Chapter 7: You want to sleep with me

Translator: Abo Dammen

☆

Case One: The Phantom Sniper

The elevator went directly to the VIP floor. The corridor was conspicuously filled with many police officers armed to the teeth.

A suspicion began to form in Xu Pei’s mind. When He Yixun brought him to a private hospital room, his suspicion was confirmed. The person in the room was indeed the woman from last night’s speech, the current mayor who had been shot, Lin Mei.

However, her condition didn’t seem like someone hospitalized at all. The room was crowded with staff—some setting up lights, some recording video, and a reporter interviewing her. 

“Mayor Lin, what is your response to this shooting incident?”

“The fact that the shooter failed to hit me means my life is tough. I am destined to fulfill my mission, which is to make Binshi more prosperous.”

“…”

“Boss He, what are you doing here?” A man in a gray professional suit made his way through the crowd to He Yixun’s side, making a move to usher him out of the room. “Didn’t the Mayor tell you not to come?” 

“I need to see her about something,” said He Yixun, standing motionless by the door like a great Buddha. “I heard your arm was grazed by a bullet.”

“Minor injury,” Ma Jing said. “The important thing is that the Mayor is unharmed.”

Realizing the topic had been diverted, Ma Jing hurriedly said, “Boss He, as you can see, the media is here. It’s really inconvenient. Whatever you need to discuss with the Mayor can be said over the phone.”

“That’s what would be inconvenient,” He Yixun responded. 

Ma Jing pushed his black-framed glasses up with an awkward look and glanced in Lin Mei’s direction. Sure enough, Lin Mei had already spotted He Yixun. Although her expression was unchanged, Ma Jing could tell from her micro-expressions that the boss was already angry.

“Let’s end it here for today,” Lin Mei said to the reporter with a smile, giving her staff a look. Immediately, someone presented the reporter with a gift box.

“This is really too kind,” the reporter said politely, accepting the hefty gift box. But as he prepared to leave, he suddenly noticed the person every reporter in the city wanted to interview standing right there in the room. He quickly pulled out the recorder he had just put away and rushed over.

“Officer He! Please respond to the online public opinion! Many people are saying you shouldn’t have killed the assailant, that he didn’t actually want to hurt anyone. How did you make the judgment call at the time? There are reports saying you might face suspension. How is the police department internally characterizing this incident? Do you think your mother’s declining support rate is related to this matter?” 

Facing the storm of questions, He Yixun’s expression didn’t change at all, as if to say these questions were devoid of substance, not even worth a simple “no comment.”

However, Xu Pei, standing beside him, was so impacted by the massive amount of information that he held his breath, afraid that breathing too loudly would affect his ability to absorb more details.

He Yixun’s mother’s support rate…

The implication was just too obvious, wasn’t it? 

The reporter was quickly ushered out, and Lin Mei also cleared the room of all her staff.

The moment the door closed, the person who had been all smiles moments ago seemed to shed her mask, her gaze turning cold as she looked at He Yixun and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you’re going on the Lucky Number tonight,” He Yixun said.

Lin Mei didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she looked at Xu Pei beside He Yixun and asked, “And this is?” 

Professor Xu, who had been marveling at how genetics don’t lie and how strikingly similar the mother and son were, didn’t expect the topic to shift to him. He had assumed He Yixun would introduce him, but He Yixun also shifted his gaze over, looking like he was waiting to see his reaction.

So that’s how it is, Xu Pei thought, understanding.

So he was specifically brought here to meet the “target person” to test if he had any connection to the shooting case.

Really persistent to the extreme. 

Sometimes Xu Pei even felt a bit sorry, thinking it wasn’t good to keep disappointing people. He had even considered playing along with Officer He’s act to make him happy, but with a third party present now, he couldn’t really show off his acting skills.

“Hello, Xu Pei,” Xu Pei said with a nod.

His self-introduction was quite brief. It wasn’t that he was still upholding his spirit of rebellion, but rather that the titles from his world were meaningless here.

Lin Mei didn’t return the courtesy with a “hello.” She turned her inquisitive gaze back to He Yixun, asking with her eyes: And then? 

Bringing a stranger to see Lin Mei wouldn’t work without a proper identity. Seeing Xu Pei behave naturally, He Yixun temporarily withdrew his gaze and said to Lin Mei, “My assistant.”

Whether it was Xu Pei’s misconception or not, once she heard he wasn’t anyone special, Lin Mei’s cautious attitude changed completely. She gave him a casual once-over and said in a judgmental tone, “Not exactly young anymore, are you? Still working as an assistant?”

Xu Pei: “?”

Is the art of offending someone a family gene? 

He was the youngest professor at the National Research Institute okay!

