Chapter 145

"Boss," Lang Qiao asked, "now that the investigation team has taken him, what do we do?"

In fact, Luo Wenzhou was also at a loss, but he couldn't show it in front of his youthful subordinates. He muttered to himself for a moment, then said, "That moronic hospital killer is still in our hands. Keep interrogating him. Didn't he say two men came to bring him the money? We haven't found a hair from either of their heads. Who knows whether he was making it up?"

Lang Qiao hurriedly got out a small notebook—it was the bad habit trained into her by examination-oriented education; when she felt helpless, she'd passionately take notes, creating the false impression that she was working hard, as though if she sat and waited it would spontaneously become the truth.

"Also, find some guys to follow that driver of Director Zhang's, plant some eavesdropping devices on him," Luo Wenzhou said as he arranged his thoughts. "Xiao Haiyang, keep waiting for results from the material evidence. If it was Kong Weichen who leaked information when Tao Ran and the others were pursuing Yin Ping, he wouldn't have obviously called Director Zhang. They're both our own people. Of course they would know what we'd do if anything happened. They wouldn't have left such obvious evidence—so there must be some other plot involved in Yin Ping's car crash."

This time, Xiao Haiyang at last had no dissenting views. He nodded affirmatively.

"Also, find an opportunity to go to the rehab center," Luo Wenzhou added. "If you can, have a chat with Ma Xiaowei."

Lang Qiao and Xiao Haiyang were very confused by this request, looking back at him helplessly.

Luo Wenzhou said, "The time when Ma Xiaowei appeared and the secrets he 'inadvertently' disclosed to us currently don't look too likely to have all been coincidence. These major cases have all happened since Director Zhang was transferred. If there's premeditation involved here, it's likely it started then, and Ma Xiaowei was definitely a participant."

Xiao Haiyang was as impatient as a fire. He quickly said, "I'll go now!"

"Where are you going? Visiting hours are over. Go tomorrow.—Have you thought about how you're going to question him? What's the rush? Don't you know that sharpening the axe won't interfere with cutting firewood?"

The criminal policemen who'd been prepared to work throughout the Spring Festival idly got off work on time. Fei Du dropped Xiao Haiyang and Lang Qiao off at their respective homes, then went to the hospital to bring the injured Tao Ran something to eat, dictating a few lines he could use to appeal to girls; he was dragged home midway by Luo Wenzhou, who couldn't stand to listen to it.

Then, as though nothing were the matter, he undertook part-time work as a supermarket cart pusher, porter, and wallet-carrier, accompanying Luo Wenzhou to the supermarket to buy ingredients and cat food. His manner was calm and natural, just as usual.

Especially when it was time to go to sleep. There was for once no need for Luo Wenzhou to coax and plead—he said it twice, and Fei Du turned off his computer.

Fei Du had rather bad living habits. He didn't sleep at night and would also get up early in the morning, citing the work schedules of people from Chicken Soup for the Soul such as "Buffett" and "Jobs" and "Kobe."

When he'd just gotten out of the hospital and didn't have much energy it had been a little better; he'd lie down after a little torment. But after some meticulous nursing by Luo Wenzhou, it seemed there was another vigorous Luo Yiguo in the house—unless Luo Wenzhou suddenly woke in the middle of the night, when he reached out on waking, eight or nine out of ten times he'd come up empty. Fortunately, President Fei had a better disposition than President Guo and could get himself up; he didn't harm others by acting as an alarm clock.

Luo Wenzhou looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong with you today? Are you feeling unwell? Did you catch a cold? Or did you eat something that disagreed with you?"

"If I don't listen to you, you resort to force." Fei Du touched his face helplessly. "If I do listen to you, you suspect that I'm sick… Beloved concubine, you're too capricious."

A trace of a smile floated at the corners of Luo Wenzhou's eyes. Then he grabbed Fei Du's wrist and spoke with a double meaning: "Am I capricious, or is your lordship's heart hard to fathom?"

Fei Du stared. Luo Wenzhou looked at him with a slightly grave gaze. "Your mood hasn't been right these last couple of days. What is it?"

With a smile that wasn't quite a smile, Fei Du avoided replying. "My mood's not right? I'm always 'in the mood' when I see you."

Luo Wenzhou: "…"

A certain person was using lines on him that he'd just gotten through teaching Tao Ran, not even changing a punctuation mark. Did he think he was so deaf he hadn't heard?

Seeing that Fei Du once again refused to speak properly, Luo Wenzhou suddenly raised his arms and grabbed him around the waist, lifting his feet off the ground.

"Shoes!" Fei Du said. "Wait, my shoes!"

Hearing movement, Luo Yiguo saw an opportunity and leapt over, picking up Fei Du's dropped slipper in its mouth like a rare toy, letting itself go happily tearing and biting at it.

