WWY Chapter 4

Chapter 4 I’m Hungry. As a Police Officer…

Coming out of the interrogation room, Tuxi Ling immediately met with several of his subordinates.

Li Wu had been squatting in front of the computer with technician Xu since she returned, watching the surveillance footage.

Starting from 1:00 PM yesterday, besides Weiyu He and Lan He, and Qing Gu who drove them back, no one else had entered or left the He residence. They also saw family doctor Man Qin’s figure in the surveillance.

Between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM, he walked back and forth between his own room and Lan He’s room several times. This should be the time period when Lan He was feeling unwell, as Aunt Long mentioned. At 4:08 PM, he went to the deceased Weiyu He’s room, holding the yellow medicine bottle in his hand. When he came out, his hands were empty, and he went directly downstairs, leaving the He family villa through the front door.

“Still can’t find Man Qin?”

“Oh, the colleagues staking out Maple Leaf Street said that Man Qin hasn’t returned to his own house. We asked Aunt Long, and she said he hasn’t returned to the He residence either.”

Tuxi Ling thought for a moment, “Check his car.”

“Understood!” Li Wu muttered, “Logically speaking, with news flooding all major media outlets, he should know that his employer is dead, right? He should at least show his face, unless…”

“Actually, I’ve always suspected that he tampered with the medicine, but the motive is unclear. Lan He and Aunt Long both said he hasn’t shown any recent abnormalities.”

“Motive…” Li Wu was troubled.

Tuxi Ling tried to analyze, “Who has the strongest motive to kill Weiyu He? Who would benefit most from his death?”

Li Wu thought for a few seconds and suddenly made an “I knew it” gesture, “Si’nian He! Isn’t it said that people should settle down and establish a career? He’s worried that after Lan He’s marriage with the Gu family, he’ll start interfering in the company’s affairs and squeeze out him, the adopted son, so he had a wicked idea and wanted to get rid of both the He father and son. He went on a business trip, not knowing about Lan He and Ya Gu’s marriage, so he made a misstep… Wait, wait, Lan He’s marriage must have been a spur-of-the-moment decision, otherwise, why wouldn’t they wait for Si’nian He? He’s the most important representative of the He Corporation!”

She looked at Tuxi Ling expectantly, seeking praise.

Tuxi Ling disagreed, “Si’nian He has managed He Corporation well these past years, he’s been very diligent. If he had ulterior motives towards the He father and son, he wouldn’t have waited until today.”

Li Wu pouted, feeling that her boss was indeed her boss.

“The most important thing now is to find Man Qin and find out whether the medicine issue was due to his work negligence or whether it was premeditated! It’s also possible that it really was just an accident. We can’t arbitrarily define the case without evidence.”

“Yes!” Li Wu’s eyes darted around, and she asked the question in her mind, “Ling, are you sure it’s okay to let Lan He go so easily?”

Tuxi Ling looked at the computer screen. In the picture, Aunt Long’s figure was slowly passing through the foyer, holding a stack of neatly folded sheets in her hand.

He said firmly, “I believe him, based on my many years of criminal investigation experience, it wasn’t him!”

Li Wu admired Tuxi Ling very much, and hearing him say this, she had no further objections, “Ling, then I’ll go to the traffic police now and see if I can find Man Qin’s car through road surveillance!”

Tuxi Ling nodded, “Go!”

“Ding–”

The phone suddenly made a text message notification sound.

He was stunned for a moment, not even remembering what that sound was at first. After all, who still sends text messages these days?

He picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number, and the content was very simple, just three words.

[I’m hungry.]

The hand Tuxi Ling was holding the phone with slowly tightened, and he subconsciously looked at the Municipal Bureau office building not far away.

It was already past 12 noon. Seeing the word “hungry,” his stomach also felt empty and unsettled.

“Xu, you continue, I’ll go out for a while.”

“Okay, Ling, don’t worry, I’ll report any abnormalities as soon as I find them!”

Tuxi Ling went to the cafeteria and got two work meals. He had already walked out the door, but he went back and bought a latte and a pack of cigarettes.

A police officer next to him said, “Hey? Ling, you’ve started smoking too?”

Another said, “Your criminal investigation team must be under a lot of pressure!”

Tuxi Ling waved his hand, turned around, and quickly left.

–

Lan He leaned against the headboard, casually flipping through his phone.

The media was truly omnipresent. In just half a day, news about the He Corporation was everywhere on major social platforms, with all-round and multi-angle analyses of what happened today and the future direction of the group. Although most of it was fabricated, it did give the impression of a collapsing building from an outsider’s perspective. No wonder Xiao Cheng Chu was so anxious.

After watching for a while, someone finally knocked on the door. He curled his lips, put his phone on the pillow, and stretched his neck to open the door.

The beds at the reception area were too primitive; leaning on them for too long made his body stiff.

Unit Chief Ling, who was nearly 190 cm tall, was carrying a boxed lunch. His upright figure blocked the light in the corridor completely. Upon closer inspection, he had an unnatural expression on his face.

Lan He covered his neck and didn’t show the slightest surprise at his arrival. After opening the door, he didn’t even look at him directly, turning around and walking back.

