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Chapter 47: “Will you stay at my place tonight?”
Zhang Ling’s words surprised both Qin Ge and Xie Zijing. The two immediately pressed for more information, and after a moment of contemplation, Zhang Ling asked, “Do you guys know anything about Bai Xiaoyuan’s mom?”
He had the demeanor of someone about to share a secret, but Qin Ge and Xie Zijing exchanged uneasy glances. Bai Xiaoyuan wasn’t present, and they didn’t think she would appreciate others discussing her personal matters behind her back. While people in the Adjustment Department generally knew about each other’s family situations, Bai Xiaoyuan seemed to have undisclosed information. They knew she came from a single-parent family, her father having passed away in the Luquan incident, but she had never mentioned a word about her mother. Even though they were close, everyone had their own secrets. Qin Ge and Xie Zijing were not pleased with Zhang Ling’s apparent intention to use a secret to reshape their perception of Bai Xiaoyuan.
“Regardless of whether we know or not, you shouldn’t bring it up with us,” Qin Ge interjected. “Even if you’ve broken up, you should respect Bai…”
“But she should respect me first!” Zhang Ling’s face turned red with anger. “Hasn’t she told you guys that we’ve already broken up? This isn’t the first time we’ve broken up. She always refuses to acknowledge that there’s no chance between us. Is that meaningful? Is she out of her mind?”
Qin Ge furrowed his brows, and his displeasure made his words sound harsh. “Is she still bothering you?”
“No, she’s not. But I’m ready to get married, and what is she still dreaming about?” Zhang Ling waved his briefcase. “She’s so difficult to get along with, always talking to her cat, hardly communicating with me. Can you have a relationship like that? She constantly interrogates my whereabouts, asking where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. It’s like surveillance!”
As he spoke, spit flew from his mouth. Xie Zijing had to pull Qin Ge back a few steps. Fortunately, there weren’t many people around, so they weren’t attracting a crowd.
“I know she lacks a sense of security, but she can’t be so unreasonable, right?” Zhang Ling continued, firing off his words like a machine gun. “Love is a personal matter, and I also want freedom. Adults breaking up and getting back together is normal. She lies to you and lies to herself just to make me feel more guilty. Just because she lost her dad and her mom doesn’t want her, does she want to trap me in her little world?”
Seeing Qin Ge and Xie Zijing’s surprised expressions, Zhang Ling suddenly laughed.
“So, you guys didn’t know?” He chuckled hoarsely. “Bai Xiaoyuan is an abandoned baby. Even her mom doesn’t know who her dad is. After she was born in 267th Hospital, her family threw her into the trash.”
This time, Xie Zijing was thoroughly angered. “Stop talking!”
Qin Ge knew that Xie Zijing always disliked others prying into his affairs. Now that Zhang Ling had revealed Bai Xiaoyuan’s secret in such a way, Xie Zijing couldn’t contain his anger. He quickly grabbed Xie Zijing’s hand. “Stay calm; be mindful of the situation.”
Zhang Ling, scared by Xie Zijing, took a step back, but his anger still drove him to continue. “No one ever wanted her, so she has psychological issues. How could I live with someone like that? Her background is unclear, and which family would accept…”
Xie Zijing abruptly broke free from Qin Ge and swung a punch at Zhang Ling’s face.
A sand cat lay on Bai Xiaoyuan’s hand, its tail swaying gently. As if knowing her mood was not good, the sand cat rubbed against her arm, its tail coiling softly around Bai Xiaoyuan’s wrist.
Tang Cuo’s panda was very popular. Even though the morning meeting had ended, many people still surrounded him, requesting to see the panda. The panda, feeling the attention, became shy, clinging to Tang Cuo’s leg and refusing to let go. This situation made it convenient for the sentinels and guides to reach out and touch its fur.
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at the sand cat nestled against her.
“When will you grow up?” Bai Xiaoyuan sighed. “Look at the panda, attracting so much attention for Tang Cuo.”
Suddenly, the fur of the sand cat stood on end, and it leaped into Bai Xiaoyuan’s arms. Lei Chi had just approached at this moment, and seeing the sand cat avoiding him, he was speechless. “Is it afraid of me?”
Bai Xiaoyuan didn’t find it surprising when Qin Ge mentioned that he could see spiritual bodies. “You’re a dog, after all.”
