The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

They all still remembered that barbecue night.

Actually, it happened to be a full moon that evening, although it was not during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since it was rare for the sky above the dorms to be so clean and clear, everyone gathered there enjoyed themselves.

There were not many chances like this to make noise, so they obviously did not restrain themselves as they had as much fun as possible.

***

Yan Si abruptly woke to the feeling of his entire head about to explode from pain.

“Ugh…I was actually able to go to sleep early for once, and I end up with a bursting head instead…” He grumbled as he curled up and rubbed his head. When he saw that it was 1:10 on the clock, he nearly cried.

He turned on the bedside lamp and glanced briefly at his cellphone that appeared to have a missed call. He had no idea how he had slept deeply enough to not hear it.

Yan Si grabbed his phone and unexpectedly discovered that five successive calls had come from the same person at around twelve. He was not sure why they would call him at such a time. After some thought, he decided to call back directly. The other person picked up surprisingly quickly. “Student that was ganged up on? I was dead asleep just now…Mm? You’re at the hospital? Were you ganged up on again?”

Yan Si listened the exasperated retort from the other end as he pressed down on his forehead and sat up. After rummaging through the cabinets behind his bed, he found some generic painkillers. “Ah? I see. Then I’ll head over right now. Just wait there for me.”

Yan Si hung up the call and swallowed the painkillers before pulling on some clothes and going to bathroom to wash up. Just as he was about to splash some water on his face to clear his mind, he lifted his head to look into the mirror. Instantly, his eyebrows shot up as he rubbed his neck to confirm he was not imagining things.

No matter what angle he looked at it – above, below, or from either side – there were clearly what could only be called fingerprints [on his neck].

Yan Si was absolutely certain that such a thing had not been on his neck before he had gone to sleep at ten. The marks did not disappear even after rubbing, so they weren’t from some bizarre dye. Moreover, he felt a dull pain after touch.

Had he been sleeping so deeply that he had not woken even while someone had been strangling him?

Yan Si tilted his head and stared at the mirror a few seconds, starting to seriously question whether he had been in deep slumber or whether he had lost consciousness from being choked. However, there was no way the latter could have happened.

He looked closer and noticed that the fingerprints were on the smaller side, unlike those from an adult man, which eliminated the suspicion of it being his former roommate – the only person with his house key.

He had slept while a woman had been strangling him?

That was even less likely. There were many men that might want to strangle him – starting from the student that was ganged up on and ending with his former roommate, all who were more suspicious – but he had not really offended any women before.

He stared at the fingerprints for a few more seconds before deciding to give up on pondering over such an illogical thing any longer. After cleaning up, Yan Si fished out a high-collared shirt, then called for a taxi driver to head straight towards the appropriate hospital.

There were very few cars on the road this late at night, so they quickly arrived.

Unlike the quiet streets, the hospital constantly had ambulances bringing people into the ER. Yan Si, who had previously done a residency at the hospital before, had often encountered such escorted patients without quite knowing whether to laugh or cry. Most were drunks that had collapsed on the road, so he had later taken up the hobby of snapping photos of these people creating disturbances, then enlarging them and sending copies to the family members as mementos.

As for whether the family members would thank him or not, that was something he did not care about.

Yan Si paid the trip fee and quickly spotted the person that had called him outside the ER. There was also a stranger he had never seen before.

“Yan-dàgē.” When Yu Yin saw the other person arrive, he stopped pressing down on his shoulder and hurriedly stood up. “Sorry, I was just afraid I’d get my neck snapped by Uncle if I called home…”

“It’s fine. Good thing I woke up, or else you would’ve had to find someone else.” Yan Si used his uninjured hand to pat the university student and asked in exasperation, “I seriously think you might actually have an otherworldly constitution to be doomed enough to always run into incidents. Do you really not plan to develop your spiritual communication abilities? Dàgēgē will sponsor you to open a business if you just remember to split the earnings.”

“Absolutely not.” Yu Yin rolled his eyes at the person who was constantly trying to push him towards going down another life path, then impatiently introduced the person next to him. “This here is Su Zhang. We met just now when he helped me call an ambulance here.”

Yan Si scanned the stranger with an extremely tidy and refined appearance. The male did not have dyed or permed hair, conforming completely with societal norms, and looked to be around twenty years old as well. Along with his dark-rimmed glasses, the person looked like a university student from head to toe as he somewhat shyly greeted Yan Si.

