Qi Yan and Lao’er were taken to a small office in the police station. There was one more police officer there to ask questions. Since this case involved human trafficking they had to be cautious.
“Mr. Lin, your injury…” The police officer who joined the questioning saw the bruise on the Lao’er’s face and put down the pen in his hand, “How about we take you to the hospital first?” He felt bad looking at his face.
“It’s alright.” Lao’er tried to grin, but hiss instead because his face hurt so much.
He didn’t really want to come, but the way Qi Yan subdued the men was too weird. He was afraid that he might be taken away for research if he came alone, so he insisted on following him. Lao’er was pretty acute for someone who was always cooped up at home.
“Okay.” Seeing that Lao’er was very persistent, the police officers began their questioning. However, since both of them were victims, there was not much information that they could provide.
The young man called Lao’er, whose real name was Lin Shuo, was a graduate student at a prestigious school. One of the traffickers was his girlfriend. After he found out that his girlfriend had colluded with the traffickers, he wanted to rescue the people who were kidnapped, but was caught by his girlfriend’s accomplice. They wanted to get random money from his friend.
As for this young man named Qi Yan, he was even more interesting. After he noticed that his friend’s tone on the phone didn’t sound right, he called the police. Then, he found where Lin Shuo’s girlfriend lived, and found them. His shouting finally attracted the attention of the residents of the community, so they were rescued.
It seemed reasonable, but something felt wrong. How did Qi Yan find the place where Lin Shuo was kidnapped in such a short time and why did those traffickers let Qi Yan stand by the window and shout for help? They were supposed to be desperate and ruthless.
In fact, they even suspected that Qi Yan was an accomplice. There might have been an internal conflict. On the way back, they asked the colleagues in the bureau to check Qi Yan’s background and found that he had excellent grades since he was a child. Before he went to school in Capital City, his guardian had already bought him a house here, and there was no reason for him to be a human trafficker.
During the questioning, the two young men showed no signs of guilt and were very cooperative, which completely dispelled their suspicions.
“Captain, the suspect asked to see Mr. Qi, otherwise she would not cooperate.”
“What…”
The two police officers looked at Qi Yan, but he was looking at Lao’er.
“Of course,” Lao’er patted Qi Yan’s shoulder, “I know you very well.”
Although he was lazy, greedy and narcissistic, he was absolutely honest and loyal. Even if he was in a bad mood now, he would not blame Qian Qian.
“Trust me, there will be a good girl waiting for you in the future,” Qi Yan also patted him on the shoulder, “If Liu Wei is willing to cooperate, maybe the police could save more people.”
Lao’er smiled bitterly, “I know. Go ahead.” As an ordinary young man, he would never have expected his girlfriend to be a trafficker. But it was clear that he knew too little about Liu Wei. Their relationship was a lie from the beginning.
“Young man, your arm seems to be bleeding. I’ll help you disinfect it.” A police officer couldn’t stand it any longer. He got up and took some cotton swabs and half a bottle of iodophor from the cabinet behind him. “There’s a lot of sand, you should be careful not to get it infected.”
“Thank you,” Lao’er picked up a cotton swab to disinfect himself, and laughed, “This injury is nothing compared to my heart.”
The policeman gave him a sympathetic look and said nothing.
He actually found a girlfriend who’s a human trafficker.
“You came.” Liu Wei sat in the suspect room. Her face was pale.
Qi Yan silently sat opposite her. Next to him was a police officer in her thirties or forties. The other police officers left the room. There were two monitoring devices installed in this room, and the people in the monitoring room could see and hear them clearly.
Putting his hands on the table, Qi Yan had no expression on his face. He stared at Liu Wei for a few seconds. After seeing that her face had become paler, he spoke, “I don’t understand, why do you do this?”
Liu Wei’s lips trembled, unable to speak. She wanted to say it’s because she was vain and couldn’t resist the temptation of money. However, looking at the clean and righteous boy in front of her, she was too embarrassed to speak.
