Chapter 24: 24

Chapter 24: His Parents

Fu Xingchuan returned to the office half-dead and fell face down on the sofa.

“You suspended tracking on the Evil Spirit?” Smelling the smell of smoke, Professor Li opened the window.

“Well, it’s been a week, and we found no trace of it. We still have to investigate, but we’re pulling back the manpower.” Fu Xingchuan turned his head with difficulty. “Eh, your screen…”

Minister Fu’s eyes were good. He was able to read the words “Files of Death Row Prisoners in Haigu” on Professor Li’s phone screen.

The page stopped at a photo of a man and woman.

They were upright-looking, both under 30. Compared with the other prisoners’ sluggish and sinister look, those two people in the photo looked quite relaxed; they were smiling softly and casually.

“Haa, why did you suddenly think of this? What about checking on the newcomer’s household registry?”

“I’m just looking at the information on file. Strictly speaking, Zhong Chengshuo said it was not in their household registry.” Professor Li closed the archives. “His biological parents were captured by his adoptive parents. I don’t know how much Zhong Chengshuo knows.”

The infamous serial killers, Wei Huaxian and Kong Miao, were executed according to the law more than 20 years ago.

The two were lovers. They were cunning and acted with extreme cruelty, and their bad influence was widespread. They were finally captured when Kong Miao made a mistake during the cooperation between the two due to recently giving birth. According to the records from the Haigu Public Security Bureau, in this case, Cheng Xuehua, the former chief of the Haigu Criminal Police Division, and Zhong Youde, the former deputy captain, made great contributions.

“Xiao Zhong shouldn’t have access to this file.” Fu Xingchuan yawned. “I’ve also interrogated that at the beginning. Xiao Zhong respects his adoptive parents. There’s no doubt about this.”

“Well, I’m just a little curious.”

At the same time, in Xizhao District, Zhong Chengshuo’s parents’ home.

An old lady carried a large pot of stewed meat and potatoes to the table. There were braised trotters, steamed beer, and sweet and sour fish already on the dining table. Small dishes like scrambled eggs with leeks and stuffed lotus roots were there as well. The dining room wasn’t large, and the aroma of home-cooked food filled the area.

In the kitchen, an old man was still busy over a stove. The lid on the pot on top of the stove was gurgling as if it would boil over at any moment.

Zhong Chengshuo stood still in the kitchen like a decoration.

“Dad, why don’t I come help?” He asked carefully.

“Fuck off. You know shit. There’s no oil and sauce in any of your dishes.” The old man’s voice was like a great bell. “Thirty years, Zhong Chengshuo! Did you know that if you bring friends over, your father has to show off?”

“But I’m not even 30 years old…”

“Ah, you’re picking a fight with your father?” Zhong Youde’s eyes widened. “Okay, okay. I remember that you have a light taste. I’ll make you something clear later.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s entire body was silent, as if he were frozen solid. He continued to stand in the kitchen while handling the plates from time to time.

At the table, even though the food in front of him was full of delicacies, Yin Ren also didn’t dare move either. He tried to stand up to help, but Zhong Chengshuo’s mother pushed him back to the chair.

The old lady was sitting opposite of him. Right now, it looked as if he was being interrogated with some kind of weird enthusiasm. If it weren’t for the old lady’s lack of killing intent, Yin Ren thought he would be skinned alive just by her eyes.

“Are you two colleagues?” Cheng Xuehua’s gaze was burning.

“Yes, we entered about the same time in Shian,” Yin Ren obediently answered.

“How long have you two known each other?”

“About a week.”

“A week and you’re already living together?” The old lady’s tone was deep.

Yin Ren: “…The company requires it.”

This was really a requirement of Shian’s. In order to facilitate operations, the core partners of each investigation team had to live together. They could live in Shian’s dorm for free, but they were both reluctant.

Although Yin Ren liked Shian, he didn’t really want to live under their noses all the time. Zhong Chengshuo said he had a house in Xizhao District, so he thought that was a more convenient place.

Fang Yuanyuan responded to this by saying, “In this case, the company also has relevant plans. You can choose to live in your own residence, but Yin Ren also needs to move in.”

Zhong Chengshuo said blankly, “Ah, this is a bit…”

Fang Yuanyuan: “During Yin Ren’s stay, Shian will give you a monthly co-living subsidy of 10,000 yuan.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Okay, I understand. I’ll go back tonight and clean up.”

