Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 56

Chapter 56: A Story of Failure

Qin Luo had written countless stories of failure.

For thousands of years, great poets and writers had used ten thousand rhetorical devices to describe a civilized society, and then had recycled these narrative techniques to find a better moral code.

The thrilling excerpts of love and desire, the revenge of a heart’s hatred, these stories stole their sexiness from compassion and trauma, destroying the magnificent and superior beauties. The sense of death brought by destruction was always intoxicating.

No one could escape this framework.

Neither the characters nor the people.

So instead of saying that she was writing about people who were suffering, it was better to say that she was just writing a memo about tomorrow.

Qin Luo really wanted to stop.

In all her years of writing, she had perceived these decaying ruins anytime, anywhere, and had captured the microcosm of life. She had to observe everyone, including the lines on their faces, the length of their eyelashes, and their pretentious tears. She had heard people sing of their unwillingness, and she had seen people plant their desires. She could even give sympathy and understanding without being able to distinguish whether the other person was shouting or seeking justice.

Empathy was her gift.

A thin but strong rope in a flood of mud and water had tied her up.

There were mudslides in life every day.

She had thought about stopping.

She knew very well that as long as she closed the window, she would not be able to hear anything.

Whether Sister Ni’s daughter could live, whether the children trapped in the mountains could go to school, the single mothers who had no financial resources after their divorce, and the unclean men’s restroom at Logos… what did it have to do with her?

Qin Luo rested her head on Shen Yiyi’s shoulder, her hands tightly wrapped around the other’s waist.

“Um… Qin Luo… your colleague is watching us.”

“Don’t mind him.”

The embrace was constantly being pressurized in Qin Luo’s arms, deeply and firmly locked. Her heavy body was supported, and the two language systems in her throat were muted.

There were no disturbances around.

Qin Luo felt that she no longer needed to look for answers.

She seemed to be begging, “Just a little longer, let’s go in a bit…”

Just a little longer.

Wait for people to find a new sense of belonging, wait for the red-eye flight to take off, wait for Shen Yiyi to be willing to return to her side, so that she can have a place to stop.

Shen Yiyi gently patted Qin Luo’s back with one hand and looked at her electronic watch with the other. “I have to be back at the center for my shift at eight tonight.”

Shen Yiyi had something to do…

Qin Luo was reluctant. The hand on her waist loosened a little. “It’s only 4:30 now.”

“Liu Jia said not to let you go to the company, and to supervise you to go back and eat.”

As Shen Yiyi spoke, she glanced at Zhan Luo opposite her. He was holding Qin Luo’s laptop bag and smiling at her.

A daily profile, a flash.

A shirt, casual pants, sneakers, a watch habitually on his right wrist, and a bag in each hand. His facial expression was very relaxed, and his gaze toward her was friendly and kind.

Forget it. Who cares about him?

Shen Yiyi came back to her senses from Zhan Luo and gently rubbed Qin Luo’s back. “Are you hungry?”

Qin Luo rested her head on her shoulder. “Are you going to come home with me and make me dinner?”

Her breath touched her skin, and Shen Yiyi sensitively turned her head to resist. “When I came, Liu Jia told me that the refrigerator was just stocked with fresh vegetables. She asked me to make you something to eat. But if you’re very hungry, you can order takeout.”

“Why do you keep mentioning Liu Jia?” Qin Luo gently squeezed her waist, lifted her head from her shoulder, and looked into Shen Yiyi’s eyes. “How many times have you called her?”

Shen Yiyi avoided her gaze. “She’s the one who keeps calling me.”

In these past three days, Liu Jia had been to the police station twice because of the doxxing of the KOLs under her who had been unlucky along with Logos, and because of the slanderous attacks on Qin Luo by the water army.

The grassroots police station was busy, and their actions against online disputes were relatively slow.

But the Logos legal team was waiting for the police station’s case filing receipt to sue the social media platform to get the user information of the water army to sue them.

There was no time to delay, so Liu Jia had been calling Shen Yiyi every other day.

It wasn’t that Liu Jia couldn’t find anyone else to help.

Before the Her Kill project had landed, the producer had had dinner with the leaders of the political and legal propaganda department. But it was not appropriate to use resources for a police station receipt.

Shen Yiyi was a small leader in the city’s criminal investigation team, and her relationship with Qin Luo was unclear. She owed Liu Jia so many favors from high school, so now was the most suitable time to “repay the debt.”

Liu Jia would call once at night and once in the evening, so much so that Shen Yiyi’s scalp would tingle whenever she saw Liu Jia’s call.

Just last night.

Shen Yiyi had just mentioned Qin Luo’s condition on the phone, and Liu Jia had started complaining.

She said that Qin Luo was crying every day because of these few public welfare projects, and she was anxious in Shanghai. She was clearly helping, but she was being scolded by Qin Luo from hundreds of kilometers away.

Shen Yiyi knew that Liu Jia liked to use exaggeration, and she was skeptical about Qin Luo crying every day.

But Liu Jia didn’t spread false news, so Qin Luo must have cried.

Shen Yiyi had never seen Qin Luo cry. In her mind, she only had the image of herself crying on Qin Luo’s shoulder, her nose running, her whole body trembling. She couldn’t imagine the scene of Qin Luo shedding tears.

So she took the initiative to ask about Qin Luo’s schedule, which happened to be on the same afternoon as her uncle’s trip back to Fengjiang.

The airport and the high-speed rail were next to each other. After seeing her uncle off on the high-speed rail, she could just walk a few steps to the airport.

Shen Yiyi found an excuse for herself and waited outside the airport to pick her up. But she had to make up for the extra leave she had taken with two full shifts.

