WWY Chapter 68
by VolareBy the time Tuxi Ling arrived at the cargo dock, the rain was pouring down. It was already six in the morning, but there wasn’t a sliver of daylight.
He parked in the dock’s parking lot, followed closely by another car. It was You Ba bringing a fellow officer from their station as backup.
“Team Ling!” You Ba was also drenched, barely able to open his eyes. “You can’t act alone!”
The rain was too heavy. Ling Tuxi shouted back with equal volume, “It’s not really an operation, I’m just here to take a look!”
You Ba pointed inside the dock, “Let’s go together!”
Giant gantry cranes stood resiliently in the rain. Some of the spreaders had already begun to move slowly. The rain wouldn’t affect the dock’s normal operations; it was brightly lit inside.
Tuxi Ling nodded gratefully and, leading the two of them, found the Gu’s Trading cargo area from memory.
Gu’s had already started work. Forklifts and cranes were pushed aside, and several workers braved the rain, closing the doors of two shipping containers.
Surprisingly, this early in the morning and in such heavy rain, Ya Gu was personally supervising.
She was wearing a light trench coat, holding an umbrella in one hand and talking on the phone with the other.
Tuxi Ling couldn’t hear what she was saying, but soon, the gantry crane, dozens of meters high, slid over and slowly descended, fitting perfectly onto the container.
Were they about to load it onto a ship?
Tuxi Ling quickly ran towards her. “Ms. Gu, wait!”
They suddenly burst out of the darkness in the pouring rain, their clothes sticking to their bodies, looking as strange as could be. Ya Gu seemed startled, but after a moment of examination, she recognized him. “Officer Ling?”
Seeing the container being taken away by the crane, Tuxi Ling hurriedly asked, “Are you loading and shipping cargo today?”
Ya Gu nodded. “What’s wrong? Do you need to see the documents?”
“No need.” Tuxi Ling wiped the rain from his eyes. “But I want to see the cargo!”
Ya Gu revealed an incredulous smile. “How is that possible? The containers are already sealed. Do you have a search warrant?”
Tuxi Ling shook his head.
Ya Gu’s delicate red lips curved upwards. “Then I’m afraid I can only apologize, Officer Ling!”
She gestured for the three policemen to leave the cargo area.
Tuxi Ling blinked his eyes, which were stinging from the rain, and glared at her. “Can you wait a moment? I’m calling the bureau now to apply for a search warrant!”
“Please do, but this cargo ship will depart promptly at 7:08. Whether you can make it in time is up to you!” Ya Gu coldly shifted her gaze, holding her umbrella as she walked into the warehouse.
Tuxi Ling looked back at You Ba, who was soaked like a drowned chicken, frowning with a look of suffering.
This situation was indeed not very friendly to germaphobes.
So, he waved at the two well-meaning officers who had come to assist, and shamelessly followed Ya Gu into the warehouse. “Don’t mind if we borrow a place to take shelter from the rain, Ms. Gu?”
Ya Gu handed the wet umbrella to her assistant. “Be my guest.”
Tuxi Ling took out his phone, shook off the water, and finally managed to unlock it with his fingerprint.
After some arguing with Tian Kun, he finally managed to secure a search warrant. He said he would send someone to deliver it. After hanging up, he looked at the time. It was already 6:22.
“Ms. Gu, you heard that too. The bureau has issued the search warrant. I’m afraid we won’t have enough time, so can we open the container first?”
“That wouldn’t be good, would it? Besides, the container is mine, but the ship isn’t. Why don’t you talk to the captain and see if he’s willing to cooperate with you and delay the departure time without a search warrant.”
She was clearly being uncooperative. Tuxi Ling suppressed his anger and asked, “If the captain agrees, will you open the container?”
Ya Gu looked at the rain outside, where the sky and earth were indistinguishable, and smiled indifferently. “Let’s talk about it when the documents arrive!”