“This is Yan Si-dàgē.” Yu Yin also introduced Yan Si to the other person before turning around and saying, “It’s pretty sad to have suddenly been slashed like this. Luckily it’s just a flesh wound; I got a few stitches.”

While planning to return home from the night market, Yu Yin had instead been attacked by some random person. He gripped his shoulder, the painkillers still in effect. He really had no idea how he had offended anyone recently; the entire situation was bizarre. Fortunately, Su Zhang had just happened to pass through the alley while also heading home, thus spotting Yu Yin, immediately helping to stop the bleeding and call an ambulance. Su Zhang had even followed over to the hospital. At least this all counted as good luck.

“You really have a talent for getting beaten.” Yan Si truly believed this after hearing the general rundown of events from Yu Yin.

Yu Yin’s face instantly fell. “Please don’t say anything. I only asked you to come because I was afraid Dad and Uncle would get mad at me if they found out.” His body knew very well just what would happen if the two adults in his household were to come. However, being injured in an attack like this was no trivial matter, so he had still needed to record a testimony. Thankfully, the officer that had come today was a newcomer that did not recognise him, which was why he had quickly then called Yan Si over for help.

However, Yan Si had not responded at first. Just as he was about to try calling someone else, the other had finally called back.

“Alright, I’ll go check out the situation.” Yan Si thoughtfully glanced at the officer reporting the situation nearby. “You two just wait over here first.”

The instant Yan Si turned to walk away, Yu Yin once again saw the shadow he had previously seen not long ago. It flashed before rapidly vanishing again, making it impossible to catch its appearance.

Exactly what is that thing?

“Your friend seems to be a pretty steady person.”

Su Zhang commented sincerely as he watched Yan Si leave.

“Steady…I guess Boss Yan does appear to be a bit steady sometimes. But he’s definitely a good person for sure.” Yu Yin instinctively drew a cross through the word “steady” as he coughed. He did not plan on talking too much to a person he just met anyways. “By the way, do you need to leave first? It’s already one or two in the morning. I don’t think it’s good to be in this kind of place so late.” He had personally gotten used to it, but this person did not look like someone that often went out at night, so he figured it would be better to have them go home first.

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. I’m renting a place alone right now.” Su Zhang quickly waved his hands, mistakenly thinking that the other person thought they were being a hindrance. “Since I brought you here, it shouldn’t be a problem leaving together in a bit, right?”

“Eh, whatever. It’s fine as long as you don’t have a problem with it.” Yu Yin watched Yan Si finish speaking with the officer outside and walk back over. Yu Yin quickly stood up and asked, “How’d it go?”

Yan Si smiled. “The police haven’t seemed to figure out what happened yet. There weren’t any sightings of suspicious people around the area, but they suspect the perpetrator might have mistaken you for someone, or was drunk after going to nearby bars.”

“That person didn’t carry the smell of alcohol.” Besides, who would randomly grab a knife and slash a passerby when drunk? No matter how he thought about it, Yu Yin did not think the other person had been drunk; attacking him specifically to carry out revenge was more likely. But he had not done anything that would have called for such revenge…could it have been someone related to Uncle’s group?

But I don’t think there have been any recent cases related to disputes with the underground?

Since Xiao Hai was currently pursuing Yu Tong, quite a few people no longer dared to purposely go looking for trouble to protect her reputation, so things had gotten quieter.

“The doctor said the weapon was probably a fruit knife or the like, so they’ll go search around. This is for you.” Yan Si held up the bag in his hand and glanced at the hospital gown Yu Yin was wearing. “Your clothes were probably taken, weren’t they? You can wear mine back for now.”

“Thanks.” Yu Yin accepted the bag, gratefully leaving to change into them. He had honestly not thought of this issue.

Fortunately, his wound was not too serious, so he could leave right after the event, and go back tomorrow to give his formal testimony. By the time he returned home, everyone in his household should be asleep, and he could make up an excuse about going out to play with Ah Guan’s group if he was asked why he had returned so late.

When Yu Yin realised this, he was able to finally relax a bit.

After watching Yu Yin leave, Yan Si turned to face the other person. “You should go home first. Kids shouldn’t linger around in the hospital so late. Do you have a ride? Or is your car somewhere else because you came with the ambulance? I can help you call a taxi.”

