NOS Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Birch Bridge (3)

Dududu—

The increasingly warm bathroom cooled down instantly due to a knock on the door. Guan Yao hurriedly put down the showerhead and frantically helped Yu Chunming put on his clothes. “I’ll go open the door.”

Yu Chunming was tying the drawstring of his pajama pants with one hand. He waved his hand and said, “Go ahead, I can manage on my own.”

Guan Yao was speechless. “You can do it again now?”

Yu Chunming raised an eyebrow at him, “Is that not allowed?”

Guan Yao could only force a smile, “Allowed, allowed.”

He sighed, dried his hands, and went to open the door, not forgetting to shout towards the bathroom, “Your coat is draped over the back of the sofa, remember to put it on when you come out…”

“Guan Yao?” Before he could finish, Jiang Min’s voice came from outside the half-open door.

She had been waiting for a long time, a full three and a half weeks since the day she went to the Linchang Police Station to deliver dumplings.

Where did Yu Chunming go? She didn’t know.

Why had the door across the hall been closed all the time? She still didn’t know.

Jiang Min was occasionally uneasy, and would sometimes wander around the Linchang Police Station, but she never saw Yu Chunming.

Until this morning, when the two of them noisily returned home.

“Where did you guys go for the past few days?” Jiang Min asked directly.

Guan Yao was taken aback and looked back at Yu Chunming.

Yu Chunming was standing with one arm slung in front of his chest, wiping his face with a towel in the other hand. He had just walked out of the bathroom when he looked up and saw Jiang Min outside the door.

“Oh, we, we went to Songlan on a business trip,” Guan Yao said vaguely, “There was a case in Songlan, went to handle it.”

Jiang Min blinked, seemingly not believing his words.

But Yu Chunming interjected at this moment, “The dumplings that day… I left them for a colleague on duty at the station. We left for Songlan in a hurry, sorry about that.”

Jiang Min still looked at him without saying a word.

Yu Chunming added, “I’ll go to the station in a couple of days and bring back the lunchbox, and then…”

“You’re injured?” Jiang Min interrupted him.

Yu Chunming froze, his gaze drifting towards Guan Yao.

Guan Yao casually said, “He twisted his shoulder, it’s nothing serious, he’ll be fine after resting for a couple of days, Auntie Jiang, don’t worry.”

Jiang Min still stared fixedly at Yu Chunming, and after a long while, slowly said, “I’m out of sesame paste, do you have any here?”

“Yes, plenty.” Guan Yao breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen, “I’ll get you a jar.”

Half a minute later, the two of them saw off the suddenly visiting Jiang Min.

Guan Yao forced a smile, closed the door, and stood in the entryway, listening to the sound of the door being locked across the hall. Only after confirming that the person had entered the apartment did he dare to turn around and look at Yu Chunming’s face.

But Yu Chunming was as usual, with not even a trace of abnormality in his expression. He put on his coat and opened the refrigerator, “This curd has turned black, I’m throwing it in the trash.”

Guan Yao slowly walked to his side, “You…”

“I’m hungry,” Yu Chunming said, “Let’s steam some buns.”

So, Guan Yao tactfully swallowed the words he had originally wanted to say.

That morning, the two of them ate, and after cleaning up the house, which was so dusty from not being lived in for days, Yu Chunming insisted on going to the hospital to see Fang Wang and Meng Changqing. But with Guan Yao’s insistence, he had to lie down and rest for a while first. Who knew that the person who had not fully recovered from his injuries was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, not waking up until the sun was setting outside.

Guan Yao was on the phone in the living room.

Yu Chunming lay in bed, not hearing clearly, vaguely knowing that he was talking about the special police searching for He Wang. So, after waiting for a long time, until Guan Yao finished the phone call and started flipping through the files with a “swish” sound, Yu Chunming got out of bed.

“Did someone from the station come this afternoon?” he asked.

Guan Yao turned around, “You’re awake?”

Yu Chunming yawned and reached for the cigarette case and lighter that someone had “hidden” under the coffee table.

