Su Yang: That's good. Take care of yourself.
He sent that reply and put his phone away. If she did not want him involved, why insist on meddling? He picked up the brown-rice green tea beside him and took a small sip. The roasted brown rice blended with premium green tea, its powerful toasted-rice aroma numbing his sense of smell.
He glanced at the newspaper lying atop the file. The front-page headline concerned the body dumped in the busy food street. He put down his cup and read the report carefully. According to a source, the police had found absolutely no clues regarding the suspect and were unlikely to catch the killer in the short term. The newspaper had also invited a certain famous psychologist to analyze the offender's motive. The psychologist claimed the killer specifically targeted women and was highly likely to offend again.
Su Yang half narrowed his eyes and threw the paper into the wastebasket under his desk.
Reporting like this did nothing but increase public panic. Apparently even a half-baked amateur could be called a famous psychologist now. The psychologist had written at great length, but almost all of it was nonsense—the killer was psychologically twisted, he was retaliating against women, he might kill again. Couldn't anyone with half a brain work that out? But once a psychologist said it, suddenly it sounded especially persuasive.
Su Yang despised this type of reporting. It was neither professional nor considerate of readers' feelings. Still, one point in the article did attract his attention: the offender had left no evidence, the police had found no clues to the suspect's identity, and the killer had been labeled a highly intelligent perpetrator of the perfect crime.
"Perfect crime?" Su Yang smiled. The media truly feared nothing except a quiet world, deliberately writing something like that. If the killer saw it, his urge to offend would probably grow even stronger.
Su Yang finally understood why He Jun had come looking for him now. The pressure from above was probably considerable.
…
When Meng Xuecheng came out of the director's office, his face was livid. Everyone in the office looked at one another with unusually grave expressions. No one wanted to provoke Meng Xuecheng at a moment like this. Lin Xiu hesitated, then stood anyway. Fu Wenye, sitting nearby, instantly looked tragic. He pressed his palms together and murmured "Amen." Xu Xiaojing beside him shook her head at Lin Xiu too.
"Captain Meng, I found some information about those shoes," Lin Xiu said, ignoring them and summoning his courage.
Meng Xuecheng had already pulled a cigarette halfway out of his trouser pocket. Hearing Lin Xiu, he pushed it back in and stopped to look at him. "Go on." One look at Lin Xiu's expression told him it was probably not good news.
"Bai Yu and Wang Minxi were wearing shoes from the same brand, WK. Bai Yu's beige flats were a style released in the summer of 2010. Wang Minxi's pair was also released that year, although the style was different." Lin Xiu brought out comparison photographs of the shoes. "WK has 351 branches in Linqi City and at least six thousand nationwide. Both pairs were mass-market designs. They were inexpensive, so they sold extremely well… But production stopped completely in 2015."
Meng Xuecheng said nothing. Everyone else silently lit two imaginary candles for Lin Xiu and had even started considering what offerings they ought to burn for him on the anniversary of his death next year.
"Mm. You've all worked hard. Order something to eat in a bit." With that, Meng Xuecheng pulled the half-exposed cigarette back out and lit it, leaving a group of stunned colleagues staring at one another.
What was wrong with Captain Meng? Surely the pressure had not driven their captain insane!
Their concern for Meng Xuecheng lasted an astonishing half second. Truly impressive.
Then everyone whipped out their phones and ordered takeout.
People were not machines. Without physical strength, work efficiency suffered. Meng Xuecheng naturally understood that, which was why he let them fill their stomachs before doing anything else. About half an hour later, the rich smell of food spread through the office. Fu Wenye clutched a bowl of spicy beef rice noodles and devoured it wildly. The heat fought its way straight from his throat to his stomach, and a sudden surge of warmth rushed upward and circled his chest.
Lin Xiu watched his face turn crimson and could not help opening a bottle of cola, sticking in a straw, and handing it over. Fu Wenye stared at him with teary eyes and pouted. His swollen red lips were covered in oil and gleamed under the light. Fu Wenye sucked down two hard mouthfuls of cola to ease the burning.
Goose bumps rose all over Lin Xiu when he saw Fu Wenye deliberately acting cute. After Fu Wenye finished eating, he noticed an untouched takeout box on the table behind them and asked curiously, "Whose is that one in the back? The captain's?" Meng Xuecheng did not seem to have come out since returning to his own office, and Lin Xiu was wondering whether he should take the food over.
"Jiang Xuanqing's." Meng Xuecheng set down the milk tea in his hand.
"Holy shit! When did you get here?!"
Meng Xuecheng had come over as soon as the takeout arrived, picked up his own meal, and sat in a corner eating slowly. Fu Wenye had obviously been starving; his entire mind had been on food and he had cared about nothing else.
Meng Xuecheng gave a dry laugh. "Looks like you're the only one here who's finished eating. Since that's the case, take Xuanqing's food over to him."
Every hair on Fu Wenye's body stood on end. He shook his head and waved both hands, using every ounce of strength to reject the assignment. "I-I-I'm too full. I can't walk."
"If you're too full, you should exercise. Don't sit still after stuffing yourself. In our line of work, your body is your capital." Meng Xuecheng spoke patiently. "Look, look. Everyone else is still eating. You're the only one finished. All you have to do is take him a meal while you're at it. He's been busy most of the day too and didn't even get time for lunch."
Fu Wenye raised one middle finger at Meng Xuecheng. Apparently deciding that was not enough, he raised the other too. "If you're so worried about him, take it yourself. Wouldn't a loving lunch delivery be sweet?" Fu Wenye felt that was not disgusting enough to get to Meng Xuecheng, so he put on a performance himself. He curled his right middle finger against his thumb, lifted the other fingers in an exaggerated delicate pose, pitched his voice high, and squeezed out what he imagined was an adorable tone. "Big Brother Xuanqing, I came to bring you your yummy lunchie."
"Oh? So I get that kind of treatment?" Jiang Xuanqing walked in smiling and looked kindly at Fu Wenye, whose fingers were still posed delicately.
"Meng Xuecheng, I swear I'll strangle you, chop you into one hundred and one pieces, and feed you to Ah Huang!" Fu Wenye hurled the threat viciously, slammed down the takeout, and fled at a brisk pace.
Meng Xuecheng bit his straw and looked at Jiang Xuanqing. "Who's Ah Huang?"
Jiang Xuanqing picked up the takeout, sat in Fu Wenye's chair, and lazily replied, "The Chinese village dog outside the municipal bureau."
After that little performance, much of the tense atmosphere created by the case dissipated. Even the usually unsmiling Lin Xiu could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.
4:00 P.M. Linqi City Central Hospital
Su Yang got off work on time. He had just entered the parking lot when he received a call from Sally's school.
"Mr. Su, Sally has been crying constantly and won't speak. We don't know whether she's sick. Class ends in another half hour. If you're free, could you come pick her up early?"
The female teacher sounded very worried. Su Yang quickened his pace and climbed into his car. "All right. I'll come immediately. About ten minutes."