Chapter 2 The Deceased is My Foster Father

  At this moment, it seems that there is only one thought in my mind "Why won't he let go of the relatives around me? Oh, right, he said that neurosis doesn't need any motive. He provokes me and I must catch him with my own hands!"

  "Zhou Haisheng? Zhou Haisheng?" Officer Liu walked up to me, waving his hand in front of my face, and when he saw that I was looking at him, he said: "Please... accept the change with grief."

  "Observe mourning and follow the change?!" I let out a cold laugh: "Five years ago, when my parents died miserably in front of me, everyone said that. Now? My foster father also died miserably, how can I observe mourning and follow the change?"

  At this point, my tears flowed down uncontrollably again.

  "Alas, we..." Officer Liu seemed to want to persuade me, but was interrupted by my words: "My tolerance is much better than five years ago, no need to tell me more unnecessary things, wait until I am cleared of suspicion and then tell me the results of your investigation."

  "This..." Officer Liu seemed to be at a loss for words, probably thinking of how to stabilize my emotions when suddenly a girl's voice came from the corridor: "I've said it before, I'm an intern from Qilu University of Technology and Politics, I request an autopsy."

  The familiar girl's voice suddenly made my expression clear up a bit, no, how could it be her? It must be an illusion.

  "Sorry, you're not a member of the Major Crimes Unit, you're just an auxiliary police officer for now, so you can't participate in this 718 major case." Another woman's voice replied.

  I was able to tell that this woman's voice belonged to the stereotypical female cop who had given Officer Liu a hard time before.

  Officer Liu furrowed his brow, patted my shoulder, and then opened the office door to walk out. Before I could get a clear look at the girl's face by the door, Officer Liu closed it again.

  "What's going on? Why all the commotion?" Officer Liu asked.

  "She said she wanted to participate in the investigation of the 7/18 serious case, but she was just a auxiliary police officer," the policewoman said.

  "Oh, it's you. Your teacher didn't even tell me she was sending you over." Officer Liu seemed to recognize the girl: "The body is in a terrible state, you'd best not go."

  "I'm just curious, I'll go take a look." The girl's voice came again, it was too much like her voice.

  "Then you can go, but just look and don't speak or ask questions. Leave after you're done." Officer Liu's voice became a bit more serious.

  "Yes!" The girl was overjoyed.

  Officer Liu walked back into the office, saw that I had already stood up, and smiled apologetically at me. He said with a serious tone: "As for the progress of the case, we really can't tell you everything because solving cases often involves advancing through continuous mistakes. Trust our judgment as police officers, when the final result is confirmed and the case is cracked, we will let you know. It won't be like five years ago, after all, you were still a minor back then."

  Officer Liu obviously knew about what happened to me five years ago, which made me feel a bit relieved.

  Officer Liu saw that I had finally listened to what he said, smiled and then said: "Alright, I've said what I needed to say, you've heard it. Come over and review the transcript, if there's no problem, sign your name and press your fingerprint, then go home and rest, sort out your emotions, and wait for our results."

  I nodded, briefly verified the record, signed and pressed my fingerprint, and completed the procedure.

  I nodded at Officer Liu, and with that, I bid farewell. Then I pushed open the door of the office and walked out.

  "Oof!" I was knocked into a full embrace by a figure, my first feeling came from my body, judging that the one who bumped into me was a girl. My second feeling came from my nostrils, judging that the girl who bumped into me was someone I knew well, but hadn't seen in a long time.

  I looked down and saw that the girl was indeed her, Duan Lanzhi, the one I had confessed to in high school and been rejected by.

  What's hard for me to believe is how did she end up wearing a police uniform?

  "...sentence..." My voice had barely fallen when she suddenly pushed me away, propped herself against the wall with one hand, and started vomiting into the trash can.

  Looking at her pale face, vomiting with tears streaming down her eyes, I felt a pang of sympathy. I gently patted her back, waited for her to finish throwing up, then pulled out a tissue from my pocket and handed it to her.

  "Thank you." She took the tissue and wiped her mouth, then suddenly reacted, looking at me with an incredulous face: "Zhou Haisheng? Is it really you? What are you doing here?"

  "I'd also like to ask, how did you end up here? How did you become a police officer?" I was truly delighted in my heart that she could recognize me at a glance after three years, but unfortunately it was on this very inopportune day, so I forced out a smile and asked.

  In fact, for people who were once very close, the memories in their minds are deep. No matter how many years have passed, no matter how much the other person has changed, you can still recognize them quickly. Not only did Duan Lanzhi recognize me, but also in Inspector Liu's office earlier, I had already guessed it was her just by hearing her voice.

  Of course, they will also foolishly think that the other side has not changed much.

  Look, Duan Lan Zhi's change is actually quite big. When she was in school, she had long hair with a small braid on each side of her ears and a pair of large, spirited eyes that gave people the feeling of being lovely and cute. Now, Duan Lan Zhi has grown 3-4 cm taller, her long hair has become short hair, the braids have moved to the back, and although those beautiful eyes haven't changed, the expression in them has become sharp and capable.