“What are you doing, what are you doing?” Guan Yao slapped away Yu Chunming’s restless paw, “I’m telling you, you better quit smoking right now. If I catch you smoking again, it’s a five-hundred-yuan fine.”

“Five hundred yuan?” Yu Chunming was incredulous, “What kind of rule is that? What kind of cruel official are you, Officer Guan?”

Guan Yao sat there unmoving, “Newly issued family rules from the east-facing apartment on the fifth floor of Unit Five in the Linchang Staff Family Compound. I hope you can abide by them.”

Yu Chunming glared at him angrily.

“Glaring at me is useless,” Guan Yao smiled kindly, “Officer Yu, as a member of our Linchang Police Station’s Law Enforcement Team, and also as a member of this family, it’s best to obey the leader’s instructions.”

“Leader?” Yu Chunming sat down next to Guan Yao, “You seem to like being my leader.”

Guan Yao paused in flipping through the files, “I am your leader.”

“Really?” Yu Chunming moved closer to Guan Yao.

This distance was enough for him to send the heat of his breath to the side of Guan Yao’s face, but Yu Chunming held his breath, using this to relax the “enemy’s” vigilance. He continued to push his luck, and when Guan Yao realized that he had nowhere to hide, he lightly sighed, “Officer Guan, do you like managing me so much because you want to be my partner?”

Guan Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed, trying to remain calm.

So Yu Chunming began to intensify his efforts. First, he put his chin on Guan Yao’s shoulder, and then he put his hand under his arm and started fiddling with the files spread out on the table, “If you really want to be, I can reluctantly let you try it out for three months first. After the trial period is over, we can pick a day to officially start.”

“Reluctantly?” Guan Yao raised his voice.

“Yes, reluctantly,” Yu Chunming said seriously.

Guan Yao laughed, pulled out Yu Chunming’s hand, and closed the files on the table, “What do you want to eat tonight? Deputy Director Wang brought a Three-Scale Carp and two Yellow Catfish this afternoon, how about we stew them in a pot?”

Yu Chunming leaned lazily on the sofa and replied, “Whatever, add some frozen tofu too.”

But unfortunately, Guan Yao didn’t even have time to scrape the fish scales that night before he was called to the Municipal Branch Bureau by a phone call from the task force—this afternoon, someone near Beilin Village reported seeing an unfamiliar face suspected to be He Wang.

“I have to go, I probably won’t be back tonight,” Guan Yao said while putting on his clothes, “But I won’t necessarily go with the car, they’ve already left. Han Chen called me over, probably because there’s no one on duty at the bureau, you don’t have to worry.”

Yu Chunming leaned against the door with his arm in a sling, “Then I’ll bring you a late-night snack.”

“Late-night snack?” Guan Yao took a breath of cold air, “Save it, don’t order from the kitchen again.”

After saying that, he tucked the files under his arm and into his chest, “Go to bed early, don’t open the door for strangers.”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Yu Chunming said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “No wonder Guan Ning doesn’t want to stay home, with your nagging, anyone would have a hard time listening to it.”

Guan Yao finally left after turning back every few steps, and before leaving, he still wasn’t at ease, and went back upstairs to check his “impregnable” door lock again, before finally feeling somewhat relieved.

And Yu Chunming sat in the house, listening to the back-and-forth footsteps outside, wanting to laugh. He waited on the balcony for a full fifteen minutes before Guan Yao walked out of the courtyard gate.

“Really interesting,” Yu Chunming sighed.

He shook his head, preparing to turn off the dazzling overhead light, but just then, the sound of footsteps came again from outside.

“Hey, are you done yet?” Yu Chunming couldn’t bear it anymore and directly went to the entryway to open the door. But just as he pulled open the inner door, about to press the doorknob of the outer door, a warning bell suddenly rang in his heart—

The frequency of this person’s footsteps was completely different from Guan Yao’s.

Instantly, Yu Chunming froze.

The stairwell was very quiet, the footsteps disappeared, this person might have already left, or might be quietly staring at the light seeping through the crack in the door.