“No need, I can get back by myself.” Su Zhang quickly stammered out an address as he pulled out his wallet to rummage through it.

Yan Si raised an eyebrow at the sight of the other person frantically pull out only two bills from their wallet. He pulled out a thousand yuan bill and handed it over to the boy. “Here, you can take this as compensation for your clothes. You got quite a bit on you from helping Student Ah Yin stop his bleeding, so you should get reimbursement for your clothes anyways.”

Su Zhang, who was indeed short on money, hurriedly bowed in thanks. “The clothes aren’t worth much…I’ll return this to you next time, ah…let’s exchange phone numbers…”

Yan Si recited his number in faint amusement after watching the boy clumsily scramble for their phone. “Alright, hurry on home. If the police need anything, you can just call my cell.”

“O-okay.” Su Zhang nervously pocked his cellphone and took a deep breath as he glanced in the direction Yu Yin had vanished off to. After giving an embarrassed smile, he finally lifted up his backpack and left.

The moment he left, Yu Yin just happened to return.

“Huh? Did he leave?” Yu Yin tugged at the shirt, somewhat surprised to see only Yan Si standing there.

“Yep, and you should go back first too. I’ll talk to the doctor about your injury and see if the person’s attack was a sudden impulse or if it was actually directed towards you.” Yan Si thoughtfully studied the faint bruises on Yu Yin’s face and chuckled, “Now we’re like matching calico cats, nyan~”

“Are you kidding me? I wonder if they’ll believe me if I said I fell while riding.” Although the injury could be covered with clothing, the face was impossible. Yu Yin stressfully contemplated this issue. Although the few bruises on his face were not too serious, there was no way they would fade by tomorrow; he would definitely be questioned in the morning.

“Parents of a typical household might be fooled, but Boss and Tong…” Yan Si shook his head, certain there was no hope. “Don’t underestimate the police. Bruises from falling aren’t the same as bruises from being hit.”

“I figured as much.” That meant he could only say he had accidentally gotten struck while everyone had been drunk from partying last night. Yu Yin silently thought to himself that he would need to call Ah Guan first and match up their stories to be safe.

“Take your time thinking about it. There’s still a few more hours until morning,” Yan Si said, then shooed him again. “Hurry up and go rest. Don’t forget to take the medicine your doctor gave you.”

Yu Yin furrowed his brows, turning to face the smiling forensic investigator. “Yan-dàgē, did you really not encounter anything unclean?”

“Huh? Isn’t that your trademark?” Yan Si expressed in shock.

Yu Yin felt like his glares were starting to lose strength. “I’m being serious right now. Did you offend anyone or go to some crime scene…” He stopped midway, realising that Yan Si’s group was constantly going to crime scenes, so the question was completely pointless.

“I probably spend more time looking at corpses than I look at my own reflection.” After spouting this nonsense, Yan Si honestly added, “Sometimes while waiting for the bodies to thaw, I watch them while I prepare tea. When I’m bored, I’ll even grab some mourning sutras from the family members. My coworkers occasionally send some as well. I think you probably need them more, student that was ganged up on…”

“No thank you.” Yu Yin was certain that the other person was about to ask if he wanted a few [sutra] volumes, so he interrupted, “Have you really not noticed anything strange? Has there been anyone following you, or have you had any problems?” There was no reason for someone haunted to be so relaxed, especially if that person was not Xiao Hai.

“No,” Yan Si immediately answered.

“That’s weird, when I walked over just now, I saw something following behind you. Plus, it wasn’t like what I saw in the afternoon. This one was clearer, its silhouette looked like a girl’s.” The strange thing was that it was different from the form he had seen earlier and the one he had seen in the alley; it was slightly taller.

Are there actually two of them?

“A girl?” Yan Si turned his head, but obviously was unable to see anything. He subconsciously rubbed his neck and chuckled, “Round or flat? Maybe it’s a recent client of mine. Did you see her appearance?”

“I didn’t see her face, just the silhouette, about this tall.” Yu Yin gestured the height, roughly in the 160s, shorter than Yan Si. “Also, she’s ridiculously close to you, basically stuck on your back.”

“How shocking. I never would’ve imagined something would be stuck on my back. Based on your experience, what kind of cleaning solution would I need to wash it off?”

