A Strange Development

After lying around for another week and practically growing mold, Shen Yu endured Xie Shuyang's evil nagging and finally got the chance to leave the hospital and get some fresh air.

Xu Shenzheng was wrapping a thick winter scarf around Shen Yu's neck, while Lu Yanjin pulled a plush hat with cat ears over Shen Yu's head. Two little pockets for his hands hung down from either side of the hat. His blue hair had been woven into delicate little braids that fell on either side of him, with some left loose at the back to cover his nape.

Xu Shenzheng thought that was unnecessary. He had a scarf.

Lu Yanjin said Xiao Yu couldn't possibly wear the scarf all the time. This way, it would block the wind and look... nicer, too.

Xu Shenzheng glanced at Shen Yu, who had been bundled up into a plump little dumpling. It was hard to say which reason convinced him, but after initially wrapping his hair inside the scarf too, he silently pulled it back out when Shen Yu frowned and said it itched.

The two of them had been sent out on an assignment, and Xu Shenzheng had stopped by to see Shen Yu on the way. But after they finished their investigation and hurried back, terrible news fell from the sky: Shen Yu had run off, been kidnapped, and ended up back in the hospital.

During the week Shen Yu was unconscious, Xu Shenzheng had wondered more than once whether he could have stopped Shen Yu from running out if he'd left a little later. He really wanted to go back and slap himself from that day. Had that lousy assignment really been so urgent?

After that, he kept an even closer eye on him.

When Shen Yu saw them about to put a third coat on him, he couldn't take it anymore and stopped them. "...If I remember right, it's twenty-one degrees today."

Lu Yanjin disagreed. "It's windy."

Shen Yu made another attempt to resist. "I'm not walking outside. Aren't we getting straight into the car when we leave?"

Seeing the reluctance in Shen Yu's eyes, Xu Shenzheng finally withdrew his hands. Lu Yanjin, meanwhile, took a hand warmer from the bag and placed it in Shen Yu's palm.

Shen Yu didn't refuse.

He really wanted to go out. He could put up with being a little hot.

In the hospital lobby, Shen Yu stood there wrapped up like a big brown bear ready for winter, a striking sight that drew curious looks from people at this rare piece of performance art.

Lu Yanjin carried the bag over one shoulder, never taking his eyes off Shen Yu as he stood half an inch behind him like a bodyguard.

Shen Yu lowered his head and fiddled with his phone.

There were quite a few missed calls, but they were all from a week ago. Ignore them, ignore them.

One message did catch his attention, though. He and Xu Yao had exchanged contact information at the high school before, and she had searched for him and sent him a friend request, which he hadn't accepted yet.

After he accepted it.

Xu Yao sent a message almost instantly.

Xu Yao: Well, look who's finally found time to answer my message?

Shen Yu rubbed his nose.

Shen Yu: Something held me up. Sorry.

Xu Yao: All right, you're forgiven.

Xu Yao: Curious.jpg

Xu Yao: Bai Xiaofan and Ji Jingxing haven't come to class in ages. Did they really commit a crime?

Shen Yu thought for a moment and sent a sticker of a kitten nodding.

Shen Yu: A pretty serious one. The kind they could get a bullet for.

Xu Yao sent three terrified yellow-face stickers in a row.

Xu Yao: You're just telling me that? Aren't you afraid I'll go spreading rumors everywhere?

Shen Yu: There's no need to be so kind to murderers.

Xu Yao: True.

Xu Yao: There's a concert this weekend. My sister gave me two tickets. Want to come?

"Xu Yao, look up at the board. Tell me what I was just talking about." The teacher at the front of the room had noticed Xu Yao's attention wandering. She tapped the blackboard and called her name, telling her to stand and answer the question.

Xu Yao shoved her phone into her desk, scratched her head, and laughed it off. "Teacher, say it again. I promise I'll listen."

A vein bulged at the teacher's temple, but Xu Yao's grades spoke for themselves, so she repeated it. Xu Yao grasped the principle and applied it to the problem the teacher gave her, delivering a perfect answer.