Thus, Yin Ren, who was temporarily “homeless”, was led to Zhong Chengshuo’s parents’ home. Yin Ren was still suffering from amnesia and couldn’t be left alone, and Zhong Chengshuo’s parents were not far from his residence.

According to the plan, Zhong Chengshuo would prepare his room while Yin Ren was guided by the two elders to prepare his daily necessities, then he would move into Zhong Chengshuo’s residence in the evening.

This plan shouldn’t have included such a big meal. For those not in the know, they would think that the Zhong family was celebrating New Year’s in advance.

Seeing that the old lady was silent, Yin Ren quickly added, “Chengshuo and I need to go into the field often, so living together saves time.”

He didn’t know why, but the old lady’s expression became subtly disappointed.

“Field? Then you two better pay attention to safety,” she said sadly. “It’s okay to come and play often. Auntie and uncle always welcome it.”

“Of course.”

“Hey, hey, do you guys move around a lot in this position?”

“Not often. As long as Zhong Chengshuo doesn’t change jobs, we’ll always be partners.” Yin Ren made sure of that.

“That’s good. Here, Xiao Yin, join this group. It’ll make it convenient to contact in normal times.”

Yin Ren obediently scanned the code to join the group and then looked dumbfounded…

[Love Each Other as a Family (5)]

Yin Ren: “…” Is this appropriate? Isn’t Zhong Chengshuo’s parents being too enthusiastic towards a new colleague?

The old lady seemed to have read his mind as she sighed to herself. “Xiao Zhong isn’t stupid, but he hasn’t had many friends since he was a child. Young man, you don’t know, but this is the first time he has brought a living adult back with him.”

Lord Ghost King was speechless for a moment.

Little miss, you don’t know, but I’m neither considered living nor human, so the truth will only disappoint you.

The old lady was still chattering on. “My son has no bad intentions, but he’s just too stubborn and can’t behave. Xiao Yin, take care of yourself. If he gets out of line, Auntie will scold him for you!”

Yin Ren smiled awkwardly. “Okay, will do, Auntie. Don’t worry, we got along fine before.”

The old lady then left the table feeling satisfied.

Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief and clicked on the group chat he had just been added to. Together with him, there were five members of the group. Except for Zhong Chengshuo, who Yin Ren was familiar with, there were three other accounts he didn’t recognize.

One had an avatar of the calligraphy character “德*” and was named “Lao Zhong”. This was probably Zhong Chengshuo’s father.

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*Virtue.

Another had an avatar of an enlarged snowflake with the name “Peace is a Blessing”… It was probably that sharp-eyed lady just now.

The remaining one didn’t look like it belonged to the elderly.

It was an avatar of an orange with human eyes and mouth, and the expression looked subtly annoying. The name next to it was “Fear The Maple”. Yin Ren clicked on the avatar and took a closer look. The owner of the account was a woman, and her personal signature showed: “Let’s go and get rid of evildoers*!”

*(为民除害) Idiom referring to eradicating disasters for the common people.

Perhaps this was Zhong Chengfeng, the sister who had “passed away a long time ago” that Zhong Chengshuo told him about.

Yin Ren silently closed WeChat and continued to contemplate at the table.

Zhong Chengshuo’s father was a man of his word. Even though the table was full of meat and fish, he cooked two extra dishes, one vegetarian and one meat, for Zhong Chengshuo. Zhong Chengshuo sat down next to Yin Ren with a strange vigilance on his face.

Even when he was facing Gao Mengyu’s “cat”, Zhong Chengshuo had never had such an expression.

Was it possible that this family had other secrets? Yin Ren became nervous. He politely declined Zhong Youde’s invitation to “have a drink together” and his chopsticks were more reserved than usual. He only dared to pick up small pieces of vegetables.

But the Zhong family didn’t let him off.

“Look at Xiao Yin. He’s so polite and speaks so well. It’s obvious he’s well educated,” Zhong Youde praised loudly.

“Yes, he’s so handsome too. I have seen many people, but I have never seen someone as handsome as him,” The old lady—Cheng Xuehua—sincerely lamented.

Zhong Chengshuo glanced at the two old people and wanted to say something.

Cheng Xuehua ignored her son. “Xiao Yin, do you have any brothers or sisters that you can introduce to our Xiao Zhong?”

Zhong Chengshuo wrinkled his face. “Mom…”

“Uh, I’m the only one in my family.” Yin Ren’s smile twitched a little.

He really had no younger siblings. There were a few “older siblings” that were well classified by Shian, but he was afraid that was something Zhong Chengshuo wouldn’t want to know… Wait, why was there a “brother” in her words just now?

