Chapter 22

Jiang Ling raised the mirror and checked herself from top to bottom, left to right, front and back, but couldn’t find anything wrong.

Then she heard Song Guanshu say, “There’s nothing strange. Just remember to call me next time there’s something lively going on.”

Hearing him take the initiative to say he wanted to watch some drama, Jiang Ling felt even more puzzled.

“You’re acting strange today. How come you suddenly enjoy watching drama? You used to have zero interest in that sort of thing.”

“Nothing to do, so watching a bit won’t hurt.”

“Alright, I’ll call you next time,” Jiang Ling said. “I think it won’t be long. The Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law and Li Jun will definitely fight again, probably over some man-woman issues.”

Jiang Ling leaned in close to him mysteriously. “You’ve lived next door to them longer than I have. Do you think there’s something improper going on between Li Jun and Eldest Brother Miao?”

Song Guanshu revealed a meaningful smile. “Take a guess.”

So there was something going on. Jiang Ling, excited, patted his arm. “I knew it. Comrade Song Guanshu, you never fail to impress.”

Song Guanshu glanced at the fair little hand resting on his arm. Jiang Ling followed his gaze and immediately realized—he was a clean freak who didn’t like physical contact. She let out two awkward laughs and quickly withdrew her hand.

Jiang Ling raised her hand and vowed, “From now on, I’ll try my best to break the bad habit of always getting handsy.”

A faint smile played at the corners of Song Guanshu’s lips. “You’d better.”

He didn’t believe for a second that Jiang Ling could break that habit.

To change the subject, Jiang Ling asked him, “What are we eating tonight?”

“Anything will do.”

“Don’t be so casual. You finally came back, of course we have to celebrate and eat something nice.”

Song Guanshu helplessly closed his book. It felt like this person’s head was filled with nothing but food.

“Allow me to remind you, we already had noodles last night to celebrate.”

Jiang Ling had her own logic. “That’s different. Eating noodles was about hoping you’d stay for the long haul. That doesn’t count as a real celebration.”

Song Guanshu looked up and asked her, “So how do you want to celebrate?”

Jiang Ling raised her hand and pointed at the cupboard that held their food. “Tonight we’re having cured chicken!”

Song Guanshu hadn’t expected that this was all she aimed for. She had gone to all that effort just for some cured chicken.

Even if Jiang Ling hadn’t brought it up, he hadn’t planned on letting that chicken live much longer anyway.

“Alright.”

Jiang Ling’s eyes sparkled. “Not to brag, but you really are the best man I’ve ever met. No exceptions.”

She sat early by the stove pit, just to remind Song Guanshu that it was time to start cooking.

Song Guanshu, understanding the situation, put down his book and went to the kitchen to make dinner.

He added cold oil into the pan, and once it was hot, he poured in the chopped cured chicken pieces. He added dried chili peppers and other seasonings, stir-frying everything together. The kitchen was instantly filled with a fragrant, spicy, and savory aroma.

He poured hot water into the iron pot until it just covered the cured chicken, then covered it with a lid and let it simmer over high heat.

Without hesitation, Song Guanshu pushed open the kitchen window. The Liu family across the way had recently gone through a scandal, so their door and windows were tightly shut. No one would come out to ask for food at a time like this.

Jiang Ling didn’t stop Song Guanshu from opening the window. She stood up, intending to check what was going on at the Liu family’s place, when someone rode a bicycle into the courtyard with a jingling bell.

It was Xie Lang.

When he saw Jiang Ling, his eyes lit up. He turned to the person beside him and said, “Found it. Yes, this is the place. Thank you.”

“I finally found your house. I can’t tell you how many people I asked along the way, and they all said they didn’t know. Luckily, there was this guy who lives nearby and knew who I was talking about. He brought me here.”

Jiang Ling opened the door and called out to him, “What brings you to our place all of a sudden?”

As they passed by the kitchen, Xie Lang took in a deep breath of the aroma. “What are you stewing? It smells so good.”

That sentence was basically an invitation waiting to be accepted.

So Jiang Ling took the initiative and said, “Song Guanshu brought back some cured chicken from his business trip to Guangcheng. Stay for dinner tonight and have a taste. Let’s see how chicken from Guangcheng compares to the ones from Beicheng.”

Xie Lang rubbed his hands together sheepishly. “I really shouldn’t.”

Last time, he had intended to treat Jiang Ling and her husband to a meal, but it ended up being Song Guanshu who paid the bill. Today, he happened to have official business near the steel factory, and after work, he thought of returning the favor. But as luck would have it, he arrived just as they were cooking.

Jiang Ling said, “We’ve known each other for so many years. What’s there to be shy about? Stay and eat with us. The more the merrier.”

Xie Lang, straightforward as ever, said, “Alright then!”

The faint, polite smile never left Song Guanshu’s face, but the moment Xie Lang agreed to stay for dinner, the corner of his mouth involuntarily twitched downward.

Jiang Ling had invited Xie Lang to stay for dinner without consulting Song Guanshu, an important member of the household, mainly because she thought this was exactly what he wanted—to keep Xie Lang around and deliberately show off their relationship in front of him.

Jiang Ling felt she was being incredibly thoughtful.

