she spoke, her tone became more frigid.
Li Du said, “I won’t tell anyone about this. If you have anything you need help with, why not ask me? You know that my observation skills are top-notch.”
Rose nodded and left, giving him an appreciative glance as she went off.
It was still early in the day. With the rain pouring down mercilessly, he had no other places to go, so he read some books at home.
In the afternoon, he was alone, and seeing that there was some fish in the fridge, he decided to make some grilled fish jerky.
It was simple to make. Rose’s house had a balcony. Setting up the grill, opening all the windows there, and with the help of a fan, there would be no grease or fumes left in the house.
The weather remained the same. Li Du sat on the balcony, which had a small roof over it, and placed the fish on the grill. It was cut into two parts, one slathered with oil and splashed with chili spices, the other was just simply baked.
Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles sat obediently at the side, looking up with their eyes wide. They were looking at the fish on the grill, full of anticipation.
The aroma slowly rose off of the meat. Ah Meow couldn’t resist swallowing its saliva. Finally, it couldn’t take it anymore and started bouncing up and down, staring at the meat; each bounce went about three feet high.
The meat was cooked to medium, so Li Du took it off and gave Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles each a piece.
Ah Meow wolfed down its share, and turned around to snatch the meat that was halfway in Crispy Noodles’s mouth.
Crispy Noodles had a dumbfounded look on its face after having its share snatched. I only took a bite!
Li Du quickly gave it another piece, and Ah Meow wolfed down that share, but still wanted to fight for more.
This time, Crispy Noodles had its guard up. It stuffed the meat to its backside and sat on it. Crispy Noodles flashed its fangs with its eyes wide, growling threateningly at Ah Meow.
Ah Meow flashed its sharp claws, and seeing such, Crispy Noodles gave up. It moved over despondently, revealing the squashed piece of meat.
