Chapter 18: Luo Xi

“Xiaopeng, go check if Wenxuan’s computer has the same files as Huizi’s,” Cheng Fei said after a brief silence, turning to He Xiaopeng. Then he looked at Lin Hui and continued, “Huizi, don’t be in such a hurry to scold anyone before the facts are clear. We’re all colleagues here and need to work together.”

He Xiaopeng stood up and went to Fang Wenxuan’s desk, opened his computer, and began searching. After a while, he returned to the conference table.

“Huizi, you really misunderstood Wenxuan this time. He found almost the same information as you did,” He Xiaopeng whispered to Lin Hui upon returning to the meeting room.

Lin Hui paused, glancing at Fang Wenxuan, who at that moment turned his head away, avoiding his gaze.

“Captain, Wenxuan’s computer does have the files,” He Xiaopeng reported to Cheng Fei.

“Huizi, you heard that, didn’t you? You started losing your temper before you had the facts. And how are you two dividing the work? Since you’re in the same team, how can you not know what the other is working on? If you had coordinated better, one of you could’ve researched Sheng Mingyi’s case while the other looked into the old school’s files. Now, you’ve both done the same work and wasted three hours,” Cheng Fei said sternly to Lin Hui and Fang Wenxuan.

This rebuke was unusually harsh, and everyone in the room fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Fei said, “Since you two aren’t getting along, forget it. You’ll split up. Wenxuan, from now on you’ll work with Xiaopeng. Xiaopeng, is that all right with you?”

“No problem, of course not,” He Xiaopeng replied with a smile.

Lin Hui looked at Cheng Fei, then at Fang Wenxuan, whose expression suggested he was pleased not to be in the same team any longer. Lin Hui had always disliked Fang Wenxuan, annoyed by many of his quirks. Now, finally, Fang Wenxuan was no longer his concern—he should be happy. But for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to feel any joy at all.

“All right, all right, don’t make it look like I can’t work with him. I didn’t mean that, I just—”

“That’s enough. Get back to work. Wenxuan, start looking into the old school case files, especially recent missing persons reports,” Cheng Fei cut Lin Hui off and stood up.

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

“Wenxuan, tomorrow you’ll go out with the team and the sketches from the tech department—show the image of the deceased girl from the old school to hair salons that buy hair, and find out if she ever sold her hair there,” Cheng Fei instructed.

“Yes,” Wenxuan replied, lowering his head.

The meeting ended; it was already ten o’clock at night.

“Senior, you should go get some rest. It’s my mistake that the work isn’t finished. I can go through the missing persons files myself,” Wenxuan said to He Xiaopeng, who was staying late with him to review the case files.

“What are you saying? We’re a team now, of course we work together. But from now on, just call me Xiaopeng, or Peng-ge, no need to call me ‘senior’ anymore,” He Xiaopeng replied with a smile.

“Peng-ge, you’re really nice,” Fang Wenxuan responded, smiling warmly. Had he been with Lin Hui, Lin Hui would no doubt have called him an idiot and blamed him for having to work overtime.

At that moment, Lin Hui came out of the break room and saw Wenxuan and Xiaopeng working together at the desk, both looking happy. So, being in a different team made him that happy, huh? Lin Hui had even considered staying late to help with the files. Now he realized how foolish that idea was. With that, he packed up and left for the night.

The night grew deeper.

The two men bent over the desk, absorbed in the files, time slipping by unnoticed. Fang Wenxuan’s neck grew stiff, so he got up to stretch. He saw that He Xiaopeng had fallen asleep at the desk. It was already two in the morning. Wenxuan found a blanket and draped it over Xiaopeng, then went to the break room to make himself a cup of coffee, and returned to continue searching through the files.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been reading when his vision blurred with fatigue. Rubbing his eyes, he pressed on. Suddenly, a name caught his eye—the name of the person who filed the report: Su Qixing.

Wenxuan’s attention sharpened. Su Qixing had reported a missing person seven years ago—his girlfriend. According to the record, Su Qixing’s girlfriend was twenty years old at the time, her name was Luo Xi. Su Qixing reported her missing twenty-four hours after her disappearance. The files indicated that Luo Xi was never found.

There was little information in the case file, and Su Qixing had provided very few clues. But one detail made Wenxuan pause: the file mentioned that Luo Xi, the missing girlfriend, had long hair down to her waist.

