Chapter 9: The Beautiful Police Officer

Gu Fan's house is an old residential house in the city, dating back many years. From the outside, it resembles a villa, but the interior is rather old and doesn't possess the expected luxury of a villa. The stairway is insufficiently lit and feels gloomy.

This old house was left by Gu Fan's great-grandfather. Multiple families used to live there, with the Gu family only owning one room. Gradually, they moved out to improve their living conditions.

After diligent effort by Gu Fan's grandfather and father, they managed to buy all the rooms, eventually transforming the old house into their own. However, since the structure was not conducive for living and they did not want to revamp it and lose its vintage charm, the family moved to a more modern apartment building.

After enrolling in university, Gu Fan moved back into the old house. Firstly, because it was nearer to school, hence saving him some living expenses. Secondly, his parents saw it as an opportunity to cultivate his independence. Lastly, it was believed that the old house was better off inhabited, and this would give it a more lively atmosphere.

One early morning, Gu Fan woke up, yawned, stretched lazily, and got out of bed to freshen up. Honestly, looking at the numerous empty rooms felt somewhat wasteful. If it weren't for the fear of damaging the old structure, he would have probably rented out the place.

Indeed, the old house situated downtown was valuable, worth millions. But this product of three generations' hard work was so precious that the Gu family couldn't bear to sell it. Gu Fan himself saw this ancestral house as the root of the family. However, the paper wealth of millions did not have any real impact on Gu Fan's life. He was still a child of ordinary parents who worked tirelessly from nine to five.

Though the old house was not let out on rent, it didn't prevent others from visiting. One early morning, Lu Yi knocked on Gu Fan's door, shouting, "Open up, open the door, it's me Lu Yi, your lifelong buddy."

"Alright, alright, this is an old house, can you please be careful not to damage my over sixty-year-old door?" Gu Fan reminded him, hinting at the fact that even the doors and windows hadn't been renovated to maintain the house's nostalgic character.

As soon as Gu Fan opened the door, a grinning Lu Yi sauntered in and headed straight to the large living room. He seemed perfectly at home, sprawled out on the couch with his legs crossed and commented, "Coming to your house always makes me realize how big it is. Your living room is twice the size of a regular one, albeit a bit old."

"Big? Once, six families used to dine in this very living room." Gu Fan chuckled and took out a beverage to treat his friend.

But Lu Yi didn't accept it, turning serious all of a sudden, "Let's be real, I came over so early because of yesterday's incident. How are things going at your end?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan furrowed his brows, went over to the window to glance outside, "I purposely stayed up late before sleeping last night after turning off the lights, but I didn't notice anything unusual. I checked around this morning too but didn't spot anyone suspicious. I'm thinking if we might have been overly paranoid yesterday."

At this, Lu Yi's expression darkened, "I can assure you, I was followed yesterday, and you were too. We know we're pretty charming and might someday be pursued for our phone numbers, but it's hardly a coincidence that we both were followed on the same day. And by men at that! Surely, they can't be interested in us?"

Hearing this, Gu Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, though he knew Lu Yi was making a valid point. But the problem was, nothing strange had happened since they were followed the day before.

After a moment's thought, Gu Fan asked, "And you Lu Yi? Did you notice anyone following you on the way to my house?"

"Absolutely not. I was extra cautious this time." Lu Yi shook his head vehemently, his hand raised as though swearing an oath to the heavens.

"Oh, could it be that we successfully eluded them yesterday, and they lost our trail, so they could not come after us again?" Gu Fan mused silently for a while, then voiced his doubts, "There are two things I still don't understand. First, how did they find out where we got off and then managed to tail us? Second, why would anyone randomly start following a bunch of average college students like us? And they dispersed to tail us individually, when shouldn't they be targeting the single most vulnerable amongst us?"

Lu Yi nodded in agreement promptly, "The two doubts you raised are indeed very well-informed and insightful. Let's assume, a criminal gang is prowling around looking for targets, and they happened to spot us, some college students alighting from a car. They had evil intentions and so, they started tailing us. So, your first doubt can be explained away as mere coincidence - us crossing paths with such an ill-fated gang of criminals at the time we got off."