Yu Yin was seriously about to flip out right then, and he suddenly felt that there was no need for him to be so concerned. After all, this guy was the person who drove an unclean car for a very long time yet had not gotten into any accidents. In that case, having a ghost on his back might actually be nothing after all; Yu Yin was just being paranoid. “Just be a bit more careful. I keep feeling like something’s weird about it.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll take note.” Yan Si lightly pushed the worried person as he chuckled, “Besides, if something really does happen, I can just find Xiao Hai-mèimei.” Because the two of them often chatted, he already knew about Xiao Hai being a super spiritual repellent.

Yu Yin rolled his eyes and decided not to continue dragging things out any further. “Whatever, I’ll just head back now. Thanks again.”

“Try to sleep a bit earlier.” Yan Si waved until he was certain Yu Yin had walked out of the hospital doors before finally dropping his hand with a sigh.

He then raised the bandaged hand that was now showing new streaks of red on the white gauze despite having just changed the dressing. However, the red also seemed to have some darker colour mixed in.

Yan Si did not feel any of the pain he should be feeling.

“I guess one benefit of being haunted is having a free painkiller!”

It all makes sense now!

***

When Yu Yin left the hospital, it was already past two.

He glanced at the watch, then warily turned around to eye the hospital anxiously once more. Finally, he sighed and walked over to the taxi stop nearby.

But when he had only taken a single step forwards, someone suddenly clapped his left shoulder again. He instantly looked behind him without even thinking but did not see anyone. All that was there was the towering hospital lit up in the darkness as another ambulance entered the ER area.

Yu Yin clutched his left shoulder as he scanned the area, but there was nothing there. Thus, he quickly ran over to board a taxi. Even so late at night, there were still a few cars lined up. One of them saw him running over and the driver swiftly rolled down their window. “Young man, wanna hop on?”

Before Yu Yin could respond, he saw a girl sitting in the backseat of the car, her pale face peering straight at him. He hurriedly stumbled backwards, and when he shifted his gaze back, he saw that all the car windows reflected identical silhouettes, countless grey eyes pointed in his direction.

Yu Yin could not help but jump in fright despite having seen many similar things before. He frantically shook his head at the driver and rapidly backed away. He did not get far before he felt another forceful pat on his left shoulder. This time, the other person did not hold back at all, and it hurt a bit.

Of course, there was still nothing visible when he looked over, as if they were deliberately playing around with him. There was still residual pain lingering on his shoulder.

He rubbed his shoulder, about to ask what exactly they wanted. But when he withdrew his hand, he found streaks of blood on his fingers. He had no idea where the blood had come from though, since the shirt that he had borrowed from Yan Si didn’t show any traces.

As he stood there nonplussed, a sudden melody broke out, instantly snapping Yu Yin out of his thoughts. When he grabbed his phone, he saw that Xiao Yu had sent him a text.

Yu Yin had no idea if Xiao Yu had not slept or if he had just woken. Either way, he was asking when Yu Yin would come home. After thinking this over, Yu Yin decided to first write a random time, stating the excuse he had come up with earlier about how he was hanging out with Ah Guan’s group and would be back later.

During this exchange, the peculiar atmosphere also faded.

He pulled out a tissue to wipe the blood away before approaching the taxi once more, with the figure of the girl from earlier already gone. The driver once again rolled down his window to give a greeting.

Yu Yin did not hesitate this time. He immediately entered the car and stated his address, then collapsed backwards in the backseat.

“Young man, did you have to run off and pee just now?” As the taxi smoothly glided down the streets, the driver lowered the radio volume to chat. “I saw you jumping all over the place. Why didn’t you just go back to the hospital to relieve yourself?”

“That wasn’t it. I suddenly remembered something, but then decided it wasn’t worth it.” The exhaustion finally hit him, and he let out a sigh. When the taxi stopped at a red light, he just happened to glance outside, and instantly froze.

That girl was standing across the street a distance away, her white face particularly distinct in the darkness.

Before Yu Yin could even react, the taxi slowly began moving again. As the car left, the girl remained where she stood, slowly shifting her face to watch them leave.

Looks like she won’t follow anymore…

Yu Yin clenched his hands into fists. Before he could let out his held breath, he quickly realised something wasn’t right.