Under normal circumstances, it would take nearly half an hour to get from the Public Security Bureau to the dock. In this kind of rainy weather, and during morning rush hour, it would take more than twice as long. Even if official police cars weren’t restricted, they couldn’t fly. She was clearly deliberately making things difficult.
You Ba also saw through it, stopped wringing out his clothes, and said unhurriedly, “Ms. Gu, why are you not cooperating with the inspection? Do you have something to hide?”
Ya Gu glanced at the unfamiliar young policeman and coldly “hmph’d” without answering. Instead, she began to inspect other goods in the warehouse, occasionally raising her wrist to check the time.
6:47. Time was passing so slowly!
–
The heavy rain that started late at night caused the mountains and forests to tremble. After a bright flash of lightning, a deafening thunderclap exploded overhead, louder than firecrackers during the New Year.
Lan He suddenly opened his eyes, his heart pounding.
He half-lay in the covers, motionless, with one eye peeking through the crack in the half-open curtains. Outside, streaks of light flashed one after another, as if he had returned to the night Weiyu He was killed.
The urge to urinate was pressing, so he reluctantly reached out from the warm covers and turned on the bedside lamp. Before going to the bathroom, he glanced at the square artistic alarm clock on the bedside table. It was just after six.
The rain was too noisy; he didn’t want to sleep anymore.
Coming out of the bathroom, he sat on the bed to wake up for a while, turned on the main light, and took out the half-finished notebook from the drawer, the one where he was copying Qin Man’s poems.
Following his memory, he continued to fill in the words, trying to complete those nonsensical poems.
Before he could write a few words, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The door was pushed open, and Lan He was surprised to see Si’nian He. He couldn’t help but frown.
Bad luck. He knew he shouldn’t have let him in!
Si’nian He looked ingratiating. “Brother, I saw you turn on the light. Up so early?”
Lan He lowered his eyes and continued writing, casually asking, “When did you get back?”
Si’nian He knew Lan He didn’t want him to come back, and carefully watched his face to clarify. “I drove back to the city late last night and ran into the rain. The car was hard to drive, so I went home nearby to take shelter from the rain.”
“Mm.”
Lan He didn’t even look up when he responded. Si’nian He was a little embarrassed, but since he had finally gotten an “audience,” he didn’t plan to leave just yet.
He moved closer. “Brother, are you drawing… oh?”
He thought Lan He was drawing, but he didn’t expect him to be writing random words all over the notebook, like he was doing a crossword puzzle.
Lan He “slammed” the notebook shut and looked up at him impatiently, his eyes cold. “Do you need something?”
“No, nothing…”
“Then aren’t you leaving?”
“Brother, I’m sorry.” Si’nian He didn’t know why he was apologizing. He hated himself too. He went weak in the knees when he saw Lan He. Saying he was destined to be suppressed by him was an understatement.
Lan He had been concentrating on recalling the words on that page just now, and was suddenly interrupted. His face was not good. He rubbed his throbbing temples. “According to Dad’s will, this house seems to belong to me. Now it’s my home. I don’t want anyone entering my home without permission!”
“Brother, don’t be like this. What did I do wrong?”
Lan He didn’t bother to say more to him. He casually stuffed the notebook into the drawer, jumped off the swivel chair barefoot, and prepared to go downstairs for breakfast first, waiting for the annoying pest to leave before continuing.
Si’nian He followed behind him, and unintentionally saw a photo frame on his bedside table. It was actually a photo of Lan He and Tuxi Ling together.
In the deep blue background, the two men were suspended upside down, embracing tightly. They faced the wind, their hair flying, their eyes full of bright smiles.
Sudden anger flared in his heart. Si’nian He grabbed Lan He’s wrist from behind. “Brother, are you and Ling this close now? Going bungee jumping together? Is he crazy? Daring to let you take this risk? I’m going to find him!”
“None of your business!” Lan He also saw the photo he had seen ten thousand times, his tone very impatient. “Get out now, or I’ll start cursing.”
