Hualin Police Station was not far from the pedestrian shopping street, but the crowds clogged the roads, so the police car moved slowly.
The middle-aged police inspector at the wheel glanced in the rearview mirror from time to time. Suddenly, he said, "That girl from the convenience store... she's been following the car."
"What?"
Chen Zhu turned around in surprise. Sure enough, Yu Xian was following behind them.
She ran, stopped, then walked a little before running again. She was too far away for him to make out her expression, but her hair fluttered as she ran, like a cloud of sunset drifting through the mortal world.
"Why doesn't she take a taxi?"
A younger auxiliary officer asked.
"It's not that easy to find an empty cab on a pedestrian shopping street."
The inspector deliberately slowed down a little and remarked, "This young lady really has a stubborn streak."
It was unclear whom he was addressing. Perhaps he was only talking to himself. In any case, no one in the car responded.
After they reached the station, Chen Zhu and Zhang Chao were taken away separately to give their statements. During his poverty alleviation work, Chen Zhu had often worked with local police stations on official business, so he knew the procedures well. His statement was finished in no time.
When he came out, he found Yu Xian waiting outside. Her white shirt was soaked through, and crystal-clear beads of sweat slid slowly down her temples from her forehead. Yet her beautiful almond-shaped eyes remained bright and resolute.
The moment Chen Zhu saw her, he thought of that drifting cloud of sunset. Not wanting the mood to grow too somber, however, he joked, "Too bad there's no sports meet in our final year. Otherwise, you'd definitely win the girls' sixteen-hundred-meter race."
Yu Xian was unusually gentle that day. Rather than respond to his joke, she tidied her damp hair and stood quietly beside him.
Before long, the middle-aged inspector came to take Chen Zhu for a medical examination.
Seeing Yu Xian stand up to follow them, the inspector waved a hand. "We're only going to the nearby Guangzhou Medical University Third Hospital for an MRI. You should stay here. Having you come along would be against procedure."
Chen Zhu also reassured her, "I'll be back soon. Just wait here."
Yu Xian's gaze wavered, but she finally stopped insisting.
After they left the station, the inspector chatted with Chen Zhu as they walked. "Your little girlfriend is pretty gentle."
"She's not usually this gentle. She has a big temper and can be really fierce."
Chen Zhu hurried to explain.
Feeling that this still left room for misunderstanding, he clarified again, "She's not my girlfriend, either."
"Oh."
The inspector found that puzzling. The girl was prettier than even the beauties at headquarters. Why was this boy in such a hurry to deny it?
At the hospital, once the doctor heard that Chen Zhu needed an injury examination for symptoms of "dizziness and nausea," he immediately ordered a brain MRI.
Since the police station had arranged priority treatment, the doctor reviewed the results as soon as the scan was finished.
As expected, there was nothing wrong.
Holding the results, the inspector told Chen Zhu bluntly, "You seem to know how this works, so you should understand that these results mean Zhang Chao won't be detained or sent to prison. At most, he'll write a letter of undertaking. Doesn't it feel like you went through all this for nothing?"
"How was it for nothing?"
Chen Zhu countered, "If I hadn't gone to all this trouble and insisted on making an issue of it, you might have just taken a look and left. Zhang Chao wouldn't even have had to write that letter."
The middle-aged inspector was momentarily speechless.
"I'm making the chain of evidence more complete."
Chen Zhu continued, "Besides the surveillance footage, the medical report, and the letter of undertaking, I'm also planning to get signatures from two witnesses. With a complete set of documents like that, believe me, if I submit them to the school at seven, Zhang Chao will be out by eight."
Only then did the inspector understand what Chen Zhu meant. He wanted Zhang Chao to know that even if he escaped detention, Chen Zhu could still make it impossible for him to stay in school.
"Judging by your uniform, you attend Zhizhong High School, right?"
The middle-aged inspector suddenly asked, "What year are you in?"
"My final year."
Chen Zhu answered.
"So your Gaokao is coming up."
The inspector patted Chen Zhu on the shoulder and said, half joking and half serious, "Interested in applying to a police academy? I think you'd be well suited to this line of work."
Hearing that, Chen Zhu suddenly felt like making the inspector cringe-and himself, too, while he was at it. With an innocent expression, he replied, "Officer, sir, I scored 654 on my First Mock Exam. With a score like that, shouldn't I be choosing between Tsinghua and Peking Universities?"
Sure enough, the inspector's face darkened. He no longer wanted to talk to this high school student who seemed suspiciously like a colleague's child.
By the time they returned to the station, Zhang Chao's mother had finally arrived. She looked to be in her forties, carried a small handbag, and wore a cheongsam, looking rather like a wealthy lady from old Shanghai.