When the taxi stopped again, the girl was standing on the traffic island, her grey eyes still focused on Yu Yin in the backseat. She slowly raised her right hand to point the opposite way.

“Not right now.” Yu Yin shook his head as he found himself already in a cold sweat.

“Huh? Did you say something, young man?” The driver asked in confusion as he glanced at the person in the backseat through his rearview mirror.

“Never mind.” But when the taxi stopped a third time, the girl was standing right next to the window, her hand still pointing towards the other direction.

He had no idea why it was so persistent, but from his experience, it had likely sought him for help…I don’t think I’ve heard of any young girls dying recently? Was it another miscarriage of justice?

However, it had come from a certain forensic investigator’s place, so the logical conclusion was that it was probably the forensic investigator’s customer. But why did it keep wanting him to head back? Yu Yin had suffered enough today; he had no desire to start searching for the supernatural. If it was Yan Si’s customer, Yu Yin could ask him about it sometime tomorrow, and possibly find out the girl’s identity. That would make helping it easier. After thinking this, he searched through his bag and pulled out the strange protection amulet that Fang Yi Xun had given him previously.

After putting it on, he did not see that thing again for the next few traffic lights.

Yu Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief. A little while later, the taxi stopped at the end of the street near his home. Yu Yin paid the fee and got off the car, walking straight to his front door before taking one last backwards look.

As he scanned his surroundings from his front porch, he saw a slim figure standing at the end of the dark road, its white face no longer clearly visible. It stood there and watched him for a few seconds before slowly retreating into the darkness.

Yu Yin stared off into the darkness for a bit before shaking his head and turning to enter his home.

It would be fine if he waited a few days to help it.

He needed some help for himself first.

***

By the time Yan Si returned home, it was already past four in the morning.

He had been a bit concerned about the injury after discussing with the doctor at the ER and looking at the photos.

It was not from a sudden attack, as the wound was extremely clean. Based on Yu Yin’s words and the photos of the injury, Yan Si guessed that the blade had originally been aimed at the back of Yu Yin’s neck; the ruthless perpetrator had undoubtedly wanted to take Yu Yin’s life.

This made Yan Si instantly think of the beverage merchant’s case.

Could it be the same person?

However, the beverage distributer had absolutely no relation to Yu Yin, and the Yu household had no connections either. Why would the person choose to attack Yu Yin? If it was not the same person, then it would be too coincidental as well; did people nowadays all like slashing at necks?

After paying the taxi fee, he dragged his feet home in exhaustion, greeting the guard and then slowly walking to his own residence.

While studying the medical records earlier, Yan Si had also asked a nurse to help change his bandages, only to discover that his originally neatly and cleanly treated injury had completely festered from inflammation, worsening for some reason. The doctor had forcibly cleaned the wound, strictly warning him not to touch anything dirty. In the end, Yan Si had ended up wasting quite a bit of time.

Yan Si shook out the fever reducer and anti-inflammatory medicine the doctor had given him as he rummaged for his new keys. When the elevator doors opened, he was expecting to walk out and open the door directly as usual. But after stepping out, he instantly stopped.

His front door was open. Although it was not extremely obvious, one could easily see that it was opened by a crack.

He did not touch the handle as he noted that the lock once again showed signs of being smashed, just like the day before. The only difference was that the person had succeeded this time. He pushed open the door and turned on the lights. Despite having mentally prepared himself for an entirely wiped out and empty space, he saw that the inside was just as tidy as it had been before he had left. None of the decor had been moved at all, as if there had not been a visitor—

But there was a black shoeprint on the floor of the entrance.

It was right there next to the front door, right before he stepped into the house. However, the shoeprint did not belong to him.

Yan Si studied the strange shoeprint for a while. After some thought, he passed over the out-of-place mark to enter his home and walk around to all the rooms, including the bathroom. There were no changes, absolutely no signs of having been trespassed aside from that single print in front.

This is a provocation.

Yan Si stared at the print on the ground, extremely discontent after having run around all night. Putting aside the annoyance of knowing his house had been infiltrated by a stranger, the fact that they had purposely left a black shoeprint seemed to be telling him that his door could not stop them, that they could come and go as they pleased.

Yan Si shut the door. The lock had not been destroyed so it could still be replaced. He pushed a small cabinet over against the door and then walked into the bathroom.