Wenxuan’s instinct told him there was a strong possibility that Luo Xi was the unidentified woman found in the old school restroom—they shared the same school history and the same long hair. But for now, it was only a suspicion; he needed more evidence to confirm it. He set the file aside to show the captain later and continued reading.

At some point, dawn crept in, gradually replacing the night. Wenxuan spent the entire night reading files, and finally finished them all by six in the morning. With two hours left before the captain arrived, he decided to nap for a bit to rest his eyes.

As he dozed off, he slipped into a dream.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the detectives’ hall. Wenxuan opened his eyes a sliver and saw it was Lin Hui, not the captain, so he closed them again. Lin Hui was early—an hour ahead of schedule.

Lin Hui walked to the desk where Wenxuan and Xiaopeng had been working. Xiaopeng was still asleep, the blanket Fang Wenxuan had given him draped over his shoulders. Fang Wenxuan was slumped in his chair, clutching a file, his pale face marked by exhaustion, dark circles under his closed eyes—a clear sign he’d spent the night awake. The fool, Lin Hui thought, didn’t even bother to cover himself. It was November already; it would be so easy to catch a chill.

Seeing there was still an hour before work started, Lin Hui decided not to wake Wenxuan. Looking around for something to cover him, he came up empty, so he took off his own jacket and prepared to lay it over Wenxuan.

Noticing that Wenxuan was still holding onto the file, Lin Hui thought he’d sleep better without it, so he reached out to take it.

“Do you need something?” Wenxuan felt someone tugging at the file and opened his eyes, surprised to see Lin Hui in front of him.

Lin Hui quickly pulled his hand back, embarrassed and at a loss for words.

“I just wanted to see if you’d found anything after working through the night,” Lin Hui finally managed to say after a long pause.

Wenxuan looked him over and replied coolly, “Let’s wait until the captain gets here.”

“Oh? Worried I’ll steal your credit? Why won’t you tell me? We’re on the same team, working the same case. What’s there to hide?” Lin Hui said with a light laugh.

“You still remember we’re on the same team…” Wenxuan muttered. Just yesterday, Lin Hui had publicly berated him in front of everyone and had even asked the captain to reassign him. Wenxuan had nothing more to say to him. They weren’t teammates anymore, so if Lin Hui tried finding fault with him again, it would be nothing but picking a fight.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Lin Hui asked.

Wenxuan ignored him, closing his eyes to rest. He’d been up all night and didn’t want to waste time arguing—especially with tasks still to be assigned.

Lin Hui watched as Wenxuan closed his eyes again, clearly still angry about being scolded in front of everyone the day before. But apologizing was easier said than done—he couldn’t find the words.

“Early birds, aren’t you?” At that moment, Captain Cheng Fei’s voice sounded in the hall.

Wenxuan opened his eyes at the sound, stood up, and greeted him. “Captain.”

“Wenxuan, you pulled an all-nighter, didn’t you? Good work. Did you find anything?” Cheng Fei asked, patting him on the shoulder.

“I’m not sure if this counts, but in the missing persons case file, the person who filed the report was Su Qixing. I thought it was a coincidence, so I took note. His girlfriend went missing seven years ago and also attended the old school,” Wenxuan said, handing over the file.

Cheng Fei glanced over it and nodded, “This is a valuable lead. Investigate Su Qixing’s girlfriend, Luo Xi. Today, you and Xiaopeng will look into her. I’ll summon Su Qixing for questioning. By the way…where is Xiaopeng?”

“Right here…” He Xiaopeng slowly sat up, stretching and rubbing his eyes.

“Wenxuan, did you put this blanket over me? Thank you. I can’t believe I just fell asleep like that,” he said apologetically.

“Xiaopeng, you, the senior, fell asleep before Wenxuan. You need to work on your stamina,” Cheng Fei teased.

“You’re right, Captain. Let me take more field assignments from now on. Sitting in the office all day is making me soft,” Xiaopeng replied with a grin.

“All right, today you and Wenxuan will investigate everyone connected to Luo Xi,” Cheng Fei said.

“Great, thanks, Captain!” Xiaopeng beamed.

“Now, get to work. Huizi, get started on the tasks I assigned you yesterday,” Cheng Fei said to Lin Hui.

Lin Hui nodded and followed Wenxuan into the restroom.

Wenxuan was washing his face as Lin Hui stood silently nearby, wanting to apologize for the previous day but unable to find the right words.