Xie Jia Hua wanted to take Lu Guang Ming back to the police station to give a statement, but Lu Guang Ming refused. “There’s no need for Inspector Xie to trouble himself opening a case over something this minor. If it ends up being traced back to one of your own people, wouldn’t that make the police lose face?”
Xie Jia Hua’s temper flared. Grabbing him by the back of his collar, he dragged him toward the car. “Even if a police officer did it, I’ll still see justice done for you!”
“Hey, don’t pull me, hey.” Lu Guang Ming struggled in his tiger claws like a little lamb and was effortlessly shoved all the way to the car. “I’m filthy. I’ll get your car dirty…”
Xie Jia Hua pulled open the passenger door and sent him inside with one push of his tiger palm. “Shut up!”
The door slammed, the key turned, and Xie Jia Hua locked him inside the car. He remained outside for about five minutes before finally getting into the driver’s seat. Lu Guang Ming had slapped at the door to no avail and was now slumped crookedly in the passenger seat, enduring the pain as he wiped at his wounds. The moment Xie Jia Hua got in, he immediately switched to a wicked grin. “Inspector Xie, I really don’t have time to go to the station. I have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning, and I want to hurry home and sleep. Do me a favor and let me go.”
“Where do you live?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take you home.”
“Huh?”
…
Streetlights and neon signs flashed past the window one after another as the car gradually left the city center behind and headed toward increasingly remote and rundown roads. Lu Guang Ming rolled down the window, but even that could not cover the thick stench of garbage inside the car—his whole body was filthy, and a puddle of rotten egg along with several broken pieces of eggshell still clung to his shoulder. He shifted his eyes and stole a glance at Xie Jia Hua. Xie Jia Hua seemed not to smell anything at all, his expression unchanged as he drove.
“Inspector Xie…”
“I don’t want to hear you talk. Shut up,” Xie Jia Hua said.
Lu Guang Ming turned his head toward the window and blinked into the darkening dusk. He knew Xie Jia Hua hated him even more than he hated rotten eggs, yet when Lu Guang Ming was in trouble, Xie Jia Hua still forced himself to endure both his disgust and the stink coming off him just to drive him home.
He slumped crookedly against the seat and blinked at the darkness outside. No wonder Brother Jia Qi liked this man so much.
What he had felt toward Xie Jia Hua at first was jealous hatred and suspicion, followed by teasing and curiosity. After that chaotic night confirmed Xie Jia Hua’s sincerity toward Brother Jia Qi, something else had been added—a strange feeling Lu Guang Ming himself could not quite explain.
Before falling asleep at night, he would occasionally think of Xie Jia Hua too. In such a cold, pitch-black world, if someone like him were sleeping beside me, maybe it would feel a little warmer.
…
The car stopped beneath an old, crowded residential building. The two walked one behind the other up the dark stairwell, their feet stepping on garbage strewn across the floor with piercing creaks. Wastepaper and broken odds and ends collected by the residents were piled throughout the corridor, while little mice scurrying past let out low squeaks. Lu Guang Ming, walking in front, stepped on a banana peel and slipped, only to fall straight into Xie Jia Hua’s arms behind him.
The two froze awkwardly in the darkness for a moment. Xie Jia Hua quickly pushed him upright and could not help asking, “How can you live in a place like this? Doesn’t the ICAC pay you? Didn’t you apply for staff quarters?”
“Saves money. More freedom.” Lu Guang Ming looked perfectly matter-of-fact as he took out his key and opened the door. “You can’t rent a place this big anywhere else for eight hundred dollars.”
He switched on the light. The interior was a little over three hundred square feet—about thirty square meters—which really did count as “big” in Hong Kong, where every inch of land was worth gold. Unlike the filth and crowding outside, Lu Guang Ming had kept this little room extremely neat and clean—but perhaps it was too clean. Aside from a bed, a square table and chair, and several cardboard boxes, there was almost nothing inside. In one corner, he had built a tiny darkroom out of cardboard, with several photographs hanging inside it. The curtains were tightly closed. The bedsheets, quilt cover, and curtains were all a dull gray-black.
Xie Jia Hua stood in the doorway looking around in surprise. He had never seen such an empty, cold, utterly lifeless “home.” Meanwhile, Lu Guang Ming had gone out to the balcony to change his clothes—his home did not even have a wardrobe, and the few sets of clothing he owned simply hung on the balcony. As he pulled off his shirt, his muffled voice emerged from inside the fabric. “Thanks for bringing me back. If you’re done sightseeing, I won’t see you out. Close the door for me.”
A short while later came the sound of the door closing. Lu Guang Ming finished taking off his shirt, kicked away his filthy shoes and socks, and walked barefoot and bare-chested back into the room, only to discover that Xie Jia Hua was still there—crouched on the floor, going through his cardboard boxes.
“Inspector Xie? You’re openly snooping through ICAC secrets now?”
“What secrets?” Xie Jia Hua set down several thank-you letters from welfare homes with a cold expression. “Do you have disinfectant? I’ll help you treat those wounds.”
Lu Guang Ming paused. Then his eyes shifted, and he smiled. “I do. Come over here.”