He stared at his now wrinkled forehead in the mirror and sighed. “Honestly, shouldn’t one be more relaxed in life?” He then smiled at his own reflection as he took off his clothes, spotting the fingerprints still around his neck. Then, he turned on the sink faucet.

But unlike normal, a crimson fluid gushed out.

Yan Si instantly turned off the faucet and touched the red water left. He first tapped it twice with his finger and sniffed it. Then, he took off the valve on the faucet and dug out a few small pieces already half dissolved in crimson.

This time, when he turned the faucet back on, the water was back to its usual clear and transparent appearance.

After a moment’s contemplation, Yan Si turned and switched on the shower head and the bathtub faucet as well, only to find the same things.

He wrapped the objects in wads of toilet paper. With no intention of washing himself, he grabbed a cloth, soaked it with some water, and wiped himself with it to freshen up. Then he switched into clean clothing and opened the bathroom doors.

It seemed like this person really was intentionally provoking him. It was clearly not from an ordinary thief. Had he really offended someone?

As he spaced out, the cellphone abandoned on the living room table suddenly rang, shattering the oddly depressed space. Yan Si snapped out of his reverie.

He grabbed his phone and saw a completely foreign number.

Despite his faint suspicion, he still answered the call and sat down on his sofa. “This is Yan Si. Who’s calling?”

A few seconds passed with absolutely no sound coming from the other end aside from soft breathing.

“Don’t you know that disturbing people in the middle of the night with calls and robbing them of sleep is extremely immoral? It’s to the point where you’ll end up [cursed] in pain for the whole next day, trip while walking and get hit by a car, choke while drinking tea, and get pricked by a needle when sitting down. This is a curse that those who make disruptive calls to others will suffer from.” Yan Si coldly chuckled, and just as he was about to end the call, he suddenly heard a sound from the other person—

“…Ah.”

“Who are you?” Yan Si raised a brow. The voice sounded male.

The call ended there, as all that answered Yan Si was the noise of the line being cut and the machine beeping.

What in the world?

Yan Si turned off his phone. He suddenly felt sleepy after all the things that had happened tonight.

He eyed the shoeprint once more, then shrugged. The sky was starting to brighten outside the window, so nothing would likely happen for the time being. With this thought, he tossed his phone aside and tunnelled into his bedroom.

Whether it was the phone call or the shoeprint, it could wait until after he woke up.

***

Yan Si slept even less than he had anticipated.

The next morning, a call from the security guard forced him awake from the noise. He was furious when he woke up to discover that it was only eight.

With an explosive headache, he answered the phone to discover that he had a visitor. After instructing the guard to let the visitor come up, Yan Si changed into a high-collared shirt so as not to frighten anyone, while also kicking the small cabinet blocking the door over to cover the shoeprint.

A few minutes later, the visitor was standing inside his home.

The young man wearing slippers at the doorway was the friend that Yan Si and Li Zi Hong had just been talking about yesterday. At this time, he should either be holed up in his den, or driving off to a fish market to retrieve ingredients or something.

Appearing here this early in the morning shocked Yan Si just a bit.

Yang De Cheng lifted the breakfast he had brought as he studied his friend that had clearly not slept enough. He knit his brows together as he asked, “Did you stay in the hospital until morning? Your eyes are still red.”

Yan Si rubbed his eyes and yawned. “How did you know I went to the hospital?” The only people that should have known about his visit were himself and the student that was ganged up on.

“…The ER doctor is Senior Zhao’s [medical] resident’s friend. Apparently the friend heard Senior Zhao mention you before, so when he saw your name, he called the resident, who then called Senior Zhao. Senior then told me, so I thought something had happened to you.”

“What a tangled and complicated chain of events.” Yan Si was still feeling a bit lightheaded, so he bobbed his head and went to go prepare some tea to clear his mind. “That’s why I say that knowing too many people isn’t a good thing; everyone ends up hearing about any little thing that happens.”

“Oh, shut it. Aren’t you injured again? I heard you got bandaged there.” Yang De Cheng started to open the food boxes, carrying the soup into the kitchen.

“Nope, I went to check on a friend that was injured yesterday. I wasn’t the one hurt.” Yan Si stared at the table full of breakfast foods and did not hold back as he grabbed a freshly-prepared sandwich to chomp on. “And I got my bandages changed while I was there.”

