MP Ch34: Shura Field

Lin Heyu and the others were staying at a budget hotel near the Nanyi City Bureau, with two people sharing each standard room. Naturally, Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu, being close comrades, shared a room. As Yuan Maoqiu swiped the room card to open the door, he suddenly asked, “Hey, Heyu, with us sharing a room, won’t that little handsome get jealous?”

“…?” What’s he worrying about? Lin Heyu couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Yuan Maoqiu, eager to perform, placed his luggage down and patted his chest with one hand, “Not only do we work together, but we also eat and live together. If the little handsome finds out, won’t he get jealous?”

“…” Lin Heyu looked at him like he was crazy.

“This could really cause big trouble. If I accidentally take the wrong underwear after a shower and the little handsome finds out, won’t he beat me up?”

“…” Lin Heyu’s fists clenched.

Yuan Maoqiu crossed his arms, a six-foot-tall man trying to look pitiful, “The little handsome is so scary~ Unlike me, who only feels sorry for you—Ouch!”

He didn’t even finish his exaggerated act before he was knocked down, and peace was restored.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone gathered at the hotel entrance after putting away their luggage. Yuan Maoqiu followed behind Lin Heyu, rubbing his shoulder and grimacing. Zou Bin asked with concern, “Lao Yuan, what’s wrong?”

“His mouth is in pain,” Lin Heyu coldly replied.

Zou Bin was confused, how could a mouth injury hurt his shoulder?

Under Lin Heyu’s arrangement, the Haijing team split into two groups. Zou Bin, Jian Ru, and Wen Huabei were in charge of investigating the small workshops, while the rest followed Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu to check out the Qiantang Scenic Area.

Nanyi’s city flower was the orchid, symbolizing elegance and purity, with the ancient saying “A gentleman is like an orchid” still being passed down today. Thus, many local industries use orchids as their trademark. Zou Bin and the others first went to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce and found that dozens of registered trademarks incorporated the three-petaled orchid design. Many of them looked very similar, almost like twins. Zou Bin decided to print out all the information on these businesses and slowly sift through them.

The half logo was found on the back of the detonator, with the lower part torn. It’s likely the kidnappers didn’t clean it properly, leaving behind some petals and an upper arc. After careful screening by the three, they eliminated possibilities one by one, but were disheartened—they found none that were an exact match. Some trademarks were similar, but not identical.

“Are all the registered ones here?” Zou Bin asked the staff at the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, and the staff nodded, “Yes, they’re all here, including those recently filed but not yet officially approved.”

“Could it be registered somewhere other than Nanyi? Or maybe it’s not registered at all?”

“I think it might not be registered. Captain Lin mentioned the crude workmanship, indicating a small workshop, probably just a roadside stall.”

Wen Huabei asked, “Comrade, are there any designated fireworks sales points here in Nanyi?”

“With the strict national regulations now, fireworks are high-risk products. If not stored properly, they can easily cause accidents. The fireworks market was shut down a long time ago.”

Zou Bin and the others looked helpless. They thought they could take a shortcut, but now they had to return to the old method of step-by-step investigation. They reported the situation to Lin Heyu, who was near Qiantang Town with Yuan Maoqiu. After hanging up the phone, Lin Heyu’s expression was not good, “Nothing found.”

“Ugh, I wanted to take it easy,” Yuan Maoqiu spread his hands, “When I heard ‘small workshop,’ my heart sank. A roadside stall, hit and run.”

Lin Heyu thought for a moment, “Not necessarily.”

He took out his phone, posted the image in the work group chat, and included a few image recognition websites, suggesting they search there. Maybe they’d find something unexpected.

“That’s a good idea!” Yuan Maoqiu said, patting Lin Heyu’s shoulder. “This is the age of the internet, many hands make light work. I didn’t know you were so up-to-date, Lao Lin!”

Even though it was a small workshop, it couldn’t possibly sell its goods only to Tu Laogui and his gang. If they could find the same product online, it would be much faster and easier than checking step-by-step.

The two of them stood at the crossroads, encountering many tourists asking for directions to the main entrance of Qiantang Town. Yuan Maoqiu was puzzled. He had hardly been to Nanyi before, though he had seen many advertisements and had planned to bring his girlfriend here during the May Day holiday. But before the short vacation, his violin teacher sent him a farewell song, and that was the end of it.

However, Lin Heyu could accurately direct everyone asking for directions.

“How do you know the way? Have you been here before?”

Lin Heyu looked around, staring deeply at the small mountain across the road, “I have some impression.”

