At 5 AM, delivery man Qiao Xixi rolled out of bed like a maggot. Eyes closed, he accurately navigated to the bathroom, relieved himself, then rubbed his eyes and turned on the radio. He listened to the broadcast: "Good morning, listeners. Today is September 12th, another sunny day. Are there any new developments in the headless corpse case that occurred a few days ago? Let's connect with..." yawning, he went to wash his face.
"Hurry up and get ready, Brother Ping'an is waiting for me to deliver breakfast!" After washing up, Qiao Xixi straightened his shoulders with cautious vigor, let out a long, proud laugh in front of the mirror, and happily rode his electric scooter, humming the little tune, "Fifty yuan, fifty yuan! Earn fifty yuan just by opening my eyes!" towards the breakfast stall. His home was not close to the airport, and his tasks this morning were quite heavy. He couldn't afford to delay.
The airport warehouse was deserted in the early morning. A passenger jet climbed into the sky, its engines roaring. Qiao Xixi rushed as fast as he could, finally arriving at the center of the warehouse access road on time. He parked his scooter, took off his helmet, put his hands on his hips, cleared his throat twice, took a deep breath, and then yelled at the air—
"Run, there are police!"
"Run, there are police!"
Hmm, his voice was loud and full of spirit. If a doctor heard it, they would surely praise his good health.
But what if the police heard it?
As soon as he shouted the first two words, several police cars suddenly sped out from the surrounding warehouse access roads. Even more dramatically, a team of fully armed special police, holding rifles, suddenly leaped from the top of the warehouse. One dashing police officer even performed a showy somersault—
"Run, there really are police!" On this side, Qiao Xixi was thoroughly startled by the sudden appearance of the scene, his mouth forgotten to close. He had shouted out the three sentences Ping'an had reminded him of, but he'd added the word "really" to the last one!
"Don't move! Hands up!" Several special police officers pointed their guns at Qiao Xixi.
"I won't move, I won't move, but how can I raise my hands if I don't move!" Qiao Xixi said with a dejected face.
"Maintain vigilance! Look, there's activity to the west! A motorcyclist is trying to escape. Intercept them, intercept them!" The moment the special police rushed towards Qiao Xixi, from a discreet small access road to the west of the warehouse, the roar of a motorcycle engine suddenly sounded. A person in a black suit and black helmet, riding a motorcycle, burst out of the small access road. After a beautiful drift, he headed towards the highway outside the warehouse. At this moment, Mei Qian, dressed in a police uniform, emerged from a car and saw this scene. He shouted loudly.
But at this time, the police present were all focused on Qiao Xixi. None of them thought that the warehouse they had secretly staked out for half the night had, at some point, allowed a "black fish" to enter. Judging by his hasty escape, his intentions were certainly malicious.
"Please cooperate, traffic police. Set up a checkpoint on Airport Avenue. Be on the lookout for a black motorcycle." In the blink of an eye, the motorcycle had already left the warehouse, but the police had no time to react. Mei Qian, enraged, quickly issued the interception order.
"Ke Dou, you take the comrades to pursue. Be sure to search the small roads connecting to Airport Avenue," Mei Qian said. "Also, immediately retrieve the warehouse surveillance footage and review it carefully. I want to see when he slipped in."
After saying this, Mei Qian quickly walked to Ping'an's warehouse and banged forcefully on the door. "Ping'an! Ping'an! Open the door!" Mei Qian shouted.
"Captain, stop shouting. Ping'an isn't here at all. He went out last night," said a police officer who was reviewing the surveillance playback, holding a laptop computer and speaking to Mei Qian.
"Also, Captain, that black motorcycle arrived in the warehouse area before we set up our perimeter. It arrived almost immediately after Ping'an left. The two entered and exited, just missing each other," the police officer said with difficulty. "Look, that man in black was hiding behind a pile of garbage in a small access road at the west end of the warehouse. When we set up our perimeter, no one paid any attention."
"Why didn't you check the playback beforehand during the perimeter setup? Wasn't this night wasted?" Mei Qian said angrily.
"Well, you didn't give that order at the time. After we took over the warehouse surveillance, we were constantly watching the monitors. No one dared to stop monitoring to review the playback. What if during the playback..."
"Enough, enough, stop talking!" Mei Qian, having calmed down, quickly took out his phone and dialed Ping'an's number.
"Ping'an?" the call connected. Mei Qian asked hurriedly.
"Who are you?" The person speaking on the other end was not Ping'an.
"Shh!" A sense of unease washed over Mei Qian when he realized it wasn't Ping'an speaking—had Ping'an been captured? He quickly signaled to those around him to be silent.
"I am Ping'an's—" Mei Qian lowered his voice, stretching out the syllable, trying to keep his tone steady, and rapidly brainstormed how to respond.