Xie Jia Hua had barely stepped closer when Lu Guang Ming pounced and knocked him onto the bed! Lu Guang Ming sprawled triumphantly on top of him, pressing his bare chest into Xie Jia Hua’s arms. “Inspector Xie, you insisted on bringing me right to my door, and now you refuse to leave. Don’t tell me you want to do this?”
He reached down to touch Xie Junior, only for Xie Jia Hua to fling his hand away at once! Lu Guang Ming swung one long leg over him and straddled his waist again. Xie Jia Hua planted both hands against Lu Guang Ming’s warm bare skin and tried to shove him away, but failed. Lu Guang Ming’s entire body was covered in bruises from the beating he had just taken, and Xie Jia Hua truly could not bring himself to use much force. All he could do was roar furiously, “Lu Guang Ming! You’re completely unreasonable!”
Lu Guang Ming’s skin was thicker than a city wall. Tugging at Xie Jia Hua’s trousers, he bent down and planted an enormous kiss on his face. “Xie Jia Hua, what’s wrong with admitting you have desires? Didn’t you feel pretty good that night? I know you don’t like me, and I don’t like you either, but liking each other’s bodies is enough. Why don’t we become fuck buddies?”
Xie Jia Hua was so furious that his handsome face flushed bright red. Since he could not bring himself to punch Lu Guang Ming, he grabbed the pillow beside him instead and smacked it straight into his face. Taking advantage of Lu Guang Ming toppling onto the bed, he hurriedly pulled up his trousers, jumped far out of reach, and strode toward the door.
He looked back, intending to curse Lu Guang Ming out a few more times, but he had never been good at vicious words to begin with. Then he saw Lu Guang Ming’s pale face, his body mottled with bruises and swelling, and the wound on his forehead seeping blood again. He truly could not understand why this madman, injured this badly, still had the energy to torment people!
Afraid that if he stayed another moment, he would lose control and beat Lu Guang Ming to death with his fists, and determined to avoid an actual bloodbath, Xie Jia Hua could only slam the door behind him and flee with a stormy expression.
Lu Guang Ming was left alone, kneeling on the bed and laughing loudly at the closed door. After laughing for a long while, he raised a hand and touched the blood on his forehead. Even he did not understand what he was doing. He only knew that he felt incredibly happy—and yet, somewhere underneath it, there was also the tiniest indescribable ache. He did not apply any medicine at all. He simply switched off the light, curled beneath the quilt, hugged the pillow Xie Jia Hua had just hit him with, and fell asleep.
…
Xie Jia Hua was so furious that he had nightmares all night. The next day, he went with the convoy to arrest a fugitive with two dark circles beneath his eyes. His subordinates had followed him for years and knew that he was cold-faced but soft-hearted, so the whole group chattered around him in the car, showing their concern.
“Boss, why do you look so awful? Didn’t sleep well last night?”
“Chief Investigator Xu got invited to ‘drink tea’ by those ICAC bastards, so everything’s been dumped on Boss. How could he not be exhausted?”
“The ICAC is getting way too arrogant! I heard they took Officer Wang from Team B away yesterday too. Team B’s completely leaderless now. They don’t even know who’s commanding today’s operation!”
“Damn it, they’re practically lawless! I really want to throw sacks over their heads and beat the hell out of them!”
“What nonsense are you talking about?!” Xie Jia Hua slammed a fist against the car window. “You don’t want the police uniform you’re wearing anymore?!”
“All right, all right, I won’t say it. Boss, take it easy. If you break the window, those foreign bastards from the Political Department will come looking for trouble again. Did you forget what happened last time when you smashed two tables in the interrogation room…”
The group climbed out of the car still chattering, but the instant they entered the area where the fugitive was hiding, every one of them became solemn and alert. The fugitive this time was vicious and desperate, having killed and robbed before fleeing into the mountains. The colleagues handling the case had requested assistance from headquarters, and headquarters had sent Xie Jia Hua to lead the support team. Also accompanying them were the men from Team B, whose superior had just been taken away by the ICAC, leaving them without a leader.
Outside the encirclement, several members of Team B approached Xie Jia Hua in a crouched line. The man in front said quietly, “Inspector Xie, I’m A’Huang from Team B. The higher-ups told us to follow your command for this operation.”
Xie Jia Hua glanced at him. His eyes paused on the obvious scrape across A’Huang’s cheek, then moved over the other men beside him, whose faces also showed varying degrees of injury. Calmly, he said, “All right. Come with me.”
…
Three hours later, the fugitive was captured and the operation ended successfully. More than twenty police officers, all disheveled and covered in dust, escorted two fugitives up from below the hillside. Everyone was panting as they straightened their uniforms. Seeing Team B’s A’Huang wipe sweat from his face as he passed, Xie Jia Hua suddenly reached out and stopped him.
“What is it, Inspector Xie?”
“There’s mud in the wound on your face.” Xie Jia Hua took out a new handkerchief and personally wiped his cheek. “Good work. Go back to the car, put some medicine on it, and rest for a while.”
A’Huang thanked him repeatedly and climbed back into the car. Xie Jia Hua remained outside alone. Once no one was around, he took out a small evidence bag, carefully folded the handkerchief, and slipped it inside.
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