Lei Chi replied, “I’m a werewolf.”
Bai Xiaoyuan said, “Close enough.”
Lei Chi asked, “Is chocolate delicious?”
Bai Xiaoyuan replied, “I don’t know. I just gave it to someone.”
Lei Chi: “…”
Deciding to get straight to the point, he said, “I heard your boyfriend is at the National Library. Can you introduce me to him?”
Bai Xiaoyuan rested her chin on the sand cat’s head and smiled with a hint of complexity on her face.
“Ex-boyfriend,” she whispered. “We broke up last year.”
Lei Chi was surprised: “?!”
If Lei Chi had ears and a tail, they would probably be standing on end by now.
“Oh?” However, he maintained a calm expression. “Has it been a long time?”
“Almost a year,” Bai Xiaoyuan smiled. “Sorry, I lied to you guys about having a boyfriend.”
She was smiling, but the cat in her arms drooped its ears and paws, emitting a soft meow. It wasn’t a happy sound. Lei Chi stared at Bai Xiaoyuan for a while. He sensed that she wasn’t avoiding this topic. Although the surroundings were noisy and Bai Xiaoyuan’s voice was too low, he could hear her clearly.
“Why?” Lei Chi asked. “Why did you break up? Why lie to us?”
“…It’s embarrassing.” Bai Xiaoyuan stared at Tang Cuo, who was surrounded by a wall of people not far away. “He got together with his intern. After I found out, I started questioning his whereabouts. He couldn’t take it and wanted to break up. It’s not the first time we’ve broken up, but in relationships, breaking up and getting back together is normal. But this time, he said there was no future for us because his family didn’t like me.”
Lei Chi remarked, “His family has no taste.”
For the first time, Bai Xiaoyuan heard such blunt words from him, and she found it both surprising and amusing. She glanced at Lei Chi and continued, “But I don’t believe it. I’ve met his mom. I went to find that auntie. It’s really embarrassing; what he said is true. They all don’t like me.”
After taking a deep breath, her heartbeat gradually increased. Lei Chi stared at her intently, not missing a single word she said.
“Because I’m an abandoned baby, they think my background is unclear,” Bai Xiaoyuan calmly said. “You should know Bai Fan; he was in the Criminal Investigation Department, and he died in the Luquan incident. He found me in the trash can at 267th Hospital, pulled me out, spent a lot of money to save me, and then adopted me.”
Lei Chi, of course, knew Bai Fan. He was one of the legendary figures often mentioned to newcomers in the Criminal Investigation Department.
“My dad never got married. He took care of me besides working.” Bai Xiaoyuan skillfully controlled her voice. If Lei Chi’s hearing weren’t so keen, he wouldn’t have noticed the almost imperceptible tremor in her voice. “He used his connections to find my mother. Later, she got married and went abroad. She said she wouldn’t come back again and claimed she never had a child, asking me not to tell others. She’s living a happy life now, with twins who are thirteen years old.”
Her mother, whom she had never met, was only seventeen when she gave birth to her. Bai Xiaoyuan didn’t know the specific identity of the man who made her pregnant. Her parents scolded her while secretly taking away the swaddled baby girl. However, in the end, they couldn’t bear to do it and threw her into the trash can, comforting themselves with the idea of letting her fend for herself.
“I understand her.” Bai Xiaoyuan lowered her head to stroke the cat’s ears. “I just can’t accept… why is it always me who gets abandoned?”
Lei Chi realized that during the Luquan incident ten years ago, the Crisis Management Department should have contacted Bai Xiaoyuan’s biological mother. At that time, her mother had two three-year-old children and ultimately refused Bai Xiaoyuan. Bai Xiaoyuan feared not betrayal but abandonment—whenever she was least aware, her closest people would leave her and go elsewhere.
The little cat in Bai Xiaoyuan’s arms nuzzled against her, extending its tongue to lick her fingers.
Lei Chi didn’t understand why Bai Xiaoyuan suddenly opened up to him. He didn’t think Bai Xiaoyuan’s past warranted the label of “unclear origin.” My family would definitely welcome you, Lei Chi thought to himself. For some reason, werewolves, who could transform, always envied sentinels and guides with independent spiritual bodies.
He cautiously reached out, taking hold of the sand cat’s paw.