  I think I've changed just as much as she has, because most of my changes have been intentional.

  Fortunately, we didn't have a cliché ending where someone says: "You're still the same as before."

  When I asked her why she became a police officer, Duan Lan Zhi burst out laughing, and when she laughed, there were still two shallow dimples on her cheeks, and her mouth was about to reveal two small tiger teeth, which was the reason I loved watching her laugh during my middle school days.

  "We all knew in Class 5 that I was admitted to Qilu University of Politics and Law, but you didn't know." Duan Lan Zhi said: "Qilu Police Officer School did not pass the exam, can only go to politics and law."

  "Oh." I was excited at first, but then felt a bit awkward. Her personality seemed more outgoing than it was in high school, and I didn't know what to say.

  "Want to go eat together?" This is the best way for Chinese people to dissolve awkwardness. I said it, only to realize that the timing was not right.

  As expected, her complexion changed and she said to me: "Let's forget it for today. I just saw a corpse and was nauseated by its disfigured appearance. It's too scary."

  "Oh." I smiled wryly and nodded, apparently she didn't know that the corpse she saw was my foster father's, otherwise she wouldn't have dared to say something like this.

  "Why don't we go get something to drink? Having something sour might make you feel a bit better." She said hastily, seemingly thinking that my "oh" was a sign of disappointment.

  I nodded and replied: "Okay."

  Her personality has indeed changed a lot, and all the way she told me about what happened after we lost contact, who in our class went to which school, who fell in love with whom, who dropped out of school and started their own business, who found an old husband who was a real estate boss...

  And I play the role of a responsible listener, and at the right time, express my own opinions, such as "Ah?" "Oh!" "Hmm!".

  When they arrived at this "original flavor" beverage store, Duan Lan Zhi had already talked about her excellent grades and awards in school.

  Just then her phone rang.

  "Excuse me, I'll take this call." She walked into the store, found a seat by the window and sat down. I naturally sat across from her, ordered a glass of lemonade for her, and then ordered a glass of watermelon juice for myself.

  "Teacher Qu, I don't care, I want to join the homicide team. Yes, I threw up, but I'm not a forensic doctor, it's my first time seeing such a gruesome corpse, of course I would throw up. Please, think of another way, I just want to learn from seniors how to crack cases." Duan Lanqi hung up the phone.

  She stuck her tongue out at me and started talking non-stop again, I was puzzled what kind of school the College of Politics and Law is to turn this originally quiet girl into a chatterbox.

  After two cups of drinks were delivered, she gently sipped the drink in her cup, puckered up at the sour taste, and then looked at me and asked: "You've been talking about me all along, but you haven't said anything about yourself. I heard that you're studying at Qilu Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in art, there must be many beauties, right?"

  "It's okay." I said.

  "So you must have a very interesting life? Honestly, how many girlfriends have you had?" She started gossiping.

  "No." I shook my head with a bitter smile.

  Just then, my phone rang too, I gave her an apologetic look and answered it.

  "Hello, I'm Officer Liu, is this Zhou Haisheng?" came a voice from the other end of the phone.

  "Huh? I am, you said?" I said.

  "We just had an emergency meeting and decided to return the body to you, but considering you don't have experience handling such matters, and the body... isn't in a good state either. If you're okay with it, we can cremate the body tomorrow and hold a small funeral. We'll cover the expenses, after all, this is due to our failure to maintain law and order." Officer Liu's tone was very humble.

  "Okay." I simply responded and hung up the phone.

  Duan Lan Zhi's beautiful eyes stared at me without blinking.

  "What?" I asked.

  "How are you still using this phone? I remember you were already using it when you were in the first year of high school. Why don't you buy an Apple phone?" she asked.

  I smiled wryly and shook my head: "I don't want to change, and I hate apples."

  The Apple phone reminds me of a murder case five years ago, so I dislike Apple phones.

  "Haven't you left yet?" she asked.

  "It's almost out." I replied.

  "Deceiver, your character hasn't changed much since the incident, you're still stingy with words. She puffed out her cheeks and suddenly remembered something, asking: "How did you get into Officer Liu's office just now? You wouldn't be joining the Major Crimes Unit too, would you? No, that can't be right, you didn't study forensic science. Oh, I get it - are you applying to be a police sketch artist? I advise you to come back another time, this case is too gruesome, the victim's body was mutilated beyond recognition, their face is gone... it's too disgusting. Let me tell you, you absolutely won't be able to handle it..."

  "No." I interrupted Du Lanqi's chatter: "I'm here to take notes."

  "Take notes? What kind of notes?" Duan Lan Zhi didn't react in time.

  I looked at her and slowly opened my mouth: "The deceased, the one you said was very miserable and disgusting, is my adoptive father."