Seeing Yin Ren’s natural performance, Cheng Xuehua continued to speak, “Auntie is just asking. Are you single? Do you like men or women?”

“Mom—?!”

Yin Ren: “…” Okay. Now he understood. No wonder Zhong Chengshuo was so nervous just now.

“Mom what? Your father and I are about to be buried six feet underground. Can’t we worry about you?” Cheng Xuehua snorted angrily.

Then she turned to Yin Ren and spoke like a spring breeze. “Xiao Yin, don’t take it personally. Auntie is just making a joke. After all, this kid isn’t enlightened. There are only three basic requirements—they’re alive, of legal age to marry, and younger than us.”

In fact, he only fulfilled “of legal age to marry”, but this was something that outsiders weren’t privy to. Yin Ren laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. “I don’t mind. Ah, Uncle, your ribs are delicious…”

The two old interrogators were in good spirits and soon the atmosphere became harmonious. Zhong Chengshuo almost won the “most misfit” award.

Fortunately, Zhong Chengshuo ate steadily and quickly and decisively ended the battle. “I’ll go back and clean up the house.”

Zhong Youde: “Okay. Do you have enough blankets and towels? Why don’t you bring some from home?”

“I have enough,” Zhong Chengshuo answered and quickly fled.

The old lady rolled her eyes, but there was a smile in her tone. “Look at him. I don’t know who he takes after.”

Yin Ren didn’t dare to eat more. He only symbolically added a bowl of rice, then quickly rushed into the kitchen to wash the dishes. If he hadn’t tried his best to stop them, Zhong Chengshuo’s parents would have dragged him to the supermarket to make some big purchases.

The two of them chatted while packing things. Zhong Youde sighed several times. “We don’t mind if Zhong Chengshuo finds a man, as long as he likes him.” …It could be seen that the old couple was heartbroken thinking that “Zheng Chengshuo would be alone”.

The old woman was too imposing, and her eyes were too sharp. Yin Ren didn’t dare relax for even a moment, lest he reveal something that shouldn’t be exposed.

It was no wonder Zhong Chengshuo moved out, Yin Ren thought helplessly. If he knew about this in advance, he would have fought to help clean the house with Zhong Chengshuo. In all senses, this place had put him in dire straits.

He didn’t know if his helplessness was felt by the heavens as his phone suddenly vibrated.

[Final Fruit: Good luck ]

[Fruit Knife: …How long do you need to clean up? What the hell are you cleaning up for?!]

[Final Fruit: To prepare your room.]

[Fruit Knife: Brother, hurry up. Your parents are too powerful. You don’t need to prepare another room if you linger any longer. By that time, I’ll have to get a marriage certificate with you, yes?]

[Final Fruit: I know ]

Zhong Chengshuo let out a long sigh and put the phone back in his pocket.

He wasn’t at his residence but was standing in front of an old building with a heavy black leather bag. The building’s red bricks were full of holes, the walls were covered with overgrown roots, and the door was rusted and had countless scratches on it.

This was a private warehouse in the old town, so most of the nearby facilities were dilapidated. The few surveillance cameras that were there were mainly just for decorations, as they were broken 364 out of the 365 days.

Zhong Chengshuo entered the warehouse with ease and opened a secret door leading underground.

The room was about forty square meters on the ground floor. It had no windows, and it was pitch black inside. Zhong Chengshuo pressed a switch, causing the darkness to dissipate like a receding tide and the contents to be revealed like a reef.

Though the light in the room wasn’t bright, it was enough to see an overview.

On both sides of the ring were multi-layer shelves. Stainless steel round cans the size of a person’s head were neatly placed on them. Each had a handwritten label on it, and it was roughly estimated that there were about 50 of them. There was a long table in the middle of the room with a computer and an office chair—two spare chairs were stacked in the corner next to a sofa and refrigerator.

The wall facing the door was probably the liveliest part of the room.

The wall was covered with whiteboards, on which countless reports, articles, and photos were hung. They were connected by a red thread, making the wall look as if it was covered with a red spiderweb.

In the corner of the “spiderweb”, a newspaper clipping was immersed in the shadows.

“The Case of the Extraordinary Serial Killers in Haigu”.

Below the headline, the young faces of two serial killers were shown.

The author has something to say:

Hee hee (?

Xiao Zhong grew up in a healthy family, to the point of being too healthy (x

Xiao Zhong: I can guarantee that my partner has reached the legal age of marriage. Other things… are not guaranteed…

Xiao Yin: Indeed (sad)

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