Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 177

Chapter 177: Flying to Altay

Shanghai to Urumqi and then to Altay, the whole journey took eight hours, and they were about to reach their destination.

Shen Yiyi was curled up in her seat, wrapped in a blanket, her head resting on Qin Luo’s shoulder, so sleepy she was unconscious.

The chief flight attendant did not dare to disturb the passenger’s rest. After making eye contact with Qin Luo, she walked past gently, helped to open the sunshade, and did not make a single sound.

At nine in the evening, Altay was still bright.

The light outside the porthole was not completely dark. The winter night was still almost unrealistically bright. The scenery was beautiful, so beautiful that Jiang Yan exclaimed and took out her phone to take pictures non-stop.

It was time to wake her up and let her take a look.

Qin Luo put down her tablet, her hand went into the thin blanket, and she gently stroked her girlfriend’s face, a soft awakening.

“Are we here?”
“Yes.”

Shen Yiyi opened her eyes in a daze. She turned her head to look out the window. The white mist was continuous, and the horizon was dragging a layer of pink light gauze. Looking down from a high altitude, the mountain ridges were like wrinkles, and the cloud shadows were slowly crawling on the snowfield, casting orange gaps, like a spread-out velvet blanket, layered like waves, making the person who had just woken up unable to tell if they were in the clouds or in the snow.

“It’s so beautiful.”

Qin Luo’s gaze also moved to the window. The hand in the blanket was held tightly by Shen Yiyi, and the other’s fingertips were stroking the back of her hand, her small movements non-stop.

Qin Luo knew that this was Shen Yiyi’s little habit of expressing her happiness. She would usually also rub the corner of her shirt, would fold a napkin into a square, and would repeatedly poke the back of her hand.

Qin Luo liked these little movements of hers that were unknown to others.

“Are you hungry?”

Shen Yiyi had not yet looked away. “Lu Shimao said she’s treating us to a whole roasted lamb tonight.”

“A whole roasted lamb…” Qin Luo put the tablet into the interlayer. “That sounds very expensive.”

Shen Yiyi smiled and turned her head.
“If you think it’s too expensive… you can also have her treat and you pay.”

Lu Shimao, who was preparing to treat them, was driving a police pickup truck in a cool way. She braked sharply and entered, and then, wrapped in a cotton coat and wearing sunglasses, she ran into the airport.

“Urumqi to Altay…”
“Urumqi to Altay…”

She was looking at the flight landing time on the public screen and was muttering to herself how she was almost late to pick someone up every time.

But it wasn’t her fault. She had originally taken leave and had prepared to come early, but who knew that in the afternoon, her senior sister had been in a hurry to upload data, and the damn signal in the dorm had been stuck for half a day. She had had no choice but to go and use the unit’s internet, and in the process, she had been delayed.

“Little Lu, over here.”

It was Qin Luo who had a sharp eye. From a distance, she had seen the Lu Shimao who looked like a sheep trader. Not only was she darker and stronger, but she also had a bit of a simple and rough feeling. It seemed that she was going to completely get rid of the label of a Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai only daughter.

“I’m sorry…”

Lu Shimao ran over and stopped steadily in front of Sister Shen’s suitcase. Seeing the tired look on the uncle and aunt beside her, she took off her sunglasses and immediately bowed ninety degrees.

“I’m sorry, uncle and aunt.”

Little Lu’s apology had startled Jiang Yan. “Oh my, it’s fine, child. We just came out.”

Shen Yiyi was used to Lu Shimao’s style. She directly reached out and patted her shoulder, took two steps back, and carefully looked her up and down from head to toe.

Her friend’s hair was shorter, and her skin was a little darker. But no matter how long she had been left to grow wild, as long as you put her in a crowd, Little Lu was still an outstanding and beautiful person.

“The food here is quite good? How come I feel you’ve gained weight?”

Qin Luo gently kicked her girlfriend’s suitcase and reminded her, “That’s called an increase in exercise. She’s gotten stronger.”

“I haven’t gained weight.” Lu Shimao also looked at herself and then lifted the duty cotton coat that was covering her whole body, showing Sister Shen her standard police academy physique. “Maybe it’s because I’m wearing a lot in the winter, so I look fat.”

It was Shen’s father who first interrupted his daughter and her friend’s reminiscing.

“Little Lu, thank you for your invitation.”

He had specially taken off his gloves and hat and had held out his hands to shake hers.

