Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Heart in the Mouth
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Huang He was standing by the window when he called Bai Muchuan, while Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan sat on the sofa.
She could see Huang He’s back view but could not hear the content of their conversation.
About two to three minutes later, Huang He hung up the phone.
He seemed to puff a sigh, furrowing his brows as he held his phone. After hesitating for a moment, he made another phone call.
“Sis, don’t be nervous!” Fang Yuanyuan watched all this anxiously and squeezed Xiang Wan’s hand.
“Tsk, ouch,” the pain from her finger nearly made Xiang Wan cry out loudly. “My dear, please be softer! I’m not nervous at all. The one who’s nervous is you.”
“Uh… then why are you in a daze?”
“I’m just thinking about you and Detective Huang… both of you seem pretty compatible.”
“Huh?” Where did that come from?
Fang Yuanyuan looked at her, confused.
“Ahem!” Xiang Wan cleared her throat, “As the saying goes, the best couples are those who complement each other.”
Huang He was a tall and lanky guy. When he stood by the window, he looked like a bamboo beside Xiang Wan’s pink curtains, which gave off a weird vibe.
It was just like his appearance with Fang Yuanyuan…
Fang Yuanyuan stayed true to her name; she was slightly plump, and losing weight was her mantra, yet there was hardly any action from her…
A lanky one and a plump one, that could also be considered as complementing each other too.
“Moreover, didn’t lots of books say that the best love is mutual admiration? The plump envy the thin; the thin preferred the curvy. Both of you will absolutely adore each other…”
As Xiang Wan analyzed their compatibility in a solemn manner, she suffered a few hits from Fang Yuanyuan.
“Sis, I’m worried about you and yet you’re thinking about how fat I am? D*rn! Xiang Wan, I treat you like my real sister, but you treat me as your younger cousin?”
“… Hmm, these words sound really familiar?”
“Hmph! We’ll sever our ties for one hour.”
As the two of them talked to each other, Huang He walked over to them.
Xiang Wan’s smiling face slowly turned grim. “Detective Huang, how is it?”
Huang He stayed silent for a moment and looked toward Fang Yuanyuan. “Yuanyuan, you should go inside the bedroom first.”
“Ah?” Fang Yuanyuan pointed at her own nose, looking slightly displeased. “Am I redundant? What is it that I can’t hear?”
Huang He showed her a silly and apologetic smile. “The case details are too bloody for a kind and innocent young girl like you to listen to!”
“Oh, alright then.” Fang Yuanyuan’s displeasure turned into sweet joy inside her heart.
Under Xiang Wan’s jaw-dropping expression, Fang Yuanyuan flicked her hair with a smile and walked inside the bedroom in a ladylike manner. She even closed the bedroom door.
“…”
Heavens!
He must be an expert from the team of detectives!
Never did she know that an honest-looking man like Huang He knew how to coax girls so well!
“Wow! Forgive me for not recognizing an expert… Detective Huang, my apologies!”
“Nah, please don’t tease me.”
Huang He brushed his head abashedly. He sat beside Xiang Wan on the sofa and quickly changed the topic. “Teacher Xiang, let’s talk about the incident.”
Xiang Wan’s heart was in her mouth with the mention of the incident.
“Okay, please go on!”
Huang He furrowed his brows, and his gaze seemed a little complicated.
“Captain Bai is the one who understood the 720 case the most. However, he has handover his work, so I just did a simple inquiry.”
“Okay,” Xiang Wan felt an unexplainable pull in her heart. “What did he say?”
“The possibility of a prank is very high. It could simply be an attempt to deliberately make things look mysterious. Teacher Xiang, as you know, there are a lot of such people on the internet…”
Xiang Wan knew this.
In today’s society, there are too many lonely, bored, and mean people. There are all sorts of people on the internet.
However, that unusual feeling had come from her sixth sense…
She hesitated for a while and asked, “So… that’s all?”
“You need not be afraid,” Huang He thought for a moment. “Captain Bai wanted us to take it seriously. I’ve gotten Detective Tang to contact the Cyber Police to conduct a more in-depth investigation.”
“Okay, thank you…” Xiang Wan smiled somewhat reluctantly. “It certainly feels much safer having a detective as a cousin-in-law.”
Huang He’s eyes flashed for an instant, and seemed as if he wanted to say something.