Listening to this, Gu Fan shook his head in disbelief, "Your explanation doesn't make a lick of sense. Let's set aside that bit for now. What about the second doubt? Why would they tail ordinary college students like us? And why did they scatter to follow us individually when they should've perhaps chosen a single most worthwhile target?"

"This... this..." Lu Yi couldn't think of a good explanation on the spot, so he quickly changed the subject: "About yesterday, how did Lin Xi's investigation go? It couldn't be that only the three of us were followed, right?"

Gu Fan shook his head in response: "Lin Xi went back and asked the other girls in the dance club. She didn't directly ask if they were being followed. It was just casual chatter. During that, none of them mentioned anything unusual on their way home. Maybe they weren't followed, or maybe they just didn't realize they were being followed."

"Then that's where the problem lies. We're the only ones who noticed that we were followed. Is it possible that only the three of us were targeted by the other party? If all members were being followed, and yet only we, who are close friends, realized it. Doesn't that sound strange to you?" Lu Yi's question made Gu Fan feel more puzzled. It was as if their conversation was pulling them deeper into a hole. So, Gu Fan cut in: "There's no point discussing this more. I have a way. The place where we got off the car yesterday must have surveillance footage. We can just look at that."

"Right, checking the surveillance footage will tell us if we were the only ones being followed. Plus, in order to check the footage, we'd have to alert the police. If someone does have malicious intentions towards us, we can then immediately file a report." By this point, Gu Fan and Lu Yi started to get excited, declaring they would immediately set out.

Along the way, the two chatted and laughed. Unable to resist, Lu Yi asked, "How is it? Today you don't have to be with your goddess?"

"Everyone was tired yesterday, so today we're all resting up. Besides, we can't be together all day. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. We need to have our personal life." Gu Fan responded naturally. He then glanced at Lu Yi with a suggestive look and asked, "How about the girl from the dance club that you're interested in? I can have Lin Xi probe her for you. Good friend, you're so busy, I must help."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi pretended to be grateful, "Thank you. It seems whether I can end my single life in college depends on you. You really are a good buddy."

Gu Fan responded with a laugh, "You're welcome. I'm just trying to avoid you accusing me of favoring my girlfriend over my friend, only spending my time with Lin Xi and not you."

The two of them, joking back and forth, soon arrived at the local police station, claiming that they lost an important bag yesterday and want to retrieve it through surveillance footage, providing the time and location.

The receptionist policeman looked at Gu Fan and Lu Yi strangely, as if complaining that they were bothering them for such a trivial matter. In the end, he simply told them, "You guys wait here."

Gu Fan and Lu Yi could do nothing but wait patiently with the hope of clearing everything up. However, after waiting for about half an hour and getting impatient, they asked again but were told they were busy, but it will be handled and hoped they would be understanding and patient.

Gu Fan and Lu Yi had no choice but to continue waiting. Another half an hour later, the policeman led them to view the surveillance footage, only to be surprised, the footage from when Gu Fan and Lu Yi alighted from the car yesterday happened to have malfunctioned and recorded nothing.

Waited an hour for such a result, both Gu Fan and Lu Yi felt frustrated. They returned home with their heads down. Perhaps it was due to his low spirits, Gu Fan accidentally bumped into a female police officer as they were leaving the station.

Gu Fan apologized profusely, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was lost in thought and didn't pay attention. You...you...are very pretty..."

Not only was Gu Fan left staring, but Lu Yi was also taken aback as well. The female officer in front of them was truly breathtaking, with beautiful eyes, fair skin, an outstanding figure, short and neat hair, a heroic demeanor, plus a mature woman's charm that was entirely absent in Lin Xi.

"Oh, it's fine." The policewoman merely answered and briefly glanced at Gu Fan. Although Gu Fan was fairly handsome, he appeared just like a boy in her eyes, so she didn't take it too seriously and went about her business.

After recovering, Gu Fan and Lu Yi left the police station. Lu Yi couldn't help but exclaim, "Police beauty, she's definitely a police beauty. Although she's older than me, I'm not conservative. Love with a younger man is really popular now."

"Please, your taste changes too fast. You're not interested in the younger girl from the dance club anymore?" Gu Fan responded. Internally he couldn't help but sigh, regretting their wasted effort in coming here today. It was such strange luck that the surveillance footage happened to break yesterday. Why did everything that's happening recently feel so odd?