Chapter Forty-Three: Mountains and Rivers, Layer Upon Layer

The night was thick, and the doors of the Frost and Delight Detective Agency were firmly shut. Liu Rushuang sat fuming on a chair in the main hall, furiously berating Lu Hehuan.

"Lu Hehuan has no brains at all! He doesn't even know to give me and Xi-ge a chance to be alone! Next time he wants my help, he can forget about it!"

"Maybe Ying Xi wanted to have a bit of fun at the Paramount, and Lu Hehuan didn't dare say anything. After all, Ying Xi is the chief inspector, and Lu Hehuan is just an officer," Bai Yulou offered comfortingly beside her.

Liu Rushuang shot him a cold glance. "Stop trying to drive a wedge between me and Xi-ge. He went there to investigate, not to have fun! Today is all Lu Hehuan's fault!"

Chastised, Bai Yulou shut his mouth, aggrieved.

Inside a private room at the Paramount, Lu Hehuan crawled out from under the table, startling Yue Xiaodong, who quickly got off Ying Xi.

Lu Hehuan looked at Ying Xi and nodded. "The heel fragment is hers."

Ying Xi's expression changed instantly. He looked Yue Xiaodong up and down, his tone turning sharp. "I never would have thought a delicate woman like you could do such a thing?"

"What are you talking about?" Yue Xiaodong asked, a hint of guilt in her voice.

Lu Hehuan's eyes were piercing as he stared at her. "We found a fragment from your high-heeled shoe in the victim Dabao's car."

Panic flickered across Yue Xiaodong's face. She pointed back at Lu Hehuan. "What are you talking about? I won't take your business anymore!" She turned to leave.

Ying Xi grabbed her arm firmly. "I'm Chief Inspector Ying Xi from the Old Zha Police Station, and this is Officer Lu Hehuan. Please cooperate with our investigation of a murder case."

"What does a murder have to do with me?" Yue Xiaodong retorted.

"Of course, it does. Because you're the one who killed Dabao!" Lu Hehuan said, pointing accusingly at her.

"No, it wasn't me..." Yue Xiaodong shook her head repeatedly in denial.

"Then how do you explain your heel fragment in his car?"

"I..." She was momentarily speechless, unable to answer.

"Speak!" Ying Xi demanded, his voice sharp.

Yue Xiaodong hesitated, bit her lip, and finally said, "The car fell into the river by accident."

"What exactly happened?" Ying Xi released her.

"Dabao got drunk and went crazy. He drove the car into the river. I was terrified, completely panicked, and just swam ashore myself, forgetting for the moment that Dabao had a lame leg and couldn't swim... When I calmed down, I realized he... he had already drowned." Her words trembled, her voice choked with tears.

"Why didn't you call the police?" Lu Hehuan felt something was off.

"I thought there was no way to fix things at that point. Besides, Dabao and I were having an affair, so I didn't dare say anything." She began to sob, pleading, "Officers, I really didn't kill Dabao. It was all an accident!"

Ying Xi stared at her for a moment, then turned to Lu Hehuan. "She's crying so sincerely—it doesn't seem fake. Besides, it's hard for a woman alone to commit murder. Officer Lu, I think the truth is clear. Let's close the case as an accident."

Lu Hehuan frowned slightly, studying Yue Xiaodong closely.

As Yue Xiaodong wiped her tears, she brushed her hair back with her left hand.

Lu Hehuan instantly remembered that at Dabao's house, Li Yingying had also brushed her hair back with her left hand—a gesture strikingly similar to Yue Xiaodong's. The thought sparked a sudden inspiration.

"Yue Xiaodong, do you know Li Yingying?" Lu Hehuan stared at her intently.

She denied it outright. "No, I don't."

Lu Hehuan's brows knitted, his gaze growing deeper.

It was late when Lu Hehuan and Ying Xi, utterly exhausted, returned to the police dormitory. Ying Xi took some peanuts from the cabinet, tossing them into his mouth as he lazily settled into a chair.

"Money really isn't a good thing. If Dabao hadn't gotten a bit of money and lost his head, he wouldn't have driven drunk into the river and gotten himself killed. Really, it's all Sister Hao's fault—if she hadn't gone on a killing spree and left him that money, he wouldn't have ended up like this. It's just karma!" Ying Xi sighed, turning to Lu Hehuan.

Lu Hehuan hung up his coat and sat opposite Ying Xi. "I just don't think it's that simple."

"What do you mean?" Ying Xi looked puzzled.

Lu Hehuan considered, then asked, "Have you ever been drunk?"

"Are you kidding? Everyone calls me the God of Drink!" Ying Xi boasted smugly.

"The God of Drink?" Lu Hehuan echoed skeptically. "So, have you ever been drunk?"

