Futile Devices Scans

He kept watch at Xie Jia Hua’s bedside for an entire afternoon. At first, he made quite a show of it—tucking in the blanket, smoothing his hair. After an hour, however, he began yawning incessantly, slumping in his chair, rubbing his eyes and stretching, glancing around in boredom. When he truly had nothing left to do, he pulled Xie Jia Hua’s hand out from under the blanket and examined it over and over.

“You see, he has seven whorls on his fingers,” he muttered as he counted, chatting idly to Qin Hao, who sat beside the bed.

Qin Hao sat upright like a pine, silent and stern. He glanced at him once but said nothing.

Lu Guang Ming’s wrist—previously twisted by Qin Hao—still ached faintly. Not daring to provoke him, he could only grumble inwardly: Hah, clearly another Little Yam trained by Big Yam Xie, same stiff face—like it’s been baked dry in a furnace.

Thinking of “burnt,” he noticed some dirt still lingering at Xie Jia Hua’s temples. So he searched around on himself, found the handkerchief Xie Jia Hua had once given him, and carefully wiped his face bit by bit.

Watching this, Qin Hao’s brows unconsciously furrowed.

Halfway through, Lu Guang Ming suddenly noticed Qin Hao’s sharp, heated gaze. With a pure and innocent expression, he turned and smiled faintly. “A bit dirty—just cleaning it.”

“……” Qin Hao silently turned his gaze away.

After a while, the head of the Major Crimes Unit came to inquire about the case and called Qin Hao away. Left alone in the ward, Lu Guang Ming finally seized his chance—running his hands over Xie Jia Hua from head to toe, taking full advantage. Xie Jia Hua, disturbed by the touching, slipped into a nightmare; his brows drew tighter and tighter, until suddenly his breathing deepened and his eyes snapped open.

Startled while pinching his earlobe, Lu Guang Ming jumped back in fright, retreating far away. Seeing Xie Jia Hua still dazed and unmoving, he clutched his chest and crept closer, feigning innocence. “Hey, hey? Can you hear me?”

He quickly pressed the call bell for the nurse. The doctor came and conducted a round of examinations. Not long after, Qin Hao and Xie Jia Bao, Xie Jia Hua’s cousin, also returned. The three of them surrounded the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Guang Ming noticed that Xie Jia Hua’s shirt still had two buttons undone, his chest partially exposed. He coughed lightly and quietly stepped back, somewhat guilty.

Yet the moment Xie Jia Hua regained clarity, his gaze locked onto him—staring at him unrelentingly with a pale face.

Xie Jia Bao said nervously, “Brother Hua… you don’t recognize him? He’s from the ICAC, says he’s your friend—he’s been watching over you all afternoon…”

Of course, Xie Jia Hua recognized him. He drove both Xie Jia Bao and Lu Guang Ming out, leaving only Qin Hao behind for questioning. Lu Guang Ming lingered outside, taking the opportunity to chat a few more words with the somewhat dim-witted Xie Jia Bao. Before long, Qin Hao came out and called him back in.

Lu Guang Ming entered the ward in disbelief. “You actually want to see me?” Could it be he found out about the touching?

Xie Jia Hua, seemingly unaware that his shirt was still open, revealing his chest, placed a photograph in front of him and said coldly, “Explain.”

Lu Guang Ming was genuinely baffled. “Explain what?”

“Did you take this photo? What does this have to do with you? Or are you the one behind all this?” Xie Jia Hua demanded angrily.

Full of confusion, Lu Guang Ming picked up the photograph and examined it carefully. It showed a candid shot of Xie Jia Hua meeting Qin Hao—the undercover agent—in a disco. Lu Guang Ming froze. It did indeed resemble that night he had secretly watched them meet.

But he had never taken any photos. The mastermind… Ah! It must be A’San causing trouble again!

He Chu San did not know he had witnessed that meeting—so this must have been an accidental friendly-fire mistake. Yet on second thought, he hadn’t seen anyone suspicious there that night. This photo could not be real.

Studying it more closely, he finally spotted the flaw—it was indeed a doctored composite.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xie Jia Hua lifting a pillow to throw at him. He quickly raised both hands. “Inspector Xie! Framing a good person is against the law!”

Xie Jia Hua still looked furious—his expression clearly saying: What kind of good person are you?

Holding up the photo, Lu Guang Ming explained, “Look carefully—this is fake. Someone cut out your profile and pasted it onto another person sitting with your undercover junior, then reprocessed it. Because both photos were taken in bars or discos, the lighting looks similar. But if you look closely at your face, the direction of the shadow is different. Think about it—if I had taken it, would I need to go through all this trouble?”

