Dangerous Personality

 

Jiang Yu, “Well it definitely can’t be my idol!”

 

Through the process of this affair, Su Xiaolan’s understanding of Chi Qing and Xie Lin had grown somewhat deeper, “I know, and I saw the statements too.
If I hadn’t known them before all this, all of their various actions would be more than enough to confirm the identity of the suspect.”

 

Ji Mingrui, who was back from Bianmin, mentally exhaustedly followed with, “And what’s more, they seem far more like suspects than actual suspects do.”

 

Su Xiaolan, also mentally exhausted, expressed, “……I can only endorse that conclusion.”

 

As they were talking, one of the two suspects passed through the hallway of the police station, pushing open the door and appearing in the doorway to the office.
This suspect stood in the doorway and swept his eyes around the room, passing over Jiang Yu, who suddenly sat up straight and lowered his head to furiously type nonsense.
He relaxedly walked over and stopped in front of Ji Mingrui, “Officer Ji, are you free right now?”

 

“I caused trouble for you guys yesterday, so I wanted to invite you all to a meal tonight,” Xie Lin took a look at the time; it was two hours past the normal time to get off work, “I guessed that you guys would be working overtime tonight.
Me coming at this time, it’s not too early is it?”

 

He was wearing more casual clothes today, and with a sweater on he looked even more friendly.
It was just that the clavicle showing through his collar was just as intriguing as always.
The scrape from the umbrella on the side of his neck had gone through a night of fermentation, and had become especially eye-catching; the thin mark that looked like a cat scratch extended directly to the area around his collar bone.

 

Ji Mingrui was astonished to be this friendly with him.
Off to the side, Jiang Yu blinked his eyes with all his strength, replying knowingly, “It was no trouble, um, right now’s perfect.”

 

After he spoke, he couldn’t help but take another glance at Xie Lin.

 

Actually, when Jiang Yu had been introduced to Xie Lin previously, he didn’t have too intense of a feeling.

 

It wasn’t until Wu Zhibin said a few words at around noon earlier that day, that he seemed to genuinely see through that man’s carefree appearance and get a glimpse of the man underneath.

 

Xie Lin’s approach to making the dinner plans was very gradual, so when he segued into asking about Chi Qing near the end, it seemed extremely natural, not seeming like an overstep at all, “That friend of yours……is he free?”

 

Ji Mingrui, “Friend? You mean Chi Qing?”

 

After he spoke, Ji Mingrui fell silent.

 

To be honest, he thought that according to Chi Qing’s temperament, it was unlikely that he’d come out.

 

Xie Lin was also clearly aware of this, and made it a point to add, “Don’t mention me, I fear he won’t come if you do.”

 

Chi Qing was just about to prepare for bed when he received the call, and he had a blanket pulled over himself.
He’d been soaked in the rain the day before and his forehead was a bit hot, so his naturally cold tone of voice was even colder, “I’m busy.”

 

Ji Mingrui, “……is that how you treat your friends?”

 

Chi Qing, “Is something up with you.”

 

Ji Mingrui, “No, nothing, I just wanted to have dinner with you.”

 

Chi Qing, “……”

 

Ji Mingrui took hold of Chi Qing’s momentary silence, stepping up his offensive, “I’ve been under so much pressure at work lately, you know, every night whether my eyes are open or closed all I see are those cats.
I don’t know how long it’ll be until they’ll get their vindication, I don’t know when the killer will be brought to justice—”

 

“……”

 

“The pressure on my shoulders is that huge, and right now all I want to do is eat a meal together with you, and you can’t even fulfill this tiny, tiny request of mine?”

 

The call disconnected.

 

Chi Qing immediately hung up the phone.

 

Ten seconds later, Chi Qing messaged over one word.

 

– Address.

 

They called it dinner, but it would be more fitting to call this meal a midnight snack.

 

The place they were eating at wasn’t far from Chi Qing’s apartment.
Most of the people in the restaurant were groups of night shift workers who’d come to eat together after work, and the smell of cigarettes and alcohol was thick.
The private room Xie Lin had reserved was on the second floor, and just as the first half of the food had been delivered, Chi Qing half-heartedly arrived.

 

The concrete manifestation of his half-heartedness was—he hadn’t even put on his gloves.

 

Usually, if he was going to some place that wasn’t crowded, and he was seeing people knew well, he actually wouldn’t wear his gloves every single time when they were in private.

 

Especially around Ji Mingrui.

 

He knew Ji Mingrui too well, and this person’s pattern of thinking was very simple; he didn’t need to read his mind, he could tell what Ji MIngrui was thinking from just a glance.

 

Chi Qing had stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat, and his face wore a half-hearted expression that said ‘my intentions are to come see what’s going on, sit for a short time, and then leave.’ It was only once the waiter had led him to the doorway of the room that he clearly saw a group of people sitting inside, “……”

 

Chi Qing, “Explain.”

 

Ji Mingrui, “I…just hadn’t imagined that everyone would be free tonight, and we just happened to come together at this table?”

 

Chi Qing completely mercilessly wanted to turn back around, “I’m leaving.”

 

“You just got here and you want to leave already,” before Chi Qing could turn around, he was blocked by someone from behind.
That person rested a hand on his shoulder, and the sound of his voice echoed from behind and above him, “I was me who told him not to tell you, because if he told you, you wouldn’t have come.
I wanted to invite you to a meal as an apology, grant me some face here?”

 

Those first two sentences were unexpectedly quite normal.

 

But after Xie Lin released his shoulder, his gaze lingered on Chi Qing’s wrist, and the words that came out of his mouth weren’t so proper, “……I was a bit heavy-handed yesterday, it seems like your wrist is all red from being bound.”

 

The team of three looked over upon hearing this.

 

The night before, after Chi Qing had finished wiping his hands he had pulled his gloves back on because there were too many people in the office.
You couldn’t see anything through the gloves, so they didn’t notice until today that there were faint marks on his wrists.
The binding marks from the necktie intermittently wrapped half-way around his wrist, wrapping from the thin carpal bone to the inside.

 

Chi Qing, “……”

 

He was unaware if his wrist was red or not.

 

But anyway, his fists were hard.

 

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