At this point, she knew that nothing good could come to her, and she didn’t even care what would happen to her in the future. Facing him, she felt extremely embarrassed, as if she was smelly and dirty.
Qi Yan didn’t remember much about Liu Wei, only that she was not very talkative and her life was ordinary. The last time he ate with Lao’er, he felt that Liu Wei’s life had changed, she was full of evil energy, and that she would be imprisoned.
No one’s life stayed the same. Some people’s lives improved while others’ deteriorated.
“Since you don’t want to talk to me, why did you ask for me?” Qi Yan had always been gentle towards girls, but it was not extended to traffickers.
“I know this may be the last time I see you in my life,” Liu Wei smiled at him, “I really want to thank you for helping me when I was in the darkest time. I am sorry that I became someone you hate.”
Qi Yan didn’t speak, he pursed his lips, looking extremely cold.
“You were the only one who helped me,” Liu Wei sneered, “Perhaps, you have already forgotten about this.”
Qi Yan looked at Liu Wei, and suddenly said, “Have you ever asked for help?”
Liu Wei was stunned. After she entered the school, she was very prideful. She never took the initiative to seek help from others, and to prevent others from looking down on her, she never spoke to anyone.
“Liu Wei, you don’t understand,” Qi Yan stared at Liu Wei’s eyes. Her internal struggle was reflected in her beautiful eyes, “When you close yourself up, how can others enter? It’s unfair to condemn others before you get the chance to get to know them.”
This sentence was like a sharp blade that pierced into Liu Wei’s heart, causing it to bleed.
“I don’t know what hardships you have endured, but the people you abducted would have theirs and their family’s lives ruined by you. If you still have a bit of conscience left, I hope you’d cooperate with the police,” Qi Yan paused, “At least, I would think that the girl whom I carried into the classroom was not hopeless.”
“You remember…” Liu Wei’s eyes reddened, “So you still remember.”
“Qi Yan lowered his eyes and sighed softly.
The police officers in the other room looked at the scene and thought they understood why he had the opportunity to call for help. There was an emotional entanglement.
“Okay,” Liu Wei raised her hands and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes. She looked down at her handcuffed wrist, “I’m willing to tell everything I know.”
“So…goodbye.” She knew she had become an ugly person, but he was still the person she knew.
Qi Yan stood up silently and walked out. When he opened the door, Liu Wei suddenly said,
“Be careful.”
Qi Yan turned around, but Liu Wei had already lowered her head.
Walking out of the questioning room, Qi Yan saw Cen Baihe standing outside, wearing a black suit. His expression was indescribably serious.
“Master Qi!” Before Qi Yan could speak, two people walked out of the other room, followed by the chief police officer.
Qi Yan knew them. They were the people who were sent by the Special Task Force to contact him, but he didn’t know why they were here.
“This is all a misunderstanding. I didn’t expect Mr. Qi to be a consultant of the National Security Bureau.” The chief police officer didn’t expect that one of the victims had such a mysterious identity. First, Fifth Master Cen came to pick him up in person. Then, someone from the National Security Bureau came. Who is this young man who managed to get the attention of so many important people?
Although these two were members of the Special Task Force, they carried the identity of government officials in charge of national security, so ordinary people wouldn’t know there was such a mysterious organization in the country. Of course, most people wouldn’t even think about that.
With the rapid development of science and technology, who would believe the stuff that only appeared in novels and TV series?
Cen Baihe looked at the average-looking men and walked to Qi Yan. He asked softly, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Qi Yan looked at the time and smiled helplessly, “But we might be late.”
“I have called my brother and my sister-in-law, saying that I have something to do with you, and we will be late.” Cen Baihe finally relaxed when he saw that there were no wounds on Qi Yan’s body and that his clothes were clean.
Hearing this, Qi Yan smiled and said, “Then I can relax.” He turned around and saw the two members of the Special Task Force walking towards him, smiled and nodded at them, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” One of them handed a business card to Qi Yan, “Call us if you need help.”