“Actually with regards to this case, Captain Bai still has some doubts to it. Nevertheless, he has no choice but to leave. The Municipal Bureau had gone through the case and felt that the case was now very clear, and the evidence was adequate enough to handover to Prosecution… As for how the court will handle this case, it’s out of our control.”
“Hm,” Xiang Wan acknowledged softly.
Huang He looked at her expression and let out a sigh, as if he was aware of what had happened. “Actually, there are a lot of things that Captain Bai did not have control over.”
Xiang Wan lifted her head to look at him, but she did not ask any questions.
“He was transferred from the ICPO. Everyone knows that he’s only here temporarily. But we didn’t expect it to be so soon.”
There was a feeling of sadness in the air that accompanied Huang He’s low tone of voice as he spoke.
“Captain Bai is quite a nice person. Prior to meeting him, I’ve never met another boss like him. In the beginning, I’m not used to it. But slowly, I find the work style rather refreshing. All the younger ones in the team looked up to him and liked his work pace. The only problem is…
“Heh! With Captain Bai’s family background,” he gave a light cough, “it’s impossible for him to stay in this position forever.”
Xiang Wan smiled casually, “Didn’t he still come despite the fact that he can’t stay here forever?”
Huang He took a sip of a cup of water on the coffee table. “It seems that he came to Jin City because of a cold case…”
Xiang Wan had a bad feeling about this. “What cold case?”
Huang He realized that he had slipped his tongue and almost got choked by water. “It’s nothing, nothing.” He waved his hands in awkwardness. “Captain Bai is born with an investigative brain and is interested in all cold cases! Teacher Xiang’s a mystery fiction writer, it should be the same for you as well, right?”
Xiang Wan knew that he would not reveal anything more. She put on an understanding smile and started to joke around with him.
“No, I’m actually more interested in Detective Huang’s nickname…”
“Uh, haha,” Huang He chuckled awkwardly, “Yuanyuan just called me that randomly. It does sound a little unmanly.”
“No… it’s not unmanly. In fact, it’s very manly!”
Of course, she would not tell Detective Huang that when Fang Yuanyuan was young, she had a little puppy whose name was Huanghuang…
And that was a male dog. 1
…
The next day.
Xiang Wan woke up from a nightmare while the sky was still dark.
She took a look at the time on her mobile phone and turned to look at Fang Yuanyuan who was backfacing her and still in deep sleep. She lifted the quilt gently and got out of bed gingerly to wash up.
Just like the day before, she went out to get breakfast.
Since she had set a goal for herself, changing her routine was the first step.
Well, I have to at least persist for a few days, she told herself.
Xiang Wan yawned, stretched her limbs, and left home.
That day was a cloudy day.
The residential buildings on both sides of the long alley seemed to have gotten closer, and the sky had been squeezed into a strip of long rectangle. The sky was still dim, exactly the time of the day when people got up early to go to work or school. They were in a hurry, totally immersed in their own lives, too busy to care about others…
A car drove silently into the alley.
When Xiang Wan walked past the car, the car doors suddenly opened. Two tall and burly men with menacing faces hopped down the car. Xiang Wan looked at them fearfully.
“Wha—Help—”
Her mobile phone fell to the ground.
And was quickly picked up by someone.
The car drove away.
A strange sense of silence filled the alley.
The pedestrians were startled, but no one moved until an elementary school kid who wore a red scarf shouted in a childlike manner.
“Mama! That sister’s being taken away by bad people. We need to call 110 quickly…”
…
It was 10:00 a.m. in the morning.
In a VIP lounge at the airport.
Bai Muchuan sat lazily with his legs crossed. A book by the title “Journey Under the Midnight Sun” by Keigo Higashino had all of his attention. The chilly aura exuded by his cold and aloof face made both Nanny Li and Bai Lu daren’t even utter a word.
They had checked in their luggage for loading, and they were just waiting to board the plane…
The frosty atmosphere made Bai Lu want to leave this city the soonest possible.
This city was too stifling; this place didn’t belong to her.
Every second of waiting was equivalent to one more second of suffering.
Tick-tock!
Tick-tock!
Tick-tock!
Staring at the clock on the wall, it was so slow!
Like a snail!
Too slow…
Time flowed so slowly as if a century had passed before the airport VIP room staff came smiling over.
“Sir, your flight is about to take off, please follow me!”
Bai Muchuan closed his book. He looked toward the glass window where the sky was gray and cloudy outside.
A plane had just taken off and soared across the gray sky.
His gaze was cold like a pool of ice.