Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 379

Chapter 379: Faking It

There were quite a lot of people going back to Xi City.

The journey from Nanmu City to Xi City was not that smooth.

The group had to stop and go at intervals. They only managed to arrive in Xi City the next morning.

Captain Zhang was a local of Xi City. His stern expression relaxed when he had finally returned to his home that he even wanted to treat everyone lunch.

Basically, the case was pretty much solved.

Everyone involved in the 121 case appeared to be lighthearted.

Bai Muchuan did not reject this celebratory atmosphere. “Sure, we’ll trouble Captain Zhang then.”

With Captain Zhang acting as the local guide, it was easy to get to taste good food there.

Everyone laughed and expressed that they would eat to their hearts’ content.

“Of course, go ahead;” cackled Captain Zhang heartily, “This case has dragged on for too long. Everyone should have a good meal to reward yourself.”

The Nanmu region was quite poor, and the food there was certainly not to their taste.

This group of detectives was already craving for good food when they returned to Xi City.

Now that Captain Zhang wanted to give a treat, everybody was cheering with joy.

Hence, after doing their work in the morning, all of them gathered in the office and went for lunch together.

Captain Zhang was a generous man. He treated them to quite a high-class seafood restaurant.

After sitting around a table, they only talked about food; no one mentioned the case.

Nevertheless, when Xiang Wan looked at the high-rise buildings as well as the busy street outside the window of the restaurant located on the third floor, she felt as if she had transmigrated back to the modern city…

Everyone was also rather chatty.

They conversed about anything else but the case.

Captain Zhang suddenly let out a chortle and pointed at the street opposite.

“My house is located at the neighborhood over there…”

No wonder he treated them to lunch at this seafood restaurant.

It’s because he’s familiar with it!

Bai Muchuan smiled. “The environment here is not bad!”

Undoubtedly, Captain Zhang was very pleased with the location of his home.

Tu Liang looked at where they were pointing at. “Captain Zhang, the property prices of that area must be quite expensive?”

Captain Zhang flashed his teeth. “Compared to the properties in the Capital, it should be cheap and good!”

Talking about housing prices, it seemed that the elite police officers have their own problems too.

Tu Liang smiled while nodding his head. “The housing prices at the Capital,” he sighed, “I’ve actually done some calculations. I will need to work for two lifetimes before I can buy a house!”

“…”

The topic was suddenly a little depressing.

Tu Liang cleared his throat. He noticed that this was not a suitable topic and decided to divert the conversation to something else.

“Is Captain Zhang a local here?”

“You can say so.”

Oh? Tu Liang smiled. “It’s nice to be able to work in your home city.”

Tu Liang’s accent also indicated that he was not from the Capital.

Now that he was working in the Capital, he must be feeling a bit nostalgic.

“Well, if there’s a choice, who wants to stay in their hometown?” Captain Zhang seemed to be consoling him. “When you’re young, it’s best to step out of your comfort zone and see the world.”

Tu Liang asked casually, “Have you been working in Xi City all this while?”

Captain Zhang paused for a while.

“I’ve worked in Jin City for a period of time.”

Jin City?

Xiang Wan looked at Bai Muchuan.

She did not notice anything different on his face.

Next, she heard Tu Liang asking another question. “You’re also a detective there?”

“Yeah!” Captain Zhang let out a chortle. “I’m ashamed to say this. I don’t know anything else besides working as a detective. I think I will be stuck in this profession all my life until the day I die, and I want to wear my uniform in my burial!”

Everyone kept quiet.

Wear the uniform in their burial…

Over the years, they had seen quite a lot of policemen who died in duty.

“Being a detective is good!” The corner of Tu Liang’s lips quirked up. “Maybe we can’t earn a lot of money, but no matter where we go, we have a clear conscience and our backs are straight!”

“You’re right, hahaha.” Captain Zhang also laughed.

Bai Muchuan suddenly turned to Captain Zhang, his gaze seemed serious. “How long did Captain Zhang work in Jin City?”

Captain Zhang: “Not very long. I studied in the police academy in Jin City—the most famous one, all of you should know. After I graduated, I worked there for about 2 years. After that, since there is no one else taking care of my parents and my girlfriend is also from Xi City… my parents wanted me to get married, so I tried to find a way to get a transfer back here.”

It was a transfer to another province…

This was not something easy to achieve.

It seemed like Captain Zhang also had some background.

There was a slight smile in Bai Muchuan’s eyes. “So that means Captain Zhang was in Jin City quite a long time ago?”

“Yeah! I was so young back then!”

“Are there any interesting case in Jin City at that time?”

Captain Zhang thought for a moment and shook his head. “During the two years I was there, Jin City was quite peaceful. The people then were honest and simple… I’m unlike you Captain Bai, after you transferred there for a short period of time, you solved several big cases in a row that took the media by storm!”

Bai Muchuan paused for a while. “Back then, there was a Double Seventh Festival cold case. Has Captain Zhang ever heard of it?”

“The Double Seventh Festival cold case?” Captain Zhang was curious. “Which year did that happen?”

Bai Muchuan looked at him. “It should be around 1998!”

“The year 1998…” Captain Zhang tried to recall that time, but he ended up shaking his head instead. “It’s been too long. I can’t remember at all. Captain Bai, since you’ve been in Jin City for a quite a while why didn’t you check out the dossier back then if you were interested?”