“Bai Fan was an impressive person,” Lei Chi said. “A good person too.”
Lei Chi didn’t know if the newborn Bai Xiaoyuan had, for a moment, the possibility of becoming one of the over a hundred murdered infants in the case he was currently investigating. But at this moment, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation throughout his body, causing goosebumps. The sunlight outside the concert hall was intense, and everything in early summer was bursting with vitality. He opened his mouth but couldn’t find more comforting words. It’s great that you are alive; it’s great that you were discovered by Bai Fan; even if you don’t like the candy I brought, it’s still great.
The chance to be alive, the moment to be alive. Lei Chi was almost becoming a believer in God: besides Bai Fan, he didn’t know whom to thank for all this.
“Because you’re good, Bai Fan must be very good too.” Lei Chi lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Bai Xiaoyuan’s disheveled hair.
Finally, Bai Xiaoyuan looked up at him, her eyes filled with misty tears. After a while, she smiled.
“My dad is, of course, a good person. And you’re a weirdo,” she said. “I don’t understand why Xie Zijing likes you so much.”
Lei Chi didn’t care if Xie Zijing liked him or not. “I still have a bag of chocolate, matcha-flavored.” He kept holding the cat’s paw. “Do you want some?”
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at him, her expression freezing. “It doesn’t like you at all.”
“I know.” Lei Chi wasn’t hurt by her straightforwardness. “I just wanted you to give it a try.”
The cat in his arms stopped trembling. It was gently held by Lei Chi, feeling the powerful aura emanating from the tall man in front of it. It should have been scared, but at this moment, it wasn’t. Lei Chi held it gently and cautiously, and the cat’s round eyes finally met his.
“Well, give it a try then,” Bai Xiaoyuan said slowly.
Qin Ge and Xie Zijing returned from the main building. Xie Zijing had some scratches on his hands, and he winced when he moved, but it didn’t seem to be due to pain.
“If he didn’t use his computer to block, I could have punched him a couple more times,” Xie Zijing told Qin Ge. “The first hit landed well; it felt good.”
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at Xie Zijing and then at Qin Ge, shouting, “Did you get into a fight?!”
“No,” Xie Zijing said seriously. “I unilaterally assaulted him. But I only landed one hit, and then he used his computer to shield himself. My hand hurts more now.”
He raised his hand in front of Bai Xiaoyuan. “See, it’s pretty serious.”
“Get out of here!” Bai Xiaoyuan was furious, glaring at Qin Ge. “Qin Ge, why didn’t you stop him? Why randomly start a fight?”
Xie Zijing shook his hand. “It’s nothing. The first hit felt good.”
“Think about me, okay? If you get into a fight, I have to write the incident report and paperwork for you! Damn it, I already have enough work on my plate. I handle all the administrative documents in the department. Think about me when you decide to throw punches!”
Xie Zijing nodded, “Sure, little poor.”
Bai Xiaoyuan avoided him, and Xie Zijing quickly grabbed the sand cat from her arms, holding it against his face for a kiss. “Big brother loves you.”
Lei Chi still held the paw of the sand cat when, inexplicably, it was snatched away, and his expression immediately darkened. The sand cat, startled by the sudden kiss from Xie Zijing, jumped in surprise and disappeared with a soft sound, leaving no trace.
On this day, Xie Zijing learned two things: Bai Xiaoyuan, when angry, was indeed terrifying, and angry werewolves were even scarier.
At around four in the afternoon, after a day-long meeting, Tang Cuo grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the hall. Ignoring the crowd that gathered, urging him to continue watching pandas, he swiftly ran out of the library.
“The panda has a date,” Xie Zijing enthusiastically explained to others. “Do you want to see a lion? Maybe an extinct Barbary lion?”
In the afternoon, Lei Chi changed seats with Tang Cuo, sitting next to Bai Xiaoyuan. They spent the afternoon discussing the “sea area” related to sentinels. Lei Chi maintained an upright posture and a serious expression. Bai Xiaoyuan couldn’t discern his intentions. As everyone dispersed, preparing to leave, she quickly stood up as well.
Lei Chi called out to her, “I owe you a meal.”
Bai Xiaoyuan replied, “Forget it.”
Lei Chi insisted, “No, I want to treat you. You can take advantage of me.”
Bai Xiaoyuan shook her head, “Let’s eat together with everyone. I won’t dine with you alone.”
