Li Tan threw out this statement, deliberately paused, and patiently waited for Mu Dai’s reaction. However, it was not without disappointment.
She didn’t seem to care. Her first question was surprisingly: “Your friend, Li Yaqing, is he really dead?”
What kind of question was that? If not for her capabilities, Li Tan would have stormed off.
He held back his anger: “Back then, I also worked at the county police station. Even though my colleagues tried to stop me, I insisted on going to the scene and confirmed there were three dead bodies.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Mu Dai knew this would displease Li Tan, but asked anyway, “I’m asking, the deceased person, did you see clearly? Was it Li Yaqing?”
Li Tan laughed from extreme anger: “Young lady, have you watched too many TV shows? Are you suggesting the dead Li Yaqing was someone else in disguise? Do you think I’m blind and couldn’t recognize my fiancée? Do you think all the criminal investigators at the scene were incompetent?”
Mu Dai knew her question was absurd, but she couldn’t rest without asking. She could only smile awkwardly: “Just asking casually.”
She finally remembered the main issue: “Do you have any conclusive evidence?”
“All these years, I never gave up investigating this matter, even though I lost my job for taking unauthorized leave… More than two years ago, I came face to face with the murderer.”
Mu Dai stared at him in shock. Li Tan seemed to anticipate her question and firmly assured her: “It’s true.”
The murderer in Cen Chunjiao’s account was called Liu Shuhai, born in 1972, who died in a small hotel at Jinan West Suburbs Bus Station more than five years ago. Yet, more than two years ago, Li Tan had encountered the murderer.
It didn’t take much thinking to realize that between Cen Chunjiao and Li Tan, one of them was lying. There was an 80% probability it was Cen Chunjiao, especially since Hong Yi had once said that Cen Chunjiao’s story “was indeed false.”
Empty words, truths mixed with lies, these people each harbored their schemes. It was all so complicated. Even Hong Yi, with whom she spent day and night, suddenly became shrouded in mystery.
Mu Dai looked at Li Tan with disinterest: “So what? Why are you telling me this?”
Li Tan was even more surprised: “You’re not interested?”
Now it was Mu Dai’s turn to be puzzled: Should she be interested?
Li Tan was disheartened. Originally, seeing Mu Dai’s capabilities, he wanted to befriend her, but now she seemed just a young girl who knew a few moves.
He rose listlessly: “I’m tired. I’m going back to the hotel to sleep. You…”
He had wanted to remind her, as a young woman, not to wander outside at night. But on second thought, he decided against it. With her abilities, ordinary thugs couldn’t harm her anyway.
Mu Dai didn’t try to keep him. Her mind was full of thoughts about Hong Yi and Li Yaqing.
In period martial arts dramas, such plot devices often appeared. For instance, the male protagonist would lose his true love, then days later encounter a beauty who looked exactly like his beloved.
At this point, the protagonist’s friends would exclaim in astonishment: “How can there be two people in this world who look so alike?”
Well, there could be—identical twins.
Just as Mu Dai was pondering this, someone sat down across from her.
The chair creaked, and without looking up, she knew who it was by the weight. Mu Dai first glanced around: “What’s this, deliberate revenge?”
Across from her was the fat man she had met on the cable car. He picked up chopsticks, grabbed a salt-roasted peanut, and crunched it: “You’re pretty, but you don’t know how to talk. Why would we bother bullying a woman?”
He continued: “Strangers become familiar after meeting twice. Let me introduce myself—my name is Cao Yanhua.”
Mu Dai glanced at him: “Following the Hundred Family Surnames order?”
Cao Yanhua was greatly surprised: “Little sister, I didn’t expect it! You’re cultured!”
As he spoke, he extended his hand to shake hers.
Mu Dai was bemused. She had memorized the “Hundred Family Surnames” as a child when it was supplementary teaching material. Back then, she had recited it fluently from beginning to end, but now she could only remember the first thirty-two surnames. As luck would have it, the eighth-to-last surnames were “Kong, Cao, Yan, Hua, Jin, Wei, Tao, Jiang.”