Bai Muchuan smiled. “I couldn’t find it.”

Did he really not managed to find the dossier, or he did not find the clues he wanted to see?

Captain Zhang thought about it and placed down his chopsticks slowly.

“How ’bout this? I’ll help you find out more about this case.”

“Find out?” Bai Muchuan furrowed his eyebrows.

“Mm!” Captain Zhang nodded his head heavily. “Back then when I just joined the team, my mentor was an experienced detective in Jin City. Since Captain Bai is interested in this case, I believe he should be the person to go to. He should know something about it.”

Bai Muchuan: “Thanks for the help!”

Captain Zhang waved his hand. “Don’t mention it. It’s just that he has retired for many years now, and I’ve not contacted him for a long time. I need to go back and search for his contact. Hopefully, his phone number is still the same.”

“Sure!”

Bai Muchuan did not say anything more.

The others were not bothered by it either.

It was normal for detectives to inquire from each other about cases they were interested in.

Nobody felt strange as to why Bai Muchuan suddenly talked about a cold case.

Except for Xiang Wan.

This was because she remembered something.

Huang He seemed to have mentioned something about a cold case before.

He said Bai Muchuan had come to Jin City to investigate a cold case…

“Eat more!” A peeled prawn was being put in her bowl.

Xiang Wan looked up and saw Bai Muchuan’s calm face. “I remember how you used to get me to peel the prawns for you…”

Bai Muchuan’s lips curved into a smile. “Times are changing. I don’t know how to peel prawns in the past, but I’ve learned to do so!”

“…”

Xiang Wan just chatted casually with him as they were hanging out with a large group of people.

They cracked jokes and bantered with each other.

It was a nice meal since they could finally relax and enjoy the food they missed.

It was an exception for Xiang Wan though.

She never loved seafood.

She only ate a few mouthfuls of food when Bai Muchuan served her.

Basically, she listened to the others talking and chatting.

As everyone still had work to do in the afternoon, they didn’t drink.

There were still a lot of details needed to be verified and ironed out before they could finally move on from the 121 case.

Bai Muchuan still had work whereas Xiang Wan was free in the afternoon.

After Bai Muchuan made arrangements, he brought her to look for Fang Yuanyuan.

Since they could not bring pets into the hospital, when Xiang Wan arrived in Xi City, they had specially looked for a pet daycare service for Blackie. There were trained professionals who knew how to take care of pets—bathe, feed, and even trim the pets’ nails. Xiang Wan was certain that Blackie should be fine there.

Whenever she thought of Blackie, she would also think of Yu Bo who was locked up at the detention center in Xi City.

“Bai Muchuan, do you think with Yu Bo’s condition like this, will he get a death sentence?”

“Mm?” Bai Muchuan looked at her. “That’s up to the judge.”

“…”

Xiang Wan gave a condescending frown.

“You’re cold-blooded, can’t I even ask?”

“Just wait for the result.” Bai Muchuan was not someone who would jump to conclusions, especially when the issue was not under his control.

He drove Xiang Wan to the hospital Huang He was staying and held her waist.

“Let’s go together.”

Xiang Wan was quite surprised. “Didn’t you still have work to do?”

Bai Muchuan replied, “This is only going to take a while; it won’t affect my work!”

Alright! When he was around, of course Xiang Wan would be happier.

There were other familiar faces staying in this hospital as well.

Besides Huang He and Tang Yuanchu, Salimu was also sent there that morning when they arrived in Xi City.

They were on the same level as well.

That made it convenient when they wanted to visit them.

Xiang Wan followed Bai Muchuan to visit Tang Yuanchu first.

When they entered the ward, they did not see Xie Wanwan.

Xiang Wan did not ask why; she just greeted Tang Yuanchu and said a few words before telling them she wanted to look for Fang Yuanyuan.

“Sir Little Bai, you stay here with Tang Yuanchu, I’ll go ahead—”

Bai Muchuan got up as well after glancing at her.

“He’s a grown-up already. Why should I stay here with him?”

The moment Tang Yuanchu heard this, he struggled to want to sit up. “Boss, don’t be like this! I still have so many things to say…”

Bai Muchuan pointed at the nurse call button.

Tang Yuanchu was confused for a second. “You mean, you want me to press that to get you to come over?”

Bai Muchuan scoffed, “I mean if you have things to say, you can tell the nurse!”

“…”

He felt like he got abandoned.

Tang Yuanchu lifted the blanket with an indignant expression.

“I’ve nothing to do anyway. Let’s go, I’ll follow along to see Brother Huang…”

Xiang Wan’s eyes widened as she looked at his legs that could walk now.

“… I seem to have fallen into some strange thoughts.”

She was told that he was hurt so badly that he almost got disfigured, or he might even be handicapped?

This fellow really did not seem to be so seriously injured!

When Tang Yuanchu saw Xiang Wan’s scrutinizing gaze, he held his chest with a “Tsk”. He limped a little and puffed a sigh as though he was in pain.

“No matter how painful I feel, I have to pay respects to my mentor!”

Wasn’t it too fake?

Could it be that he had faked it by lying in bed all day, so he could enjoy Xie Wanwan’s care and concern?