The two stood about ten meters apart, and Lu Siyu walked towards Song Wen against the flow of people and the bustling noise of the mall. Outside, the heat was steaming, but the air conditioning inside the mall seemed to be offered for free. Lu Siyu, feeling the cold, had draped a thin white long-sleeved shirt with a slightly drooping back. As he walked towards him, the word “elegant” automatically surfaced in Song Wen’s mind.

The world seemed to quiet down, leaving only the person in front of him.

Then Song Wen regained a trace of sanity and spoke, “You should have rested well at home. Why are you running around?”

Lu Siyu walked over, casually putting his hands into his pockets. “Suspended from work, bored, came out for shopping.”

Song Wen knew he still harbored resentment and furrowed his brows. “You finally got a paid vacation. Anyone else would be overjoyed, but you just don’t know how to cherish it. Have you had dinner?”

“I’ve already eaten,” Lu Siyu replied. Then he turned to look at Song Wen and asked, “Why did Captain Song come here?”

Song Wen didn’t hide anything from him. “There’s a case. The clue we found is that the victim once bought luxury goods around here. I thought of coming to ask if the stores could provide relevant surveillance footage.”

“Is it the case of the news investigator recently?” Lu Siyu asked.

Song Wen was surprised, “How did you know?”

“That person hasn’t updated his Weibo for a long time. Many speculations have been circulating, and it’s not difficult to guess that he may have been killed. When I went to the funeral home last time, the body looked a bit like him.” Lu Siyu spoke and blinked, extending a hand that resembled white jade. “Let me see the list.”

Song Wen opened the document and handed his phone to him. Lu Siyu lowered his head, swiped his fingers a few times, and pointed to one of the shops. “Let’s go, check out this one.”

Song Wen was not very familiar with these shops, having hardly entered any of them. However, Lu Siyu was familiar with the place. He led the way into a comprehensive luxury store. The first floor mainly featured women’s clothing and bags, while the second floor focused on men’s clothing.

Upon entering, the gazes of the store employees swept over, and without Lu Siyu asking any questions, they attentively followed. Lu Siyu followed the spiraling staircase upstairs, and the curved white hem of his clothes moved with him, giving Song Wen the impression of a white peacock’s elegance.

Song Wen followed him, glancing around. Every decoration in this place exuded luxury. After observing, he understood why Lu Siyu chose this store. It was large, expensive, with few customers, and all crucial angles were covered by surveillance cameras, maximizing the preservation of information.

Lu Siyu, carrying that air of reluctance to communicate with people, went to a nearby shelf, pulled out a few items, and took a shirt in his hands. Before he could turn around, a store employee naturally took it from him and removed the hanger. Holding the clothes in front of him, Lu Siyu strolled casually, picking a few more men’s clothing items.

Lu Siyu chose clothes quickly. Song Wen followed behind, secretly checking the price tags. The prices were jaw-dropping, and conservatively estimating, they had probably picked up items worth around two hundred thousand in this short time.

Then Lu Siyu finally took a few pieces of clothing into the fitting room. After a moment, he opened the fitting room door and waved to Song Wen outside, “Captain Song, come over.”

Confused, Song Wen walked in, and Lu Siyu immediately looped a tie around his neck without saying a word. Today, Song Wen was wearing a black shirt without a tie.

In the fitting room of the luxury store, there were tables, chairs, and benches, and the floor was covered with thick blankets, making it look like a small room.

“What are you…” Song Wen was taken off guard as Lu Siyu tied a tie around his neck. Lu Siyu’s fingers were long, and his movements were skilled. He adjusted Song Wen’s collar, and with a slightly cool touch, whether intentional or unintentional, his hand brushed against Song Wen’s neck. When fixing the collar, they were very close, and the action seemed ambiguous. Song Wen froze for a moment, waiting for Lu Siyu to move away a bit so he could breathe freely.

“It’s a gift for you,” Lu Siyu explained as he started tying the tie. He lowered his head, and from this angle, Song Wen could see that his eyelashes were very long.

“You know I don’t usually wear this…” Song Wen was caught off guard. “And it’s too valuable…”

Afraid that Song Wen would refuse, Lu Siyu explained, “This was a free gift with purchase, and it doesn’t suit me. It’s a bargain for you, don’t mind it.”

