Chapter 11#

NB Chapter11#

Without being told, Ah Hai rotated the image. Taken from the upper rear, the photo was slightly tilted, but one could still make out a roughly half-length portrait drawn in ballpoint pen.

Right in front of Zhang Mingsheng, Li Yi had silently sketched my general appearance.

Why draw a strange woman?

Could he have recognized me?

We had known each other for nearly ten years; we truly understood one another. But remembering a person often depends on their face, their voice, and the occasional chance to see them again.

I was once a healthy young man, capable of handling a gun and performing takedowns, chasing down suspects on the main streets. I smoked, drank on occasion, and even deliberately tanned my pale skin into a wheat-yellow tone—after all, people always judge by appearances. No matter how many accomplishments you have, if you look too young and handsome, you’ll still be dismissed as nothing more than a “pretty boy.”

I was thin-skinned back then and couldn’t stand the mockery, so I deliberately spent more time in the sun. It wasn’t until my junior sister told me that too much sun was bad for me that I gave up on that self-transformation.

After staying in the Zhang residence for all these years, my face has faded back to its original color, though this whiteness has become a murky gray tinged with the pallor of exhaustion. I’ve done everything, including slitting my wrists and jumping from buildings to leave Zhang Mingsheng. My body has long been frail and worn down with medicine bottles taking up half the table.

Nowadays, the household staff won’t even let a toy for Keke pass through my hands. Zhang Mingsheng doesn’t want my hand condition to worsen.

Having become what I am today, I almost no longer expect anyone to recognize me. Moreover, Li Yi had been so composed just moments ago.

But what if he really did recognize me? Perhaps there was still a chance for me to escape this living hell. My heart suddenly began to pound; it was strong and forceful. I tried to calm my surging ambition, yet I couldn’t suppress the overwhelming joy. Li Yi’s appearance felt like a sign telling me that my past twenty-odd years weren’t a previous life; I shouldn’t be so quick to seek reincarnation.

When I am happy, someone else is naturally unhappy.

I had forgotten about Zhang Mingsheng.

Suddenly, a layer of cold sweat broke out across my back.

He was staring at the portrait on the screen, expressionless, not even blinking.

I feared Zhang Mingsheng most when he was like this; having shed all human-like pretenses, as cold and indifferent as a machine. He must be calculating every possible path Li Yi might take. What would Li Yi do? Would he hand the sketch over to the forensic department or a profiler for analysis, or would he rely solely on comparing it with photos? It was just a drawing; it could be everything or nothing. What would Li Yi do?

Zhang Mingsheng’s desire for control was terrifyingly excessive.

But Li Yi had always been an unpredictable person. It is one thing for a person to be clever, but it is far more dangerous when they are also persistent. Our mentor had miscalculated his next move, and I had miscalculated it too.

Could Zhang Mingsheng calculate it?

I suddenly thought of the old man who had read Keke’s fortune; I heard he died in an accident shortly after attending the birthday banquet. Having calculated so many fates in his life, could he calculate his own?

Perhaps when Li Yi painted that picture, it was meant as nothing more than provocation. He seemed lively and confident on the surface, yet beneath it all, there had always been a hidden streak of desperate, all-or-nothing madness.

Perhaps he was simply telling Zhang Mingsheng that he had found me. Faced with Zhang Mingsheng’s arrogance, Li Yi had retaliated with a childish “tooth for a tooth.”

My head began to ache.

Now, I would much rather Li Yi had just been doodling aimlessly.

I took a deep breath and tentatively spoke, “It’s just a drawing; he always loved scribbling and doodling back at the police academy.”

“You still remember something from that long ago.” Zhang Mingsheng said, turning his head to look at me.

A sense of dread crept in. My heart dropped, it was another mistake.

I shouldn’t have brought up the past.

To my surprise, Zhang Mingsheng didn’t lash out. He simply stared at my face in silence, as though measuring something in his mind. Then he gave a slight wave of his hand, and Ah Hai withdrew, leaving only the two of us alone in the living room.

I held my breath and stayed silent while lowering my eyelids to stare at the second button of Zhang Mingsheng’s shirt. After waiting for a long time, I finally heard him speak again, “His drawing isn’t even that good.”

With that, Zhang Mingsheng turned his head back with an air of indifference, looking at the sketch once more. “He certainly isn’t afraid that I’ll kill him.”

“Because you never intended to kill him in the first place,” I said. I don’t know where the courage came from, but the words just slipped out. Zhang Mingsheng was too conceited; he had intended to use me to provoke Li Yi, never imagining that Li Yi would checkmate him instead.

When I’m happy, I become talkative. After all these years, seeing someone finally turn the tables on Zhang Mingsheng was a pleasant surprise. So even though I worried that Li Yi was being far too reckless, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling a surge of satisfaction. “If you wanted to kill him, you would have made a move the first time he questioned you. You deliberately loosened the boundaries because you wanted Li Yi to be disappointed, but you didn’t expect him to…”

Before I could finish, Zhang Mingsheng’s lips suddenly pressed against mine. He gently squeezed the back of my neck, then pressed against my cheek, forcing my head to turn toward him.

