Breaking Through The Clouds

Chapter 25

Considering our differences in physique, I can just peek at you whenever I want. There is literally no need for me to arrange it on purpose.

If witnessing Jiang Ting "doing drugs" last night was the most unnerving ten seconds of his life, then right now was the time to test if Yan Xie, as a man who understood responsibility, dependability, and professionalism, possessed basic ethical standards.

With great restraint, Yan Xie tamped down the urge to seize Jiang Ting's hand, force him to hurl the earpiece out the car and then brutally run it over twenty times. Due to the immensity of the effort put into exercising such control, his facial muscles were now a bit strained. "... Have ... have you washed it?"

"?" Jiang Ting replied, "I thought electronics of this type would be ruined if you run it through water."

Yan Xie, "..."

The two shared a lengthy stare. Jiang Ting started getting impatient. "Do you still want it or not?"

Yan Xie lifted his arm inch by inch, an uncontrollable tremor in his fingers. With knuckle-whitening strength, he forced himself to pinch the edge of the sealed bag, then shoved it whole into his trouser pocket with a speed that could vie with lightning. In that moment, he felt like what he grabbed was a sizzling lit fuse and a whole ten kilograms of C4.

Jiang Ting mulled it over and over, and still he couldn't figure out what might have caused the other man to act like this. So, he asked, "Are you germophobic? Those who have germophobia won't make it as a criminal investigator."

Yan Xie tugged on a smile, one that looked as though his facial muscles were convulsing.. "N-no, uh, it's just the case is really stressing me out."

"No need to be too worried."

Yan Xie was still absorbed in the panic of about-to-be-detonated C4s. "What?"

"... Are you really okay today?" Jiang Ting's brows knitted together. "I said there's no need to worry. With Hu Weisheng dead, this case is not far off from being cracked soon."

Yan Xie stared at him with a guileless look.

Under such a look, Jiang Ting ultimately grew quite helpless. He asked with a glance at the time, "You haven't eaten yet, have you."

"Ah? Yeah, no?"

"Treat me to a meal." Jiang Ting started the car, saying, "Give me a rundown of every clue up till now."

***

Premier House, a private room.

The waitress collected the menu from Jiang Ting, turning and leaving with light footsteps. Only after that, did Yan Xie finally pick back up and finish the sentence that he had abruptly cut off.

"- And that's the full recap. The dispatch center records show that in just the recent two months, the Yihe Road police station had received two calls placing reports against behaviors relating to prostitution at 'Three Spring Trees KTV'. The jurisdiction's police brigade and command center have both corroborated this fact, so this can prove that last night's raid wasn't premeditated."

Jiang Ting opened a moist towelette packet, meticulously wiping every single finger.

"The raid was most likely not." He paused, and continued, "But the call was."

"I thought so too, so I followed up on that police call. It came from a public phone booth, paid with change. Placing a police report this way is quite unusual, yet also very deliberate. The roadside CCTV didn't catch the caller's face, and judging from his body shape and form, all we can tell is that it's some old fellow about fifty to sixty years old."