Following procedure, the police briefly explained the situation:
"Your son assaulted someone. That fact is indisputable. Since the other party suffered no serious injuries, we recommend that you settle the matter through negotiation. If you can't reach an agreement, you can take it to court."
"However."
The middle-aged inspector added, "Being sued over a fight could have some impact on his schooling. You'll have to decide for yourselves."
Zhang Chao's mother was no fool. Naturally, she knew a negotiated settlement would be the simplest and least troublesome option. In fact, she had never expected a dispute between high school students to end up at a police station.
Perhaps Chen Zhu's school uniform made him look easy to fool. As soon as Zhang Chao's mother sat down, she began talking around the issue, trying to whitewash her son's behavior.
"This young lady must be Yu Xian. My, you really are beautiful."
Looking at Yu Xian, Zhang Chao's mother said with a smile, "Zhang Chao has told me at home how much he likes you. Personally, I think that even if you can't be a couple, you can still be friends. There's no need to make things so hostile."
She was sidestepping the real issue, downplaying Zhang Chao's harassment of Yu Xian.
"Your name is Chen Zhu?"
Zhang Chao's mother turned to him. "My son tells me you get excellent grades. I know your director, Cao Jingjun. We often have dinner together."
This was an attempt to pressure him through connections, invoking someone she believed carried weight.
"But ultimately, our Zhang Chao was still in the wrong. This boy is far too impulsive. I'll be sure to give him a good talking-to when we get home."
At this point, Zhang Chao's mother felt she had already been more than accommodating. She stood up and said, "Since nobody seems to have any serious problems, let's all leave. A police station isn't a nice place. It's best not to come here unless you have to."
With just a few sentences, she had neatly absolved her son of responsibility, even faintly blaming Chen Zhu for making such a fuss.
Although Chen Zhu had not listened to a word, he patiently waited for her to finish before straightening his collar and saying mildly, "Madam, you wouldn't want your son leaving school without graduating in his final year, would you?"
"Hm?"
Chen Zhu frowned. Why did that line sound a little strange?
"What I mean is..."
Chen Zhu restated it in plain language. "Since we go to the same school, I can let this go. But Zhang Chao has to write a letter of undertaking promising not to bother Yu Xian again."
"He still has to write a letter?"
Zhang Chao's mother tried to bargain. "Wouldn't a verbal promise do? It amounts to the same thing, anyway."
"No."
Chen Zhu shook his head. "It has to be a handwritten apology and undertaking. Otherwise, I'll burn the surveillance footage of Zhang Chao hitting me onto discs and send them to both the school and the District Education Bureau."
Seeing no way around it, Zhang Chao's mother made one last attempt to wriggle out. "Zhang Chao isn't good at Chinese. He could sit here struggling for two hours and still not write anything."
"Heh."
Chen Zhu smiled brilliantly. You've stumbled right into my area of expertise again.
In high school, there was little call for formal writing skills beyond essays. But once you went to university and joined the student council, or the university administration a level above that...
I'd just go straight to:
Domain expansion!
"I can draft it. Zhang Chao only needs to copy it out."
Chen Zhu spoke unhurriedly.
Now Zhang Chao's mother had no reason left to object. She slapped her son hard on the head. "All you ever do is cause me trouble! Just look at him!"
It was unclear whether "him" referred to Chen Zhu.
Zhang Chao had long since lost his earlier swagger. He was as meek as a chick, nodding frantically even after being slapped.
While Chen Zhu drafted the undertaking, Yu Xian quietly turned her head and gazed at his profile.
How was he so capable?
And so emotionally steady?
As though sensing something, Chen Zhu looked up and smiled at Yu Xian.
He was fairly satisfied with how he had resolved the matter. Limited to his identity as a high school student, he had used the existing social rules to gradually take control.
Nothing exaggerated, nothing absurd, nothing divorced from reality. In fact, it was so down-to-earth that any ordinary person facing a similar situation could copy his approach exactly.
This was the right way for someone who had been capable in his previous life to show off after being reborn.
Before long, Zhang Chao finished copying the undertaking. Looking at the crooked signature at the bottom, Chen Zhu finally said with satisfaction, "I hope you understand, Zhang Chao: muscles can't bring you love, and violence can never replace knowledge."
Zhang Chao's mother gave a cold snort and turned to leave. But just as she reached the doorway, Chen Zhu's gentle voice rang out again:
"Ma'am, the MRI cost 460 yuan. Under the rules, you have to cover that."
Zhang Chao's mother suddenly felt her chest tighten. The stifling frustration felt like-
Going to a hotel with a man, only to end up paying for the room herself.
(Sometimes I wonder, too: should showing off after rebirth be more like science fiction, or should it stay grounded in social reality and ordinary logic?)
(End of chapter)
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