Ying Xi chuckled sheepishly. "Often."

"I've been drunk too, but I've never completely lost consciousness. I think that even when drunk, people have a survival instinct. After that instinct is gone, you're basically unconscious..." Lu Hehuan paused. "So I don't think it's likely Dabao drove into the river just because he was drunk."

Ying Xi jumped up, stroking his chin with exaggerated solemnity. "You don't understand. Based on years of drinking experience, I think there are three levels of drunkenness: light, moderate, and heavy."

"So professional?" Lu Hehuan chuckled, unsure whether to believe him.

"Light drunkenness is just a mild buzz. People feel happy, become witty, maybe even poetic. Their vision and coordination are a little affected, but they'd definitely know the difference between a road and a river." Ying Xi ignored him, describing in vivid detail what Dabao might have been like.

The evening breeze was gentle by the Suzhou River, the banks quiet and still. Dabao, cheeks flushed, drove along the riverside, nodding and composing poetry as he went.

“Goose, goose, goose, neck stretched to the sky in song, white feathers floating on green water, red feet paddling clear waves.”

“Dabao, you're so talented!” said Yue Xiaodong from the passenger seat, clapping with a coquettish smile.

Pleased with himself, Dabao suddenly floored the accelerator, the car skimming along the riverbank.

Lu Hehuan found this somewhat convincing and gestured for Ying Xi to continue.

Clearing his throat, Ying Xi clasped his hands behind his back. "At this stage, if you keep drinking, you'll soon reach moderate drunkenness. People act frivolously, become emotional, easily angered, and don't listen to advice—but their minds are still clear. Unless someone provokes them, they wouldn't drive into a river."

Dabao's eyes were bloodshot. One hand on the wheel, the other on Yue Xiaodong's thigh.

"You're driving, Dabao. Don't be so hasty," Yue Xiaodong murmured, shyly pushing his hand away.

"I do what I want!" Dabao snapped, angrily pinching her thigh.

Yue Xiaodong whimpered softly, hurt.

Ying Xi sat back down, leaning into his chair as Lu Hehuan listened, patiently considering his theory of drunkenness.

After a pause and another peanut, Ying Xi continued, "In this state, if you keep drinking, you enter heavy drunkenness—slurred speech, vomiting, dead drunk... Dabao must have reached this stage to drive into the river."

Dabao, glassy-eyed, swerved as he drove. Yue Xiaodong watched in terror from the passenger seat.

"Bring more wine. I'm not finished yet," Dabao slurred.

"Dabao, please focus on driving," Yue Xiaodong said anxiously.

"Bring more wine..." Dabao said, then suddenly vomited.

The moment he bent forward, the car veered directly into the Suzhou River.

Ying Xi finished his story, raising an eyebrow at Lu Hehuan with a satisfied smile.

Suddenly, something struck Lu Hehuan. He slapped the table. "No! At that moment, Yue Xiaodong was conscious—she should have turned the steering wheel out of self-preservation!"

"What?" Ying Xi was stunned.

"When the car sped toward the river, she wouldn't have just sat there. She would have turned the wheel to steer it away." Lu Hehuan sat back, explaining patiently.

Ying Xi shook his head dismissively. "You think everyone has your sense of self-preservation in a crisis? She's just a dance hostess—what would she know?"

"Yue Xiaodong was fully conscious. Why would she entrust her life to a drunken man with no control? Don't you find that odd?" Lu Hehuan frowned.

"What's odd about it? She's a hostess—she goes where the clients go, no matter how drunk they are. And who could have foreseen an accident?" Ying Xi, irritated by Lu Hehuan's suspicions, snapped back.

"According to you, Dabao was in a state of heavy drunkenness—slurred speech, vomiting, dead drunk..." Lu Hehuan paused thoughtfully, then added, "Wouldn't she have realized how dangerous it was to be in a car driven by someone in that state? There's something off about her story. She can't be telling the whole truth."

Ying Xi scoffed, "She's just a weak woman, crying so sadly—what could be wrong with her?"

"She's just a weak woman, yet after a client's death she goes back to work at the Paramount as if nothing happened." Lu Hehuan stared deeply at Ying Xi, his words heavy with implication.

A jolt of unease crept into Ying Xi as he looked back at Lu Hehuan.

"My instincts tell me Yue Xiaodong is not as simple as she seems," Lu Hehuan said with conviction.

Ying Xi, hearing that Lu Hehuan was once again relying on his intuition, shook his head helplessly. "You really are too suspicious."

Drowsiness overcame Ying Xi. He yawned, stood up, and tossed his jacket onto a chair. Lu Hehuan picked it up and hung it in the closet.

"I'm going to bed," Ying Xi announced, about to lie down.

