Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 59

Chapter 59: Back to the Past

Shen Yiyi hadn’t finished making up for the leave she had taken last week, and her work in the lab was not yet over, but she still agreed to Liu Jia’s request.

“Give me Guo Rui’s phone number.”

“Okay, your phone number is on WeChat, right? I’ll send it to you on WeChat in a bit.” Liu Jia added, “Thanks.”

Shen Yiyi just said, “Then I’ll hang up now.”

The corridor was stuffy. Shen Yiyi pinched her brow and paced, then took out her phone and searched for the latest train schedule. In the end, she had no choice but to call her roommate.

Lu Shimao had just finished a meeting and answered the phone. “What’s up?”

Shen Yiyi held her lab coat and said hesitantly, “Little Lu, I need to ask you for a favor.”

It was rare for Lu Shimao to hear Dr. Shen ask her for a favor. Her tone immediately brightened. “What is it? Just say it!”

“I… I want to go back to Fengjiang tonight.”

The smart Miao Miao immediately understood. “It just so happens that I’m staying out tonight. Are you at the office? I’ll bring you the car keys.”

“Thanks…” Shen Yiyi’s arm drooped. “I’m at the Institute of Criminal Science. I’ll come and get them from you in a bit.”

After telling Lin Puping what to pay attention to when running the database, Shen Yiyi said goodbye to her colleagues. But she was not at ease with the work arrangements for tomorrow and hurriedly asked Director Hong for instructions.

It was certain that a key technical post would be scolded for taking leave every other day. Not everyone could sign the identification report. If Shen Yiyi was not there, then Director Hong would have to work harder to keep an eye on things. But after all, Shen Yiyi had never taken leave since she had started working under him. Old Hong just complained a few more times and told her to come back as soon as possible.

It was almost 11:30 at night when Shen Yiyi got on the highway.

Ever since she had gotten her driver’s license in college, Shen Qinwen had been suggesting that he buy his daughter a car, not only for her convenience in her daily commute, but also to get Shen Yiyi to go to Fengjiang more often.

But Shen Yiyi had always refused.

One moment she would say that it would not look good for her to drive to work as soon as she started, and the next she would say that the grassroots level was too mobile and it was not convenient to buy a car.

In short, Shen Yiyi was thirty-four and still had no plans to buy a car.

Shen Qinwen had also asked Shen Yiyi where she wanted to settle down. Now that she had moved from the provincial capital to Shanghai, she had to consider the important matters in her life.

Shen Yiyi had been perfunctory a few times and had told her dad that she was too busy with work and had no time, and that she had no thoughts about marriage.

Sometimes, when Old Shen was pushed too far, the two would argue a little. Shen Yiyi’s words were the same as when she was a child.

She would say, “I’m not interested in people, neither the ‘sex’ in ‘sex life’ nor the ‘happiness’ in ‘happiness.'”

Old Shen was not a rigid and stubborn father.

He was an educator and a single father. He had doted on his daughter like a treasure since she was a child.

He thought that it was not impossible for his daughter not to want to start a family. After all, there was too much news about domestic violence and murder of wives in society now. He was also not at ease with Shen Yiyi’s cold personality and how much she would care about her family in the future.

But Shen Qinwen was also worried that after he was gone, Shen Yiyi would be alone in this world with no one to accompany her, so he had been thinking of getting his daughter to buy a house and a car early on.

He had sent Shen Yiyi countless messages to remind her: “A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as your own doghouse. It’s crucial to have a fixed asset to shelter you from the wind and rain.”

But Shen Yiyi had refused to listen and had insisted on renting a place to live and taking the subway to work. She had saved all her salary for so many years and had not touched it.

Shen Yiyi had not bought a car, but her driving skills were very good. She had often driven a police car to the scene when she was working in the provincial department. She had driven on all kinds of difficult road conditions, from muddy ponds to mountain roads and wild forests, places suitable for hiding a body. She could even make her roommate’s sports car have the aura of a police car.