Yu Chunming could almost hear his own heartbeat, he waited for a long time, until the flickering voice-activated light completely went out, before gently turning the doorknob.

The stairwell was empty, only a strong gust of cold wind rushed towards him.

Whirr! What was lightly rustling under his feet?

Yu Chunming quickly followed the sound and looked down, only to see an envelope lying on the last step of the fifth floor. It seemed that the wind from opening the door had blown the letter from the doorway to the bottom.

Whose letter?

Yu Chunming’s scalp went numb, without thinking, he grabbed the letter and ran all the way downstairs.

At dusk, Zha Mu Er was snowing lightly again, a thin layer had just accumulated on the road surface, the streetlights in the distance had not yet been turned on, and the Linchang compound was still in darkness.

Yu Chunming stood downstairs, panting heavily, looking around.

In the night, several rows of gray brick buildings stood embracing each other, several scrapped cars were parked in the courtyard, and Guan Yao’s red “SUV” was among them. In the distance, a few waste cardboard boxes were piled outside the low-lying warehouse, and an old woman with a hunched back had just come down from the building across the street, preparing to pick out a few cardboard boxes that could be sold for money and take them home to collect.

So, where was the person who delivered the letter? Yu Chunming’s head was buzzing.

“What are you doing standing here?” Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.

Yu Chunming turned around and saw Qin Tian wrapped in a large cotton-padded coat, exhaling white breath, standing at the entrance of the building.

“Are you crazy? Aren’t you cold?” Qin Tian peeked his head out, glanced outside, and then threw the bag of garbage he was carrying into the flower bed. He asked, “Where did the trash can go, do you know? If you don’t know, I’ll just leave it here.”

Yu Chunming didn’t speak and turned around to go upstairs.

“Crazy,” Qin Tian spat and quickened his pace to follow him.

Jiang Min wasn’t home tonight, Qin Tian had invited a group of old men he knew from the billiard hall to drink.

When Yu Chunming entered the house, it was in full swing across the hall. One of the burly, round-waisted fat guys had found Jiang Min’s treasured record player from somewhere, preparing to sing along himself.

“Where did your mom go?” Yu Chunming frowned, reeking of alcohol.

Qin Tian was just about to close the door, but when he heard Yu Chunming’s words, he stuck half of his head out again. The man said with a cheeky smile, “She went to meet a man, does that concern you, police uncle?”

Yu Chunming’s face darkened.

Qin Tian hurriedly put his hands together, chanting, “Wrong, wrong, wrong, police uncle, don’t hit me, I’m a top ten good citizen.”

After chanting, he looked at Yu Chunming’s arm slung in front of his chest and laughed, “Hey, that’s not right, I think police uncle’s arm probably can’t hit me either, so calm down, calm down.”

As he spoke, Qin Tian “bang” closed the door.

Yu Chunming pressed his brow and looked around the stairwell again, confirming that there was no one there before turning around and entering the house.

The letter was still in his chest pocket, as if it were a red-hot iron.

After being blown by the cold wind downstairs for less than a minute, Yu Chunming’s face was already pale and his forehead was covered in cold sweat. He leaned against the door and rested for a long time before he had the strength to pull out the envelope with trembling hands.

As before, his name was written in the recipient field, and the handwriting on the letter was also, as usual, completely different from the past.

Of course, even though the handwriting was different, the content of the letter was not much different from the previous few letters, still those crazy words, those threats against him and his family.

After reading it word by word, Yu Chunming took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands.

Just to be safe, the candy box where he kept the letters was still locked in the drawer of his office. Although Yu Chunming couldn’t see the other six letters at this time, he remembered clearly what was written on them.

The first letter came from January of this year, delivered by Ge Xiaopei. The content of the letter was copied by Yu Chunming’s informant after being instructed by the suspect. The second letter came from May of this year, when Yu Chunming had just been released from the Songlan Hotel. The deliverer of this letter was unknown, because Yu Chunming was no longer qualified to access the surveillance footage at that time. However, the content and font of the letter were somewhat similar to the first letter, and it seemed that someone had specifically imitated the handwriting of the first letter. The time of the third letter’s delivery was only five days after the second letter’s delivery. Yu Chunming was scolded by Wang Zhen for receiving the second letter and fell ill at home. After being discovered by Han Chen, he spent another week in the hospital. When he returned home after being discharged, he found the third letter under the crack in the door.