Once they sat down inside, Xie Lang finally brought up the reason he had come to find them. “There was a homicide over at the neighboring cotton mill. My mentor and I are in charge of the case. On my way home from work, I passed by the steel factory and figured I’d stop by to see you two.”

Jiang Ling’s eyes widened. Could it be that the plot was starting? “A homicide?”

Xie Lang, that big mouth of his, had no sense of confidentiality. He ended up spilling all the case details without holding anything back.

“A female worker died. The scene looked like a suicide. When her husband discovered the scene, he didn’t go looking for a doctor right away. Instead, he went to get his parents and older brother, who live two streets away, to come take a look. Then he asked a neighbor who had followed barefoot doctors^[1]Barefoot doctors (赤脚医生) were a class of community health workers in rural China during the 1960s–1970s. They were usually peasants who received basic medical training to provide primary … Continue reading during the countryside movement and learned some basic medicine to come help. It was that young man who told them to quickly call a proper doctor from the hospital. But by the time the doctor arrived, she was already dead.”

“At first, they treated it as a normal death and began funeral arrangements. But when the woman’s family came, they sensed something wasn’t right. Her older brother reported it to the Public Security Bureau, and we were assigned to investigate. So here we are, working through the weekend without any rest.”

Jiang Ling said, “You’re responsible for protecting the lives and property of the people. It’s a heavy burden to bear. But it’s exactly because of people’s guardians like you that the rest of us can live in peace.”

Xie Lang grinned, showing a row of white teeth, and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “It’s not as impressive as you make it sound.”

Jiang Ling smiled. “Still, your bureau must have confidentiality rules, right? Since it involves an active case, you really shouldn’t be telling outsiders about it.”

The smile on Xie Lang’s face froze. Of course there were confidentiality rules, and just like Jiang Ling said, he wasn’t supposed to disclose case details to outsiders.

It was just that he had run into Jiang Ling, and couldn’t hold back in the moment.

“You and Brother Song aren’t outsiders. We’ve known each other for so many years. I trust you both. I know you’d never go spreading this around.”

Jiang Ling raised an eyebrow. “That’s not a sure thing. What if one day you offend the two of us, and I decide to report you to your supervisor for leaking case information?”

Xie Lang quickly cupped his hands and pleaded, “I promise I’ll change this bad habit. Just please don’t tell my mentor. He’s brutal when he scolds people.”

Jiang Ling nodded solemnly. “I’ll not only report to your supervisor that you violated confidentiality rules, but I’ll also tell your mentor that you badmouth him behind his back.”

Knowing she was joking, Xie Lang cooperated by pulling a long face. Then, picturing his mentor’s stern expression, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Jiang Ling laughed too.

Xie Lang felt that Jiang Ling had become more cheerful and much easier to get along with. She was very different from before, no longer carrying that aloof air.

He figured it was probably because she was married now. When he saw her again, the flutter he once felt was gone.

Just as the two of them were laughing happily, Song Guanshu called out from the kitchen, “Jiang Ling, come help me add some firewood to the stove. I’m a bit tied up here.”

Jiang Ling was puzzled. Song Guanshu had never needed her help with cooking before. The only reason she used to sit by the stove and tend the fire was because she had nothing better to do, and it made her look like she was contributing.

She responded, “Alright.”

But Xie Lang had already jumped into action. “I got it, I got it. I used to help my mom with the fire all the time when I was a kid. I’m a pro at this.”

Not caring that he was a guest, he ran over to the stove and started tending the fire without a second thought.

With the guest now helping in the kitchen, Jiang Ling naturally couldn’t just sit around in the inner room.

Xie Lang was the type who could strike up a conversation with anyone. He was a classic natural talker.

“Didn’t expect you to be this good in the kitchen, Brother Song. It smells amazing.” He bent down and stuffed some sun-dried straw into the stove. “If I’d known you could cook like this, we should’ve had you making meals back at the Educated Youth Point. I could’ve eaten a couple more bowls.”

“Back then, my skills were about the same as everyone else’s. I wasn’t much of a cook. My cooking improved quickly thanks to Jiang Ling’s guidance.”

Jiang Ling suspected he was subtly implying that she was both lazy and a glutton.

Xie Lang gave her a thumbs-up. “Then it must be thanks to Jiang Ling’s skills.”

The stir-fried cured chicken was ready just as the rice finished cooking. Since there was a guest, they couldn’t serve just one dish—Jiang Ling even went out to buy a piece of tofu.

Song Guanshu cut the tofu into pieces and blanched them, then added chopped scallions, sesame oil, soy sauce, and salt. A fragrant plate of scallion-tossed tofu was soon ready.

To show their hospitality, he even made a seaweed and egg drop soup.

Sitting at the table, Xie Lang didn’t even know where to start for a moment.

Half joking, half serious, he said, “Jiang Ling, can I send my mom over to you for cooking lessons?”

“You have no idea how bad her cooking is. If my dad and I have the option to eat out, we absolutely refuse to eat at home.” He wore a thoroughly miserable expression.

Jiang Ling directed Song Guanshu to ladle her a bowl of soup. “Director Bai is a career woman. It’s important for her to focus on her work too. She works hard all day at the office, and when she comes home, you and your dad get to rest a bit. Yet she still has to rush around cooking for the two of you, and you have the nerve to complain that her cooking isn’t good.”