She did not listen to music and did not slow down. It was only halfway through the drive that she remembered to call Guo Rui.

Shen Yiyi dialed the number Liu Jia had sent her and put it on speaker.

The other end rang for a long time before it was answered.

“Hello? Hello?”

So many years had passed, but Guo Rui’s voice had not changed much.

Shen Yiyi adjusted her posture, her hands on the steering wheel, a little distracted. It was as if some memories had drilled into her pupils with the familiar voice, and then had passed with her breath, becoming nothing.

She said, “Guo Rui, it’s Shen Yiyi.”

“Ah, it’s Yiyi?!” Guo Rui was a little surprised, and her tone immediately became excited.

Shen Yiyi went straight to the point. “Is Qin Luo at your place? Can I see her…”

The surprise was cut short by the purpose.

Guo Rui’s voice lowered, and she whispered into the phone, “Qin Luo is at my place, but she’s not coming out of her room, and she won’t let me in… You can come to my place, but I can’t guarantee that she’ll see you.”

“Thanks, I know.” Shen Yiyi continued, “Send me your address by text. I’m driving. I’ll be at the Fengjiang toll station in about…”

She glanced at the navigation. “An hour.”

“Alright, then I’ll send you the address.”

On the way, Shen Yiyi drove at full speed for three hours. It was already 3:30 in the morning when she reached the Fengjiang toll station.

Shen Yiyi had been on the night shift the day before yesterday, and her lunch break had been taken up by a meeting that Director Hong had sent her to. The lights of the toll station were bright, illuminating her leaden eyelids.

So tired.

She couldn’t understand why she was so tired whenever she was near Qin Luo.

Guo Rui’s house was in a newly developed area, more than ten kilometers from the main city, but very close to the toll station. She followed the navigation for less than five minutes and arrived downstairs at Guo Rui’s house.

Guo Rui was not asleep at four in the morning. She was standing at the entrance of the building in her slippers, waiting.

When Shen Yiyi saw Guo Rui standing outside the door, she didn’t have the courage to push open the car door for a moment. She was not one to disturb others, but now she had made Guo Rui stay up all night with her.

They hadn’t seen each other in sixteen years.

The first thing Shen Yiyi said when she saw her was, “Guo Rui, I’m so sorry to disturb you so late at night. I’m really sorry.”

She even bowed slightly, so sorry that she couldn’t look Guo Rui in the eye.

Guo Rui was more generous and natural than before. She approached Shen Yiyi and said in a joking tone, “It’s fine! I don’t have to work tomorrow. Who sleeps at night among young people!”

“I’m really sorry.” Shen Yiyi still felt sorry and awkwardly put her hands behind her back.

“If you apologize again, I won’t take you up,” Guo Rui said with a smile.

Shen Yiyi didn’t say anything and just smiled lightly. “Then thank you.”

Guo Rui led the way. “It’s a three-hour drive. Are you tired?”

“It’s okay,” Shen Yiyi replied, following behind her and briefly scanning the property environment.

It wasn’t that she wanted to collect personal information about Guo Rui over the years through profiling, but she was curious.

This area was an important development area for the municipal government in recent years. To drive up the nearby housing prices, the municipal offices had also moved here. Shen Qinwen had also asked her if she wanted to buy a property in this development.

According to Shen Qinwen, the housing prices here were very expensive at that time.

Guo Rui pressed the elevator button. The two stood side by side, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Shen Yiyi put her hands in her pockets.

It was Guo Rui who took the initiative to start a topic in the silence. “I heard you’re in Shanghai now?”

“Yes, there was a need for work there, so I took the exam and went.”

Guo Rui’s voice was much louder than before. “The pressure of living there must be great. I feel that Qin Luo has been very tired there these past few years.”

Shen Yiyi replied, “I’m okay. I just go back and forth between my unit and my dorm.”

