Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Is this a prank? This mysterious ID might be a chunnibyou , thought Xiang Wan.
Or… he is really that twisted “manipulator”?
Xiang Wan’s scalp felt numb. She refreshed the page to see if there were any other replies… In the end, when she wanted to take a screenshot after the refresh, she realized that the comment had been deleted.
Did the mysterious ID deleted the comment himself or was it removed by the system due to its violent content?
Xiang Wan felt her heart tightly clasped. She wanted to ask Fang Yuanyuan but noticed that the time might be too late and endured it.
She lied on her bed, feeling perturbed and waited restlessly…
In the end, when she almost fell asleep, she had not gotten any message from Bai Muchuan.
There should be no reason for a meeting to drag till midnight and not yet finished?It was impossible.
Xiang Wan could not resist and eventually sent a message to Bai Muchuan: “What are you doing now?”
When couples chat, they seemed to like to use this sentence to start a conversation.
Xiang Wan looked at her message after she sent it. She felt she was both tacky and funny to have sent that.
But before she could send another message to explain, Bai Muchuan replied, “Thinking of you.”
“…”
How mushy!
But she felt… sweet inside.
The corners of Xiang Wan’s mouth turned upward.
“Young Master Bai is honey-tongued. What are you thinking about me?”
“Everything. I miss everything about you…”
He’s at it again!
Xiang Wan looked at those emotional words that made her heart race, and her ears started to feel warm.
It was strange. No matter how long she had been together with Bai Muchuan, she was unable to withstand his honeyed words. Whenever he did that, her heart would feel warm, her face would flush red, and her heartbeat would be uncontrollably fast. There was no such instance as “getting used” to his sweet words.
Oh no, oh no!
She was poisoned! By a poison called Bai Muchuan!
Xiang Wan placed a hand on her face as she laughed. “Since you missed me,” she teased, “why are you still loitering outside at this hour and not at home? Where did you go to enjoy yourself?”
After she sent the message, she started to scold herself for using the word “home”.
This was just their rented apartment, just a rented apartment.
Well, Bai Muchuan seemed to like that word. She could feel his happy mood when he replied to her message.
“I’m having dinner with the leaders. You should sleep earlier. You’re not a young girl anymore, so you should take care of yourself. I don’t want to marry an old-looking woman…”
D*rn! In less than three minutes, this fellow started to ridicule her.
He’s always sweet in one moment and mean, the other.
Xiang Wan no longer felt restless, and her eyes seemed brighter. It was certainly a pleasure to chat with someone she liked in the middle of the night. However, the thought that Bai Muchuan still had to attend to his superiors and leaders, she did not dare to continue such chit-chatting.
“Fine, I shall ask one question softly. The meeting you attended, is it good news or bad news?”
It was normal for Bai Muchuan to attend meetings or dinners. However, as this happened during this sensitive period, she was really worried and felt uneasy.
If Bai Muchuan couldn’t clear this doubt with her, she might overthink on that matter and could not sleep well because of that.
Nevertheless, Bai Muchuan seemed to not let her have her way.
“Make a guess?” He messaged.
Xiang Wan was totally wide-awake now as she stared hard at the message.
“Bai Muchuan, don’t hurt my weak, delicate nerves. When you reply that way, I feel so helpless…”
“Silly! I can’t bear to hurt you.” After that, Bai Muchuan sent another sweet message. “It’s late, hurry up, close your eyes and sleep. Otherwise, I’m going to get angry.”
“… I can’t seem to fall asleep.”
“How about I sing you a song?”
“…”
Sing what song?
Wasn’t he having dinner with his superiors?
“Stop fooling around, you go on ahead to eat… Don’t worry about me. I’ll read for a while and fall asleep in no time.”
“I’ll go to the washroom.” Bai Muchuan sent a firm message.
In less than two minutes, Xiang Wan’s phone rang.
“Hello…”
His deep, low voice was so gentle as though it came from far away and instantly pierced her maiden heart.
“What are you doing?” She smiled so sweetly and realized that her heart was beating furiously. She quickly lied on her stomach on the bed. “You’re really at the washroom?” she asked softly.
“Of course,” Bai Muchuan chuckled in a low voice, “I said I need to coax my darling to sleep, so I have to excuse myself.”
“… What? I don’t believe you at all!” Xiang Wan giggled.
Of course, she would never believe that Bai Muchuan would say that to his superior.
However, Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh. “It’s really true. If you don’t believe me, you can verify with him next time.”
“…”
Xiang Wan smiled as she bit her lower lip. She was already feeling glad just by hearing his voice. All those matters that had been bothering her seemed to have left her brain at that moment. “Alright, you can sing a song!”
“What song do you want to hear?” he asked softly.
His breathing was as though the sound of a breeze that could make her ears itch as it hovered around her ears…
Xiang Wan felt her nerves tickled in anticipation. “I don’t know… You choose something you like.”