He couldn’t recall the exact time, but instinctively thought that coming here was definitely related to Yi Shi. Every memory he had of Nanyi was linked to Yi Shi.

Yuan Maoqiu guessed as much and said teasingly, “Oh~ The little handsome is from Nanyi? No wonder.”

“He has a name,” Lin Heyu found the term “little handsome” annoying.

Yuan Maoqiu feigned ignorance, “I know, ‘one stone, two birds,’ that Yi Shi?”

Lin Heyu found communicating with Yuan Maoqiu frustrating for the first time, “Forget it.”

“Hey, can’t you take a joke?” Yuan Maoqiu pulled out a map from his bag. “You’ve been staring at that mountain. Shall we go check it out?”

Lin Heyu had the same plan. Checking his phone’s navigation, the entrance to the mountain path was at the fork ahead, about a five-minute walk.

As they crossed the road, a blue and white police car caught up with them, honking. Lin Heyu turned back to see Sheng Guoning’s stern face as the car window rolled down, “Captain Lin, get in.”

“No need, no need, it’s only a five-minute walk,” Yuan Maoqiu waved off the invitation, wondering why Sheng Guoning was so eager to pick them up just after they decided to check out the mountain. Did he have super hearing?

But Sheng Guoning explained that he was there to take them back to the city bureau.

“Go back?” Yuan Maoqiu pointed at his watch, smirking, “It’s not even off-hours yet. Slacking off isn’t a good look, Captain Sheng.”

“There’s something going on,” Sheng Guoning didn’t beat around the bush, staring at Lin Heyu, “Someone’s at the bureau looking for you.”

“Who?”

“A kid, about eight or nine. The officers thought he was lost, but he refused to give his name or address and insisted on seeing you.” Sheng Guoning took out his phone with one hand while holding the steering wheel with the other, showing a picture, “This was just sent to me. Do you recognize him?”

Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu leaned in. The child in the photo was pale and thin, huddled in a corner, wearing a khaki coat and blue jeans. Even without seeing his face, they recognized the child from his lonely, helpless posture.

Lin Heyu quickly opened the car door and got into the passenger seat, “Sorry to trouble you.”

As the car headed towards the Nanyi City Bureau, Sheng Guoning pondered the relationship between the child and Lin Heyu. Yuan Maoqiu, sitting in the back, chatted with Lin Heyu about the child.

“Did he come by himself? Did you ask Lao Lü?”

“I did, no reply yet.”

“Impressive, at such a young age, traveling alone. I never left Haijing alone before middle school.”

Sheng Guoning glanced at Lin Heyu, then tentatively asked, “Is the child yours?”

Yuan Maoqiu laughed, “You give Lao Lin too much credit. He’s still single and not married. How could he have such an old child?”

“I figured. A friend’s kid?”

“No, he’s a hostage we rescued before, from this case, adopted by one of our colleagues.”

Sheng Guoning was surprised, not expecting the child to be connected to the current case. He remembered skimming the file and noting an orphan among the rescued hostages, but hadn’t remembered the name.

Half an hour later, the car parked in front of the city bureau building. Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu headed straight for the first-floor lounge. Pushing open the door, they saw two female officers accompanying the child, patiently talking to him with kind smiles. But the little boy remained silent, lips pressed into a line, his pale face tense, staring at the floor defensively.

Lin Heyu walked in and called his name, “Xiao Shitou.”

Xiao Shitou immediately looked up. Upon seeing Lin Heyu, his expression lit up, eyes sparkling as he ran to hug Lin Heyu’s waist.

Lin Heyu patted his dark little head, and the female officers echoed Sheng Guoning’s earlier question, “Officer Lin, is this your child?”

Yuan Maoqiu held back a laugh. Poor Lao Lin, single and unmarried, yet constantly mistaken for a father.

Xiao Shitou clung tightly to Lin Heyu, his small arms wrapped securely around Lin Heyu’s waist. Lin Heyu gently patted his shoulder, “Xiao Shitou, let’s sit down. Uncle Lin wants to talk to you.”

He coaxed Xiao Shitou to sit down. Yuan Maoqiu and the two female officers were chatting and laughing. Yuan Maoqiu joked about how tiring it was and said they should leave the rest to Captain Lin. He even offered to buy milk tea for everyone.

With only Lin Heyu and Xiao Shitou left in the lounge, Lin gently stroked the boy’s soft black hair and asked patiently, “Are you hungry? Want some water?”

Xiao Shitou shook his head and glanced at the nearly empty disposable cup on the side, previously filled by the two female officers.

“How did you get here?”