Finishing tying the tie, Lu Siyu stepped back in the spacious fitting room, tilting his head to observe Song Wen, “Looks really good.”

His heart skipped a beat at Lu Siyu’s words. Song Wen, wanting to undo the tie, stopped, pondered for a moment, and pretended to be serious, “Are you trying to bribe a leader?”

Lu Siyu nodded, “If it works, it’s worth it.” Without waiting for Song Wen’s response, he took a few pieces of clothing and walked out. Song Wen took a look; he was still wearing the same clothes he came in with. The time spent inside was so short; he didn’t even have time to change. It seemed like he had only pulled Song Wen in to help with the tie.

Song Wen touched the tie. The material was excellent, and he suddenly felt like he was being ensnared by this little fox.

The two returned to the first floor again. Six or seven store employees were standing by the sofa in the middle. When Song Wen went upstairs just now, he didn’t notice so many people in the store. At this moment, it seemed like they all emerged from the ground, standing in a row, sweetly saying, “Hello, sir. Please have a seat, sir. Would you like a drink, sir?”

Lu Siyu declined the offered wine and beverages, saying, “Hello, get me a cup of hot water, please.” Then he held the cup given by a store employee, warming his hands.

The store employee came over to swipe the card, but Lu Siyu didn’t stand up from the sofa. Instead, he sat there and got straight to the point, “My friend is a criminal investigator at the City Bureau. In an investigation of a previous case, according to the victim’s credit card records, he had consumed here a few months ago. Could you trouble your store manager to check the surveillance footage?”

Song Wen showed his identification to the store employees and then displayed the specific time information and Zhang Peicai’s photo.

This time, unlike the previous stores, these employees, including someone who appeared to be the store manager, went to retrieve the information. Other employees eagerly provided details.

“That day, there weren’t many people in our store, and I remember them. The gentleman was accompanied by a young lady, about one meter sixty, with short hair and light makeup.”

“Yes, the lady was wearing a white outfit from CC’s spring collection and LK’s shoes.” Another salesperson reported every detail.

“Those two seemed to be in love. The lady picked out some items, and the gentleman paid without saying much. Hmm, in the end, he also bought her a bag, but… the lady didn’t seem interested in that bag, yet the gentleman insisted on giving it to her. It was a bit strange.” The employee provided more details.

Lu Siyu sat there listening to the information, and Song Wen, standing by, thought that indeed, nothing could beat the speed and effectiveness of using money to get information. The change in the attitude of the store employees was starkly different from when there was no consumption.

Before long, the store manager returned, efficiently retrieving surveillance footage from several locations during that time period. They copied it onto a USB drive and provided Song Wen with a few printed photos. Although the images were not very clear, it could be seen that the woman standing intimately beside Zhang Peicai was wearing white, with short hair and delicate features.

Finally, the image of this woman was found. Song Wen felt like he had found a key and quickly thanked the store manager.

The store manager smiled and said, “Cooperating with the police is the right thing to do. If you need any further information or statements later, we can also go to your office to assist.”

Seeing that things were almost done here, the store employees had already packed everything. Lu Siyu handed the USB drive to Song Wen and stood up to leave.

The employees followed them, bowing with smiles, “We look forward to your next visit.”

Walking out, Song Wen followed Lu Siyu and helped carry a few bags. “Are you going to continue shopping?”

Lu Siyu shook his head, “Since I’ve already bought everything, I might as well go home and continue resting.”

Song Wen asked naturally, “Did you drive?”

Lu Siyu shook his head again.

Song Wen said, “Then I’ll give you a ride.”

After putting the big and small bags in the trunk, not long after they got into the car, Lu Siyu started to feel a bit drowsy. At first, he rested his head against the car window, and later, his eyelids began to fight against each other.

“Aren’t you secretly investigating this case too?” Suddenly, Song Wen’s voice came from the side. “Did someone in the team leak information to you?”

Recently, Zhu Xiao got a globally limited edition new phone, Cheng Xiaobing received several boxes of snacks, and even Lao Jia changed to good cigarettes. Song Wen couldn’t figure out who had informed him of his schedule.

