Unsurprisingly, the apology gift brought by a criminal police deputy captain would be five high-definition surveillance cameras.

He Jian helped me install the cameras in the first and second-floor corridors respectively, with the extra one installed in my room, laughing: “We were really lucky to have that video footage Xiao Song provided last time, which gave us solid evidence. Now that your shop is reopening, boss, don’t forget to install these things again.”

I thought to myself that this guy had been looking for evidence right under my nose for so long, and in the end still relied on a lucky break. I couldn’t help asking: “Why didn’t you think to honor me with a few cameras before? Maybe we would have caught that guy much earlier.”

He Jian smiled bitterly: “Wasn’t I afraid of alerting our target? After all, those guys I’ve dealt with before were all very cunning. One wrong move and not only would the mission fail, but I could lose my life too.”

When he put it that way, I suddenly remembered what Wang Wei had said last time—that He Jian’s previous work was very dangerous. And if all those crisscrossing scars on his body were work-related injuries…

I sighed inwardly. With things having come this far, my last bit of dissatisfaction also dissipated with He Jian’s “apology.” I said to him: “Let’s go out to talk about the resignation. You’re not just here to discuss this with me, are you?”

After all, while the No. 29 case was settled for me, Shancheng Precinct hadn’t finished investigating yet. He Jian had been so busy lately that he was nowhere to be seen—my sister had tried to meet him twice but failed.

He Jian smiled: “Indeed, I was originally planning to treat you to dinner too. Come on, let’s go to that crayfish restaurant up front. I’ve been craving it ever since I started working here.”

With that, He Jian led me out the door. At the crayfish restaurant, he found a corner table, ordered mild clear-broth crayfish for me, and didn’t forget to buy takeout for Old Han and Xiao Song, saying: “I’ve wanted to come here for so long, but I’ve been too busy. This is my first non-instant noodle meal in two days.”

I’d already noticed He Jian’s dark circles, saying helplessly: “So it seems working at my place really was a vacation for you.”

“Exactly!” He Jian smiled bitterly, “I’m starting to miss working at your place, boss… Our chief isn’t as easygoing as you. He was still messaging me about case progress just now.”

I was surprised. I hadn’t expected the internal pressure to still be so high when the case seemed so clear-cut. “The person’s already caught and can’t escape. What’s the rush?”

He Jian said while rapidly peeling shrimp: “We caught the person, but the evidence isn’t sufficient yet. Presumption of innocence—his confession alone isn’t enough for those four murders. There are many evidence chains to sort through. I’ve been living at the station these days working on this.”

…It sounded like a massive project.

I thought for a moment: “So what progress has been made now?”

“We’re currently investigating his financial situation. That’s actually why I came today—to ask you about this.”

He Jian finally put down the shrimp in his hands and looked at me seriously: “When he sold you the house, was there anything you found strange?”

“Strange?”

“Like… did he show that he really didn’t want you to buy the house?”

He Jian chose his words carefully: “We originally wanted to find evidence of him purchasing criminal tools, but we unexpectedly discovered that Hu Wei had a substantial sum in his account… Based on his confession, because Hu Wei had been committing crimes, his personal survival instinct was very low. Plus with no family, his purpose for saving this money is very strange.”

“Wait…”

I slowly realized what He Jian was implying, saying in shock: “You’re not suggesting… he originally intended to buy No. 29 himself?”

He Jian nodded: “From the amount of that money, buying a house seems most likely… Hu Wei’s personal expenses were usually very small. He even often slept in the air-raid shelter, having no fixed residence. You could say most of his money over the years went into time deposits. Of course, if it were a regular Guan Yinli house price, he absolutely couldn’t afford it, but because of the consecutive murders at No. 29, prices kept dropping. Now the money in his account could actually almost buy No. 29.”

“…”

I then belatedly remembered Manager Hu’s expression when he received me—that hesitant look.