Luo Wenzhou uncompromisingly closed the bedroom door, pressing him against the door in midair. "Your shixiong isn't so old yet he'd make you dirty your feet walking on the ground. What do you want shoes for?"

President Fei's amorous history didn't include any direct practical experience with this position. He was a little flustered. While he knew that if he fell it wouldn't kill him, he still very insecurely reached out to support himself against the doorknob, forcing a smile. "Could I ask you to switch to something not so stimulating? I'm afraid it'll be tiring for…"

Luo Wenzhou narrowed his eyes at him. Fei Du was good at reading expressions; he wisely swallowed back the word "you." His throat moved. Displaying adaptability, he abandoned a man's self-respect and corrected himself: "…me."

Luo Wenzhou looked up and met his eyes for a moment, then slowly drew near, gently rubbing the tip of Fei Du's nose.

Fei Du lowered his head to kiss him, but Luo Wenzhou dodged back, unfeelingly saying, "Let go of the doorknob. You can't put your hands anywhere but on me. Who told you to demonstrate chin-ups?"

Fei Du: "…"

Luo Wenzhou said, "Or do you want the handcuffs?"

Fei Du was normally very indulgent towards him. He didn't have the heart to spoil his fun. Choosing the lesser of two evils, he made the position as secure as possible, holding Luo Wenzhou's shoulders and clamping his legs around his waist.

Luo Wenzhou slowly used the tips of his teeth to pull open the bathrobe hanging loosely in front of his chest. "What am I to you?"

Fei Du feigned astonishment. "Are you disappointed I didn't formally buy you a diamond? How about I go order a pigeon egg now?"

Luo Wenzhou said, "You can't get full eating a pigeon egg. I want chicken eggs, two of them."

Fei Du: "…"

He really was a true man who only wanted to eat and sleep his fill.

"Since I'm worth two chicken eggs—" Luo Wenzhou's gaze roved around Fei Du's chest. He was young, after all; some time had passed, and the electric shock scars were hardly visible. Without the messy scrawl of a stuck-on tattoo to cover it, his chest was thin and fair, with almost an alluring trace of youthfulness.

Such a thin chest; such a heavy heart.

When Luo Wenzhou had looked enough, he finished his long drawn-out sentence: "—can you trust me?"

This question was a softball. Fei Du answered without thinking: "How could I not… hss."

Luo Wenzhou had a premonition that the conversation might not go smoothly; consequently he ground his teeth against him.

"Think carefully, Fei Du. I'll give you another chance."

The activities of his lower body normally didn't rise above Fei Du's neck. His brain was very clear; he immediately realized that Luo Wenzhou was implying something, and thoughts spun through his mind. Looking down from on high, he freed up one hand to raise Luo Wenzhou's chin. "What, do you feel uneasy because I haven't been speaking so much lately and forcing a stack of ideas into your ears?"

The tips of Luo Wenzhou's eyebrows moved. "I feel like you're hiding something from me."

This sort of phrase is usually an omen of domestic crisis. Fei Du earnestly recalled for a moment. "When I've assigned tasks to Lu Jia and the others lately, it's all been right in front of you. I haven't secretly plotted against anyone's life, and I haven't wanted to go pull out Fei Chengyu's breathing tube. I've observed the law and discipline, haven't touched a drop of alcohol, oh, and I've acceded to your every plea. I don't think there's anything I've been hiding?"

Luo Wenzhou held him with one hand, the other hand very improperly reaching under his bathrobe. He touched somewhere that made Fei Du stiffen all over. Suspended in midair, feeling neither here nor there, he was nervous and impatient. "Shixiong, are you…planning to use torture to extort a confession?"

"That's right," Luo Wenzhou said slowly. "When Zhou Huaijin mentioned 'thirteen years ago,' you said, 'the Picture Album Project.' Today in the car when we were discussing whether Director Zhang was framed, you mentioned the Picture Album Project again. Even when you were getting close to me from ulterior motives, your ostensible motive was restarting the Picture Album Project."

Fei Du laughed. "When I was getting close to you from ulterior motives, my motive was your good looks."

"…" Luo Wenzhou choked. "Are you stealing my lines? You pick up bad influences quickly."

"The Picture Album Project planned to establish a record of criminals. Though it was led by the school, if you pay attention to the list of participants, you'll find that they were nearly all frontline police officers who took part in Gu Zhao's case—that is, they were suspects." Fei Du gasped; at the end of his endurance, he grabbed Luo Wenzhou's groping hand. "…Darling, if you keep doing that, I won't be able to keep talking."

"But you didn't come because of Gu Zhao's case."