She picked up her small bag, and Lei Chi, with sharp eyes, noticed a charm hanging from it. The charm had a dark green pattern, and Lei Chi felt a sense of familiarity. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly recalled seeing a similar pattern on someone’s forehead.
He quickly caught up with Bai Xiaoyuan, saying, “Bai Xiaoyuan, do you like Qing Meizi?”
Bai Xiaoyuan asked, “Why? Do you owe me a Qing Meizi?”
Lei Chi replied, “I know Qing Meizi and his girlfriend.”
Bai Xiaoyuan suddenly stopped. Many people were around, and when Lei Chi spoke those words, several men and women turned to look at him, surprised. Bai Xiaoyuan pulled him to the side, frustrated. “Qing Meizi can’t have a girlfriend!”
Lei Chi found her amusing and couldn’t help but laugh. “He does. Before I came to headquarters, I handled a case involving Qing Meizi and his girlfriend in Hubei. Someone was selling Qing Meizi’s autographs near Shennongjia for six hundred yuan each, and it caught the attention of Qing Meizi’s fans in our area. Later, Qing Meizi personally came to explain, and the girl was his girlfriend. The autographs were genuine.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was dumbfounded.
“I also have a photo with the two of them.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was shocked, “His girlfriend, what does she look like?”
Lei Chi said, “I need to eat something before I can remember.”
Bai Xiaoyuan grabbed him, “Tell me, his girlfriend! Don’t lie to me, or I’ll let the little cat scratch you to death.”
Lei Chi looked serious, “If you allow me to treat you to dinner tonight, I’ll tell you about Qing Meizi’s girlfriend and boyfriend.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was completely stunned, and it took a while before she gritted her teeth and said, “Fine, let’s go eat.”
The two of them left the concert hall, and from a distance, they saw Qin Ge and Xie Zijing standing on the side of the road, staring into the distance.
Lu Qinglai was chatting with several big shots who had appeared at the seminar.
“What’s going on?” Bai Xiaoyuan approached and asked, “Did something happen with Lu Qinglai again?”
Qin Ge whispered, “Lu Qinglai is wearing a ring on his left ring finger. Did he get married?”
Lei Chi, hearing this, chimed in, “Lu Qinglai doesn’t have a partner. I checked his personnel file.”
Xie Zijing added, “But that ring is not just an accessory.”
He made a motion as if taking off a ring, “He took it off for me once when he was doing the ‘sea area’ patrol. There’s a capital letter ‘Z’ engraved on the inside of the ring, probably in memory of someone.”
Bai Xiaoyuan asked, “Z? Is it a surname? Zhou?”
Both Qin Ge and Lei Chi were stunned, looking at each other.
“Aren’t you supposed to ask the big shots about the impact of white noise on the ‘sea area’?” Bai Xiaoyuan suddenly remembered Lei Chi’s initial purpose: “Just a reminder.”
“I won’t ask anymore,” Lei Chi said solemnly. He hadn’t expected Lu Qinglai to be responsible for that part of the content.
Seeing Qin Ge’s strange expression, Bai Xiaoyuan patted his shoulder, “Lei Chi is treating me to dinner; wanna join?”
Qin Ge said, “…No, you guys go ahead.”
Xie Zijing said, “Then I’ll go. It’s rare to have a meal with my idol.”
Qin Ge said, “You stay too.”
He pulled Xie Zijing and waved to Lei Chi and Bai Xiaoyuan, “See you next week.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “So we’re going, okay?”
Xie Zijing also caught on, waving at the same frequency as Qin Ge, “Bye-bye.”
Lei Chi and Bai Xiaoyuan walked away, and only then did Qin Ge take Xie Zijing by the hand and said, “Let’s go; I’ll take you to see the sunset.”
Although Xie Zijing had studied at New Hope for four years, he had never been to the Forbidden City or climbed Jingshan. When Qin Ge and he reached the top of Jingshan, the golden sun was setting, casting a warm hue over the entire city. The glazed tiles of the Forbidden City shimmered with golden light, like a luminous dream.
A group of pigeons flew by, gradually heading west, becoming sparser.
The sky was covered with layers of white clouds, sticking closely to the dome-like fish scales.