Qi Yan took the card and saw that there was only a string of numbers with no name. It was strangely plain. He didn’t reject the offer and thanked them again.
They knew this was not a place to talk, so they left hurriedly after nodding at Cen Baihe. The police officers looked at Qi Yan with admiration.
Being stared at like this, Qi Yan felt proud, but also a little uncomfortable, so he dragged Lao’er into Cen Baihe’s car and rushed to the hospital.
At the same time, the traffickers were still sweating to the police that Qi Yan was not normal, and he immobilized them with a piece of paper.
The police officers knew that Qi Yan was involved in the National Security Bureau, and they had no doubts that Qi Yan could subdue them. Therefore, the words of the traffickers were just nonsense to them. They were pretending to be crazy.
“Then where is the paper?” A police officer said, “We didn’t find the paper you mentioned at the scene, and you don’t have it.”
Trafficker: “He subdued us with a piece of paper, so he could definitely make it disappear without a trace. Believe me, that person might be an alien or a monster.”
The police officers were not convinced and even thought it was laughable.
Lao’er was not hospitalized, because he was lucky that his internal organs were not injured. So he went home with a bag of medicines and a swollen head.
Before getting into the car, he glanced at the silent man behind Qi Yan, and thought that this man named Cen Baihe was no ordinary person. His temperament did not seem like an ordinary person.
Cen Baihe noticed that Qi Yan’s good friend was looking at him, so he raised his head and gave him a friendly nod.
Lao’er retracted his gaze awkwardly when he was caught peeking. He quickly gave the driver his address to avoid looking at him anymore.
After getting into Cen Baihe’s car, Qi Yan noticed that Cen Baihe looked solemn, so he swallowed guiltily, “Baihe, what’s wrong?”
Cen Baihe looked at him, “I heard that you went to the traffickers’ place alone?”
“Didn’t you tell me that you were about to nap?”
His tone was intimidating and Qi Yan felt even more guilty. He coughed once and lowered his head, “It was urgent, so I had no choice…”
The car fell into a silence.
Cen Baihe knew that he had no right to blame Qian Qian, Qian Qian was worried about his friend and was willing to risk his life to save him, which showed that he was a person who was loyal to his friends. As his friend, he should be happy, but he wasn’t.
When he learned that Qian Qian went to the traffickers alone, his first thought was to lock him in the house, so that he would not run around and put himself in danger.
Qi Yan poked his arm. He didn’t respond, so he did it again.
“What’s wrong with you?” Qi Yan tilted his head to look at Cen Baihe, “I’m fine, why are you still angry?”
“I’m not angry.” Cen Baihe said coldly.
His face looked so stiff, yet he said he was not angry. Qi Yan put away his index finger and showed a pleasant smile, “If you were in such danger, I would also come to save you.”
Big He and Big Li: That sounds weird.
Cen Baihe glanced at Qi Yan, and still did not speak.
Qi Yan sighed. It was difficult to deal with an angry person who didn’t usually get angry.
Holding his chin, he looked at Cen Baihe’s expressionless profile, and suddenly said, “Baihe, have you ever seen ‘The Idiot and The Grump’?”
Cen Baihe ignored him.
Qi Yan didn’t mind either, he continued, “I watched it when I was a kid. There was no TV in the Taoist temple, so I secretly squatted at the entrance of a grocery store to watch it. There were a lot of mosquitoes at that time, and they liked to bite me, but it was worth it. Let me tell you about this cartoon…”
Listening to Qian Qian talk about the cartoon that he had watched twice when he was a child, Cen Baihe imagined Qi Yan as a little boy crouching outside a store to watch TV. The storekeeper might even be annoyed at him. Cen Baihe felt his heart ache.
“The Idiot pretending to be a tiger was interesting…”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Huh?”
“I said you don’t need to tell me, I’ve seen it.” Cen Baihe reached out and stroked the stray hair on Qi Yan’s head. He said, “Remember to tell me next time you encounter such a thing, I can help you solve it. You shouldn’t go alone, it’s too dangerous.”
