“The church has caught fire, and the cause is currently under investigation…”
The news reporter stood outside the cordon, delivering an emergency broadcast. The footage was quickly went on air, but a church fire was ultimately considered “minor news” and did not generate much public discussion.
Only a handful of people knew exactly what this meant, and what that utterly arrogant “HI” written on the wall represented.
After conducting a basic preliminary investigation of the scene, it was finally time to clock off. However, no one was actually in the right frame of mind to just head home and sleep.
So, when Ji Mingrui suggested they all head over to someone’s place to grab a bite and keep discussing the case, his idea was met with enthusiastic agreement.
“Sure,” Su Xiaolan said. “I think that works.”
“Whose place, then?” Jiang Yu asked.
Ji Mingrui replied, “My place is out of the question. I have relatives visiting recently, so the house is packed.”
Su Xiaolan offered, “Su Xiaobo is doing his homework at my place, but if you guys don’t mind…”
Chi Qing was the first to voice his opinion: “I mind.”
Su Xiaolan: “…”
Meanwhile, back at Su Xiaolan’s desk, Su Xiaobo—one of the “heroes” who had accidentally provided crucial information in the Shen Xinghe case—sneezed right into his open workbook. He rubbed his nose, wrote down the character for “Solve” ($解$) in his notebook, and immediately reached for his phone: “Let’s play one round of this game first, then I’ll start my homework right after.”
In the end, the group drove out to a familiar residential neighborhood—the very complex where Chi Qing and Xie Lin lived.
While driving, Ji Mingrui thought to himself: Man, I know this place way too well. Several bloody cases had revolved around this very neighborhood.
Initially, they intended to go to Xie Lin’s place. But to their surprise, Xie Lin hadn’t been staying at his own apartment for a while now; it lacked many daily necessities, and the kitchen was completely bare, making it impossible to cook.
But since they had already arrived…
Standing in the hallway, the group collectively turned their gazes toward Chi Qing.
Chi Qing stood like a silent guard right in front of his door, looking highly reluctant to open it and let them in.
Chi Qing suggested, “There are restaurants nearby…”
Ji Mingrui lifted the side dishes he had specifically bought along the way. “Then didn’t I buy all this food for nothing?”
Chi Qing countered, “You can bring them there and eat them just the same.”
Ji Mingrui urged him, “Come on, hurry up. It’s not like I’ve never been to your house before.”
“…”
Chi Qing’s apartment occasionally had visitors, but it had never hosted this many people at once. He tried to picture his living room being filled by this crowd. Are there enough disposable slippers? What about disposable chopsticks? And the cups—the cups probably can’t be used anymore either.
Why do so many people need to gather together and breathe the exact same air?
He felt a bit dreading to even think about it.
Eventually, Chi Qing took a deep breath and opened the door with a deeply conflicted heart.
But even after opening it, he didn’t let them step inside right away. Instead, he said, “Stand at the doorway first.”
“?”
Chi Qing then rummaged through the entryway cabinet and pulled out a pair of medical rubber gloves, a can of sanitizing alcohol spray, a mask, and a box of shoe covers. He solemnly put on the rubber gloves, meticulously smoothing out the wrinkles over his fingers, and then donned the mask, looking as if he were about to step onto an operating table the very next second.
However, with his long bangs hanging loosely over his forehead and his brooding expression, he didn’t exactly look like a doctor about to perform a life-saving surgery.
Chi Qing ordered, “Line up. Sanitize yourselves before coming in.”
Ji Mingrui: “…”
Su Xiaolan: “…”
Jiang Yu: “…”
The world of a germaphobe was truly beyond comprehension. Yet strangely enough, they actually felt that being allowed to step past the threshold was quite a “privilege.”
Reeking of rubbing alcohol, the trio slipped on double-layered shoe covers. The moment they stepped into Chi Qing’s home, a bizarre sense of pride inexplicably welled up inside them.
Xie Lin was at the back of the line. He spread his arms out just like the others, waiting for Chi Qing to spray him with alcohol.
Instead, Chi Qing merely gave him a slightly puzzled look.
Xie Lin urged him, “Hurry up.”
Chi Qing had never intended to spray Xie Lin in the first place. This man hung around his apartment all day, and when had he ever sprayed him? Xie Lin didn’t just enter his apartment; he even slept in his bed.
Thus, Chi Qing interpreted this gesture, along with the words “hurry up,” in an entirely different light.
Taking advantage of the brief window while the others were busy touring the apartment, Chi Qing lowered his eyes. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then set the sanitizer down, took two steps forward, and gave Xie Lin a brief hug.
This unexpected embrace left Xie Lin completely stunned in his tracks.
The people inside had absolutely no idea what was happening at the door, completely engrossed in examining the layout and decor. It proved that the harder it was to achieve something, the more people cherished it: “So this is what the living room looks like! This carpet is really nice, can I step on it? Oh, Little Star is here! Come here, let me pet you.”
The cat was initially quite timid, hiding behind the curtains and refusing to come out. After a while, it cautiously poked out a tiny paw from behind the fabric, lowering its head to peek at them through the slit.
The embrace lasted only a fleeting moment.
Xie Lin chuckled softly. The moment Chi Qing let go of him, he whispered, “Did you misunderstand something?”
“I didn’t ask you to hug me,” Xie Lin continued teasingly. “Initiating things so proactively today, are we?”
Chi Qing, who had finally realized he completely misread the situation: “…”
At any rate, the group had managed to gather.