“I saw Uncle Shen running in the municipal park a few days ago. He looks very healthy and still very young.”

Shen Yiyi smiled. “Anyway, he exercises all year round. I don’t go home very often, but every time I see him, I feel that he’s gotten a little older.”

The elevator arrived, and Guo Rui let her in first.

The light in the elevator was bright. Shen Yiyi stepped in and turned around, just in time to meet Guo Rui’s gaze.

The streetlights in the complex were not on just now, and she hadn’t seen Guo Rui’s features clearly. She had thought it was just her high school appearance. Now that she saw her clearly, she was shocked again.

Not only had Qin Luo changed, but Guo Rui had also changed.

Shen Yiyi used the same line she had used when she had reunited with Qin Luo: “You’ve changed a lot.”

The metal in front of them was reflective. Although the figures were distorted, you could see a qualitative change in the cracks.

Guo Rui asked sincerely, “Really?”

“Yes.”

Shen Yiyi rarely directly praised someone for being beautiful.

To her, “beautiful” was a measure of modification, no different from the tape measure she used for autopsies. It could only be used to quantify a person’s features, to make their appearance separate from the person, to become a qualified subordinate clause. So she would only choose to use “beautiful” when she couldn’t find the words to praise someone.

But Guo Rui was truly beautiful.

Her hair was piled high on her head, and she was wearing a simple nightgown, her face completely bare, with no extra embellishments. But she could make one’s gaze linger on her effortlessly and willingly.

“You’ve also changed a lot.” Guo Rui boldly glanced sideways. “You seem much softer than before.”

“Me?” Shen Yiyi had never expected to be described as “soft.” She was amused. “Haha, was I a very hard existence before?”

The elevator opened, and Guo Rui said, “In the past, you would have just replied with an ‘oh.'”

High school, a hellish complex that was difficult to look back on, full of ironic arrangements of fate. The more pain one carried in their later life, the stronger the regret of returning to high school. The most primitive memories were squeezed dry of their juice by regret, every drop distinct, every drop clear.

Shen Yiyi shrugged, walked out of the elevator, and made a humorous callback to the memory: “Oh.”

Guo Rui’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. She gently pushed Shen Yiyi. “It was much more serious than that. It was clearly, ‘Oh!'”

It was only a ten-second elevator ride, but the sky outside was already getting light. Guo Rui opened the door lightly and then found a pair of slippers for Shen Yiyi.

She pointed to the bedroom. “Qin Luo is in that room. Do you want to go in now?”

Shen Yiyi bit her lip and thought for half a second before saying, “Where’s the restroom? I’ll go wash my hands first…”

Guo Rui pointed to the other end. “Over there.”

Shen Yiyi, who had been holding the steering wheel for three hours, was washing her hands carefully. The mirror in front of her reflected her haggard face. She looked at herself and asked the second “why” of the night.

Why was she so improper?

Improperly taking leave, improperly rushing back to Fengjiang, improperly coming to an old classmate’s house, and even improperly sneaking into the bedroom where Qin Luo was resting in a bit.

Of course, in the end, Shen Yiyi blamed all the impropriety on Liu Jia. It was Liu Jia who had asked her to come. She had to come.

Or maybe, she wanted to come. She thought that if she could buy a car and a house in Shanghai, it would be nice. Maybe she was still a little interested in people.

But she didn’t want to admit it so easily. After all, Qin Luo had wasted a lot of her time.

At this thought, Shen Yiyi was already at the bedroom door. She didn’t knock, just gently turned the doorknob. Although it was already light outside, the room was so dark that she couldn’t see anything.

Qin Luo was lying on the bed, as if she were asleep.

Shen Yiyi closed the door and stood for a while to get used to the light. Then, with the faint light coming in from the curtains, she felt her way to the bedside.

Qin Luo didn’t know who had come in and turned over in bed.

Shen Yiyi sat in the darkness and said softly, “Qin Luo, I know you’re not asleep.”