[12/05, 10:12 AM, Nanyi City]
Returning to Nanyi for only two days felt like a week. After discussing with Yu Xue, Yi Shi obtained information from Lin Heyu to be released publicly as Zhao Chenghu’s interrogation results, to avoid causing trouble with Liu Chenyi from Haijing, who could be difficult to deal with.
Over the past while, the route to Haijing had become so familiar that Yi Shi could drive it in his sleep. He gripped the steering wheel, eyes focused straight ahead on the endless highway. Yu Xue sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through his phone. Suddenly, he asked, “Did you block Yu’an’s number and WeChat?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder he reached out to me, sending message after message like a barrage.” Yu Xue glanced at the screen. The kid seemed quite pitiful, each message apologizing profusely, with a flood of pleading emojis, begging Yu Xue to help and ask his brother for forgiveness, promising never to upset Yi Shi again.
Yu Xue read a couple of the messages aloud, but before he could finish the second one, “I promise I won’t do it again,” Yi Shi interrupted, “I’m tired of hearing that.”
“I understand; he’s been a troublemaker since he was a kid.” Yu Xue sighed. “You’ve watched him grow up. When he was young and mischievous, causing all that trouble, wasn’t it just to get your attention?”
“Anything else can be forgiven, but not this. I don’t want to give him any false hope.” Yi Shi glanced at Yu Xue’s phone. “Don’t reply. Once this phase passes, he’ll settle down.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Yi Shi paused, “those ‘new friends’ will divert his attention.”
Most men are driven by desire, and Yi Shi firmly believed that Sheng Yu’an’s feelings for him were merely “the thrill of what you can’t have.” Once he had a partner, all these troubles would resolve themselves.
This was a matter between brothers, and Yu Xue had no intention of interfering. Although Uncle Sheng often asked him to look after him, if he knew that his biological son had such feelings for his adopted son, he’d probably be the first to grab a belt and thrash Sheng Yu’an until he couldn’t get out of bed.
Taking a break at the service area, Yi Shi opened Lin Heyu’s chat window. At a glance, he saw the last message, which was an inquiry about his love life, and couldn’t help but cover his face in embarrassment, his ears turning red. He calmed himself, chanting inwardly, “It never happened, it never happened, just move on, he didn’t notice, he didn’t notice.”
After silently repeating this for a while, Yi Shi had regained his composure. In a normal tone, he asked Lin Heyu for a map of Haijing City. If he didn’t have an electronic version, a photo would do, as long as he could see the roads clearly.
He had already calculated the time. It was close to noon, 12 PM, the second closest time between the two worlds apart from midnight. If Lin Heyu was able to see the message, he would receive a reply immediately, without any time lag.
Lin Heyu did indeed receive the message promptly, but his phone was in Gu Yan’s hands. They were in the office having a small three-person meeting, and Gu Yan was copying key parts of the autopsy report onto an A4 sheet. Speaking of which, Gu Yan, a forensic pathologist with 15 years of experience, hadn’t taken notes since his days as an assistant. But today, under Lin Heyu’s pressure, he had to reminisce about his long-gone youth.
Yuan Maoqiu, sneaking a peek from the side, found Gu Yan’s handwriting wild and illegible, like earthworms crawling. He couldn’t understand a single word: “Sanhuo, can you even recognize what you’ve written?”
“Of course! How could I not recognize my own writing?”
Yuan Maoqiu pointed to a line: “What’s this?”
“Muscle and ligament cut ends are neat.”
??? Yuan Maoqiu’s eyes nearly popped out. No matter how hard he stared, he couldn’t see any connection between the scribbled lines and what Gu Yan had said. The strokes didn’t match up—was he just making things up? Yuan Maoqiu clasped his hands in mock respect: “You really are kin to doctors.”
“Of course, forensic doctors are still doctors.” Gu Yan switched to another image when suddenly his phone buzzed. He picked it up and accidentally opened the WeChat interface. “Hey, Lin, you’ve got a message… What’s this? Who’s asking if you have a girlfriend?”
