CM | Chapter 7

One night of fierce wind and driving rain.

The next day, the clouds broke and the sun came out. Li City’s sky returned to a clear blue, and that huge mass of rainclouds had already moved toward Jiang City.

Xu Shuo got up early, took a shower, and with his hair still dripping wet, went downstairs and into the kitchen, that sacred territory.

After a burst of “ding ling guang lang” and clatter, Aunt Wang, who had been hiding in her room the whole time, finally could not stand it anymore and rushed out to stop Xu Shuo from tearing the house apart.

“young master, um, maybe I should do it instead?”

The moment Aunt Wang spoke, she was startled by Xu Shuo’s serious expression.

Today’s Xu Shuo was a little off.

His broad back stood like a little mountain in front of the counter. His long fingers were tangled up in flour mixed with water, and there was flour all over his clothes and face too. At first glance, it looked absurd, but the expression hidden behind the flour seemed to be brewing a storm.

When Xu Shuo spoke, his voice was perfectly calm. “I used to do this before. We’ll have something to eat in a bit.”

Aunt Wang looked at the flour, looked at the untouched chives and pork, then looked at Xu Shuo again, until a soft cough sounded behind her.

She turned around and saw Xu Haiqing in home clothes.

Xu Haiqing tilted her chin at Aunt Wang. Aunt Wang had no choice but to nod and leave the kitchen, glancing back every few steps.

Xu Haiqing slipped into the open kitchen, quietly separated out the chives, and took her time trimming them.

After a while, Xu Haiqing seasoned the meat filling and covered it. Then she took out a bottle of red wine and two glasses, poured two servings, took a sip from one, and set the other down beside Xu Shuo’s hand.

“…”

Xu Shuo silently picked up the glass and drank it all in one go, then went back to battling the flour.

Xu Haiqing leaned against the counter. Her gaze moved from the dough, which had been kneaded into a complete mess, to Xu Shuo, and she could not help thinking of the first time she had seen this big nephew of hers.

That was ten years ago. Xu Haiqing had just started to make a name for herself in Li City, but everyone in her family except her eldest brother Xu Haizhen was dead, and there was no one left to enjoy her success with her. Because of the underhanded things she was involved in, Xu Haizhen, who worked as a criminal investigator in Jiang City, had also cut ties with her.

The last thing Xu Haizhen ever said to her was, “For as long as I live, don’t ever come back to Jiang City. If you break the law, I will personally arrest you.”

Xu Haiqing had thrown back an equally vicious reply. “You know better than anyone how deep Jiang City’s waters run, so you’d better watch yourself. Even serving the people takes a life to do it!”

Not long after that, Xu Haiqing met Xu Shuo in a small town on the outskirts of Li City.

She had gone there to handle some business and, while she was at it, wanted to buy a house there as a vacation home. The feng shui in that little town was good, the air was good, and the locals all lived very long lives. Even the old people could live past a hundred.

Xu Haiqing had been thinking that when she retired from the underworld, she would move here.

In the end, she ran into a hot-tempered punk and ended up arguing with him over a few words.

That kid spoke rudely, with his brows furrowed and his eyes glaring. His skin was dark from the sun, he had a body full of raw strength, and the hostility around him was even heavier than a thug from the streets. At a glance, it was obvious he was not from the town.

Most importantly, he looked a lot like Xu Haizhen when he was young.

Xu Haiqing felt a strange mix of closeness and disgust rising up out of pure instinct. It was very contradictory, and she did not know what she had been thinking, but after that kid was beaten flat on the ground by several of her men, she actually crouched down and handed him a handkerchief.

The kid took it and smeared it across his face.

Xu Haiqing asked him where he was from, where his family was, and why they had left him alone in this town to act up. The kid quickly shot back that it was none of her business.

Xu Haiqing asked him again, “You dare talk to me like that, and you’re not afraid of being beaten to death?”

The kid said, “Anyway, I’m about to die. What the hell am I scared of?”

Xu Haiqing found him very interesting, and very curious too, so she started talking to him on the spot. Only then, after asking around, did she learn that the kid was from Jiang City, had just been diagnosed with lung cancer, and the situation was extremely serious. He had reached the point where, if he did not have surgery and chemo, he would not even last three months.

At the time, his father had already dragged him to the hospital and scheduled surgery for a few days later. He was terrified, so that same night he jumped out of the window, fled in his hospital gown, and borrowed some money through the help of a few friends to run to Li City.

He had heard that there was a town here where everyone lived long lives, with good air and good water, so he hid in this godforsaken corner for three months. Up to now, he still had not died. He could breathe fine, and he could even fight with people.

The kid said it was definitely a problem with the hospital’s tests. Fuck, good thing he had run fast, or he would have been put under the knife. And then what kind of bullshit chemo was he supposed to do, idiot! Once he went back, he would definitely beat those quack doctors to the ground!

The moment he opened his mouth, a string of curses came out. Even Xu Haiqing, who had spent years on the wrong side of the tracks, found it grating to hear. She immediately wanted to leave.

Until, just before she left, Xu Haiqing asked casually, “By the way, what’s your name?”

The kid was sitting cross-legged on the ground, still bruised and battered. “You want another fight? Fine, remember this. I do not change my name when I travel, and I do not change my surname when I move. My surname is Xu, my name is Shuo!”

Xu Haiqing nearly choked on his shameless confidence, learned from wuxia novels. In her head, there was even a buzzing sound, as if something had snapped.

Xu Haiqing asked, “Which Xu? Which Shuo?”

“The Xu with the double-person radical, the Shuo in fire and joy.”

“…”

After that came a most awkward recognition between aunt and nephew, and neither of them was willing.