"This Ping'an is your creditor, right?" The person answering the phone, however, was nonchalant. Laughing heartily, he said to someone beside him, "This kid changed the name of the person who owes him money to 'Old No-Money.' How funny!"
Hearing this, Mei Qian's nerves twisted into a knot. However, he followed the other person's misunderstanding: "Yes, I'm here to give Ping'an money!"
After saying this, he made a "locate" gesture to a police officer beside him. The officers quickly got busy. At this moment, the warehouse was silent. The special police team was even more focused, while only Qiao Xixi, squatting on the ground, hugged his head and secretly cried with his lips pursed.
"Wait!" The conversation continued. On the phone, the person answering suddenly shouted, "Ping'an! Someone's calling for you, they're bringing you money! What do you say?"
"Ping'an asks where you are. Did you bring him underwear? Red or floral?" The person answering the phone, suppressing a laugh, said.
What the heck was underwear? Right, the red underwear that had fallen on the ground when they came to the warehouse last night. Only the three of them knew about it then... Ping'an must have known it was his call. Clever! But what did the money mean? Did the underwear hint at something else? Mei Qian's mind raced. He had to act natural, but he didn't know what the right answer was.
"I, am at the warehouse?!" Mei Qian slowly answered the first question with a probing tone.
"Bringing underwear, it's a pair—" Mei Qian dragged out his words, looking at the surrounding police officers. They looked at each other. One seemed to have made a decision and subtly mouthed, "Red!"
Yes, it had to be red. The one from last night was red. Realizing the code seemed to match, Mei Qian was a little happy, but—none of this seemed to matter a damn!
"Red!" The question still had to be answered. Mei Qian said decisively.
"Ping'an, he says he's at the warehouse and brought a pair of red underwear! What do you say?" The person answering continued to relay the message.
"Why are you going to the warehouse... This... My ear..." Mei Qian vaguely heard a bit of Ping'an's voice from the other end of the line.
"Ping'an asks you to go back first. Oh, and he asks if you brought the spare key. If you did, bring back the duffel bag he left in the warehouse. Also, he begs you to help him wash the things in the duffel bag! That's all!" Before Mei Qian could reply, the other party hung up the phone.
"Did you get the location?" Mei Qian asked.
"Triangulation has located the general area, it's in Gai Zhuang! The crime scene of the headless corpse case!" a police officer replied.
"You, go pry open this warehouse and see what's in the duffel bag!" Mei Qian ordered a police officer in front of him.
"You, notify the Public Security Bureau of the Riverside District to organize reinforcements!" Mei Qian said.
"Riiip—" The sound of tearing metal sheets came to his ears, and then the rolling shutter door was opened. Mei Qian was the first to rush into the warehouse and immediately spotted the duffel bag. This bag had been with Ping'an all day yesterday. At the time, he hadn't thought about whether there was anything special inside.
"Captain, should we make some preparations? The airport has our bomb disposal experts and hazardous materials experts," a police officer said cautiously.
"No need, we can't wait. You all step back!" Mei Qian said sternly at the critical moment.
With extreme caution, Mei Qian slowly opened the bag. Then, he took out three dirty pairs of underwear and two pairs of socks with a strong stench...
"Give me the phone!" Seeing the scene before him, Mei Qian, suppressing the urge to vomit the instant noodles he had eaten in the middle of the night, dialed Ping'an's number again.
"Hello! What else is there?" The same person answered.
"Is it convenient for Ping'an to talk on the phone?" Although his temper was rising, Mei Qian still cautiously probed.
"It's not convenient. He's locked up," the person answering said.
Oh no, had Ping'an really been captured by bad guys? These bad guys were so audacious, saying something like illegal detention so directly?
"I don't know why you've locked up Ping'an," Mei Qian continued to probe.
"I don't know. When I arrived, he was already locked up. If you're concerned about him, come find us quickly," the person answering said impatiently.
"I don't know how I should find you?" Mei Qian deliberated, still not daring to reveal his identity.
"Do you know Gai Zhuang Police Station?" the person answering said, clearly annoyed.
"Yes!" Mei Qian was a little dazed.
"If you know, why are you asking?" the other person said.
"You are from the police station?" Mei Qian was even more dazed.
"Yes. Ping'an was locked up by our director for some reason. He probably committed a crime. Who are you anyway? You're acting so mysteriously!" the person answering asked.
"I am Mei Qian, the captain of the Serious Crimes Unit of the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment! Listen carefully, I'm coming right now! You wait for me!" After all this fuss, it turned out Ping'an had been locked up by the police station. Mei Qian breathed a sigh of relief and accidentally sat down on the ground.
