Since the beginning of the case, Yi Shi and Ding Ju had been sharing a standard room. Though they were colleagues from the same team, Yi Shi’s cold nature made him difficult to get along with. Ding Ju had initially been somewhat afraid of him, but after spending some time together, his perception of Yi Shi gradually changed, and he finally managed to interact with him like a normal colleague. However, when it came to everyday life, Ding Ju still maintained a cautious attitude, making sure to be as meticulous as possible, fearing he might accidentally touch on Yi Shi’s reverse scale.
As a result, their standard room had remained consistently clean, rarely needing the cleaning staff to come in. “Both” of them had good habits—every day, they would take out the trash, and they didn’t need their towels or toiletries replaced, having brought everything they needed with them when they arrived.
The reason for the quotation marks around “both” was that this was entirely dependent on Ding Ju’s constant vigilance. During the days when Yi Shi had returned to Nanyi, Ding Ju was like Sun Wukong after having his golden hoop removed, returning to Flower Fruit Mountain to rule as king, living freely in solitude. The last time he’d made the bed was two days ago, and the state of cleanliness in the room was another matter altogether.
When Yi Shi swiped his card to open the door, he didn’t immediately walk in. Or rather, he hesitated, unsure if he should even step inside. He stepped back out to check the room number, then looked at the keycard in his hand, confirming it was indeed his room, before istanding silently at the doorway.
It couldn’t exactly be called messy; it was more like it hadn’t been tidied up at all since he left. Clothes that didn’t belong to him were scattered everywhere, used tissues were strewn about, and most egregiously, there were even two tied-up takeout bags by the table. If it were summer, flies would have already laid eggs, and a family of cockroaches could be sustained.
The bathroom light was on, and the sound of water could be heard through the frosted glass door—Ding Ju was taking a shower inside. Yi Shi quietly entered the room, closed the door, and took off his jacket, placing it on the only tidy spot in the room—his own bed.
He pulled out a pair of rubber gloves from his jacket, put them on, rolled up his sleeves, and began tidying up the room. One by one, he piled the clothes onto Ding Ju’s bed, swept the suspicious (??) crumpled papers from the nightstand into the trash, and took out the takeout containers to throw them away. Finally, he put the chairs, slippers, and hangers back in their places. The whole process took less than a quarter of an hour.
When he stood in the center of the room, now as neat as before, he finally felt a sense of relief. Seeing the room in such a mess earlier hadn’t made him angry, or rather, Ding Ju’s messiness hadn’t crossed the line enough to irritate him.
The sound of water stopped, and Ding Ju walked out, a towel wrapped around his waist. Seeing Yi Shi, he paused, “Hey? Just got back?”
Yi Shi nodded and, right in front of him, calmly took off the rubber gloves and tossed them into the trash.
“Why were you wearing gloves?” Ding Ju curiously stretched his neck to look into the trash can.
“Nothing.” Yi Shi opened his travel bag, searching for clothes to take a shower.
Although Ding Ju often acted foolishly, he wasn’t slow-witted when it mattered. His eyes quickly scanned the room, and his expression gradually became dazed, finally turning into a stone-like state.
Yi Shi, holding his change of clothes, brushed past him, and Ding Ju blurted out in panic, “I-I-I… I didn’t mean to! I’ve just been so tired lately that I forgot. Please don’t be mad! I didn’t mean to…”
“Mm, I know,” Yi Shi interrupted coolly, “I just said, it’s nothing.”
The Nanyi team members’ daily action plans were posted in the group chat, and while Yi Shi and Yu Xue were back in Nanyi, the other team members had been sent up the mountains. The hideout Lin Erde provided for Tu Laogui was exceptionally difficult to reach, located in undeveloped territory with steep and treacherous terrain. The deep valleys required the use of ropes to descend, and the youngest, fittest team member, Ding Ju, was their key climbing expert. Just a couple of days ago, he had posted a picture of his back bruised from the ropes.
It was out of consideration for his hard work that Yi Shi had tidied up the room without a second thought. His calm demeanor while cleaning up proved he truly hadn’t taken it to heart.