“Brother! Ling doesn’t care about your body at all. Okay, let’s not talk about him, let’s talk about us! Just because I cursed Ling a few times in public, you’re treating me like this? Yes, I didn’t give him face, but did you give me face? You’ve hit me, you’ve cursed me, it’s been so many days, you should have calmed down, right?”
Lan He turned around and looked at him with a cold gaze, as if he were looking at a stranger. After a long while, he suddenly laughed.
He tried to pull his hand away, but Si’nian He held on even tighter.
“Let go!”
“Brother! Three years of brotherhood, not as good as an outsider? What’s so good about him!”
Lan He was deadlocked with him for a few seconds, and said lightly, “We slept together.”
Si’nian He froze, his face immediately turning ashen. His hand still gripped Lan He’s wrist tightly. His skin was delicate and fair, easily pinched into red marks. Si’nian He caught sight of it, but stubbornly refused to let go.
“Boom,” a dull thunderclap gradually became clearer. Si’nian He roared wildly, “What does he have? I have everything he has! Why him!”
“Formal civil servant, five social insurances and one housing fund, do you have that?” Lan He revealed a mocking smile. “A case-solving rate of 91.3%, National Excellent Police Officer, do you have that?”
To the He family, what he said was all insignificant. It was just to choke Si’nian He, and Si’nian He understood this himself.
“Case-solving rate? You think too highly of him. He can’t solve the current case even if he dies!”
His ferocious expression carried a hint of vindictive pleasure. Lan He realized that he knew some inside information, and the mocking expression instantly disappeared. “What do you mean?”
But at this moment, Si’nian He let go of him, revealing a smile as if the rain had passed and the sky had cleared, but the hatred in his eyes had not yet dissipated.
He looked at his watch. “It’s almost seven o’clock. I have to go. There’s work at the company.”
“Si’nian He! Explain yourself clearly!” Lan He blocked him, and when he was about to force his way out, he pushed him back hard.
Si’nian He stared at his face, the nameless fire in his heart burning brighter and brighter. “Brother, you’re losing your composure.”
“I’m losing your mom!” Lan He pushed him hard in the chest, putting all his strength into it, a terrifying murderous aura welling up in his eyes. “Explain yourself clearly, or I’ll kill you right now!”
This not only concerned Tuxi Ling, but more importantly, this was Sang Da and Qi A’s case. The direction of the case was related to him himself!
Si’nian He was forced back by him, and finally tripped over the long-haired carpet and sat directly on the bed. He had been working out for many years, and he certainly wouldn’t lose to him in terms of strength, but he was really frightened by his appearance.
Lan He grabbed his shirt collar and asked fiercely, “Speak!”
Si’nian He was being choked to the point of suffocation. He stared at his almost unfamiliar brother and stammered, “Ling and the others are investigating a batch of cultural relics. It’s useless. In a few more minutes, that batch of cultural relics will be shipped out of the country by Gu’s company. They’ll never find it…”
Cultural relics?
Lan He couldn’t stand hearing those two words the most. He pushed him away and frantically searched for the phone on the bed, then called Tuxi Ling.
The phone rang several times before it was answered. A tremendously noisy sound of rain came from the receiver, and he could vaguely hear the sound of a ship’s horn.
“Lan He?”
“Listen to me, Gu’s company has a shipment going to sea today, which is likely to include the cultural relics you’re investigating. It’s probably going to set sail in a few minutes, but I’m not sure if the news is true, so you…”
Halfway through his sentence, he heard Tuxi Ling running, his breathing very heavy, and the signal was also unstable, like there was a bad connection.
He faintly heard Tuxi Ling ask urgently, “Lan He, are you reporting a crime to me?”
“What?” Lan He was stunned. “I’m not, I’m just…”
“Are you reporting a crime to me?” He emphasized his tone.
“I…” A long ship’s horn came from the receiver. Lan He’s mind flashed instantly, and he answered firmly, “Yes, Officer Ling, I am reporting a crime to you. I am formally reporting Gu’s Trading for smuggling cultural relics!”
“Received, we will investigate immediately!”
The call ended, and Lan He glanced at the time on his phone.
7:05.