Yuan Maoqiu’s gossip senses tingled, and he leaned over: “What? What?”
Lin Heyu, quick as lightning, snatched the phone back and walked to the other side of the office to reply. Yi Shi was asking for a map of Haijing. Lin didn’t have one ready, so he downloaded one from the internet and sent it over, asking if Yi Shi had eaten yet.
Yi Shi: [Yes, at a service area.]
Lin Heyu: [Are you on your way to Haijing?]
Yi Shi: [Mm, for a meeting. I’ll send you the information you requested once I get back.]
Lin Heyu said there was no rush and reminded him to drive safely. When he turned around, he found Yuan Maoqiu and Gu Yan whispering together, clearly gossiping about him: “Who was that? Asking if he has a girlfriend, checking his relationship status?”
“You’re wrong; they’re checking his marital status, making sure they’re not becoming the third wheel.”
“Geez, Gardner really knows what they’re doing… Wait, is Lao Lin involved in something?”
“You’re so out of the loop; you don’t visit us often enough. This isn’t even new gossip!”
Gu Yan got excited: “Quick, tell me more. What’s the story? Are they good-looking? Hot body?”
Yuan Maoqiu answered honestly: “Good-looking, really good-looking. Their skin is as white as snow; their eyes, dark and shiny; their features, as if sculpted like an SD doll, but they’re a bit thin, not much meat on their bones.”
Gu Yan sounded disappointed: “Oh, no chest? What a pity.”
“None at all, flat as a board.”
“…”
Lin Heyu casually picked up two pens and threw them at the back of their heads, hitting his targets dead-on. Two “ow” sounds rang out as they turned back. Lin Heyu tapped his finger on the desk, glaring at Gu Yan: “Finished yet?”
“Almost.”
Lin Heyu tossed his phone back to him, his tone tinged with impatience: “Hurry up. I just need an accurate conclusion.”
“Huh?” Gu Yan fumbled to catch the phone, blinking in confusion. “…You only want the conclusion, not the details?”
“Mm.”
“Then I’m done!” Gu Yan picked up the A4 sheet. “This matches the perpetrator in our case.”
Lin Heyu confirmed, “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure! The wounds caused by the weapon are identical, especially this stab wound—it was done by a lefty.” Gu Yan spread his hands, “Remember the kid we found in the suitcase? Stabbed by a lefty.”
“…You can tell just from the pictures?” Yuan Maoqiu was slightly shocked. Gu Yan gave him an impatient glance: “I’m a veteran forensic pathologist, a professional! Your doubt is an insult to my expertise!”
Lin Heyu pressed his finger to his chin. He had previously speculated that the cases might be related, and Gu Yan’s words confirmed this: the perpetrators were indeed the same group—Tu Laogui and Pang Daozi, committing different crimes in Nanyi and Haijing in two worlds. The explosion and the kidnapping, no matter where they started, would eventually converge to complete another major crime.
He and Yi Shi’s worlds were reversed, so the case flow had undergone a drastic change, but the established facts wouldn’t change. To both of them, from a God’s-eye view, it was all a kind of repetition.
If only he could find the Nanyi explosion case file, it would be easier to determine whether it was the same case. Since they were on this stage, holding an important script, they could put on a spectacular performance.
The 10.30 explosion case?
For some reason, Lin Heyu’s mind flashed back to that meeting when he and the freshly-morning-run Yi Shi sat together. The handsome young man across from him propped his forehead with his hand, his long eyelashes fluttering like butterflies ready to take flight.
The sunset outside his window was infinite, but in the world through the tea-colored glass, it was a bright morning.
They were discussing the case, and Yi Shi had pulled out a new sticky note, writing down the number “10/21” and handing it over. When Lin took it, the date on the paper was “12/01.”
