Ren Yi put on an impatient expression. “We’ve been busy all day. What time is it already? Yingxian, I think we shouldn’t waste any more time here. Don’t we still have several households to question tomorrow?”
Gong Yingxian gave Ren Yi a knowing look and nodded. “That’s true.” He closed his notebook. “Ms. Bai, thank you for your time today. You can go home now.”
Ms. Bai raised her head and looked at the two of them in surprise as they stood up.
Ren Yi turned his back and whispered to Gong Yingxian, “2207 is a young person with a future ahead of him. He’ll definitely crack before she does.”
Gong Yingxian nodded solemnly and made as if to leave.
“W-Wait.” Ms. Bai called out. “You made me wait for so long, and now you’re just leaving?”
“Ms. Bai, you refuse to tell us anything, so you’re wasting both our time. It’s getting late. We should all go home.”
“Wait!” Ms. Bai hesitated before saying, “If I tell you everything I know, will you… will you not charge me with a crime?”
“That depends on the extent of your involvement in the crime.”
“I only threw the trash. I didn’t do anything else.”
Gong Yingxian and Ren Yi exchanged a glance. “Let’s go.”
“It was Little Peng who told us to throw it!” Ms. Bai hurriedly cried out.
The two of them turned toward Ms. Bai in unison.
Ms. Bai covered her mouth and choked back sobs. “We discussed together how to deal with 2209. Little Peng said that since they were disgusting to us, we should disgust them in return. He said we should all throw trash outside their door.”
“So you agreed to throw trash outside 2209’s door together on Friday as retaliation?”
Ms. Bai nodded. “But no one said anything about setting a fire. Really. We didn’t know there would be a fire. If we had known, why would we have stayed inside our apartments? Who would want to set fire to their own home?”
“Then why didn’t you say this from the beginning?”
Ms. Bai cried, “Little Peng said we were all accomplices. So many people died, and so many apartments were burned. If the police found out, we—we would be held responsible too. So no one was allowed to say anything.”
“What he said wasn’t entirely wrong. But there are different degrees of responsibility. If you really only threw trash and had nothing to do with the arson, you wouldn’t necessarily face criminal liability. But covering up a crime is much more serious than throwing some trash.”
“I don’t dare. I don’t dare cover anything up. I’ve told you everything I know.” Ms. Bai sobbed. “My own mother died. I really didn’t know.”
After the two men sent the sobbing older woman away, they were left with complicated feelings, and neither spoke for a while.
“I feel like she was telling the truth. The residents may really have only thrown the trash without knowing there would be a fire.”
Gong Yingxian pondered. “The others may not have known, but Peng Fei may not be the same. However, based on the evidence we have now, we still can’t prove that he knew about it or participated in the arson.”
“Right, what about the car owner? Were you able to find any motive?”
“The car was chosen at random. It’s just like Zhou Chuan said. The owner doesn’t know them, and their social circles have absolutely no overlap.”
“Then the key to the case still lies with those three people. It’s just that each one is harder to deal with than the last.”
Gong Yingxian said coldly, “Chen Pei has been demanding to see me, but I haven’t met with him these past few days. Instead, I’ve had Sister Yan interrogate him. That was also her idea. She was worried that I would be affected.”
“He wants to see you?” Ren Yi asked in surprise. “What does he want?”
“Most likely, he wants to negotiate with me.” Gong Yingxian’s gaze darkened. “He knows that he has something in his head that I want.”
Ren Yi murmured, “As long as we can break one of these three people, the other two will collapse on their own.”
“Unfortunately, we’re missing the key evidence.” Gong Yingxian tiredly rubbed his brow. “Hopefully there’ll be some progress with the others.”
“Let’s go see how Cai Qiang and Zhou Chuan are doing.”
“Okay.”
The two walked to another interrogation room but didn’t enter. Instead, they knocked on the door.
Cai Qiang looked up and glanced at the two of them through the glass, then got up and came outside.
“How did it go?”
Cai Qiang closed the door and yawned. “That bastard is such a coward and such a piece of work. He made a demand. He said he doesn’t want to stay in the detention center before his trial and wants to stay in the hospital instead. If we agree, he’ll talk.”
Gong Yingxian frowned. “How valuable is the information he has?”
“He knows we caught Chen Pei. He says he knows some things about Chen Pei, enough for us to convict him.”
Ren Yi asked, “What about the person who set the car on fire?”