For the first time, Xie Zijing overlooked the entire Forbidden City from this angle, feeling refreshed and exhilarated. He opened his arms and roared.
“Every time I stand here, I feel like I’m traveling through time.” Qin Ge smiled. “It’s as if you can hear the voices, the hoofbeats, and the gongs striking the watchtower from inside.”
“Do you often come here?”
“I used to come here often with my classmates,” Qin Ge laughed. “Do you remember Yan Hong? He liked to visit the Forbidden City and see exhibitions. If he couldn’t find anyone to accompany him, he’d drag me along. Afterward, we would go to the area near Nanluogu Lane to eat something expensive and not tasty.”
But there were many beautiful girls and boys in Nanluogu Lane. Yan Hong loved to hang out there, always saying that the person who had just passed by him might become a top-tier celebrity in the entertainment industry in two or three years.
There were sounds of people talking in the alley, the noise of bicycles passing by, and the rustling sound of leaves being crushed. The residences of princes and scholars were open, and the Wang and Xie families’ swallows were nowhere to be seen.
“I want to take you to my favorite places,” Qin Ge looked at the vast city walls under the sky and said, “There are many places; let’s take our time. We can see a lot over the years.”
Xie Zijing approached him, holding his hand. Qin Ge tightened his fingers around Xie Zijing’s hand, feeling the warm and ambiguous touch of their palms.
“I also want to take you to the places where I used to live,” Xie Zijing smiled. “But you don’t like to eat jianbing guozi.”
Qin Ge asked, “Apart from jianbing guozi, what else is there?”
Xie Zijing replied, “Many, but for breakfast, I just love jianbing guozi. If it’s not possible, a bowl of tofu puffs will do.”
Qin Ge asked him, “Where did you live in Tianjin before? Do you still remember?”
“I can’t remember clearly, but I have some impressions of the streets,” Xie Zijing squinted, trying to recall, “My parents used to take me for walks. Not far from our place was a park, and during spring, the entire park would be covered in roses. It was really beautiful. I remember there was a porcelain house there, quite interesting, entirely covered in porcelain tiles.”
Qin Ge, who hadn’t been there, gradually became curious after hearing Xie Zijing talk about it.
He wanted to explore Xie Zijing’s past. He wanted to find a way to help Xie Zijing recover from the chaotic memories without causing him to break down. It was challenging, as no one had done it before. Qin Ge held Xie Zijing’s hand as they descended the mountain, feeling no fear.
They ate some expensive and not-so-tasty snacks in Nanluogu Lane, then took the subway back to Xie Zijing’s home. On the subway, young couples held hands, whispering sweet nothings to each other, their faces almost touching. Holding hands too, Xie Zijing lowered his head to check his phone, while Qin Ge looked at the underground tunnel passing by outside the window, feeling an unusual calm and tranquility.
“Do you remember this person?” Xie Zijing handed his phone to Qin Ge. “He’s the half-zombie actor that your rabbit particularly likes.”
“I remember him. He used to play zombies whose heads were blown off by humans, but in recent years, he’s started starring in stories about zombies. They’re quite popular,” Qin Ge replied.
“But now he’s facing a boycott on the internet,” Xie Zijing opened the comments for Qin Ge to see. “Many people are asking him why he doesn’t just die, why he has to come out to scare people and spread the virus.”
Qin Ge sighed softly.
The actor in the video faced reporters’ questions, continuously explaining that they weren’t spreading the virus and had always been tightly controlling the progression of the disease.
[Yes, getting infected with the zombie virus is like getting an incurable disease… I was only nineteen at the time, and the doctor told me that this was a lifelong, incurable disease. But at least I still have thirty years before I completely die.] The young, semi-zombified actor said this to the camera. [Do I just do nothing for these thirty years and wait to die? We also want to live.]
“Lei Chi mentioned Xie Liang from the Criminal Investigation Division, the half-zombie who got infected after getting married. His son is already in kindergarten. Xie Zijing said, “It’s pretty good, you know, life.”
Hearing such serious words from him, Qin Ge found it quite amusing and couldn’t help but smile, repeating, “Yeah, life.”
He leaned toward Xie Zijing with a smile, and their hands got even closer. The lights in the tunnel passed over Qin Ge’s eyes, and Xie Zijing kept staring at Qin Ge’s profile.
“Will you stay at my place tonight?” He asked very softly.
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