“It hasn’t passed,” Yi Shi said calmly. “In my world, none of this has happened yet.”
10.30…?
Lin Heyu suddenly stood up and rushed towards the door. Yuan Maoqiu was stunned for a moment and chased after him, “Hey! Heyu, where are you going?”
“To the archives.”
“The archives?” Yuan Maoqiu felt like he’d seen a ghost, “You’ve already been there twice!”
Lin Heyu didn’t have time to explain and quickly ran to the archives. It was the weekend, and Lao Pan was working overtime to organize the catalog. When he saw Lin Heyu, he was surprised, “Captain Lin, what brings you here?”
“Lao Pan, I want to go in and look for the explosion case files again.”
“Huh? Last time, didn’t you and Yan Runping search everywhere?”
Lin Heyu didn’t offer much explanation and insisted on going in again. Lao Pan picked up a large bunch of keys and led the way. Once inside, Lin Heyu headed straight for the cabinet at the back, with a clear sense of purpose this time. He opened it and found the files from March, his fingers sliding over two volumes before stopping on the “03.01 Homicide Case” file.
He and Yan Runping had gone through this one before, confirming it was a case of home invasion and robbery, so they put it back. But now, holding it again, Lin Heyu sensed a subtle discrepancy—the thickness wasn’t right.
For a robbery-murder case with only one perpetrator and a swift capture, the physical evidence shouldn’t match the bulk of the serial murder case below it.
“Captain Lin, these are from March,” Lao Pan helpfully reminded him. Lin Heyu paused for a few seconds before responding, “Yeah, I know. Just taking a casual look.”
Such a strong sense of purpose just for a casual look? Lao Pan was about to say something when the phone rang—the landline in the archive room. He told Lin Heyu to continue looking while he took the call, promising to be back in a minute.
Left alone in the archives, Lin Heyu held the file, his heartbeat quickening, his hands feeling as heavy as if they were weighed down by a thousand pounds. This time, instead of flipping from the front, he started from the back, working his way forward. The last few pages were still about the robbery-murder case, but by the fourth-to-last page, he found entirely different information.
Familiar words like “explosion,” “gang activity,” and “machinery factory” caught his eye. Lin Heyu’s heart sank as he unconsciously tightened his grip on the file.
It seemed deliberately done—the “10.30 Explosion Case” file had been bound right after the March 1st robbery case. No wonder they couldn’t find it no matter how hard they looked; who would have thought it was hidden in such a peculiar way?
However, the information here was clearly incomplete, scattered across different pages, lacking beginning and end, and none of the crucial details he wanted were left behind. As he continued flipping, he suddenly came across the personnel file, and his pupils contracted, his fingers stiffening and trembling slightly.
Name: Yi Shi
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Han
Height: 177 cm
Weight: 60 kg
…
Next to the information was a one-inch ID photo of Yi Shi. Even under the rigid lens of the unedited official photo, that handsome face remained strikingly attractive. Unfortunately, the embossed seal next to it was too harsh, making Lin Heyu’s eyes sting, unable to bear a closer look.
[Deceased]
Lao Pan returned after taking the call, just in time to meet Lin Heyu’s gaze. He asked, “Finished?”
“Yes.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“…No.”
Lao Pan noticed Lin Heyu looked troubled and patted him on the shoulder, “Captain Lin, remember to take care of yourself while investigating. You don’t look too good.”
Lin Heyu forced a smile. After leaving the archive, he stood in the hallway, gazing out at the blue sky.
This was a case from twenty years ago. Yi Shi was now in a world twenty years later, still the adopted son of Lin Zhizhi. Shouldn’t he be less pessimistic? Surely, what he just saw couldn’t be Yi Shi’s final fate?
Zhizhi’s adopted child.
Two overly exquisite faces, one large and one small, overlapped in his mind. After a few seconds of contemplation, Lin Heyu decided to contact Lin Zhizhi, wanting to meet with Xiao Shitou.