“By bus,” Xiao Shitou answered softly.

“What kind of bus? A small passenger bus?” Lin Heyu ruled out trains and high-speed trains, as the child was too young and without proper identification, making it impossible to buy a ticket. Long-distance buses usually required tickets from official points of sale, but the black-market buses around stations didn’t need tickets. Lin was referring to those with his term “small passenger bus.”

“I didn’t take a black-market bus,” Xiao Shitou quickly explained. “I had someone buy a long-distance bus ticket for me and then took a taxi here.”

“Who bought it for you?”

“An adult at the train station. I gave him an extra fifty yuan, and he bought it for me,” Xiao Shitou nervously twisted his hands. “I hailed the taxi by the roadside and asked to be dropped off at the Nanyi City Bureau. I paid the fare myself and watched the meter. The driver didn’t overcharge me.”

Lin Heyu couldn’t help but laugh. It made sense—the driver wouldn’t dare overcharge when dropping a child off at the police station. He probably assumed Xiao Shitou’s family worked there and made sure to drive him straight.

Just then, Lü Kanshan called, sounding frantic. “Heyu! Is Xiao Shitou with you? My God, my mom said he disappeared. We couldn’t find him anywhere. My heart almost jumped out of my chest! We were just checking the surveillance footage when I saw your message.”

Lü Kanshan and Teng Xiaojian were at work, and Lü Miaomiao was in school. Xiao Shitou’s adoption papers weren’t finalized yet, so Lü Kanshan’s mother had been looking after him. Today, she went to the rooftop to hang clothes, and when she came back down, Xiao Shitou was gone. She searched the entire building and the neighborhood but couldn’t find him and had to call her son for help.

“Yes, he’s here. He took a long-distance bus to Nanyi by himself,” Lin Heyu looked at the nervous, well-behaved child and said, “Tell Auntie not to worry. Xiao Shitou is safe. This kid is pretty smart—he didn’t let the driver cheat him.”

Lü Kanshan sighed in relief, “As long as he’s safe. My mom was about to have a heart attack. I’ll call her right away and get back to you later!”

Xiao Shitou heard the conversation and cautiously apologized as soon as Lin Heyu hung up. “I’m sorry.”

Lin Heyu remained calm and asked, “Do you know what you did wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have run off without telling anyone. I scared Grandma. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, if you had left a note, Grandma wouldn’t have been so worried. What else?”

“I… I shouldn’t have come to find you by myself.”

“Right. I’m at work, not on vacation. If I were on vacation, I’d be happy to bring you along. Also, you’re very young. Have you considered the dangers you might face?”

“For instance, when you asked someone to buy a ticket at the station, did you think about the possibility of being kidnapped?”

“Or what if the person buying the ticket didn’t keep their promise and used another excuse to take all your money?”

Xiao Shitou remained silent, biting his lip. Lin Heyu sighed, “Xiao Shitou, I know you’re more mature than most kids your age, but it’s still too early for you to take risks alone. Your uncles and aunties will worry about you. Promise me this won’t happen again, okay?”

Afraid that Lin Heyu would be angry, Xiao Shitou quickly grabbed his arm and nodded vigorously. “It won’t happen again. I won’t run off and make the adults worry anymore.”

After addressing the running away issue, Lin Heyu asked where Xiao Shitou got the money. He found out it was saved bit by bit from pocket money and some taken from a drawer at home. Lin Heyu sternly explained that secretly taking money was wrong, and if done outside, it would be considered theft and a crime.

“I know. I’ll work hard to help Uncle and Auntie with chores when I get back to make up for the money I took,” Xiao Shitou said, looking up at Lin Heyu with big, earnest eyes. “I promise this will be the last time.”

Lin Heyu believed in stopping the education process at the right point. Physical punishment was a thing of the past. Nowadays, positive discipline was the trend, instilling the right values and distinguishing right from wrong. After addressing the mistakes, Lin Heyu also praised Xiao Shitou for his well-organized plan for the trip. Despite the minor flaws, he achieved his goal, showing that the boy had courage and a clear thought process.

“I hope you use your excellent skills for the right things, which will benefit your growth. I’ve reviewed today’s events for you. Keep the good parts and discard the bad,” Lin Heyu smiled, “You’re a little man now. You must keep your promises, okay?”

“Yes, definitely,” Xiao Shitou held up his pinky. “If you don’t believe me, we can make a pinky promise.”

Lin Heyu chuckled and hooked his pinky with Xiao Shitou’s. At that moment, two clear knocks came from the door. Both looked up to see Yuan Maoqiu standing there, holding milk tea in one hand and two takeout cups in the other. He asked, “Done talking? The bureau is closed for the day.”