Su Xiaolan sat on the sofa playing with the cat for a while. As she waved the cat teaser wand and called out “Little Star,” the faces of Yu Lan and Shen Xinghe would involuntarily flash across her mind. Sighing quietly, she gently rubbed the cat’s round little head.
The cat quickly grew accustomed to the visitors, rolling around playfully at everyone’s feet. It was highly likely experiencing for the very first time that people other than its two owners could actually be so warm, harmonious, and eager to pet its head!
Meanwhile, the “hospitable” Xie Lin was in the kitchen wearing an apron, preparing dinner. Ever since he received that brief hug from Chi Qing at the door, his train of thought kept drifting while cooking. He asked Chi Qing, “When exactly are they going to leave?”
Chi Qing had just finished prepping the ingredients. “Probably after we finish eating and discussing the case.”
Xie Lin sighed, “Honestly, looking closely at it, the food isn’t even that interesting, and there’s really nothing to talk about regarding the case.”
Chi Qing: “?”
Xie Lin looked at him and said, “I just want to be alone with you. That hug just now wasn’t nearly enough… I must have been out of my mind to invite them over for dinner.”
Chi Qing’s fingers were flushed red from being washed in the freezing water, yet he felt an uncalled-for wave of heat rising within him. “Then go kick them out.”
Xie Lin replied, “I’m already thinking about it. I’m trying to figure out a way to make this crowd vanish within three minutes.”
Chi Qing murmured, “There is one way.”
Having spoken, the two of them instinctively glanced at the kitchen knife resting on the countertop.
Chi Qing: “…”
Xie Lin: “…”
Never mind.
Fortunately, the dining area and the living room were separated by a fair distance. With the two of them busy in the kitchen, the people in the living room couldn’t see them at all. Thus, after tossing the soup ingredients into the pot and sliding the lid on, Xie Lin untied his apron strings behind his back with one hand while using his other hand to pull Chi Qing by the wrist.
“Shh,” he whispered close to Chi Qing’s ear.
Chi Qing was still focused on drying his hands, caught completely off guard by the sudden tug. By the time he reacted, his lower back was already pressed against the kitchen counter.
Xie Lin remembered that his waist was still sore, so he thoughtfully slid his hand behind him to cushion the impact.
Chi Qing hissed, “What kind of madness has gotten into you?”
Xie Lin leaned closer. Aside from his familiar cologne, there was a faint hint of cooking oil and smoke clinging to him, which somehow made him feel much more grounded in daily life, stripping away a lot of his usual deceptive charm. “No madness. I just want to do something bad.”
With that, Xie Lin lowered his head and planted a firm, lingering kiss right on Chi Qing’s lips.
After getting home, Chi Qing had changed into loungewear. Although it was comfortable clothing, his distinct aura meant he still didn’t quite look casual. His pitch-black sweater looked profoundly dark, matching the shade of his pupils. The two tall, long-legged men squeezed into the kitchen corner, their backs turned to the living room, secretly sharing a deep, breathless kiss.
They remained like that until Su Xiaolan finished playing with the cat and approached the kitchen, calling out, “Do you guys need any help?”
She couldn’t actually see what was going on inside the kitchen; she had only heard a sudden flurry of chaotic noises as she drew near—pots and pans clattering together before abruptly falling silent. Then, Consultant Xie’s voice rang out loudly, “It’s fine, no help needed.”
…It certainly didn’t sound like everything was fine.
After speaking, and fearing that Su Xiaolan might actually walk in, Xie Lin used the pad of his thumb to gently wipe away the trace of moisture from the corner of Chi Qing’s mouth. Only then did the two pull apart, pretending as though absolutely nothing had happened.
“Wow, this cooking is amazing!” Half an hour later, Ji Mingrui snapped a photo of the spread covering the table. “I honestly thought we wouldn’t be getting a hot meal today. Given Chi Qing’s cooking style, he only prefers Western food and cold dishes—bloody steaks are his absolute favorite.”
As Ji Mingrui finished speaking, he noticed that Chi Qing’s lips were so unnervingly red it looked like he had just finished tearing into a raw steak.
Chi Qing’s lips were naturally deep in color, but after the recent kiss, they looked strikingly flushed. He snapped, “Just eat your food and talk less.”
People’s thoughts tended to wander easily over a meal. Ji Mingrui had ordered a few bottles of beer through a delivery app, and as he drank, he began venting his anger against the criminal who had torched the church: “Destroying state and public property! That is a straight-up crime!”
Chi Qing’s only concern was that Ji Mingrui wouldn’t accidentally shake his hand and spill beer onto his carpet.
“Li Kang and Shen Xinghe could have turned back from their paths. If it weren’t for him pushing them from behind… and he even has the nerve to call himself a priest? Which psychiatric hospital left its gates unlocked to let this psycho roam free?”
Chi Qing replied blankly, “Whether the psychiatric hospital gates were left unlocked, I wouldn’t know. But your apartment building has a midnight curfew. You’d better head back early.”
Xie Lin chimed in, “Yeah. Today was quite exhausting, you guys should head back early to get some rest.”
As the conversation went on, Ji Mingrui felt that the responses he was getting from Chi Qing and Xie Lin today were consistently lacking in enthusiasm. Then again, Chi Qing was never an enthusiastic person to begin with, but why was even Xie Lin trying to shoo them away?
The trio completely failed to read between the lines.
It wasn’t until Jiang Yu chimed in while picking up some food with his chopsticks: “Though, the sheer bizarre nature of this case… it constantly reminds me of that ten-year-old case Bin-ge mentioned to us before.”
“A case from ten years ago? Which one?”
“You know, that one… the serial kidnapping case.”