After becoming convinced that Xu Pei was insignificant, Lin Mei completely let loose. Her tone when speaking to He Yixun was as cold as ice, bordering on scolding. “How dare you still come to this hospital? Are you afraid the public opinion will die down too slowly? If you’re not going to join my cause, then don’t make a mess for me. If you’ve been told to take a leave, then take it properly. Stop coming here to cause me trouble.”

Upon learning that the celebrated Police Superintendent’s mother was the mayor, Xu Pei couldn’t help but imagine a scenario of power-and-money dealings. 

But now, it didn’t seem to be that kind of situation. This mother and son didn’t seem to be on the same side.

After being thoroughly berated, He Yixun still maintained his self-absorbed manner, asking only the question he wanted to ask, “Didn’t you check in with your backer before your speech?”

“Of course I did,” Lin Mei frowned, looking very much like she didn’t want to answer but wanted to get rid of He Yixun as quickly as possible. “That’s precisely why I said it was Li Menglan who wanted me dead.”

“She has no motive,” He Yixun stated his conclusion bluntly. “The gun came from the black market. The person who likely wants you dead is probably the very person you’re going to meet tonight.” 

Lin Mei’s frown deepened. She moved her lips as if to say something, but what came out was an irrelevant comment, “Are you worried about my safety?”

“You know I only care about who the culprit is,” He Yixun replied without a moment’s hesitation. “I’m going with you tonight.”

“No!” Lin Mei refused sharply. “You know who I’m going to see. Bringing a policeman, what would that look like? And this is a critical period for me. It’s not convenient for me to be seen in public with you.”

Having inexplicably witnessed this parent-child conflict, Xu Pei suddenly recalled the looks people in the hospital lobby had given He Yixun. 

Judging from that reporter’s question, He Yixun must be embroiled in some negative public opinion. It was understandable that citizens disliked him, but how could he be disliked by his own mother too?

“I’m just informing you,” He Yixun tossed out the words indifferently, then said to Xu Pei, “Let’s go.”

After leaving the hospital room, He Yixun walked ahead by himself, his eyes focused on some indeterminate point in space. He was clearly deep in thought, so much so that he didn’t even react when police officers in the corridor greeted him.

Having unintentionally glimpsed someone else’s privacy, Xu Pei’s state of mind was a bit hard to define. He coughed and asked He Yixun awkwardly, “So, um, do you have something to do later?” 

He Yixun glanced at Xu Pei. “Trying to run?”

That tiny bit of guilt in Xu Pei’s heart instantly vanished without a trace.

The corner of Xu Pei’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t be bothered anymore with what arrangements He Yixun might have, focusing only on where he himself wanted to go. “When are we going to the library?”

He Yixun was considering this very question. 

Letting Xu Pei move around alone was out of the question. Doing so would render the whole point of bringing him home for surveillance meaningless.

However, taking Xu Pei aboard the Lucky Number involved too many uncertainties. If he was unrelated to the shooting, it might be fine, but if he was in any way connected, things would become doubly complicated.

Sending him back to the police station lacked justification. There was no reason to re-arrest someone already released. Locking him in the house wasn’t feasible either, as the smart lock’s priority setting favored exiting over restricting entry.

He was just considering whether to send someone over to keep an eye on Xu Pei temporarily, but upon seeing how “eager” Xu Pei was to get rid of him, He Yixun changed his mind. 

Keeping the person under close surveillance was still the most reliable option.

“We’re not going. You’re coming aboard the ship with me first,” He Yixun said.

Xu Pei froze abruptly on the spot, staring at He Yixun in shock. “What did you say?”

His reaction immediately put He Yixun on alert. “What’s wrong?” 

Xu Pei lived in Nucheng, an inland city, so boats were not a common mode of transportation for him. Furthermore, when He Yixun had mentioned the “Lucky Number” back in the hospital room, Xu Pei had been busy observing Lin Mei’s appearance and hadn’t registered that it might be the name of a ship.

The phrase to board a ship combines a word ending with a back nasal sound with one starting with a front nasal sound. If spoken a bit unclearly, one could only discern its meaning from the context. 

But here, there was no context.

Xu Pei heard it as two words both ending with back nasal sounds.

His first reaction was that he must have misheard, but he couldn’t figure out what other verb it could possibly be. On the window? To rush upon? 

“I didn’t mishear, did I?” Xu Pei said with a complicated expression. “You want to sleep with me.”

“……”

He Yixun very much wanted to ask if the animal trait he’d evolved was just a mind full of mating.

Considering they were surrounded by colleagues and nurses passing by, he didn’t say anything more. He just fell silent for a moment before stating, “No, I don’t.”

Translator’s Feed:

Okay let me re-write it here because it’s hard to explain without showing the characters.

The phrase “上船” (shàng chuán – to board a ship) combines a word ending with a back nasal sound (-ang in 上 shàng) with one starting with a front nasal sound (ch- in 船 chuán).