"I remember I told you…"

"I remember, too," Luo Wenzhou interrupted him. "The first time, you told me that you had an intuition that your mom's death was connected to Fei Chengyu, and you wanted to know why you'd have that intuition, so you wanted to trace back your memories from when you were little. The second time, you told me that actually you knew your mom had killed herself, and you knew why she'd done it, and that you faintly suspected Fei Chengyu was involved in some shady business. The third time, when we went after Lu Guosheng, in the basement of your house, you repeated to me what Fei Chengyu had said. You remembered what had happened thirteen years ago with perfect clarify. You didn't need to trace anything back."

Fei Du stared blankly. He hadn't expected Luo Wenzhou to remember every word of nonsense he'd said with perfect clarify.

Luo Wenzhou struggled free of his hand, clutching the tender flesh between Fei Du's legs, grinding back forth. Gritting his teeth slightly, he asked, "Can you tell me now what the truth is among your self-contradictory words?"

Fei Du was a silent for a good while. Then he suddenly grabbed the back of Luo Wenzhou's head, lowered his head, and kissed him. He seemed to naturally know how to stir up emotion; the kiss wasn't intense, but it made a person have the feeling of being deeply loved by him.

It was an unhurried, precise, and perfect deep feeling.

But just as a succession of coincidences couldn't be accidental, this always perfectly precise expression couldn't be a natural revelation. Luo Wenzhou suddenly flared up a little, tearing away the loose clothing hanging on Fei Du's body, changing zero distance to negative distance. Only when he felt Fei Du's pulse change sharply did he have some sense that he was truly holding him in his arms.

Fei Du seemed about to fall asleep when he carried him to bed and laid him down. Luo Wenzhou kissed the center of his brow. His intellect returned, and he thought, "I still haven't gotten an answer."

Just then, Fei Du suddenly spoke. "Not everything I told you those three times was made up."

His voice was a little hoarse, gently rubbing the eardrums. Luo Wenzhou paused, made a sound, and stretched his legs out onto the little armchair next to the bed.

"I really am investigating the Picture Album to trace back to things from when I was little. I don't remember completely what happened in the basement, and I have an intuition that the part left out is very important."

Luo Wenzhou said, "I thought your memory wasn't any worse than Xiao Haiyang's."

"I don't have an eidetic memory." Fei Du smiled quickly. "Actually, I went into Fei Chengyu's basement without permission twice. The first time it was entirely by chance. I dropped something and went to get it, and he hadn't locked the door. That time I got in and saw the Picture Album Project roster. While I was flipping through it, Fei Chengyu returned. I hid in the little cabinet under his bookcase, and luckily he didn't find me."

Luo Wenzhou for some reason felt there was something wrong with these words, but before he could think closely, Fei Du continued, "Little boys naturally seek stimulus, are curious and rebellious. Having gotten in once, I wanted to do it a second time, so I tried by any means possible to get the code to the basement.—It wasn't easy. Fei Chengyu was very careful. So it was half a year later that I succeeded in getting into that secret basement a second time. I saw the research paper concerning the victims of vicious crimes arranged on his desk."

Luo Wenzhou said, "The paper written by Fan Siyuan, the head of the first Picture Album Project?"

"Yes."

Luo Wenzhou frowned.—The first Picture Album Project had gone wrong midway. It hadn't been long after Gu Zhao's case. The City Bureau really couldn't have taken another scandal. As soon as they'd found something was wrong, they'd urgently called it to a halt, and all the personnel who'd participated had been investigated. It had been handled very quickly—

"I think that it was less than half a year from the time the first Picture Album Project launched to the time it was called to a halt," Luo Wenzhou said. "Why did Fei Chengyu's interest last so long?"

"I turned on his computer. The code was the same as for the door. I saw a file on the desktop called 'Picture Album,' but I couldn't open it, because the door code didn't work."

"You mean that the Picture Album project is connected to Fei Chengyu?" Luo Wenzhou asked. "And then what?"

"Then I don't recall very clearly, but…" Fei Du suddenly felt his throat tighten. He turned his head away and coughed twice. "But…ahem…"

At first Luo Wenzhou thought that he'd choked while speaking, but he very quickly noticed something was wrong—Fei Du couldn't stop coughing.

He quickly went to hold Fei Du up, patting his back. "What's the matter? Did you catch a chill? What did I tell you!"

Fei Du was coughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath, the veins nearly standing out at the corners of his forehead. It only calmed after a long time. Luo Wenzhou brought over a glass of warm water. "Drink a little. Don't be in a hurry to take medicine for a cold. It may work to wait it out. We'll see if it gets worse."

"I only roughly remember that Fei Chengyu suddenly returned home for some reason and found that I was in his basement. I think he was very angry. After a huge explosion, he emptied the basement," Fei Du said with some effort. "But…when I think about it, it seems that that's when I started to have a concrete idea of what he was doing. I must have accidentally seen something very important in the basement that day."