But seeing Qin Luo could relieve her worries for several days, so it was worth it even if she had to work two more days.

“Let’s go. It’s going to be rush hour soon,” Shen Yiyi urged.

Qin Luo stood up completely. The embrace had regenerated her blood flow, and the fatigue on her face had subsided a little. She waved at Zhan Luo.

Zhan Luo had been on the periphery. Seeing his boss call him, he immediately came over.

“Little Zhan, Dr. Shen, the director of the city’s criminal identification department.” Qin Luo couldn’t help but introduce Shen Yiyi to the people around her. If Shen Yiyi was willing, she would even take her to the company and announce it to the world.

Zhan Luo switched to holding the bag with one hand and held out his hand. “Director Shen, hello.”

“This is my…” Qin Luo hadn’t given Zhan Luo a specific job title yet. After hesitating for a long time, she said, “This is my reading group’s assistant.”

With that, Qin Luo put her hand on Zhan Luo’s wrist and pressed down his raised arm. “Dr. Shen has a professional habit. She doesn’t like to shake hands.”

Zhan Luo scratched his head with his withdrawn hand.

Shen Yiyi smiled naturally at Zhan Luo. “Hello.”

Qin Luo’s eyes were all on Shen Yiyi, from her neck to her feet. She could even stare at her open mouth when she spoke.

Qin Luo reached out and took the bag from Zhan Luo’s hand. “Little Zhan, you can go get the car.”

Zhan Luo nodded. “Director Qin, please give me the parking card.”

In front of outsiders, Zhan Luo never called her Sister Qin. This was a request that Qin Luo had made to him when he had picked her up after a social event two weeks after he had started volunteering.

At that time, Qin Luo could never remember his name and had called him Little A, Little B, and Little C.

Qin Luo took out her wallet from her bag and handed over a black card. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s what I should do.”

Zhan Luo took the card and pushed the luggage cart toward the parking lot alone. Qin Luo and Shen Yiyi walked side by side behind him slowly.

The airport was noisy.

Shen Yiyi’s voice was soft. “Is everything taken care of?”

Qin Luo had to lean in a little to hear. “It’s okay. The police are arresting people, the employees’ wages have been settled, and the other messy inspection procedures are being handled.”

Shen Yiyi nodded. “It’s good that it’s taken care of.”

“Thank you for helping me find someone.”

Qin Luo remembered that when she was at her most helpless, Shen Yiyi had given her support. Although that police officer had not been instrumental in the case, he had at least helped her sort out her thoughts as quickly as possible.

Shen Yiyi bit her lip. “You’re too polite. Brother Xing told me he didn’t help you much. You’ve thanked me several times already.”

Qin Luo raised an eyebrow. “He did help. How did he not help? The legal team relied on the catalog he sorted out to submit all the evidence at once, which saved us several trips. If it weren’t for him, I would have been a few days late.”

“You’re welcome.” Shen Yiyi walked a few steps and then said, “It’s good that I could help you.”

Without the embrace, the distance between them was pulled apart, and they returned to their polite back-and-forth.

This sense of distance was too obvious, making Qin Luo feel that she had instantly walked into late autumn.

It was like the late autumn when Shen Yiyi had disappeared.

Making the future summers all seem like an illusion.

She had to change the subject, forcing herself to quickly get around this emotion. “Has Uncle Xu gone back to Fengjiang?”

“Yes, he went back to Fengjiang to handle his medical insurance.”

Qin Luo looked down. She remembered that the last time she had talked about renting an apartment, Shen Yiyi had some plans, and her voice had unconsciously become cold. “Have they chosen a treatment plan?”

Shen Yiyi shrugged. “I didn’t ask, and my uncle didn’t say.”

The topic ended there. Qin Luo did not continue. The two took the elevator to the underground garage and then waited for the car in silence.

The car arrived, a business brand car. Zhan Luo parked it, quickly got out, and opened the door for Qin Luo.

Qin Luo stepped aside to make way. “Get in.”

Shen Yiyi got into the car uncomfortably and then looked up at Qin Luo.

Qin Luo seemed to be very used to this kind of life. After she got into the car, she naturally took out her phone to look at it and hurriedly typed on the screen.

It seemed that she was not as fragile as she had imagined.

She was no longer the Qin Luo who had sat on the steps of the courtyard and said sorry to her.

Forty minutes later, the car drove into the garage in an orderly manner. Zhan Luo opened the car door for Qin Luo, moved the luggage, and said goodbye.

Qin Luo said to the person in the car, “Thank you for driving the car back to the company. You can take a day off tomorrow.”

He nodded and drove away.

“Is this your reading group’s assistant?” Shen Yiyi asked curiously.

Qin Luo nodded. “He used to drive for Liu Jia. Later, he started helping out at the reading group. My assistant resigned a while ago, and there was no one to take over. He happened to know everything, so I had him fill in for now.”

Shen Yiyi said, “Oh,” and thought of the online comments about Logos. Then she asked again, “Can the male employees in your company take it?”

Take it?

Qin Luo locked her phone screen and thought, “That’s a good question.”

Looking at Logos’s target audience, audience profile, and the video track and discourse power of the artists under the company, it would indeed be a problem for a group of male employees to work at the company.

“We remember that the Logos podcast had an episode where they specifically interviewed the male colleagues from various departments. You can listen to it if you’re interested.”

Shen Yiyi looked down and fumbled with her phone. “Oh? Is there? Which episode is it?”

Qin Luo pressed the elevator button and looked at her serious expression. “When did you download the podcast app? Have you followed our company’s channel before?”