Now it seemed Manager Hu might really not have wanted to sell me the house.

I gasped: “He said he would inform tenants that No. 29 was haunted to warn them not to approach the house. When the house price hadn’t dropped, saying such things was indeed a warning, but for me…”

“For you, he might have genuinely just wanted to scare you away, because he also didn’t want to keep killing people.”

He Jian shook his head: “That house was a symbol of his mother to Hu Wei, so he ultimately wanted to reclaim No. 29 and keep it in his own hands… It’s just, with him gone, what use is just having a house?”

For a moment, the table fell quiet.

Clearly, even for a battle-hardened police officer like He Jian, the tragedy that befell Hu Wei was equally difficult to digest. He Jian silently peeled two shrimp, then finally sighed: “To be honest, investigating this case has been really depressing. You don’t know, boss—the atmosphere in our office has been very heavy these past two days. Today I even heard Xiao Wang saying she wanted to come to your place to eat cake and relax.”

“Since the deputy captain rarely gets to come out for air, why don’t we talk about something else?”

I peeled a shrimp and suddenly changed the subject: “How about we discuss your marital situation?”

“Cough…”

Suddenly, He Jian, who was drinking tea, nearly sprayed it all over the table. He recovered: “Boss, you’re still mad, aren’t you?”

I looked at him amusedly: “Even your subordinates can’t stand watching you. They say you’re devoted to work, and even on rare vacations you insist on handling my case. What’s this—does the Bane of Ghosts actually have something he’s afraid of? Don’t even dare go home?”

He Jian was amused to anger, cursing: “These little rascals—and they work in this field too. How can they say anything to outsiders? Looks like they can’t do any undercover work in the future.”

After so long of only being on the losing end, finally having a chance to turn the tables, I pressed on: “Weren’t you supposed to make me feel better? Then tell me the truth. You didn’t really fail to win back your wife because you had to investigate the No. 29 case, did you?”

This time, He Jian was silent for a long while. Finally, he sighed deeply: “There’s no causal relationship between the two… It’s just that being a police wife isn’t easy, and it’s not as glamorous as people imagine. She shouldn’t have to live this kind of life with me anymore, so if we divorce, we divorce. Better short-term pain than long-term suffering.”

“…”

With those words, I immediately understood.

After all, having the precedents of my ex-brother-in-law and my father, I considered myself somewhat gifted at identifying scumbags.

And compared to those two who had no feelings for my sister and mother, He Jian’s expression clearly wasn’t relaxed enough to be saying “if we divorce, we divorce.”

I said helplessly: “So… that day at Luohan Temple, when you told me about not wanting to drag someone down, this is what you meant? You’re afraid your family situation would drag down your wife, so you’d rather get divorced?”

He Jian lowered his eyes without speaking. I thought I really couldn’t get something for nothing, so I glanced at the bustling tea shop nearby and asked: “Talking about feelings requires some drinks. How about I get you some milk tea with extra cream or something? Don’t you like cream?”

I got up to queue, but He Jian grabbed me: “Boss, don’t spend your money… cream, it’s not that I like it.”

I was shocked: “You don’t like it? Damn, you lied to me about this too?”

“My ex-wife likes it.”

He Jian said helplessly: “Her parents died in a car accident when she was young. Though she has a strong personality, just like you, she also likes sweets. She couldn’t work because she had to take care of my parents, so I bought her an oven to let her make these things at home for entertainment. A few times I saw her quite happy eating the cream cakes she made, so… every time I see cream, I think of her.”

My heart sank: “So your parents’ health really…”

He Jian smiled bitterly: “I’ve discovered you’re really a magical person, boss. With my usual habits, I would absolutely never let you see my personal preferences. After all, in the past, accidentally revealing true personal thoughts could have serious consequences… Though I’ve retired, I really didn’t think I’d become so slack in front of people.”