Qi Yan held his head and didn’t let Cen Baihe touch it anymore, “No more, how can there be so many unfortunate things.”
Cen Baihe sighed, “It would be great if you don’t do this anymore.”
Big He and Big Li exchanged glances. There was surprise and admiration in their eyes. Master Qi was so capable that he could coax the angry Fifth Master Cen. On the way to the police station just now, they saw how ugly the boss’s face was. They had been with him for several years, and they had almost never seen him so angry.
But Master Qi was so good at evoking sympathy that their boss was no longer angry in a blink of an eye.
Seeing that Cen Baihe was no longer angry, Qi Yan suddenly felt that the air in the car was much fresher, “How long will it take, I am getting hungry.”
“About 10 more minutes,” Cen Baihe took a bottle of yogurt from the mini fridge and handed it to him, “Have this first.”
“How do you know I like this brand?” Qi Yan inserted a straw into it and took two big mouthfuls, “This brand of yogurt tastes the best.”
“I took one randomly,” Cen Baihe said casually, “There are other things in the fridge. If you see anything else you want, go get it yourself.”
Qi Yan opened the mini fridge and saw that there were many things he liked to eat. He looked up at Cen Baihe, “Forget it, I’m not eating now.”
Cen Baihe frowned, “You don’t like them?”
“I need to keep my stomach empty.”
Cen Baihe: …
Third Master Cen and Cao Jingyan were waiting in a private room in Qianweiju when they saw Cen Baihe and Qi Yan walking in. They invited them to sit down.
“I heard from Baihe that you like the food here, so we made a reservation here,” Cao Jingyan gave him the menu, “Order whatever you like, don’t be polite with me.”
Qi Yan took the menu and ordered two dishes. Then, he handed it to Cen Baihe.
Cen Baihe ordered a few without even looking at the menu. They were all Qi Yan’s favorite.
“It seems like Manager Huang was right, you do like to come here,” Third Master Cen smiled when he saw how familiar Cen Baihe was with the food here, “No wonder you’re always eating out these days.”
Manager Huang smiled, “Fifth Master Cen is kind enough to patronize our humble restaurant.” It was not him who liked the food here, but Mr. Qi.
It seemed like Mr. Qi was a capable person. Not only did he have a good relationship with Fifth Master Cen, even his family respected him so much. He was no ordinary person.
When all the dishes arrived, Cao Jingyan asked the servers to leave so they could eat freely.
After she tried a few dishes, she wiped her mouth and smiled, “It was indeed good, no wonder you came here often. Master Qi, I’ve wanted to formally thank you, but I am only able to do it now as I was busy with other things.”
“You’re too polite. Didn’t you already give me a thank you gift?”
At Old Master Cen’s party, the Cen family had already given him a gift. When he opened it at home, he saw that it was a piece of jade which contained some spiritual energy. He could use it in a ritual.
“Based on your abilities, you could have anything you want. That was nothing,” Cao Jingyan was completely convinced of his abilities, “There was no price to saving a life. A piece of jade could not repay what you’ve done for us.”
“Since you treat me as Baihe’s friend, don’t mention it again,” Qi Yan raised his glass at the couple, “We are here to have a meal and bond. Let’s not talk about other things.”
“Let’s toast.”
“Sure,” Cao Jingyan smiled. “Cheers.”
Third Master Cen and Cao Jingyan were easy to get along with. Besides, Qi Yan had a pleasant face. So their relationship had improved tremendously in just one meal. They were like siblings now.
“Right, is your hometown Wangxiang Town?”
“Yes,” Qi Yan nodded. He didn’t know why Third Master Cen mentioned this place suddenly.
“There are a few strange incidents that happened in Wangxiang Town recently that couldn’t be explained with science. They are asking some masters to take a look. If someone asks you, don’t go.” Recently, there was a change in his job scope. He had come into contact with many things that he did not know before, and his perception of life had changed.
“Why?”
“Because someone died.” Third Master Cen’s voice was filled with regret and respect, “He was a good soldier too.”