Lu Siyu’s eyes lazily opened, and his pupils trembled slightly. He neither denied nor confirmed, “It happened to be tonight.” Then he asked Song Wen, “What would you do if I weren’t here?”

Song Wen replied, “I would go to the shopping mall or, if necessary, to the surveillance center to retrieve footage from nearby street cameras. It’s just a bit more troublesome and time-consuming.” There were always multiple ways to handle things; it just meant sacrificing some efficiency.

Lu Siyu nodded and closed his eyes again, his long eyelashes gently falling. Their car drove out onto the street, and the sounds of the night wind and the bustling street could be heard. Suddenly, Song Wen’s voice came again, “Thank you.”

Lu Siyu’s body moved slightly, making a sound of acknowledgment.

Seeing him like this, Song Wen asked, “What’s wrong? Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Lu Siyu shook his head, pressing his forehead with his fingers. “Just got out of the hospital, a bit messed up with the jet lag.”

In Song Wen’s mind, he thought, it was just a hospital stay, why make it sound like returning from a foreign country, complete with jet lag.

At this time, the city center was a bit congested, and with the slow pace of starting and stopping, drowsiness engulfed Lu Siyu, and his eyes became even more difficult to keep open.

Suddenly, Song Wen remembered something and asked him, “By the way, when we were in the ambulance last time, did you want to tell me something?”

Lu Siyu didn’t say anything, leaning his head against the window, closing his eyes, and his breathing gradually stabilized.

Just then, Fu Linjiang called to report progress, and Song Wen discussed the case with him, mentioning that they had a lead on the mysterious woman. They also talked about the knotting technique.

After finishing the call, Song Wen looked at Lu Siyu, who was dozing off in the passenger seat. He couldn’t tell whether it was the effect of the recent medication or just a moment of sleepiness, but now he was sleeping soundly and looked pale and gentle. Lu Siyu curled his body, still in that posture seeking safety.

The person next to him, gentle like a rabbit, was actually a fox full of ideas. Whether he didn’t hear or pretended not to hear that question, Song Wen couldn’t tell.

During a red light pause, when Song Wen lowered his hand, he inadvertently touched Lu Siyu’s hand. The bones of that hand were distinct, slender, and fair, cold enough to be a bit frightening.

Song Wen felt that he was gradually getting closer to Lu Siyu, uncovering his scars, approaching his secrets. He was mentally prepared; perhaps it would be a bloody affair. Beneath the glamorous facade might be something decayed and rotten, but in any case, he would always have a chance to hold onto him.

Lu Siyu only slept for about twenty minutes. When the traffic jam eased, he seemed to sense it, gently opened his eyes, and the scenery outside the car had turned into complete darkness. Only distant lights flickered. Lu Siyu sat up, rubbed his eyes, and said to Song Wen, “Sorry, I fell asleep unintentionally.” In just that short time, he entered a state of pseudo-sleep. His eyes were closed, he could hear voices, and he was conscious that he was still awake, but his body couldn’t move at all. This body was still too weak.

Song Wen was driving and said, “It’s okay, it wasn’t very long. I was about to wake you up, and you woke up on your own.”

Lu Siyu made a soft sound of acknowledgment, opened the car window a bit, and the night wind suddenly poured in. It was only at this moment that he was fully awake. Looking outside, he asked Song Wen, “Now that the mysterious woman has been found, do you have any other thoughts?”

“In this case, the knot used by the murderer is somewhat special,” Song Wen said. “I’ve asked Xu Yao to retrieve relevant information about the knots. We’ll pull all the records of similar cases in the entire Nancheng or even the entire country in the past three years.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Siyu frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and replied, “Zhang Peicai was checking newspapers from eighteen years ago. This may be related to his death. I think we should broaden the search scope and extend the time frame.”

Song Wen nodded, “Eighteen years ago… That might be a considerable workload. I’ll talk to Xu Yao about it later.” Only then did he realize that the person beside him hadn’t returned to work yet, and he wondered why he was discussing cases with him. Moreover, from the sound of it, he had overheard the entire phone call with Fu Linjiang just now.

TN:

“There is no happiness without tears,no life without death.Beware! I am going to make you cry.”