Lu Guang Ming buried his head in a mountain of files piled across several large cardboard boxes, brows tightly furrowed, sweat covering his head as he searched through them with a great rustling clatter, muttering under his breath. A colleague from the same team finally could not stand the rustling anymore and walked over with a cup of coffee. “Sunny, need help?”
“What for? To steal credit?” Lu Guang Ming asked without lifting his head.
The colleague forcefully endured the urge to pour the coffee right over his head and turned to leave. Another colleague advised in a low voice, “Don’t bother with him. It’s not like you don’t know what he’s like.”
“The whole office is perfectly civil, and only he spends all day acting like a mad dog!” the colleague holding the coffee said loudly.
Lu Guang Ming straightened from the pile of files, flicked the thin sheet of paper in his hand, and curved his eyes in a smile. “A mad dog can catch mice. You can’t. If you have the free time to drink coffee and be all civil, you’d be better off going out and investigating a few cases.” Turning, he headed toward their superior Chief Xu’s office. “Chief Xu! I found it!”
Behind him, that colleague was so angry his face turned green and his lips went pale. “You…”
“Forget it, forget it. When it comes to investigating cases, he’s the most reckless one here, and he’s young too. Chief Xu dotes on him. Don’t argue with him.”
…
After Lu Guang Ming came out of Chief Xu’s office, he buried himself back into the pile of files again, working from morning until night and not even caring about lunch. When he had first transferred to the Operations Department, his colleagues had initially ordered takeaway and reserved a portion for him too, but not only did he not appreciate it, he would not even touch it, and naturally, he did not pay for it either. After that happened once or twice, no one showed him kindness again. Lu Guang Ming did not care. He kept working until three or four in the afternoon, only then digging a piece of dry bread out of his bag and continuing to verify the files while gnawing on it.
The brick phone on the desk rang. He poked his head over with a wrinkled face to take a look, and his eyes instantly lit up with a sharp gleam!
“Hehe.” He cheerfully reached out and scooped up the brick phone, then looked it over carefully again. It really was Xie Jia Hua calling.
This was an iron tree blooming!
He answered with a grin. “BB, did you miss me?”
Author’s Notes: BB, meaning “Baby,” is an affectionate form of address used in Hong Kong, pronounced roughly like “bi bi.”
“…” Xie Jia Hua on the other end. After three seconds of silence, he directly hung up.
Lu Guang Ming swept a glance over the colleagues around him who had all pricked up their ears, then got up and found a quiet corner, persistently calling back. On the third try, the call finally connected. A little husband had to know when to bend and when to stretch, so he quickly admitted his mistake. “Inspector Xie, it was my fault. I didn’t know you were this shy. What did you need me for?”
Xie Jia Hua endured and endured, then said with anger, “Come to the police station after work today.”
“Huh? Are you arresting me? Just because I said we should be fuck buddies?”
“Lu Guang Ming! Cut the crap! Are you coming or not!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Don’t be so fierce…”
Beep—beep—
As soon as Xie Jia Hua heard him say he was coming, he immediately hung up. Lu Guang Ming could not figure out what Xie Jia Hua was calling him over for. Smiling all the while, he returned to the office—anyway, Xie Jia Hua would not trick him over and sell him off. He only felt that Xie Jia Hua’s tone just now had been very cute.
Habitually sticking up his butt and kneeling on his chair, he quickly finished that afternoon’s work, and the moment work ended, he cheerfully headed to the police station. Xie Jia Hua had sent a subordinate to meet him at the entrance of the station, and as soon as he entered, he was led into… an interrogation room?
Xie Jia Hua’s subordinate told him to wait, saying Boss would arrive in a bit, then went out. Lu Guang Ming sat, utterly baffled, in the chair meant for prisoners inside the detention room—the only chair in the entire room—and turned his head to look at the large mirror on the wall.
Were they going to interrogate him? Was Xie Jia Hua behind the mirror? Thinking of this, he revealed what he believed to be an evil, charming smile at the mirror.
Xie Jia Hua pushed the door open and entered, only to see Lu Guang Ming pressed up against the mirror, posing coquettishly while smoothing his own eyelashes.
“…” He endured and endured. “There’s no one behind it.”
Lu Guang Ming turned around and blinked. “Huh? What a pity. I thought you were behind there.”
“This is a police station. Please behave with a little dignity.” Xie Jia Hua’s face was dark. “Sit down.”
Lu Guang Ming obediently sat back in the prisoner’s chair, then watched as a group of large men filed in behind Xie Jia Hua. They were all unyielding, iron-boned good men, dressed in solemn police uniforms, surrounding the interrogation chair like several great mountains. Every one of their faces was upright and dignified, with “confess and receive leniency, resist and receive severity” written all over them.
