Chapter 5

“Sun Yiyi and that bar owner, their relationship is not ordinary!” Wang Rui said in a low voice.

“Mm.” Yan Dongcheng nodded.

“But Sun Yiyi’s mobile phone call records show no frequent contact with any man at all, she never talked to this person.”

“Look at how they interact, it’s obvious they know each other very well, not the kind of ordinary friends who have not kept in touch for a long time. If it were just a normal friendship, why deliberately avoid phone calls and leave no trace of contact? They must have other ways of contacting each other.”

“Assuming Bai Yong knew his wife was cheating,” Wang Rui’s eyes lit up, “then what Old Liu said, that Bai Yong was depressed and had suicidal thoughts, would make sense, right?”

“If Bai Yong knew his wife was cheating, would Old Liu not know? Old Liu did not tell us the truth.”

Yan Dongcheng’s gaze swept toward Old Liu, who was squeezed into the corner.

Old Liu seemed unwilling to be noticed, but he was also paying close attention to what was happening in front, crouching behind the crowd, standing on tiptoe and craning his neck to peek around.

His expression was gloomy, one hand clenched into a fist, tightly gripping the cuff of his leather jacket.

Following Old Liu’s line of sight, Yan Dongcheng found that Old Liu was also watching Sun Yiyi and Fan Mingyuan.

“He knows,” Yan Dongcheng said, “Old Liu knows Sun Yiyi was cheating.”

“This gets complicated,” Wang Rui shook his head, “since Old Liu knows about Sun Yiyi and the bar owner, Bai Yong naturally knew too, yet Bai Yong was singing at Fan Mingyuan’s bar for a long time. Fan Mingyuan’s opinion of Bai Yong was actually pretty high, he said he and Bai Yong were good friends……”

“Maybe it’s more complicated than you think.” Yan Dongcheng looked at Sun Yiyi’s son.

By then, Sun Yiyi’s mother had already put down the round-faced little boy. The old lady could no longer carry the five-year-old chubby boy, so she set the child down beside her, with one hand resting on the boy’s shoulder.

The thick sweater on the boy’s body had ridden up, piling up on his chubby belly. His eyes were half closed, his head slowly dropping, as if he were an old man dozing in the daytime.

Old Liu slipped out of the mourning hall when no one was paying attention.

Yan Dongcheng did not even hear the Harley start up, Old Liu pushed the motorcycle away.

After the funeral ceremony ended, Yan Dongcheng and Wang Rui stepped forward to exchange a few pleasantries with Sun Yiyi.

“Officer Yan, thank you both……” Sun Yiyi’s gaze kept flickering away, revealing an unmistakable panic.

The bar owner Fan Mingyuan did not know where he had hidden himself.

“Please accept my condolences. Is there anything you need us to help with?” Yan Dongcheng asked.

“The funeral arrangements have all been made, my relatives, and Bai Yong and my friends, everyone is willing to help. Officer Yan, you two are busy with work, we won’t trouble you.”

“Then we’ll take our leave for now. If anything comes up, you can call me anytime.”

Yan Dongcheng and Wang Rui walked out of the mourning hall.

The midday sun was blindingly bright, Yan Dongcheng narrowed his eyes to adjust to the light, and suddenly caught sight of a figure crouching beside a motorcycle outside the wall railing, smoking.

“Old Liu is still outside.” Wang Rui saw it too.

The two of them quickly headed for the gate. Old Liu caught them in the corner of his eye, shrank his neck, jumped onto the motorcycle, twisted the throttle hard, and roared off toward the main road.

“What is he panicking about?” Wang Rui looked at the receding motorcycle.

“He is waiting for someone.”

“Waiting for Sun Yiyi?”

“Possibly. Old Liu is suspicious, he probably hid a lot of the truth from us.”

“Looks like we still need to talk to him again.”

“Mm.” Yan Dongcheng turned to look at Wang Rui, “It’s the weekend today, do you have a date?”

“Me?” Wang Rui smiled and shook his head, “No, nobody’s asking me out!”

“How about going to a bar for a drink tonight?”

“Fan Mingyuan’s bar? Or the bar where Old Liu performs?”

“First, let’s meet Fan Mingyuan.”

It was rare to have a day off, so the two of them went home separately to take care of household chores, agreeing to meet after dinner. They were both single and living alone at the moment, so after going home to clean up and wash clothes, the afternoon passed.

At nine in the evening, Wang Rui arrived on time downstairs at Yan Dongcheng’s apartment building.

Yan Dongcheng had changed into a beige trench coat, and as he went downstairs, he was tying a necktie over his shirt.

Wang Rui stood at the entrance to the building, still wearing the black jacket from the morning, with a pair of light-colored casual pants. His good looks were famous in the police team, but he himself did not care about his appearance, and his clothes had always been plain.

“Here.” Yan Dongcheng knew Wang Rui’s habit of dressing, and had specially prepared a necktie for him.

“This…… emerald green?” Wang Rui recoiled in disgust.

“You didn’t prepare one yourself, and you still have complaints?”

“I want the blue one you’re wearing……”

“Less talk!” Yan Dongcheng shoved the tie into Wang Rui’s hands, a smile at the corner of his mouth, and walked straight out of the residential complex.

Wang Rui held the emerald green tie up and down to inspect it, gritted his teeth, and as if making up his mind, put it around his collar. He tied the tie with both hands and quickly caught up to Yan Dongcheng.