He had heard from his daughter that their family’s old case had been able to be pushed forward and solved in a short period of time, and that finding the shoe print evidence was a key node. If it weren’t for Little Lu’s help, it might have been delayed for another eight months.

But Shen Qinwen was a little surprised.

Before Lu Shimao had appeared, he had only seen her a few times in his daughter’s Moments. She had clear features and an outstanding appearance. Not to say that she was fair and tender, but at least she looked more like a Shanghai person than she did now. In his imagination, most of the female police officers in criminal investigation were swift and decisive, with sharp eyes and a decisive killing intent. But seeing Little Lu today, it had broken this stereotype of his. His daughter was right. This little girl had a pair of clear eyes.

If he were to describe his own daughter as a police officer, she was like a deep pit in a dark forest and a swamp. Then this Lu Shimao gave people the feeling of a lightning bolt that could strike a thousand miles in an instant. She did indeed look more vibrant than his own daughter.

“Uncle also has to thank you for your help.” Shen’s father held Lu Shimao’s hand with both hands and patted the back of her hand in affirmation. “If it weren’t for your help, I really don’t know when this case would have been reopened.”

Lu Shimao was embarrassed and shook her head repeatedly. “Finding the killer is what I should do. You don’t have to say that.”

“Oh my, what a talent.” Shen’s father was very good at praising people, especially when he met an outstanding young person, he was particularly enthusiastic. “I heard from Yiyi that you took the initiative to apply for technical assistance to Xinjiang. It’s rare for a young person to be not impetuous in their work. It’s really good. Young and promising…”

Jiang Yan chimed in on the side, “Yes, yes, you say you…”

Qin Luo, as an i-person with super strong empathy, was already feeling anxious for Lu Shimao in this situation. She couldn’t help but kick her girlfriend’s suitcase again, her eyes signaling her to quickly say a few words to wrap things up.

Shen Yiyi was also a person who would hit where she was pointed. She inserted herself between her father and her friend, separating their attention. “Yes, yes, Little Lu is indeed very outstanding. But we’ve been traveling all day. Let’s hurry up and eat and go back to the hotel to rest.”

***

Fortunately, Qin Luo had had Wang Xi check the itinerary before the trip. She had changed the off-road vehicle to a business vehicle, and the hotel suite to a single-family house in a village. Otherwise, according to the plan of the Director Shen who had no travel experience, she would have exhausted the two elders in this trip.

The wind at the Xuedu Airport was quite strong. Lu Shimao’s broken pickup truck was driving in front against the wind, and the luxury business car was chasing behind. After driving for more than ten minutes, they saw a bustling area.

The road surface in the city was a hard-packed ice shell, and the tires made a creaking sound as they rolled over it. There was residual snow everywhere you looked, and the white and the grassland were integrated. Occasionally, you could see low-rise houses with smoke rising from their chimneys. Although it was sparsely populated, you could feel the human fireworks outside the cold being protected by nature.

The temperature in the car was very high. The moment Qin Luo got out of the car, her glasses fogged up. Shen Yiyi was prepared. She took out a glasses cloth from her pocket and naturally took off Qin Luo’s glasses to help her wipe them.

“This place is very delicious.”

Lu Shimao was leading the way, introducing as she walked. “This is opened by my colleague’s family. Although the decoration is not very good, the ingredients are all from their own pasture, and the taste is fresh and authentic.”

The boss was a Kazakh. When he saw Lu Shimao come, he greeted her warmly in Mandarin.

The shop was not big. The long stove against the wall was still burning with charcoal. The charcoal fire was surrounded by a wire mesh, and the boss had specially opened a window for safety. There were only two or three tables of people left in the shop.

One table was a group of young Kazakh men, wearing thick cotton clothes, surrounding a large plate of hand-grabbed lamb, and chatting in Kazakh. The other table was a group of tourists from a scenic spot, in standard full-body hiking clothes, with a camera bag on their backs, their faces flushed, and they were making a pained face at the salty milk tea they had just taken a sip of.

“Dirty… dirty…”

Lu Shimao was bending over to wipe the stool for Sister Shen. When she turned around, she saw Sister Shen sit down without any hesitation.

She was so shocked she was petrified on the spot, her hand with the napkin suspended in the air.

But after Shen Yiyi had sat down, she had still taken out an alcohol wipe from her pocket and had wiped the table in front of her inside and out.

“Your mysophobia has gotten much better~”

Lu Shimao was surprised by this. After all, as her roommate, she had seen Sister Shen wash eight T-shirts a day. Now, to be able to sit down in a lamb restaurant without wiping the stool, it was a first.