It turned out that after leaving the warehouse last night, Mei Qian had immediately instructed his other team members to prepare for surveillance of the warehouse. He himself had returned to the municipal bureau with Liu Ke Dou and reported to Yan Qing overnight. They all agreed that the criminals might track Ping'an and even harm him. Therefore, in the early morning, Mei Qian led a large number of police officers to quietly station themselves in the warehouse and lie in wait. What broke all this was Qiao Xixi's three shouts!
Gai Zhuang Police Station was a small station, with a standard complement of six formal police officers. They usually only handled minor cases like brawls. After the headless corpse case occurred in their jurisdiction, the station chief, Liu Dajun, became extremely enthusiastic, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. This man, who was determined to handle a major case in his police career, had personally led his team to patrol the tiny area of Gai Zhuang every day since the case began. When Ping'an investigated the crime scene at night, he was leading his team on the only highway in the jurisdiction. Until past 5 AM, when Gao Da from the construction site called, he happily brought Ping'an, Lin Dang, and Gao Da back to the station. Now, he was going home to shower and eat, and planned to interrogate them in good spirits afterward. However, he found Mei Qian storming into the station with a murderous aura.
"You brainless idiot! You little prick! I can't stand it anymore! You are seriously obstructing police investigations! Do you understand?" Inside the Gai Zhuang Police Station, on the bench in the detention room, sat Ping'an, Gao Da, and Lin Dang. Among the three, Ping'an, who had mistakenly thought his sister was calling, was anxious, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Lin Dang seemed to have found a treasure, her face full of smiles, happily playing with the "great sword" that the leader had forced upon her. Gao Da, sitting in the middle, looked remorseful, his head bowed as if in repentance...
This delicate atmosphere was only broken when Mei Qian suddenly burst in.
Ping'an, within the bars of the detention room, looked at Mei Qian's furious face, which even forced him to speak in his hometown dialect. He greeted him with some embarrassment.
"Captain Mei, good morning. What's the rush?" Ping'an said with a silly grin.
"Yes, I was worried you'd be killed out there!" Mei Qian said angrily.
"Oh, so someone really wants to deal with me?" Ping'an said calmly, looking at Mei Qian. "Were you guarding outside my warehouse all night? How did it go? Did you catch them?"
"Catch what? Why did you let that delivery guy yell like that? The fish we had in hand got away!" Mei Qian roared.
"Catching people is your job. I just had to find a way to test them and protect myself!" Ping'an said.
"You're too smart. Too smart to be heartless, and too annoying!" Mei Qian said angrily. "From the first time I saw you yesterday, I didn't like you!"
"Is our profession one that people are supposed to like?" Ping'an beckoned. "Alright, let me out quickly, I have some leads to share with you."
"Sneaking into the construction site. It seems reporter Ping'an has made some gains!" Mei Qian said. "I think you're better off staying inside. Violating public order regulations, at least a week's detention!"
"Stop messing around. You know why I went. While I'm still in the mood to share intelligence, get me out quickly." Ping'an said, a mix of laughter and tears.
Mei Qian, panting heavily, seemed to have regained his composure after this outburst. At this moment, he noticed the other two people sitting next to Ping'an.
"What's the situation with these two?" Mei Qian asked.
"One is a small employee of a self-media, and the other is an old security guard for the construction site," Ping'an replied.
"What's their situation? Why are they locked up too?" Mei Qian asked curiously.
"That's not important. Let them out too, especially the old security guard. He's completely innocent. That Director Liu insisted he didn't report it immediately and suspected him, so he was held," Ping'an said helplessly.
"You wait and see!" Mei Qian said fiercely.
Outside the Gai Zhuang Police Station, three or four police cars were parked on the roadside, and more than a dozen police officers were shivering in the cool morning breeze. Director Liu Dajun, holding a thermos in one hand and a cigarette case in the other, solicitously entertained his colleagues.
"I heard you kept watch all night? You didn't catch anyone? And instead, you locked them up with us?" Liu Dajun said with a smile. "Thank you for your hard work, thank you for your hard work. Who catches them is who catches them? We are all good comrades, good comrades!"
The police officers who had kept watch all night knew the inside story, but none of them wanted to speak at this moment.
"Let those three people go. According to public order regulations, they didn't commit any illegal acts. A warning is sufficient," Mei Qian said, searching for Liu Dajun for a long time after walking out of the police station.
"The young lady and the security guard are fine, but the young man is not!" Liu Dajun said.
"Why?" Mei Qian asked, somewhat strangely.
"He was carrying dangerous items and needs to be registered for further processing!" Liu Dajun said.
"What items?" Mei Qian asked.
"A slingshot with lethal force!" Liu Dajun said mysteriously. "In our jurisdiction, there is a nature reserve with the national first-class protected bird, the Crested Ibis. We suspect he was going to hunt birds, so we need someone to act as a guarantor."