Lu Guang Ming was so startled he kept blinking. What was this? Violent interrogation? He subconsciously opened his mouth. “I won’t say anything before my lawyer arrives…”
“Attention!” Xie Jia Hua barked.
The large men lifted their heads, threw out their chests, and snapped to attention with great strides.
“Apologize!”
The large men bent at the waist forty-five degrees and roared like mountains, “Investigator Lu! Sorry! We are very sorry!”
“Huh?” Investigator Lu said.
After the large men finished shouting, wilted expressions appeared on their faces. They stood there pitifully, all lowering their heads to look at their toes.
“These are the men who beat you that day,” Xie Jia Hua said. “I collected their DNA and compared it against the bloodstains on the brick. It’s confirmed to be them. Listen, the lot of you.” He turned to the officers. “I confirmed with the ICAC higher-ups that Officer Wang was indeed involved in bribery and favoritism. He has now been formally detained, and prosecution will be brought next week. Investigator Lu’s investigative conduct was compliant and lawful, the evidence he provided was sufficient, and he did not wrong Officer Wang in the slightest. You lot assaulted an ICAC officer in the execution of his duty. What law you broke, which clause of the police regulations you violated—you know it yourselves! Ask Investigator Lu what should be done!”
A’Huang, who stood at the front, pleaded dispiritedly, “Investigator Lu, Officer Wang was usually very good to everyone. We didn’t know about him taking bribes either, and that’s why we misunderstood you and retaliated against you. We truly know we were wrong. The brothers are all not young anymore, all of us have families, and all of us love this job very much. Please forgive us.”
Lu Guang Ming blinked blankly. Police apologizing to the ICAC—this was the first time in his not-very-long career that he had encountered such a thing. After freezing for a moment, he put his smile back on. “What are all of you doing? I didn’t take it seriously in the first place. Besides, didn’t I beat you all up quite badly that day too?”
At this, the faces of the large men turned green—wasn’t that right? Investigator Lu hit people by aiming specifically for the face, swinging the brick only at their heads. That night, every one of them had injuries on their faces, and with one look, it was obvious they had been in a fight. Otherwise, how would Inspector Xie have noticed?
“All right, all right. I accept everyone’s apology,” Lu Guang Ming said with perfect amiability. “The police and ICAC are one loving family. We’re all brothers among ourselves, no need to be polite. The next time I come to arrest someone, I’ll definitely paste the criminal evidence on your noticeboard in advance, so everyone won’t misunderstand me.”
A group of large men were soured by him until their faces turned green and white. Under Xie Jia Hua’s rescue, they filed out with their tails between their legs. Xie Jia Hua closed the door, folded his arms, and sighed at Lu Guang Ming. “They already apologized sincerely. Why did you have to say something so unpleasant?”
“I was the one who got beaten,” Lu Guang Ming said with a smile. “Assaulting the ICAC means prison at worst and dismissal from the force at best. Inspector Xie is quite clever, bringing them here to apologize. You’re trying to protect them, right? Do you think I’m someone who must avenge every little grievance?”
Xie Jia Hua sighed again. “If you were someone who must avenge every little grievance, that night you would have forcibly dragged me into opening a case for investigation. You rent such a terrible place and refuse to go to the hospital when you’re hurt because you save all your money to donate back to welfare homes, don’t you? I checked. You’re simultaneously sponsoring children from three welfare homes through university, and you even bought an expensive piano for one welfare home…”
“Stop, stop.” Lu Guang Ming hurriedly covered his ears. “Even if Inspector Xie praises me like this, it doesn’t mean I won’t retaliate against all of you. Tell everyone in your police station to be careful. Maybe the next person investigated for bribery will be you. That good superior of yours, Deputy Superintendent Liu, is still locked up at our place right now.”
“…” Xie Jia Hua’s face was also turned green and white by his words. After holding it in for a long while, he said, “You clearly aren’t that bad. Why do you insist on acting so hateful? Are you very afraid of other people treating you well?”
Lu Guang Ming stood up from the prisoner’s chair. “Say whatever you like. If Inspector Xie has nothing else, then I’ll be going back.”
“Wait.” Xie Jia Hua grabbed his wrist.
Lu Guang Ming lowered his head and glanced at it. “What? Inspector Xie has thought it through? You’re willing to be fuck buddies?”
Xie Jia Hua quickly let go, then immediately realized that he had overreacted, which made him seem even guiltier. With a dark face, he said, “I’ve already unblocked you from my blocked calls, but don’t spend all day harassing me. Next time you run into danger, don’t shoulder it alone. You… you call me.”
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