“…You really aren’t mad?” Ding Ju asked cautiously.
He couldn’t even remember what the room looked like earlier—was there anything embarrassing lying around? He hoped he hadn’t left any underwear scattered about. If Yi Shi had seen that, he’d be mortified.
“No.”
Ding Ju breathed a sigh of relief, about to raise three fingers to swear a promise, but then he saw Yi Shi standing still in the middle of the bathroom, like a lifeless statue.
What was he looking at? Why was he staring so intently? Ding Ju followed his gaze downward and finally noticed the white T-shirt and pants piled at the entrance to the shower.
The statue started moving; Yi Shi slowly bent down, his fingers almost touching the edge of the T-shirt. Ding Ju suddenly snapped out of it, dashed over in a single leap, “I’ll do it! Don’t touch it!”
True to his reputation as the team’s hunting dog, Ding Ju moved with impressive speed, scooping up the clothes and holding them tightly to his chest, then swiftly retreating outside the frosted door. He sighed in relief; those clothes still had his unwashed boxers inside! It was like public humiliation, embarrassing enough to make him want to find a hole to crawl into.
Yi Shi looked at him, pointed to the bamboo basket in the corner, “Dirty clothes go there. If you don’t want to wash them, take them down to the laundry room.”
Ding Ju nodded like a bobblehead. Got it, got it. He definitely wouldn’t forget again. He felt increasingly unable to look Yi Shi in the eye, desperate to make up for his mistake, “Do… do you want some late-night snacks? I’ll order something… No, I’ll go out and buy it. You’ll have something to eat as soon as you’re done with your shower!”
With that, he was about to bolt for the door, but Yi Shi called him back, “Wait.”
Ding Ju turned around, meeting Yi Shi’s indifferent yet subtly meaningful gaze, “Are you really… planning to go out like that?”
“…” Ding Ju looked at his current state—wearing nothing but a towel and holding his clothes. If he went out like this, he wouldn’t be heading to the night market but to the local police station.
The wolfdog Ding Ju had never experienced such a socially embarrassing moment in his twenty-five years of life.
Less than half an hour later, Ding Ju returned with hot snacks. Yi Shi had already finished his shower, his hair still damp, with several pages of materials spread out on the bed. There was no need to ask; what he was reading was definitely related to their case.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got some grilled squid and pork tenderloin,” Ding Ju said as he placed the foam boxes on the table, “Eat while it’s hot; it’ll taste fishy if it cools.”
Yi Shi slowly walked over, his attention entirely away from the food. Ding Ju shrugged—when it came to enthusiasm for solving cases, the entire team combined couldn’t compare to Yi Shi.
“Who found that bloody clothing?” Yi Shi suddenly asked.
“Haijing’s second team.”
Yi Shi flipped a page of the materials, pointing to a small marked map, “Is this place a tourist spot?”
“Yeah, it’s called ‘Lovers’ Peak.’ There’s a ravine over there that’s easy to fall into if you’re not careful. A lot of accidents have happened there, so the spot has been closed off.”
This was where Lin Erde had fallen to his death.
Yi Shi bit into a squid tentacle, calmly pondering the connection between the bloody clothing and Lin Erde. According to the information Lin He Yu had provided, Lin Erde had died from a fall after being shot. Forensic expert Gu Yan had speculated that he was pushed off the mountain by someone else. Could this person have been a partner who wanted to silence him?
And this partner’s bloody clothing hadn’t stayed there; instead, it mysteriously appeared in their world. That might explain why Lin He Yu couldn’t find any evidence of a partner.
Yi Shi opened the photo album on his phone, flipping through images until he found the DNA profiling report of the skin tissue under Lin Erde’s fingernails. He compared it with the reports from the note and the bloody clothing. Although he wasn’t a professional forensic expert, he had a hunch: these three DNA samples probably belonged to the same person.
Ding Ju, eating his midnight snack heartily and appearing rather carefree, couldn’t stand the silence in the room and tried to make conversation, “How did Zhao Chenghu confess? The last time we interrogated him, he was spewing nonsense. Did he cooperate better this time?”