"With that broken slingshot of his! No, he wasn't here to hunt birds! He was just bored, why would he bring a slingshot!" Mei Qian was so angry his insides ached. Trembling, he went with Liu Dajun to act as guarantor.
Outside the village police station, Ping'an, Lin Dang, and Gao Da parted ways.
"Young lady, listen to me. It's best not to publish the photos in your camera or the things we found. The police will handle you," Ping'an advised Lin Dang before leaving. "You're so young. If you really want to be a journalist, go through the proper channels, study hard, and get in through legitimate means."
"Thank you, Teacher Ping'an. Don't worry, when I get back, I'll only provide some harmless information to our boss. Thank you for giving me a lesson in investigative journalism. If I have the chance, I'd really like to be your apprentice." After spending the night together, Lin Dang had no particular interest in Ping'an, but she had to admit that this person was indeed very capable.
"Reporter Ping'an, what about me?" Gao Da, who had not been able to get a word in among the three, finally had a chance to speak.
"My sister runs a training class in the city and has always needed a night watchman. When you're free later, go find her. After you find her, call me, and I'll personally tell her. Don't worry, you'll be one of the old Ping family's security guards from now on!" Ping'an said with a smile to Gao Da.
Waving goodbye, after a night of meeting, finding joy in hardship, whether fighting, cooperating, talking, or sighing, where in life does one not meet? Meeting is fate.
"Alright, Ping'an, we should go too. We need to have a heart-to-heart talk. I really hope you can provide us with some truly valuable investigative leads. I don't care how you've helped the police with cases before, but this time, you've crossed the line and seriously affected police investigations. You need to understand that I can deal with you in minutes!" Thinking of the "tempting" underwear and socks in the duffel bag at the warehouse, Mei Qian had a belly full of anger with nowhere to vent.
"Crazy!" Ping'an, still unaware of everything that had happened at the warehouse that morning, silently uttered these three words and then got into Mei Qian's police car. However, he didn't notice that among the crowd gathered outside the police station, a man wearing black sunglasses was skillfully filming with his phone. On the other side of the crowd, a man wearing a mask looked nervous and repeatedly wanted to rush to Ping'an and the police. He seemed to have something important to tell Ping'an, but ultimately, after accidentally seeing the man filming with sunglasses, he quietly left.
The police car slowly drove away, and the crowd gradually dispersed. The man with sunglasses raised his phone and said, "Director Chen, this is the situation on the scene. What are your next steps?"
On Zhuque Street, the most prosperous area in the central river region, in the top-floor chairman's office of a high-end office building labeled "Caesar Finance," Chen Nairong swirled the milk cup in his hand and said into the phone, "Regarding the warehouse, you've been exposed. Hide for a few days. Release your subordinate and find Wu An as soon as possible."
Putting down the phone, Chen Nairong tilted his head back and drank the milk in the cup, then placed the cup in front of a row of framed photos. In one of the photos, he and Ping'an were clearly visible together.
"Although I've taken off this police uniform, the past is still a hassle. Niu Jian has shut up, but there's still Wu An. Alas! Why can't I live a good life and have to report it?" Chen Nairong picked up the photo of him and Ping'an and muttered to himself. "My good brother, do you know, or do you not know? How I wish you didn't know. It's rare to have a confidant in life, and big brother truly doesn't want to kill you, Ping'an! Ping'an! Wouldn't it be better if you just lived a peaceful and safe life like this?"
The office door suddenly opened. A young woman in fashionable attire walked gracefully and charmingly to Chen Nairong and sat on his lap. After a deep kiss, she looked up and saw the photo.
"Oh! Director Chen, you have this kind of friendship with reporter Ping'an?" the woman said coquettishly.
"Hehe, darling, you know reporter Ping'an too?" Chen Nairong ostentatiously waved the photo in his hand.
"He's the number one figure in our Hechuan." As she said this, the woman noticed Chen Nairong's hand behaving inappropriately on her body and pretended to pat it away. "Starting the day with such unruly hands. How many bosses with hands like yours has he dealt with? I'm scared, I can't not know him. Are you afraid of him too?"
"Hahahaha, I'm not afraid of him. We're the best of brothers. Let him treat us to a meal sometime and I'll show you my power!" Chen Nairong said heroically.
"Then I'll be waiting!" The woman pretended to tidy the milk cup and used the opportunity to leave him.
"However, Liu Juan, how do you know Ping'an? I didn't know you knew each other?" Chen Nairong, after having a little fun, suddenly asked.
"Is it wrong that I just know him? He, I'd recognize him even if he turned to ash!" the woman named Liu Juan said teasingly with a smile.
"Then it's settled. I'll ask him out for dinner, and you'll accompany me to deepen our relationship! Hahahahaha!" Chen Nairong's laughter echoed throughout the entire floor, bold and magnanimous, sinister and cunning.