Lu Hehuan quickly stopped him, shaking his head. "No, no, no! You just came from a dance hall—you have to change into clean clothes before sleeping."

"Those places aren't dirty. I'll just sleep as I am," Ying Xi protested, flopping onto the bed fully dressed.

"No way! Go change! We have a roommate agreement," Lu Hehuan insisted, dragging him off the bed.

"Fine, fine," Ying Xi grumbled, snatching a change of clothes and heading out.

"You can just change here," Lu Hehuan said, not wanting to trouble him further.

Ying Xi grinned mischievously. "Trying to sneak a look at my muscles? Not so easy!"

Lu Hehuan sighed. "Where does your confidence come from?"

Still grinning, Ying Xi left the room.

Seizing the moment, Lu Hehuan took a fresh bedsheet from the closet and replaced the old one.

A short while later, Ying Xi returned in clean clothes.

"Happy now?" he said, hands on his hips.

Lu Hehuan inspected him and nodded approvingly. "OK."

"So much trouble," Ying Xi muttered, collapsing onto the bed and instantly starting to snore.

Lu Hehuan gazed at him, shook his head in exasperation, and got into bed as well.

Night deepened. The lights were still on in the Lu household's bedroom. Lu Xiang sprawled across the bed, snoring.

Lin Zhi finished removing her makeup and walked over, rudely shoving him awake and rolling her eyes. "Can you just lie still? Is this bed yours alone?"

Lu Xiang, though angry, dared not protest and obediently shifted to his side. Lin Zhi lay down grandly, stretching out comfortably.

As Lu Xiang closed his eyes, ready for sleep, Lin Zhi excitedly nudged him with her elbow.

"What is it?" he asked, a little impatient.

"I asked our son today. He only went to the dance hall for the investigation. I knew it—our son would never go to a place like that for no reason. That Zhu Wolong is just talking nonsense."

Lu Xiang snorted. "If that brat ever goes to a dance hall for no reason, I'll break his legs!"

"What right do you have to break his legs? Didn't you used to sneak off to the widow's house yourself?" Lin Zhi snapped, protective of her son.

Lu Xiang looked embarrassed, biting back a retort. "Why bring up ancient history?"

"Oh, ancient history? Wasn't that just a little while ago?" Lin Zhi shot him a contemptuous look.

"Sun Fenglian is dead. Let it go," Lu Xiang replied impatiently.

"If she were still alive, would you still be going over there?" Lin Zhi pressed.

"You're being unreasonable!" Lu Xiang fumed, turning away.

"Blame me for pointing out your lack of self-control, huh!" Lin Zhi huffed, turning her back as well.

Summer was approaching, and the dawn came earlier each day. Morning light spilled into the police station's courtyard, where Ah Hua flapped her wings and clucked merrily.

A shaft of sunlight fell across Lu Hehuan's face as he lay in the dormitory. He squinted, trying to shield his eyes with his arm, only to find himself unable to move—Ying Xi was fast asleep, bear-hugging him.

Lu Hehuan shoved him away in disgust. "Inspector Ying, could you please have a bit more self-respect when you sleep?"

"What? What did I do?" Ying Xi rubbed his eyes, bewildered.

"You were hugging me in your sleep," Lu Hehuan said angrily.

Ying Xi scratched his head. "Impossible."

"Impossible? I can barely breathe after the way you held me," Lu Hehuan glared.

Ying Xi yawned and grinned dismissively. "Then I must have been dreaming of a voluptuous beauty lying next to me. Too bad you took advantage instead."

Lu Hehuan was torn between laughter and anger, frowning. "Who's taking advantage of whom?"

Ying Xi sat up nimbly at that. "Either way, it's just skin contact. What does it matter who started it?"

Lu Hehuan shot him a look, left speechless by exasperation.

"Get up, time to work!" Ying Xi said cheerfully, urging him on.

After breakfast, the two headed to the police station. As they approached, they saw a crowd of onlookers gathered at the entrance, buzzing with curiosity.

"He’s come to beg forgiveness with a bundle of switches?"

"Are those real willow branches?"

"Well, he’s certainly sincere."

"That young lady is so lucky."

Lu Hehuan and Ying Xi exchanged confused glances, then pushed their way through the crowd.

"Make way! What’s going on, blocking the entrance this early?" Ying Xi called as he cleared a path.

It took some effort for them to make it inside. There, Zhu Wolong, bare-chested and carrying a bundle of branches on his back, knelt in penitence.

Bao Rong, Bao Kang, and their colleagues stood at the entrance, even the usually lazy Lu Xiang joining in, his face alight with schadenfreude.

"What are you doing? This is utterly disgraceful!" Bao Rong scolded Zhu Wolong, her face flushed.