He did not hear the other person’s reply, only catching a strange noise coming from the kitchen instead. When he walked over curiously, he saw Yang De Cheng using something to scrub his gas stove.

When Yang De Cheng, who had now rolled up his sleeves to clean, saw the home owner standing at the kitchen doorway, he said, “Ah Si, do you drop bits of plastic that melt on the stove when you heat things up? That’s really dangerous, you know. If the gas is blocked rather than burned off, you’ll get monoxide poisoning.” After scrubbing the burnt plastic off, the visitor that had originally come to heat up the soup but had spotted the plastic instead finally turned the stove on. When he saw the flames light up normally, he placed a pot on. “You should pay more attention to these things if you’re a forensic investigator. Have you never encountered someone that has died from monoxide poisoning before?”

“…Probably didn’t notice while cooking because my hand hurt,” Yan Si thoughtfully replied as he swallowed the last bite of sandwich and stared at the stove.

“Don’t you always bug me to bring meals to you? You still cook by yourself? Looks like I’ll just have to prepare some more that you can microwave later. Otherwise it’s too dangerous.” Yang De Cheng shook his head, and after washing his hands, carried the soup out. “You have to be more careful about these little things when living alone. It’s a good thing I got used to first checking the stove and oven before using them while at the restaurant.”

“Yes, yes, thank you very much, Chef Yang.” Yan Si saluted the person as he followed over. “Oh right, since you’re already out here, could you bring me somewhere?”

“…Old friend, I didn’t come out here to be your chauffer and bring you sight-seeing. I asked someone to leave me fish over at Taichung Harbour; I’ll have to rush over in a bit to grab it.” Yang De Cheng looked at the person that never stopped asking for more, barely resisting the urge to slap him.

“I want to try dropping by Senior Chang An’s place.” Yan Si cheerfully spooned up some impressively made soup as he bluntly voiced his objective. “I asked someone to help me look up his address, although I don’t know if he still lives there.”

Yang De Cheng paused and frowned. “While I don’t have much issue with him, I still don’t want to meet him face-to-face.”

They had all gotten to know each other in medical school.

Yang De Cheng’s studies had not gone smoothly, as Yan Si and Li Zi Hong knew. After changing to food and beverage field, Yang De Cheng had lost contact with many classmates. Most of those he still interacted with were from the hospital here in the central district. Everyone frequently dropped by to support him after learning that he had opened a restaurant, even bringing many colleagues from the hospital over. This had also been one of the reasons his business had developed so quickly.

However, it was because of many other matters that Yang De Cheng did not feel anything good about this particular senior, not because he had left school early.

“Sigh, you want me to drag my paw over to find him by myself another time?” Yan Si raised his injured hand and smiled at the good friend that had always been very good at taking care of others.

“Like me, Lai Chang An didn’t graduate, but that doesn’t mean he was able to find something he could persist with like I had. Even during school, it was the same. He’s definitely not looking for you for something good.” Yang De Cheng sighed. “Forget it, I’ll just come with you. You can’t drive with your paw wrapped like that and getting a taxi will be a hassle.” There were still several pieces of gauze on Yan Si’s face; he’d probably just end up getting shocked looks from the taxi driver.

“Don’t worry, I can still drive if I really need to. The front part of my paw isn’t injured, so putting it on top of the wheel shouldn’t be an issue. But thanks anyways,” Yan Si waved his hand and earnestly answered.

Yang De Chen shot an exasperated look at his friend who had no concept of modesty, then decided to change the topic so that he would not end up spitting blood first. “By the way, why are you still wearing a high-collar in such hot weather? Have you lost your mind?” It had bothered him a bit since he had first walked in. Although it was a short sleeve, wearing a high-collar in this kind of climate was definitely wrong.

“I just suddenly wanted to wear it and see if it could make my neck look slimmer,” Yan Si casually answered as he held some breakfast in his mouth while taking out his cellphone to text a certain person that was supposedly very busy. That way, the other person would not come charging over so early in the morning only to find it empty.

“Seems to me like you’re trying to get a rash,” Yang De Cheng retorted shortly. He was already quite used to the other person’s frivolous attitude back from their school days, so he naturally did not restrain himself when talking back.

“Don’t mind, don’t mind. It’s just a distinguishing feature.”

“Distinguishing, my ass!”