“Alright! Let me think…” Bai Muchuan stayed quiet for a while.
Slowly, a deep singing voice was heard.
…
What makes me cry is not only last night’s wine.
What makes me linger is not only your tenderness.
How far is there to go? You clasped my hand.
What makes me stumped, is the struggling freedom.
Goodbyes are always in September where memories are sorrowful thoughts.
The green weeping willows in deep autumn kissed my forehead.
In this small rainy city, I have never forgotten you.
I can take everything away in Chengdu, except you.
Go for a walk with me through the streets in Chengdu.
Even if all the lights were out, we would still go on.
…
This song, “Chengdu”, was popular and well-known all over the country. When Bai Muchuan sang it, there was as if a natural magical force that grabbed Xiang Wan’s heart.
It sounded gentle and natural, and permeated into her hearing senses. She was immersed in the song, totally behaving like a girl who had a low resistance toward beautiful sounds.
Her eyes were watery from beginning to end; she did not utter a single word to interrupt him.
After a while, the singing stopped. She heard Bai Muchuan calling her name softly.
“Little Xiang Wan?”
Xiang Wan felt her throat a little tense. Before she could say anything, she heard a sigh from Bai Muchuan.
“You’re tired, right? Be good, sleep well, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Hm…” There was so much to say, but she could only utter a sound.
He had hung up the phone, but Xiang Wan’s brain was still playing the tune of the song, “Chengdu”, for a long time.
It was the first time that she thought this song was really nice. It was also the first time that she would love a song so much because she had fallen in love with someone.
Hence, she searched for this song on her mobile phone and placed it near her pillow on repeat mode.
Till she slept.
Till she woke up.
…
Now that Xiang Wan stopped writing, she woke up very early and kicked off her habit of lazing in her bed.
After washing up, she was preparing to leave for work and noticed that Cheng Zheng did not deliver breakfast today as well.
Suddenly, she felt a little thankful for Cheng Zheng’s mom.
If she did not come into the picture, Xiang Wan was really not sure how long this awkward issue of Cheng Zheng delivering breakfast every day would drag on.
Xiang Wan was so relieved as if a huge burden had been lifted off from her.
After getting ready, she carried her bag and went to take the subway.
The subway station was about one kilometer away from her neighborhood, and from the subway station, she needed to walk another kilometer to reach the Criminal Investigation Unit. She could use this opportunity to exercise as the distance was considered quite convenient. She actually looked forward to such a method of getting to work.
When she arrived at the office, Tang Yuanchu extended his hand the moment he saw there was breakfast on her hands.
“Thank you, Teacher Xiang, you’re so nice to buy me breakfast every day!”
Xiang Wan laughed in amusement. “You’re used to it, right?”
Tang Yuanchu took the breakfast and drank the milk. “Of course.” He blinked.
In actual fact, Xiang Wan did not have a high amount of salary. If she were to buy breakfast for them every day, she would really go broke in no time. Hence, for that morning, she only bought breakfast for herself and Bai Muchuan…
In the end, one set was taken away by Tang Yuanchu. “Where is he?” She asked after puffing a helpless sigh.
That word “he” shortened the distance between the both of them.
After all, in the entire team of detectives, only Tang Yuanchu knew about their actual relationship.
It felt good to be treated as the only one who knew about their secret. Hearing that, popular online celebrity Detective Tang had a smiling face.
“He’s not in.”
“He’s not in because he hasn’t come in or went out?”
“He hasn’t come in.”
Eh? Xiang Wan felt strange.
Yesterday night, Bai Muchuan did not come back to the rented apartment, either.
And he did not return to the office to work overnight…
So where did he sleep for the night? Did he go back to his own house?
“Rest assured, he won’t get lost! Don’t worry.”
Tang Yuanchu took her breakfast after all, so he thought he should console her a sentence or two, only to see Xiang Wan blinking to him in an anxious manner…
Eh?! He was confused for a moment but finally understood. He laughed two times, pointed to his own desk, and left.
It was very quiet in the office.
Everyone was busy with their own work.
Xiang Wan sat on her desk, turned on her laptop, and started to work on her profiling analysis.
This was part of her work—no matter the development of the case, she had to have her own judgment.
Work is work, love is love. She had to separate love from work!
She spent the entire morning working on her profiling analysis. When it was lunch time, she still did not receive any news from Bai Muchuan.
Xiang Wan started to feel worried. She took her mobile phone for a look when Little Liu called out to her.
“Teacher Xiang, Teacher Xiang…”
Little Liu was the most gossipy person in the entire office. Most of the time, he was the source of many rumors as well as entertainment news.
Xiang Wan turned to him. “What’s up?”
Little Liu gestured for her to come closer.
Xiang Wan moved her chair to sit beside him and could not help letting out a chuckle. “What is it that you have to behave so mysteriously…”
Little Liu narrowed his eyes mysteriously and made a “hush” gesture. “Top secret!”
Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow. “World war coming?”
Pffft! Little Liu whispered, “It’s worse than the world war.”
Xiang Wan gave a frown. “What exactly is it? If you don’t tell me now, I’ll report you!”
“Don’t, don’t, don’t!”
Little Liu would frequently share with Xiang Wan the various gossips he knew.
Hence, he had too many “secrets” that Xiang Wan knew of.
The moment Xiang Wan came closer, he made an innocent and pitiful expression before calming down and looked serious.
“Do you know? Zhou Dequan’s case is going to shake up a lot of things, there’s going to be an earthquake…”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan was a little startled. “What happened?”
“This incident is just hearsay, don’t sell me out, alright?…” Little Liu looked around their surrounding before whispering again. “Yesterday, Captain Bai went to the Municipal Bureau for a meeting and had an argument with someone. I heard it was quite unpleasant…”
Xiang Wan felt her heart being clasped. “What happened later?”
“Well, Captain Bai’s not someone to mess around with.” Little Liu grinned, and as though he was reciting a story, he was especially animated. “Captain Bai directly escalated the matter to the heavens—he alerted the leaders at the capital. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said that an earthquake is coming!”
“Ah!” Xiang Wan was dumbstruck.
That surely sounded like what Bai Muchuan would do.
He had said that he wouldn’t compromise and would get to the bottom of the matter.
If he encountered an obstruction, he would definitely retaliate.
However, why was Little Liu, who worked in the office, knew about this whereas she, who followed Bai Muchuan about all day, was totally ignorant about this?
“Where did you hear this from? Such matters can’t be joked about!”
“When did I ever lie?” Little Liu took a glance at her before looking to his left and right, talking even softer than before. “I have a friend back when I was in the police academy who is now working in the Municipal Bureau. He just received such news… there’s no point for him to lie to me.”
Xiang Wan was taken aback. She stared at Little Liu for quite a while, unable to react.
There was already news from the Municipal Bureau, but why wasn’t Bai Muchuan back yet?
Little Liu saw her in a daze and reminded her, “Before this incident is officially announced, you better don’t tell anyone about it…”
Xiang Wan nodded her head. “Hm, I know. It’s just that a person like Zhou Dequan… Is it worth creating a big fuss over him?”
Little Liu pursed his lips. “Of course it’s not worth it if it’s only Zhou Dequan. But Captain Bai has a lot of evidence on hand, as well as the video on Zhou Dequan’s wife giving an account of what he did. That’s more than enough for some people to get worried. Anyway, Zhou Dequan can forget about coming out without paying for his sins… The upper levels not only wanted to deal with him, but they also want to pull out the people behind him. We’re going to drag out a string of people this time…”
Since he had said that, it should be true that an “earthquake” would be coming.
Xiang Wan was not sure how many people would be involved in Zhou Dequan’s case. But she was not as excited as Little Liu.
This was because she was very clear that Bai Muchuan’s act would stir up raging currents and might offend quite a lot of people…
She did not go to the canteen when Little Liu informed her it was meal time as she was worried about Bai Muchuan.
She continued to work. This time, she drew a relationship chart about the case as she mulled it over carefully and suddenly felt something amiss…
There were a lot of doubts in the case that had not been addressed. They had not even managed to find Mao Guigui’s body.
If there were people who wanted to close the case as soon as possible, would that mean—Zhou Dequan had been abandoned?
It was just like the time when he abandoned his brother-in-law, Jia An. Now, it was his turn to become someone who got abandoned.
Xiang Wan’s imagination ran wildly and got terrified by her own thoughts.
“What are you thinking about?” Someone knocked on her desk gently but still gave her a fright nonetheless.
She looked up in shock, and her expression seemed slightly pale.
That sight made Bai Muchuan’s originally eased eyebrows starting to crease up.
“What’s up? Why do you see me as if you’ve seen a ghost?”
The faint chilly sensation at her spine started to go away. “It’s nothing. It’s just you suddenly appearing out of nowhere. I’m not prepared, that’s all.”
“Why do you need to prepare to see me?” Bai Muchuan grunted. He walked over to look at her laptop. “Let me check if you have been doing something behind my back.”
Xiang Wan: “…”
On her laptop screen, there was a relationship chart.
In the picture, Zhou Dequan was not at the top of the food chain.
There was a mysterious person represented by a question mark which she shaded the head black.
He was related to all of the cases so far.
Up till this day, nobody knew who that person was.
After a short silence, Bai Muchuan put the laptop back on the desk.
“Not bad! You’re very hardworking!”
Xiang Wan did not bother with his comment. She pouted and looked at him. “Where did you go? You didn’t come back last night and even came in late today…”
Bai Muchuan smiled casually, his hands in his pockets. “I made a trip to the capital and just came back.”
“…”
“Why are you in a daze? Let’s go to eat! I’m so hungry. The food served on the plane really tasted bad!”
“…”