Xu Haiqing also sent people to Jiang City to ask around, and learned that Xu Haizhen had long since gotten news about Xu Shuo, but he happened to be tied up with a major case and could not get away. Then he saw that Xu Shuo had not actually done anything earth-shattering, he had just cowarded down and kept his head low, so Xu Haizhen no longer insisted on dragging him back for surgery.

Xu Haizhen’s friends in Li City also often brought back news that Xu Shuo could jump and run, could fight and make trouble, nothing about him looked sick at all. On top of that, he had shot up a whole lot taller, and he was darker and sturdier too. It had to be a misdiagnosis on the hospital’s side.

Xu Haizhen made several trips to the hospital. The hospital also ran tests and said the reports had not been switched, but they also said that for someone Xu Shuo’s age, his recovery ability was astonishing. Maybe if he rested and recovered in a place with fresh air and let go of the mental burden, a miracle really could happen.

Xu Haizhen thought this whole thing was fucking nonsense, so he simply turned a blind eye to it. He also helped Xu Shuo with one year of leave from school, and during that same time, Xu Shuo was inexplicably forced by Xu Haiqing to study for several months.

In the blink of an eye, it was the period before final exams.

Xu Shuo had finished all the books Xu Haiqing brought over, done every exercise, and even grown a little fairer from being kept indoors. He was ready to go back to Jiang City for the exams.

But on the day before he returned to Jiang City, he almost blew up the kitchen.

Xu Haiqing rushed over in a panic and saw Xu Shuo wrestling with the flour. He said he wanted to make her a batch of chive and pork pies before leaving, something his dad, Xu Haizhen, had said. When she was little, his aunt had loved nothing more than the pies his big brother made.

Xu Haiqing reached out and rubbed Xu Shuo’s head, then made him stand to the side and watch her do it, so he could learn before going back to make it for his dad and scare him to death!

The moment she said that, they both laughed.

Who would have thought that after Xu Shuo returned to Jiang City and saw Xu Haizhen again, Xu Haizhen had already turned into a black-and-white photograph.

In a flash, ten years had passed.

Ten years later, today, Xu Shuo had almost blown up the kitchen again.

Xu Haiqing knew the child was no longer someone she could keep.

The aunt and nephew worked together to finish a huge pot of chive and pork pies, sat at the dining table, drank a little wine, and ate until they could hardly move.

Xu Haiqing glanced at the table full of leftovers and suddenly asked, “I heard that you rented an office over in Jiang City.”

Xu Shuo topped up Xu Haiqing’s glass and smiled faintly. “Nothing escapes your eyes, does it?”

Xu Haiqing rolled her eyes at Xu Shuo, somewhat helpless, somewhat powerless.

The Xu Shuo of now was not the stupid, hot-blooded kid he had been at sixteen. He had always had a solid build and a high IQ, but back then he was too young and did not know how to use either. Ten years had passed, and now not only was he seasoned enough, he had also grown deeper and more complicated. Sometimes even Xu Haiqing could not tell how many twists and turns were hidden under that half-smiling face. Just like a fine wine, it was no good straight out of the vat. It had to be buried underground for ten years before it grew mellow and fragrant.

Xu Haiqing sighed. “Back then, when you did not take the police academy exam, I really did feel sorry for you. I felt a little bad for your dad too.”

Xu Shuo lifted a brow. “If I had taken the police academy exam, what would you have done, Aunt?”

“Me?”

“I did not want to earn merit and get promoted by arresting my own biological aunt.” The amusement in Xu Shuo’s smile was completely unhidden. “Being a lawyer is better. I can open my eyes and say whatever lies I want. No matter how black you are, I can make it white.”

Xu Haiqing immediately rewarded him with a glare. “Your aunt has long since become a law-abiding citizen! I only do good deeds now, give back to society, and serve those in need!”

“Yes, yes, I was just joking.”

“…”

After a long while, Xu Haiqing decided to get back to the point. She knew full well that this kid was deliberately cracking jokes to change the subject and playing tai chi with her, so she could not let herself fall for it so easily.

“Since you’ve already decided to go back, I can’t stop you. I’ll help as much as I can.”

Xu Shuo remained very calm. “How does Aunt plan to help? Round up everyone you can use here, form a new gang, and go pick a fight with the forces over there? Or take the money under your name and transfer it all to me, then throw it into that giant hole in the wealthy district of Jiang City and see how many splashes we can hear?”

Xu Haiqing said, “Hey! You little bastard, you’re making fun of me again, aren’t you?”

The smile on Xu Shuo’s face faded a little. “Enough, Aunt. I do not need anything. A local snake is hard for even a strong dragon to overpower. Jiang City is not your territory. No matter how many people or how much money you bring over, it’ll be like punching cotton. Don’t worry, I have my own way. If I can solve it with brains, I will never waste effort.”

By now, Xu Haiqing also knew that there was no point saying more.

She sighed, then suddenly said, “It’s already been ten years since your dad’s case. Why are you choosing to go back now? Did you find some sort of breakthrough?”

Xu Shuo lowered his eyelids. “Doesn’t Aunt already know?”

Xu Haiqing said, “I do not understand. How can a news report about a supervisor driving a drug trial subject to his death help you? How can this case be tied to what happened to your dad ten years ago?”

Xu Shuo said, “It is not this incident that matters. It is only one corner of the whole chain. What I need to cut off is the entire chain. And before that, I need to find a trigger, something that will pull one hair and move the whole body.”

Xu Haiqing froze. “…”

“Now, I’ve already found her.”

Author’s note:

Ever since the beginning of this book, the chapters have all been hefty ones. These next two chapters will slow the pace a bit, otherwise I’ll be drained dry!

Still working hard to lay the groundwork for the male and female leads’ “intense” first meeting~