Lin Heyu stood up and glanced at the milk tea in his hand. “What, couldn’t give it out?”

Yuan Maoqiu nearly choked on his coconut jelly. Was he, a world-class not-so-famous gardner, going to fumble when trying to curry favor with a beautiful woman? No way! He brought these especially for his good brother and the little kid. Talk about ungrateful.

Xiao Shitou held his milk tea, standing obediently next to Lin Heyu. Sheng Guoning and Shen Ruirui came over, and Shen Ruirui asked, “Captain Lin, are you taking the kid home?”

Lin Heyu nodded. Lü Kanshan probably wouldn’t make it until tomorrow, so Xiao Shitou would have to stay with him tonight.

“Alright, alright, let’s find a place to eat dinner. I’m starving,” Yuan Maoqiu squatted down and looked at Xiao Shitou, “Xiao Shitou, what do you want to eat?”

Xiao Shitou shook his head and hid behind Lin Heyu. Yuan Maoqiu felt defeated and rubbed his face, “Am I really that scary? Xiao Shitou doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

Lin Heyu mercilessly commented that with his peacock-like demeanor, no normal male would want to talk to him.

“Tsk, you’re just jealous. Us straight guys, you wouldn’t understand.” Ever since he realized Lin Heyu didn’t follow the usual path, Yuan Maoqiu never considered him straight.

“…,” Lin Heyu ignored him. His phone buzzed, and he thought it might be a message from Yi Shi, so he quickly took it out.

Lin Zhizhi: [Brother, are you off work?]

Lin Zhizhi: [I’m taking you to try an amazing hot pot place! Hurry up and let me know so I can reserve a spot! 😊]

Lin Heyu put away his phone and looked at Yuan Maoqiu, “Hot pot, want to go?”

“Huh? Why the sudden urge for hot pot?”

“Zhizhi wants to go.”

Sheng Guoning perked up. Lin Zhizhi?

Shen Ruirui’s eyes also lit up with excitement. Oh, this was going to be an interesting scene. These opportunities didn’t come often.

“Oh~ it’s for Zhizhi. I knew it, you’d never think of hot pot on your own,” Yuan Maoqiu stood up, “So, are you picking her up or meeting at the restaurant?”

“I’ll pick her up.”

The three of them prepared to leave. Lin Heyu took Xiao Shitou’s hand and said goodbye to Sheng Guoning and Shen Ruirui, saying he’d see them tomorrow. Sheng Guoning forced a smile, “Captain Lin, off to pick up your girlfriend? So considerate.”

“…?” The three of them stared at him, looking puzzled.

Yuan Maoqiu frowned, “Captain Sheng, are you mistaken? Lin Heyu doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Shen Ruirui stuck out her tongue, “Don’t hide it from us. We saw her at the entrance last time. Long hair, fair skin, beautiful face, great figure. Captain Lin, you’re so lucky.”

Lin Heyu was speechless. Yuan Maoqiu burst into laughter, “What are you all thinking? That’s his sister!”

Sheng Guoning was dumbfounded, “Lin Zhizhi… is your sister?”

Lin Heyu gave him a look of utter exasperation. Yuan Maoqiu spread his hands, “What else? They’re real family. Heyu practically raised her.”

Finally understanding why Sheng Guoning had been so unfriendly to Lin Heyu recently, Yuan Maoqiu realized he had staged a “jealous rivals” drama all on his own.

Shen Ruirui covered her mouth in surprise and elbowed Sheng Guoning, whispering, “Captain Sheng! This misunderstanding is huge!”

Reacting quickly, Sheng Guoning rushed over to shake Lin Heyu’s hand, smiling broadly, “It was all a misunderstanding! Brother, from now on, you’re my future brother-in-law! It’s settled.”

“…,” Lin Heyu’s face remained expressionless, clearly not thrilled with the idea of having such a “brother-in-law.”

“What’s a brother-in-law?” Xiao Shitou asked curiously.

“Nothing, it’s not a nice term,” Lin Heyu didn’t bother with Sheng Guoning and quickly walked away with Xiao Shitou.

Watching them leave, Shen Ruirui shook her head and sympathetically said to Sheng Guoning, “See? Jumping to conclusions without knowing the facts backfired. Now you’ve offended the brother-in-law!”

And he wanted to pursue his sister? The sister was beautiful, with a good job and probably no shortage of suitors. Captain Sheng… well, his love life looked challenging, to say the least.

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