As for the fourth letter, it was given to him by the clerk when Yu Chunming went to the pharmacy downstairs to buy painkillers. According to the clerk’s description, the person who left this letter was a child, who looked less than ten years old and was clearly hired by someone to earn pocket money.

The strangest was the fifth letter. When the fifth letter arrived, Yu Chunming was on the train to Zha Mu Er. He woke up early to wash up at the sink and found this letter on the shelf of the sink.

Adding the sixth letter, delivered by the “Second-Eighth Bar” bicycle, and the seventh letter received today, Yu Chunming could clearly feel that the person secretly staring at him was becoming more and more restless.

Next, would he, like He Wang, design a trap and fight to the death? Or would he persevere until he was brought down by these letters, unable to be a police officer anymore, unable to investigate his case?

Late at night, it was still noisy next door, and Auntie Wang had gone upstairs to knock on the door three times, but Qin Tian turned a deaf ear.

Yu Chunming sat at the table, unable to fall asleep because of the noise. He couldn’t help but think, why wasn’t Jiang Min home? Where did she go?

Along with this thought came the sentence that Guan Yao said in the hospital room: “After all, Jiang Min is still alive.”

After all, Jiang Min is still alive…

Yu Chunming was suddenly startled.

What did Guan Yao want to express? What was he trying to prove?

When these two questions re-entered his mind, Yu Chunming broke out in a cold sweat.

He had long determined that the “Yi Jun” who had been entangled with He Wang, that is, Qian Guowei, for many years, and had repeatedly tried to take his life, was because of hatred. But he never knew where “Yi Jun’s” hatred came from, nor did he know how big this hatred was, so that this person did not hesitate to change his appearance and change his name, just to chase him to the ends of the earth. Yu Chunming also didn’t know what exactly happened during this period, which eventually led to a change in the offensive and defensive positions, and He Wang suddenly turned around to kill “Yi Jun.”

Then, if—

What if the hatred that “Yi Jun” bore didn’t just come from himself? What if the cause of death of Yang Xiaowei and He Wang’s son had other secrets?

Yu Chunming shuddered. He seemed to see a dark shadow behind Qian Guowei, these shadows hiding in the dark turned around at the same time, revealing familiar faces.

Bang bang! Suddenly, two loud noises interrupted Yu Chunming’s thoughts, he looked up in astonishment, realizing that someone was smashing the door.

“Are you asleep?” Qin Tian wailed outside.

Yu Chunming frowned and bent down to put away the letter spread out on the table.

“Open the door quickly!” Qin Tian shouted, “I saw the light on, open the door quickly!”

Yu Chunming unhurriedly put away the letter, and then put everything on the table back in its original place, before getting up and walking towards the entryway.

But he didn’t open both doors completely, only pulled open the inner wooden door, and then opened a small window on the outer door, “What’s the matter?”

“Yes, there’s something.” Qin Tian slurred a bit, having drunk a lot.

Yu Chunming looked him up and down with a disgusted expression, “Whatever it is, talk about it tomorrow, it’s too late now, I’m going to sleep.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Qin Tian hit the outer door with a palm, directly sending a face full of dust to Yu Chunming, he swayed the wine bottle, stretched out a hand, “Lend me… a thousand yuan, I want, I want cash.”

Yu Chunming almost thought he hadn’t heard clearly, “What?”

“Lend me, one thousand, yuan, cash!” Qin Tian pointed behind him, “My brothers are waiting, you, you don’t embarrass me…”

Yu Chunming didn’t bother to pay attention and turned to pat the door to leave.

But just then, Qin Tian shouted, “Bro, bro, my own bro!”

Yu Chunming paused.

“Bro, lend me some,” Qin Tian showed an innocent smile.