He did his best to look innocent.

Xie Jia Hua snatched the photo and examined it closely, his anger gradually shifting into doubt. “How did you know I was hospitalized?”

“I was at the explosion site. I intercepted your police radio.”

“……” Xie Jia Hua raised the pillow again.

“Hey, hey—wait,” Lu Guang Ming quickly added, muttering defensively, “I was there on legitimate business. I suspected Cui Dong Dong went to Hao Cheng Qing’s former residence to retrieve Xiao Qi Hall’s ledgers. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have rushed there after being pursued. I went to take a look—and the moment I arrived, I saw you blown away…”

He even took the opportunity to lecture him. “At your age, why are you so reckless? Charging in without checking anything first?”

Xie Jia Hua silently raised the pillow again, his expression darkening further.

Lu Guang Ming was quick-witted enough to retreat. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop. I just came to see if you were okay. Since you are, I’ll leave now.”

He dashed out, closing the door behind him, and fled down the corridor—smiling to himself as he pressed the elevator button. He still found Xie Jia Hua incredibly adorable.

……

But matters of the heart were trivial—once out of the elevator, it was back to business. He returned the black-market rental car and went back to the ICAC, working alone until late into the night. At three in the morning, under the starlight, he returned to his shabby little room. After washing up, he curled into his blanket as usual—and thought of Xie Jia Hua again.

That damned Big Yam—his first reaction upon seeing the photo had indeed been to suspect him.

Understandable… but still a little hurtful.

Am I really that bad? he thought, hugging his pillow. After a moment, he let out a smug, cold laugh. I am that bad—hmph.

With such contradictory thoughts, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. By dawn, seeing it was already six o’clock, he thought of Xie Jia Hua in the hospital.

Heh. Now it’s your turn to be hospitalized, poor Inspector Xie—at your age, no one even to warm your bed. When you’re sick, who will take care of you? Hiring a caretaker again? What will you even eat in the morning?

The more he thought, the more pity welled up. He threw off the blanket and got up, carefully grooming himself, even spraying his only bottle of hair mousse liberally and styling it neatly in front of the mirror. Then, with great “kindness,” he went out to buy breakfast for Inspector Xie.

……

Sitting in a tea restaurant, he studied the menu for a long time, realizing he had no idea what Xie Jia Hua liked to eat. During the days he stayed at Xie Jia Hua’s place, everything had been centered around him as the “patient”—Xie Jia Hua himself showed no preferences, eating whatever was served.

Looking back, he realized that during that week, Xie Jia Hua had truly done everything he could to take care of him: picking him up and dropping him off, bringing meals to him, helping him wash up at night, even bending down to put on his shoes when he went out. Though often driven to fury, he had never mistreated him.

Big Yam is actually a good yam, Lu Guang Ming thought, resting his chin on his hand. How pitiful—no one cares for him. I suppose I’ll reluctantly treat him a little better.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled out the only large bill in his wallet and bought three different breakfasts—surely one of them would suit Xie Jia Hua. He packed them into a full lunchbox.

Worried the food would get cold, he hurried all the way, jogging out of the elevator and arriving at the ward. The door was not fully closed; he gently pushed it open with his finger and heard Xie Jia Hua speaking seriously on the phone.

“I want to contact Interpol’s Thailand branch and request information on a drug lord named Golden Maitreya…”

Even lying in a hospital bed, he hadn’t forgotten his case—truly worthy of Inspector Xie.

Lu Guang Ming tactfully waited outside. Soon, Xie Jia Hua finished his call and turned, noticing him at the door. His expression darkened immediately.

“What are you here for now?” he asked impatiently, sitting back on the bed.

“Seeing that you’re here alone with no one to take care of you,” Lu Guang Ming said with a smile, lifting the lunchbox, “I brought you breakfast.”

Xie Jia Hua had barely opened his mouth to speak when he was suddenly shoved aside by a crowd of young men and women pouring into the room. The small ward was instantly packed to the brim.

“Boss!”

“Boss, we came to see you!”

“Boss! Are you alright? We didn’t come yesterday because we didn’t want to disturb your rest—we waited until morning to bring breakfast!”

“There’s pan-fried buns, rice rolls, pineapple buns, milk, coffee…”

“And porridge my mom made for you!”

“This idiot Bzi even bought a burger—can a patient eat burgers?!”

“Why can’t a patient eat burgers?!”

Amid the bustling crowd, Lu Guang Ming stood there for a moment in a daze—then his eyes curved slightly, and he smiled, though he himself did not know why.

Carefully, he placed his simple plastic lunchbox on a small cabinet by the door.

Then, quietly, he turned and left.

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