"Sit down. No more spacing out." The teacher nodded in satisfaction.

"Got it!" Xu Yao settled down in her seat. Afraid of getting caught, she stayed well-behaved until class ended before pulling out her phone and seeing Shen Yu's reply.

Shen Yu: Sure.

She couldn't contain her happiness.

Her deskmate's teasing voice came from beside her. "Sister Yao, who are you chatting with? You look so happy."

Xu Yao answered openly, "A new friend."

Just after Shen Yu replied, he heard Lu Yanjin call for him to leave, so he tucked his phone into his pocket.

Only after leaving the hospital did he realize how frighteningly fierce the sun was. By the time he had walked the short distance to the car, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Xu Shenzheng rolled up the window Shen Yu had just lowered, earning himself a death glare from Shen Yu.

"Hot."

Shen Yu took off his coat and scarf. The ruby on his chest was shining brilliantly now, but he kept the hat on in the end; Lu Yanjin had stopped him from taking it off.

Xu Shenzheng turned the air conditioner to its lowest fan setting and set the temperature to medium.

Lu Yanjin handed Shen Yu the information he had gathered.

Jiang Lian's parents had divorced and remarried, leaving him and his younger sister Jiang Xi to depend on each other. Though those two paid them no attention, they still sent living expenses every month, albeit only the minimum amount.

It was just enough to cover the monthly rent, utilities, and daily expenses. So Jiang Lian worked part-time in his spare time to improve their living conditions. The restaurant owner saw how pitiful he was and let him help out in the kitchen, though since employing child labor was illegal, he didn't have him work often.

That day happened to be Jiang Xi's birthday. Jiang Lian collected his wages and bought a teddy bear his sister had always wanted as her birthday present. On his way back, he received a message from Bai Xiaofan calling him away, and was brutally murdered afterward.

Ji Jingxing came from a single-parent family. His mother had died in a car accident, and his father had raised him, though his father worked away from home year-round and rarely came back. When he heard Ji Jingxing had committed a crime, he hurried back and met with him. Then he found a lawyer, handed everything over to the lawyer, and flew away again.

At school, he had always hung around with Bai Xiaofan. The two were practically inseparable, until Bai Xiaofan noticed Jiang Lian, who was a year above him.

Shen Yu's expression turned strange.

Hiss... Where was this going?

He continued reading.

Being targeted by Bai Xiaofan was no good thing.

Shen Yu thought Jiang Lian was more likely a "collectible" Bai Xiaofan had taken a fancy to. Tsk, thinking of what had happened inside the glass cabinet sent a chill through him.

He had heard about what happened afterward from Xu Yao. Ji Jingxing had gotten people to corner Jiang Lian, only for Bai Xiaofan to stop him and slap him across the face.

After that, he used Bai Xiaofan's phone to threaten Jiang Lian into coming to the alley where the incident took place.

"Does he get along with his dad?"

Shen Yu suddenly asked the question out of nowhere.

Lu Yanjin asked, "Who?"

"Ji Jingxing."

"That depends on what Ji Jingxing himself thinks. His father cares about him quite a bit and has taken care of everything, from food and clothes to housing and transportation. It's strange, though. He cares that much, but he won't go in to see him, and has the lawyer pass everything on."

As Xu Shenzheng drove, he kept paying attention to what was going on behind him.

A flicker of understanding passed through Shen Yu's eyes.

"Is he still at the Police Bureau?"

"Yeah. He's a suspect in the murder, after all. The case should have been closed by now, but the lawyer his father hired keeps going after Bai Xiaofan, insisting that Ji Jingxing was led astray by him. Bai Xiaofan is hospitalized with serious injuries and is rarely awake, so it's been deadlocked like this."

Shen Yu leaned back against the rear seat and gave a lazy hum. "Call his dad over."

"What for?"

"To meet him. After all, once he goes in, it'll probably be pretty hard for them to see each other again."

Before Xu Shenzheng could figure out what he meant, they had arrived at the entrance to the Police Bureau.