The two of them did not drive, and took a taxi to Kaier Mall in the commercial district.

The small square in front of the mall was lively, the middle-aged and elderly people doing square dance had not yet dispersed, and the two groups doing ethnic dance and fitness calisthenics each occupied the south and north corners of the square, music rising and falling in turns.

The neon lights of Yuena Bar covered more than half of the commercial building.

At the first-floor entrance, beams of light flashed, forming a huge whirlpool that drew passersby’s eyes toward the focal point of the whirlpool, the staircase covered with advertising posters and lit by lights.

Wang Rui took off his jacket and draped it over his arm, the white shirt underneath neat and well-fitted, showing off his tall, athletic build.

“Please go upstairs, gentlemen!” The welcoming waitress’s eyes lit up, and she greeted them in a bright voice.

The waitress was very young, with delicate brows and eyes, her hair combed sleekly and tied high on top of her head, wearing a fine-checkered suit vest, the sleeves of her shirt gathered into many narrow pleats, puffed out in an exaggerated way.

“Are you two here for the first time?” The girl walked up the stairs sideways, saying enthusiastically.

“What time does the performance start?” Yan Dongcheng asked.

“At ten thirty. You came at just the right time, after ten there won’t be any good seats!”

“Mm, it is the weekend today.”

“If you don’t reserve in advance on the weekend, there usually aren’t any seats, luckily you came early,” the girl took out two business cards and handed them to them, “Please call ahead next time you come, I’ll arrange it for you.”

Yan Dongcheng lowered his head and looked at the business card. Only the name and phone number were printed on it.

“Vivian,” as they reached the corner of the stairs, Yan Dongcheng suddenly asked, “Will Bai Yong be singing today?”

“Bai Yong?!” The waitress named Vivian was startled, “You still don’t know? Bai Yong he……” She swallowed the rest of her words.

“Bai Yong isn’t performing here anymore? We came specially to hear him sing.” Wang Rui straightened the eye-catching tie on his chest, and under the night club lights, the tie turned fluorescent green.

“The boss won’t let us tell people,” Vivian covered her mouth with her palm, lowering her voice, “Bai Yong is dead.”

“What?!” Wang Rui was so shocked his leather shoe tripped on the stairs.

“Be careful……” Vivian reached out and steadied him.

“Bai Yong was at most in his early thirties, he died so young, what was the cause?” Wang Rui asked softly.

“The boss won’t let us talk about it with customers, you must never say I told you.”

“I won’t, I’m not a gossip.”

“I’ll tell you,” Vivian’s face was full of mystery, “Say it and it will scare you to death, Bai Yong ah, ran into a ghost!”

“Oh dear,” Wang Rui kept patting his chest, “Don’t scare me, I’m most afraid of ghosts.”

“Bai Yong went to Hokkaido for a trip, but his body appeared in Yanming Mountain. If that wasn’t running into a ghost, what was it?”

“I don’t believe it.” Wang Rui exchanged a look with Yan Dongcheng, “You’re talking nonsense, how could there be such a strange thing?”

“His wife came a few days ago, and personally told our boss so. My little sister heard it with her own ears, believe it or not!”

“You’re getting more and more ridiculous,” Wang Rui raised his voice, “Bai Yong is already dead, Bai Yong’s wife came looking for your boss? That doesn’t make sense!”

“Hush, hush,” Vivian anxiously tugged his arm, “Hush, keep your voice down! Bai Yong’s wife and our boss, it’s that…… every time she comes, our boss gives her money.”

Lover?

Yan Dongcheng and Wang Rui were not surprised.

The bar was noisy with voices, and was almost fully seated. Most of the customers were drinking and playing cards, waiting for the performance to begin.

Vivian led Yan Dongcheng and Wang Rui to the front of the stage, took away the “reserved” sign on the small round table, and proudly invited them to sit down.

“This is my reserved table, specially kept for the customers I like.” The girl winked at Wang Rui.

“Bring a keg of beer……” Wang Rui looked around.

This was a nostalgia-style performance bar, and its most popular regular act was singing imitations of the Four Heavenly Kings.

The lights flashed, and a lively opening dance started onstage.

The dancers wore colorful feather skirts, lined up in a row, standing at the edge of the stage divided by a band of light, holding wreaths and swaying.

The atmosphere immediately grew lively, customers cheering and clapping along with the beat.

Vivian busily moved back and forth, delivering drinks to customers.

Her route for carrying drinks was radial, spreading out from Wang Rui at the center in all directions, and each round trip had to stop in front of Wang Rui and say a few words.

“There, that one,” she pointed at a beautiful waitress and bent down to whisper in Wang Rui’s ear, “That one is Lisa! She is the little sister I told you about when we went upstairs just now. That night when Bai Yong’s wife came looking for our boss, the things she said were heard by Lisa.”

“Lisa,” Wang Rui raised his eyebrows, “She wouldn’t also be with your boss……”

“You’re so smart!” Vivian slapped Wang Rui on the shoulder, “You guessed it, Lisa is our boss’s girlfriend!”

“Then Bai Yong’s wife, what does she count as with your boss?”

“A lover.”

“Huh? Juggling two women?” Wang Rui feigned surprise.

“Aren’t men all like that nowadays,” Vivian shook the ponytail on top of her head, “What’s so strange about that.” She said it lightly.

“Vivian, the boss is calling you, hurry up, don’t dawdle!” A waitress dressed the same way, carrying a tray, quickly passed by.