Cai Qiang gave a bitter laugh. “Ah, take a look at the WeChat group. It’s enough to give me a headache.”
Gong Yingxian took out his phone. His expression suddenly changed. “Is this… Peng Fei’s alibi?”
“Right. On the night the car was burned, he said he was staying at a friend’s place. No one could verify it. But sometime after eleven, he went downstairs to buy cigarettes, and the surveillance cameras caught him. It would have been impossible for him to make it to the scene and set the car on fire at that time.”
“Why didn’t he mention this alibi at the beginning?”
“He said he just remembered.” Cai Qiang cursed. “Bullshit. He did it on purpose. He was testing how much we knew, then deliberately disrupting the investigation.”
Gong Yingxian fell silent. He clenched his fists tightly, his expression shifting unpredictably.
Ren Yi was secretly shocked.
How deep was this guy Peng Fei’s mind?
He had let the police investigate him as a suspect for so long, not only figuring out exactly how much the police knew, but in the end even making fools of them. With this alibi, all the work they had done following the Peng Fei lead might as well have been for nothing.
Gong Yingxian said coldly, “No wonder he dared to pressure the other residents into giving the same story. He knew we didn’t have enough evidence.”
“That bastard is too damn calculating. He’s put us in a very passive position.” Cai Qiang glanced into the interrogation room. “I’m afraid we can only agree to his conditions.”
“We’ll discuss that tomorrow.”
Cai Qiang nodded. “It’s already this late. Let’s go home.” He gave Ren Yi a teasing smile. “Captain Ren, are you really not considering changing careers? I’d say you’re pretty enthusiastic about solving cases.”
Ren Yi laughed as well. “Ask your leaders how much they’re willing to pay me a month. I’ll seriously consider it.”
Cai Qiang burst out laughing.
After saying goodbye, the two walked toward the parking lot. Ren Yi yawned repeatedly along the way, and he was also starving. He figured he should order some takeout once he got back to the station.
Thinking about food, Ren Yi hesitated over whether to ask Gong Yingxian to have a meal with him. Although their first meal together had been extremely awkward, their relationship was pretty good now. Gong Yingxian should agree, right?
At this point, even being able to spend another minute and a half with Gong Yingxian would make him happy.
“Ren Yi…”
“I was going to say, Old Gong…”
The two spoke at the same time.
Gong Yingxian gave him a sidelong glance.
Ren Yi laughed. “Don’t look down on that nickname. If everyone called you that, think how much of an advantage you’d have.”
“You think everyone is like you?” Gong Yingxian snorted softly.
Ren Yi secretly rejoiced that he was the only one who called him that. “You should be satisfied. Really. Think about it. Whether it’s ‘Little Ren’ or ‘Old Ren,’ I’m the one getting the short end of the stick.”
Gong Yingxian couldn’t help smiling. “Enough nonsense. Get in the car. I’ll take you back to rest.”
The two got into the car. Ren Yi rubbed his empty stomach. “Hey, are you hungry?”
Gong Yingxian was just about to answer when, as if he had caught Ren Yi’s yawn, he yawned too. An unmistakable weariness surfaced between his brows. “I’m okay. Are you hungry?”
Looking at Gong Yingxian’s exhausted appearance, Ren Yi couldn’t bring himself to invite him out for a late-night meal. He had been tired all day, but Gong Yingxian had been no less exhausted.
Forget it.
“I’m okay. Let’s just go back and rest.” As soon as he finished speaking, he yawned again.
“You’re this tired. Are you sure you can drive?”
“No problem. I’m used to it.” Gong Yingxian drove toward the station.
“I still get some days off normally, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take one.” Ren Yi was so sleepy that his eyelids kept drooping. He adjusted the seat back slightly and leaned against it at a comfortable angle.
“I have days off. I just don’t take them,” Gong Yingxian said. “I have a lot of things to do. I don’t need vacations.”
“A person can’t stay wound this tight all the time. You know the principle of balancing work and rest, right?”
Gong Yingxian shook his head. “I’m short on time.”
That twenty-year statute of limitations was like a beast constantly chasing him from behind, making him afraid, unwilling, and unable to stop. He had to believe that the truth was right ahead of him and keep running toward it with all his strength.
Ren Yi let out a soft sigh. “You really are stubborn.”
Gong Yingxian neither agreed nor disagreed.
The car fell silent for a while.