“Mm.” Yi Shi said nonchalantly, “The first night it was brought up, and by the afternoon the next day, everything was laid out.”
“That was fast. Why was he so cooperative?”
“He—” Yi Shi paused, “He wanted us to help find his son.”
Hearing this, Ding Ju pursed his lips, “He might not be able to find him, it’s unlikely.”
“Why?” Yi Shi looked up, “You were the one following this lead. Didn’t you find his lover?”
Ding Ju scratched his short hair, “Yeah, that woman did have a kid, but I heard from the neighbors that the child was fathered by a man from the east side of the village. The woman didn’t want anything to do with Zhao Chenghu anymore, and now this isn’t his biological son… Well, I’m not sure. Who has time to investigate these rumors in detail?”
“Oh.” Yi Shi didn’t ask further. After all, he didn’t plan to help anyway, so it was pointless to ask. But if it was true, then Zhao Chenghu was truly pitiful. Looking at it from another angle, doesn’t this fulfill the saying ‘evil deeds beget evil outcomes’?
The grilled squid was quickly devoured, and Ding Ju patted his belly, extremely satisfied, “This stall is really good, and the business is great too. When I went, most of the stuff was already sold out.”
“I’ll treat you tomorrow.”
“No need, no need. Just take it as giving me a chance to make up for it, or I’ll feel guilty.” Ding Ju proactively packed up the box, carried it downstairs to throw it away, and when he came back up, he happened to see Yi Shi standing at the stairwell. He laughed and said, “Why did you come out? Not sleeping yet?”
Yi Shi’s face looked even more lifeless under the fluorescent light, and he pointed towards Yu Xue’s room with his long index finger.
“Oh, another late-night chat with Captain Yu?” Ding Ju glanced at him, even changed into pajamas, why so diligent? It makes them look so lazy in comparison.
Yi Shi nodded, then suddenly grabbed Ding Ju’s arm and pulled him into a corner, “Can you do me a favor, did you bring your phone?”
“Brought it.” Modern young people even bring their phones when taking out the trash, it’s like a protective charm.
“Lend it to me.”
After unlocking his phone, Ding Ju handed it over, and Yi Shi quickly dialed a number. After a few seconds, a mechanical female voice responded, “Sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service…”
Yi Shi bit his lip and handed the phone back to Ding Ju, “Thanks.”
“No problem, who were you trying to call?” Ding Ju added, “You don’t have to say, I was just asking casually.”
“…A friend.”
Yi Shi didn’t seem to want to explain further and patted his shoulder, “Anyway, thanks.”
Ding Ju told him not to be so polite, what’s going on? Yi Shi’s been polite so many times today, Ding Ju was feeling flattered!
Then Ding Ju finally realized why Yi Shi was being so polite today.
“Can you do me another favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“Captain Yu asked me to bring a pack of cigarettes.” Yi Shi frowned, looking a bit troubled, “I’m not familiar with the area, the nearest tobacco shop is…”
“Alright, alright, I’ll go buy it, and deliver it to Captain Yu.”
Ding Ju rushed downstairs, found the nearest tobacco shop, but it was closed. He scratched his head, what could he do? He had already taken on the task, so he might as well save Yi Shi some time and give him and Captain Yu more time to discuss the case.
This trip took two blocks, twenty minutes round trip. Ding Ju knocked on Yu Xue’s door, slightly out of breath, “Captain Yu… your cigarettes.”
Yu Xue smiled, “Thanks, I appreciate it. You should go rest now.”
“Alright,” Ding Ju caught his breath, “You and Yi Shi should wrap up early too.”
“He’s already gone back.”
Ding Ju returned to his room, which was pitch dark and silent. A figure was curled up in Yi Shi’s bed, obviously having already turned off the lights and gone to sleep.
Ding Ju walked over quietly, trying not to wake him. But as soon as he sat on the bed, before he could even take off his shoes, he heard Yi Shi’s voice, “Took you so long?”
“I chatted with Captain Yu for a bit.”
Yi Shi responded with a muffled “Oh,” then went quiet. This time, he really fell asleep.