“It’s not me that’s magical, it’s the cake. My mother used to say sweets are the secret weapon for opening people’s hearts… If one piece of cake can’t solve it, then eat two.”

As I spoke, I thought about how he used to unconsciously rub his ring finger when thinking. If He Jian’s past work was really what I suspected, this kind of relaxation could have cost him his life.

I asked: “So you divorced just because of this reason?”

He Jian smiled: “There were many reasons… Boss, do you remember that story I told you last time about the accident that happened to me as a child?”

“Of course, you didn’t lie to me about that, did you?”

“No, I didn’t lie. My father was also a police officer. After he flipped his car chasing someone, his lower body was paralyzed. Later we found out the driver was under the influence of drugs. Because he was out of drug money, he impulsively decided to kidnap and sell children on the street. Thanks to my father stopping him, that child was rescued in time.”

“So…”

I hesitated, but ultimately didn’t voice my suspicions.

Though he trusted me enough, but…

Not speaking might already be the last protection we ordinary people could offer them.

He Jian said indifferently: “After my father was paralyzed, my mother had to quit her original job to care for him, and later even broke down her own health… When I was little, I was angry with my father because of this. Who would have thought that after I got married, I discovered I was exactly like my father—not only rarely able to come home, making her lose her job to care for my parents, but also making her worry constantly like my mother did. We were married six or seven years and didn’t even dare have children, afraid the child would be born without a father.”

I opened my mouth but found I couldn’t speak. Finally I decided to struggle once more: “But you’ve retired now…”

“I was lucky, managed to save my life. Otherwise, how could people in our line of work retire so easily with their bodies intact? Boss, you don’t need to persuade me about this. After all, when I was stabbed and nearly died, lying in the hospital for two months, the clearest thought I had was that I couldn’t drag her down anymore.”

He Jian reached toward his back again, as if the wound still hurt. Thinking of those crisscrossing scars on his back, my chest felt heavy.

No wonder he felt that staying at my place to work was rest.

Perhaps for him, it really was rest.

In the end, He Jian smiled at me: “No matter what, boss, thank you for this period. I’ve never done such relaxed undercover work. And I gave my ex-wife that cake you made last time… she really liked it. Next time if there’s a chance, I’ll have her come to the shop to try some.”

After dinner, He Jian unsurprisingly had to rush back to the station for overtime. After considering all the way, I finally took out my phone at the entrance of No. 29 and sent Wang Wei a message.

This deputy captain He Jian carried too heavy a burden. Many things would be better communicated with his subordinates.

After handling these matters, I felt relieved. Entering the door, I encountered Han Sha with a disgusted expression carrying garbage bags to throw out.

Han Sha frowned: “Boss, the shop is closed tomorrow. You need to quickly find someone to check if there’s a rat problem… Customer leftovers are everywhere, and some decorative flowers are also messy. Xiao Song can’t clean it all up! Poor hygiene is a major taboo for internet famous shops. If some Ratatouille appears directly in front of customers later, neither Taoist priests nor monks could save your business.”

Though Old Han had a bad attitude, hearing these words, I actually felt a touch of emotion.

Right, after the mystery of No. 29 was solved, the problems Huangliang Yimeng faced were finally not hauntings, but the ordinary troubles that all restaurants would have headaches over. And on days the shop was closed, I could finally dare to let everyone go home while I lay in the shop and sleep soundly.

After being busy for a week, I had already planned to sleep until noon in a state of complete oblivion. However, man proposes, heaven disposes—the next day before nine o’clock, the pest control people arrived first.

Following routine, three young men came in to inspect everything, bustling about for nearly an hour. In the end, damn it, forget rats—there wasn’t even a single rat hair. I had no choice but to pay the house call fee and collapse back into bed. When I woke up again, it was already afternoon.

Summer’s harsh sunlight leaked through the curtains. I was so sleepy I could barely open my eyes. Instinctively reaching for my phone, with that grab, I unexpectedly touched something ice cold at the bedside.