But what was this sudden “let me introduce myself” about?
Seeing Mu Dai’s lack of response, Cao Yanhua became unhappy: “What’s wrong? Looking down on me?”
His temper was quite big. Although Mu Dai didn’t shake his hand, she did introduce herself: “Mu Dai.”
“You’ve got some skills with your hands. Specially trained?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You handled things quite low-key this morning. Why such a big temper tonight?”
“Depends on my mood.”
Cao Yanhua showed respect: “You have character.”
He gestured with his arm pointing outward: “I oversee the Jiefangbei area this month. If you’ve lost something, come find me.”
With this imperious attitude, Mu Dai prodded him: “You’re quite capable.”
“Indeed,” Cao Yanhua fully accepted the compliment. “To be honest, more capable than you think. I know you’re staying at Bashu Villa. That Wan Fenghuo, I have connections with him, too. I’ve helped him recover lost items and gathered information for him. Today, you went to Old Nine Hotpot Restaurant, right?”
“Are you following me?”
Cao Yanhua snorted dismissively: “I roam around here all day, running into people constantly. I’m free anyway. Besides, after you gave me such a warning, I had to check what you were up to. Being a thief, I might not have other skills, but I have three: picking pockets, trailing people, and having many eyes and ears.”
He then called to the owner to order: “Boss, add a sour cabbage fish, spicy chicken, blood curd hotpot, and pork intestines.”
He then gestured to Mu Dai: “Sister, pay the bill.”
Mu Dai refused: “Why should I?”
Cao Yanhua smiled with crinkled eyes: “Pay the bill, and brother will tell you which pervert has been following your trail.”
Mu Dai froze for a full five seconds, then took out her wallet and slapped three hundred-yuan bills on the table.
Without looking up, Cao Yanhua chuckled and picked up another peanut: “Diagonally behind me, at the fruit stand on the corner, there’s a man in a black jacket. See him?”
Mu Dai’s face darkened as she abruptly stood up and walked outside. Cao Yanhua maintained a spectator’s attitude: “Sister, I’ve checked him out for you. The guy is quite handsome. Think about it yourself, make a good decision…”
Seeing Mu Dai stand up, Luo Ren quickly turned around, lowering his head and pretending to select fruit. But as he was selecting, he suddenly sensed trouble.
There was a truly fierce killing intent.
He could still turn and leave in time, but fleeing in panic wasn’t Luo Ren’s style. He smiled at the vendor and pointed at the pile of apples: “Another two jin of apples. Do you have bananas? I’ll take one jin of those too.”
As he spoke, there was suddenly a bang from not far away. Over there was a shop selling pea noodles. Mu Dai had dragged over a folding chair from outside the shop, slammed it down heavily, and sat facing his direction.
The pea noodle shop owner looked around, probably frightened by Mu Dai’s demeanor, and said nothing. The fruit vendor looked at Mu Dai, then at Luo Ren: “That…”
That what? Luo Ren, of course, knew everyone in this half-alley was watching him and Mu Dai. Mu Dai’s posture was too obvious, just like a 1990s Hong Kong gang film where the boss drags over a chair and sits boldly, after which the underlings would charge in with knives to slash their enemies.
Luo Ren turned his head slightly, his gaze meeting Mu Dai’s. She had a half-smile, full of arrogance, not avoiding his eyes, filled with hostility and provocation.
Luo Ren smiled slightly.
In these twenty-seven years, it was the first time he’d met someone so aggressive. It wasn’t that he hadn’t met people more domineering than her, it’s just…
That bastard Ma Tuwen, where did he see her childishness? Where was the promised cat-head bracelet? Where was the promised mental age of eighteen?
Luo Ren calmly smiled at the fruit vendor: “Add two jin of strawberries for me.”