This time, I was determined to find an opening to bite through his tongue.

But Zhang Mingsheng didn’t stick out his tongue, nor did he even try to pry open my teeth. He simply brushed against my lips softly, like some large dog on the street that inexplicably wants to nuzzle you the moment it sees you.

I froze, and in a desperate attempt to change the subject, I blurted out mindlessly, “Could it be that you’ve taken a liking to Li Yi?”

“Whatever made you think that?” Zhang Mingsheng’s brow furrowed instantly.

I argued my point with logic, “Otherwise, why do you get so agitated whenever it involves him? And why do you insist on…”

Insist on kissing me, screwing me, and nuzzling me for no reason?

“Insist on what?” Zhang Mingsheng narrowed his eyes with a faint smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. He knew exactly what I was saying.

I wasn’t about to fall into that trap. “Well, you don’t have a chance anyway. My junior already has someone he likes.”

Li Yi had never said it, but I knew. He liked our junior sister Shanshan; he probably fell for her the first time they met.

Shimu studied plants, and she had raised a daughter who was just as full of vitality. That day, Shanshan wore a coral-red sweater, her brownish-red hair falling softly around her face. Her laughter was bright and clear, and when she smiled, her eyes curved gently. Perhaps the heating was too strong, but a faint flush tinted her cheeks pink, making her look especially lovely. I had never seen Li Yi so quiet. He stood beside me looking everywhere else, his eyes darting toward the chandelier; even when our mentor introduced him to Shanshan, he refused to let his gaze land on her.

Later on, once he and Shanshan got to know each other better, they became a pair of “quarrelsome lovers,” with every meeting seemingly ending in an argument. Our mentor, Shimu, and I all believed their personalities were fundamentally incompatible and that nothing could be forced between them. Who would have thought that one day, when Shimu was on her way home from work, she would see the two of them walking together along the street? The streetlights were bright, the traffic was flowing, and the two young people walked half a step apart, chatting and laughing from time to time; completely unlike the pair that usually turned red with anger the moment they saw each other.

Li Yi once asked me, “Senior, if I like a girl, and she knows I like her too, do I still need to make it clear with words?”

I was sorting through files at the time. Seeing how impatient he was for an answer, I wanted to tease him on purpose. I stayed silent for a long time, and only after I had aligned the edges of every single sheet of paper did I speak slowly, “In my opinion, Shanshan definitely prefers someone who speaks their mind.”

Li Yi stood up instantly. “Who told you I liked her?”

“Oh, I must have remembered wrong then. It was me who likes Shanshan. I’ll go and tell her right now.” I pretended to reach for the receiver to dial the number, but Li Yi slammed his hand down on mine. He looked furious, yet his face was bright red; just like Shanshan’s the first time I met her.

It was a spring day. A young man was preparing to confess his feelings. He asked his senior to help him with a small errand so that he could be free to rush to the girl he loved on her birthday.

The senior agreed. He woke up early that day for his morning exercise and to handle the errand for his junior. He walked along the slightly cold streets of early spring, noticing the green buds already sprouting on the branches. Then, he suddenly remembered he could take a shortcut, so he stepped into a long-abandoned, deep, and deserted tunnel. Gradually, he caught the scent of something metallic and fishy.

He looked down and saw the ground dappled with spots of blood.

At the same time, a colleague’s voice came through the comms. A woman calmly reported that another gold shop robbery had occurred in the early hours; the suspect had been shot once and escaped in a car.

It was another robbery at a gold shop under the Zhang family name.

After hearing the dispatch, I took two steps back. I realized I must have stumbled upon the wounded robber. I pressed my hand against the service pistol at my waist and scrutinized the car idling in the gloom ahead.

Suddenly, the car door opened, and a leather shoe stepped onto the ground.

When I saw Zhang Mingsheng’s face, I froze.

It was actually him.

Those few seconds were all the opportunity Zhang Mingsheng needed to knock me unconscious and toss me into the trunk of another car.

That day was supposed to be the day of Li Yi’s confession.

But Li Yi said he is currently single.

What on earth happened?

Before I could think further, I felt Zhang Mingsheng’s thumb brush over my eyebrow. “You were clearly so happy a moment ago, practically bristling with excitement, and now you’re suddenly so sad.”

Over the years, my emotions have unknowingly become more volatile; I wonder if it’s because my spirit is slowly disintegrating. I struggle to maintain a cold exterior, not wanting anyone to see through me.

Zhang Mingsheng’s broad hand slowly slid down my cheek. “You think Li Yi can rescue you, don’t you?”

I didn’t answer.

“I don’t care who Li Yi likes, but as for you, Officer Yu,” Zhang Mingsheng’s palm pressed against my cheek as he looked into my eyes, asking in a slow, measured tone, “do you still remember whose photo you used to keep?”

My heart filled with rage as I looked at him.

I was furious at myself for misjudging him so completely.

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