“It has indeed improved.” Qin Luo also sat down. She was rinsing the disposable utensils in front of her. “It’s acceptable to have a layer of clothes in between.”

How could Qin Luo not know about her girlfriend’s mysophobia? In these past few years, they had seen many psychological counselors and had actively tried various therapies, but the mysophobia was still there, and it was very difficult to overcome it completely. But after the case was over, Shen Yiyi’s mysophobia symptoms had eased a little. She no longer repeatedly cleaned, and there was a change in the number of times.

She understood that Shen Yiyi was afraid that her behavior was too much and would make Lu Shimao concerned. After all, Lu Shimao had chosen the restaurant. If she complained that it was dirty, she was afraid that it would cause Little Lu to misunderstand.

“This is a good thing!” Lu Shimao was happy for her friend’s progress. “This way, life can also be a little easier.”

Shen Yiyi bit her lip and nodded, her hands in her pockets, reserved. She did not want to open her mouth, because it was indeed too dirty here, but she could endure it for a few hours for Little Lu.

Qin Luo opened her mouth and asked, “Are you used to living here?”

Lu Shimao poured herself a cup of hot jujube tea and held it in her palm. “I was excited when I first came. After three months, I started to get a little tired. I’ve only just started to get used to it recently.”

“Have you been around when you’re on vacation?” Shen Yiyi began to make small talk.

“Yes, the technical support training is held in various places. I’ve been to almost all the surrounding counties, and I’ve also stayed in the mountains and in a yurt. It’s very new.”

“Then the scale of your training is…”

The two were chatting about work. Qin Luo was taking pictures for her mother, and Shen’s father was studying the menu by himself. In a short while, the food was served.

A large plate of hand-grabbed lamb, naan pit roasted meat, and smoked horse sausage. Lu Shimao had ordered all the specialty dishes that you had to eat when you came to Xinjiang.

Shen Yiyi had been eating airplane food all day, and her stomach was already empty. When she saw the table full of hard dishes, she was in a daze for a moment.

“Good food with good wine, the more you eat, the richer you get.”

Shen’s father was eating very happily and had even composed a poem for his mood of wanting to have a small drink. But Lu Shimao was on standby and had to abstain from alcohol. His daughter could not drink. Only after he had had two glasses of mare’s milk wine with Qin Luo was he finally happy.

The alcohol content of the mare’s milk wine was not high, but it was very astringent and prickly on the tongue. After swallowing, there would be a faint milky, gamey smell in the mouth. Qin Luo did not like it. She used the excuse of going to the restroom to hide from Shen’s father, and at the same time, she wanted to pay the bill.

But the Kazakh people were too honest. Lu Shimao had greeted him in advance and had said that tonight’s meal was to treat a friend. The boss understood the meaning of coming from afar and resolutely refused to take the money.

After a bit of pulling and tugging, Qin Luo returned empty-handed.

After Qin Luo had sat down, she glanced at Lu Shimao. “You’re very familiar with the boss.”

How could Lu Shimao not know Sister Shen’s little thoughts? That’s why she had been prepared early on. Now, seeing that Director Qin had not succeeded in paying the bill, she rubbed the back of her head and smiled foolishly. “Of course I’m familiar. I can even ride his most difficult-to-tame horse.”

Qin Luo loved to sing a different tune with the young people. “You can even ride a horse?”

“Heh.” Lu Shimao’s competitive spirit was aroused. She immediately took out her phone and found a video she had recently filmed for Xue Tong to show off her equestrian skills. “Let me show you how I usually ride a horse to work.”

Shen Yiyi also leaned over. “Ah, you usually ride a horse to work?”

Lu Shimao was speechless. Sister Shen’s mysophobia had improved a lot, but how come her ability to distinguish a joke had still not improved…

She did not want to lie to Sister Shen. “I ride when I’m running in the mountains to collect data.”

Qin Luo looked at the video. This kid, Little Lu, did have some skill in riding a horse. But she also did not want to praise her. Bickering had already become their way of getting along. “Looking at your riding posture, it’s about the same as ours.”

Lu Shimao did not believe it. “I believe that Sister Shen can ride. You look like you’d have a hard time even getting on a horse.”

“Yes, yes.” Qin Luo nodded and looked at Shen’s father and Jiang Yan. The two elders had finished eating and had already left their seats to admire the snow scene. She leaned back in her chair. “I really can’t.”

“But your Sister Shen can. She’s the best at riding.”