Ren Yi looked at the windshield in front of him. Because of the special interplay of light and shadow, he could see Gong Yingxian’s blurry reflection on the glass. He stared at it somewhat entranced, wondering what Gong Yingxian, sitting in the same car as him, was thinking at that moment.
Did he have even the slightest place in his heart?
His eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
Not long afterward, Gong Yingxian heard steady breathing beside him. He glanced at the passenger seat.
Had Ren Yi fallen asleep just like that?
Gong Yingxian gently turned the steering wheel and pulled the car over to the side of the road. Then, with the lightest pressure, he slowly pressed down on the brake, bringing the car to a smooth, gentle stop.
After putting the car in park, Gong Yingxian turned his head and silently looked at Ren Yi sleeping. His deep eyes flickered in the dim light.
Then, curiously, he leaned closer and carefully examined Ren Yi’s face.
Why did his hair always insist on sticking up messily? Was it too soft or too stiff?
His eyebrows had quite a few stray hairs, yet they were still well-shaped.
The mole on his nose was very distinctive.
His lower lip was just slightly thicker than his upper lip. It looked so full.
His earlobes were small, round, and smooth. What would they feel like if he pinched them?
One question after another surfaced in Gong Yingxian’s mind.
And every one of those questions seemed to urge him to reach out.
If he just reached out and touched him, wouldn’t he know?
Gong Yingxian pressed his lips together and tentatively extended his hand. First, he gently touched the mole on the bridge of Ren Yi’s nose.
It was slightly raised, and he could even feel the hardness of the nasal bone beneath it.
Gong Yingxian moved his hand lower. The pad of his finger gently covered Ren Yi’s soft lips, quietly applying a little pressure. He could feel Ren Yi’s warm breath flowing against his finger.
Ren Yi murmured unconsciously.
Gong Yingxian’s hand jerked back as if electrocuted. He suddenly came to his senses, astonishment written all over his face.
What was he doing?
What was he thinking?
This was far too strange. He had never been this curious about anyone before.
Was it because Ren Yi was his first friend?
Perhaps Sheng Bo and Sister Yan were right. He did need friends. Everyone needed friends. Having a friend wasn’t troublesome at all.
It even made him happy.
The existence of this person, Ren Yi, made him happy.
Because he had never had a human friend before, it was only natural for him to be curious about a friend.
Gong Yingxian found a reason that could convince himself, and only then did he calm down.
He looked at the sleeping Ren Yi. Not wanting to disturb him, he quietly picked up the case files beside him and began reading.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when Ren Yi sneezed himself awake. He opened his eyes and said groggily, “I-I fell asleep?”
Gong Yingxian turned his head to look at him. Seeing the folds of a double chin formed on Ren Yi’s scrunched-up neck, he found it amusing.
“Mm.”
Ren Yi sat up and gave a huge yawn. “Why didn’t you wake me? I—holy shit!”
He looked at the clock in shock.
“I slept for two hours?”
“One hour and forty-two minutes.” Gong Yingxian took a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him. “What kind of call did you respond to today? How did you get this exhausted?”
Ren Yi gave Gong Yingxian a rough description. “The exhaustion isn’t the main thing. Gao Ge scared the hell out of me.”
Gong Yingxian frowned. “And you still insisted on coming to the precinct with me? You should have rested properly.”
Ren Yi smiled. “It’s fine. After one nap, I’m lively again.”
Gong Yingxian started the car. “Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”
“It’s this late already. If you take me back to the station and then go home, won’t you get home at two or three in the morning?”
“I can drive faster.”
“Forget it. Your house is so far away, and you’ve been tired all day too. Driving while fatigued is dangerous.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
“What do you mean, it’s fine? You…” Ren Yi was speaking when his stomach suddenly growled loudly.
Gong Yingxian burst out laughing. “You’re that hungry?”
Ren Yi patted his abs. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“A little.”
“Why don’t we go to my place? It’s close by.” Ren Yi smiled. “Have you ever eaten instant noodles? I’ll cook some for you.”
“Instant noodles aren’t exactly good food.”
“Listen to my analysis.” Ren Yi spoke with utmost seriousness. “First, you definitely won’t eat takeout. You think it’s dirty. Second, cooking something fresh takes too long. Third, you’ve never eaten instant noodles, so you’re missing an important life experience. Tonight is the perfect time to make up for it.”
Gong Yingxian smiled faintly.
Ren Yi tried his best not to let his anticipation show in his eyes and asked casually, “Besides, I still have your pillow at my place. Are you coming or not?”
“Aren’t we already driving to your place?”