Two strands of hair on the side of his head, pressed and sticking up, swayed with his movements. Tuxi Ling, watching him from behind, felt a slight urge to help him press them down, but he resisted.

He put the boxed lunch on the table, removing the packaging bag. Lan He had just shaken the water off his hands and came out of the bathroom.

He glanced at the food, “You’re only treating me to this?”

Tuxi Ling explained, “I was afraid you were in a hurry, so I just bought something at the cafeteria. If it doesn’t suit your taste, there’s a good noodle shop across the street…”

He felt awkward, remembering that the first time they met, it was also over a bowl of noodles…

–

Early morning, the warm spring sunlight sprinkled on the streets, glittering with metallic brightness everywhere.

The Municipal Bureau and the neighboring city’s public security jointly cracked a major case of human trafficking. Tuxi Ling was a major contributor to solving the case and exceptionally received three consecutive days of leave.

Having hardly slept for three days and three nights, he came out of the Criminal Investigation Detachment feeling like he was walking on cotton, his steps unsteady.

He shouldn’t drive in this state, he thought.

He wanted to find a taxi, but looking at the crowded roads during the morning rush hour, he dismissed the idea and decided to walk through two streets to take the subway.

In his severely sleep-deprived state, the sounds of honking horns and engine noise on the road sounded like a broken drum covered in leather, booming and chaotic, irritating him. So, he chose a relatively secluded street.

The spring breeze on his face was still chilly, but a young man wearing a pure white short-sleeved T-shirt was walking towards him.

His body was as slender as a willow tree just sprouting in spring, and his face was even paler than his, who hadn’t slept for three days, but his eyes were unusually clear.

Tuxi Ling subconsciously looked at those black gemstone-like eyes, and then, the two made eye contact.

His brain was slower than usual due to fatigue, and with his hands in the pockets of his light down jacket, he stared blankly as the other person approached him.

The other person didn’t seem to be afraid of the cold, and only after staring into his eyes did he stop in front of him and say, after several seconds, “I’m hungry.”

Tuxi Ling blinked, and a question mark slowly formed in his mind.

Perhaps this question mark accidentally broke through the top of his head and revealed its true form, causing the other person to laugh and repeat, “I’m hungry, I lost my wallet, can you treat me to a meal?”

Tuxi Ling scratched his messy hair and nodded as if possessed, also taking off his down jacket and putting it on him, leaving himself in just the single sweatshirt he was wearing underneath.

He was originally filled with thoughts of rushing home to sleep for a whole day and night, but the police officer’s mission was deeply rooted in him. He couldn’t turn a blind eye to someone in need of help.

Since he hadn’t had breakfast anyway, they might as well eat together!

He took this strange fellow to his usual noodle shop nearby and ordered two identical bowls of beef noodles—four taels of Longxu noodles, with an extra tea egg each.

The two people ate noodles face to face without saying a word. Tuxi Ling was just too tired, while the other person seemed to be starving.

He slurped down a bowl of noodles in a few gulps, comfortably exhaled, pushed away the bowl, and said, “Thank you for the treat!”

Tuxi Ling also put down his chopsticks, not wanting to eat anymore.

Sleepiness was above all else.

Unexpectedly, the other person made a new request, “Can you take me back to the hotel? I should also return the clothes to you!”

Tuxi Ling forced his eyelids open, his voice hoarse, “You’re from out of town? If you lost your wallet, it’ll be troublesome to replace your ID and everything.”

The other person smiled helplessly, “Yeah, it is!”

Tuxi Ling still fought through his sleepiness and took him back to a nearby express hotel. He originally thought that dropping him off at the lobby would be enough, but he had no intention of returning the clothes at all and went straight to the elevator. He had no choice but to follow him up.

Since he was already up, he couldn’t open his mouth even more. Moreover, being blasted by the warm air in the elevator, his eyelids felt heavier than before, and his body felt a little weak.

The other person took out a room card and opened the door, revealing a double bed room with a small suitcase by the door.

He took off the loose down jacket, and Tuxi Ling hurriedly reached out to take it, but he acted as if he didn’t see his movement, turning around and hanging the jacket on the hanger.

Another question mark formed in Tuxi Ling’s mind.

He smiled at him, “Thank you for today. It’s pretty cold outside, have a cup of hot tea before you go!”

Saying that, he took out two tea bags from the drawer and shook them, “Don’t mind it, it’s the hotel’s free supply, I’m penniless now, I can only offer you this.”

Tuxi Ling had a good impression of him, he was sunny, handsome, polite, and the dimples on his cheeks were eye-catching. Now he found out that he also had an interesting personality, so he smiled back at him without refusing.

As a police officer, when encountering a foreign tourist who has lost his wallet and needs help, he should be more concerned, right?

The only chair in the room was piled with folded clothes, so Tuxi Ling had to sit on the bed, watching him boil water and make tea on the other side of the partition.

The white curtains of the huge floor-to-ceiling window blocked the harsh sunlight, and a faint fragrance floated in the room, occasionally mixed with the freshness of black tea.

His eyelids started to flutter wildly, and he only felt that the light in front of him was getting darker and darker, and finally completely disappeared.