"Miss Bao, I’m here to beg your forgiveness. I was wrong. I’ll never go to a dance hall again," Zhu Wolong gazed at her, pleading with apparent sincerity.

"Why are you apologizing to me? Just leave!" Bao Rong snapped, exasperated.

Zhu Wolong, seeing she still wouldn’t forgive him, stuck to his spot. "If Miss Bao won’t forgive me, I won’t leave. Please, punish me—I’ll gladly accept it!"

Bao Rong blushed even more, standing awkwardly as the crowd stared and whispered.

Bao Kang, witnessing this, leaned in and whispered to his sister, "Rong, Zhu’s so sincere. You should forgive him and make up."

"Brother, Zhu and I have nothing to do with each other. What’s there to forgive or to make up for?" Bao Rong was indignant.

"What do you mean nothing? Weren’t you friends?" Bao Kang tried to smooth things over.

Ignoring him, Bao Rong looked at Zhu Wolong, mortified. "Mr. Zhu, I have work to do. I’m leaving."

As she tried to leave, Bao Kang blocked her path. "Rong, with Zhu’s sincerity, you should at least say something—will you forgive him or not?"

"I..." Bao Rong was at a loss for words.

At that awkward moment, Lu Hehuan stepped forward. Bao Rong, as if grasping a lifeline, shot him a pleading look.

Lu Hehuan understood, stepping up with a meaningful glance at Bao Rong. "Rong, I think Mr. Zhu’s sincerity shouldn’t be ignored."

"But..." she hesitated.

Lu Hehuan glanced at the bundle of branches on Zhu Wolong’s back and winked at Bao Rong, who nodded in understanding.

"You’re right, Hehuan. If Mr. Zhu’s sincere apology is ignored, he’ll always carry that burden, and it would be my fault," she said, pulling the branches from Zhu Wolong’s back and handing them to Lu Hehuan. "Since propriety forbids a woman from punishing a man, I’ll leave it to you, Hehuan."

Lu Hehuan accepted the branches. "Very well. Since Mr. Zhu is so sincere, let’s fulfill his wish." With that, he raised the branches and struck Zhu Wolong.

"Ow! That hurts!" Zhu Wolong yelped, wincing in pain.

Bao Kang glared at Lu Hehuan, who feigned ignorance and continued to whip Zhu Wolong with gusto.

"You’re right, Hehuan. I really shouldn’t ignore Mr. Zhu’s sincerity," Bao Rong said, barely suppressing a smile as Zhu Wolong was punished.

Lu Hehuan struck even harder. Unable to bear the pain, Zhu Wolong cried out, "Enough!"

The crowd turned their eyes to him, while Bao Rong looked on in puzzlement.

Mortified, Zhu Wolong pushed through the crowd and fled.

Bao Rong and Lu Hehuan exchanged secret smiles.

Ying Xi nudged Lu Hehuan with his elbow. "He was begging her for forgiveness, not you. You really are a busybody!"

"I was helping Rong. Didn’t you see her pleading look just now?" Lu Hehuan replied seriously.

"I never look where I shouldn’t," Ying Xi retorted, rolling his eyes.

Lu Xiang and Bao Kang both glared at Lu Hehuan, who glanced awkwardly at Lu Xiang.

"Father," Lu Hehuan greeted him.

"Don’t meddle in things that aren’t your business," Lu Xiang said, then glanced at Bao Rong, "and don’t get too close to people who have nothing to do with you. Their family's troubles are enough as it is."

Bao Kang, knowing Lu Xiang’s words were a veiled jab, shot him an angry look and turned to glare at Lu Hehuan. "Officer Lu, in the future, please mind your own business. A toad can never eat swan meat."

Lu Xiang shot back, "Who are you calling a toad? You think your family’s bookworm is a swan?"

"Who’s a bookworm? It’s your meddling son who’s the problem! He should know his place. How can the son of a mere deputy chief compare to Mr. Zhu?" Bao Kang countered.

"You think your bookworm daughter can really marry into high society? Dream on! That property tycoon is just after something new," Lu Xiang sneered.

"Even if she doesn’t, it’s none of your business!" Bao Kang fumed.

"There’s no way our family would marry in a bookworm. Ridiculous!" Lu Xiang replied coldly.

Their argument grew heated. Sensing trouble, Ying Xi quietly slipped away.

Lu Hehuan and Bao Rong exchanged a glance.

"Father, I have things to do," Lu Hehuan said.

"Brother, I haven’t finished my work either. You two keep talking," Bao Rong added.

With that, Lu Hehuan and Bao Rong made a hasty escape.

The other officers quickly scattered, leaving Bao Kang and Lu Xiang to argue until the sky darkened.