When Bright Moon Encounter the Dark Clouds

The other policeman said, “No wonder brother Shen has been working hard on the case. Last night, he even insisted on preparing a bed for her to have some rest. He even got her breakfast this morning. Looks like brother Shen is trying to rekindle old flames.”

“I heard the captain even instructed Shen Shiyan to send that lady home. Maybe our captain is trying to set them up too.”

I took a deep draw from my cigarette instinctively after the two policemen walked away, feeling stuffiness in my chest. The image of Tan Jiao’s face and how Shen Shiyan and her acted awkwardly flashed before me.

That explains it.

Sometime later, Tan Jiao came out from the front door accompanied by Shen Shiyan, who was still in his uniform. The former wore a green policeman T-shirt over her shirt that the birds had probably ripped to shreds already. She looked cute even with such casual clothes.

The two seemed to be chatting about something. Tan Jiao would let out an occasional laugh as she looked at him with a bright smile and sparkling eyes. Similarly, Shen Shiyan also had an air of joy around him as he looked at her with gentle eyes. It was completely different from his sternness when solving cases.

Shen Shiyan opened the car door for Tan Jiao. The latter raised her face to look around, seemingly searching for something. As it was already quite dark, she did not see me.

After she boarded the car, they set off.

I rode back to the shop after taking my last draw from my cigarette.

After missing work for two days, there was a lot of work in the shop. I thought I might as well work through the night and sleep the next day.

Shortly after I fell asleep, I felt a pat on my shoulder. “Brother Yu, your lady is here again!”

I opened my eyes to a poorly lit room with all of the curtains shut tight. The guy that woke me up had gone, but someone soon pulled opened the curtains, allowing a flood of light to illuminate the room. Dressed in something casual yet fresh, Tan Jiao stood at the door and scanned the room. “How are you still asleep? It’s already ten.”

That means I’ve slept for three hours.

I rubbed my eyes before sitting up. “I’m awake now.” At this moment, I realized that I only had a pair of shorts on with a thin blanket draped around my waist.

I sat on my bed without moving while she took a stool and sat down. She shot a glance at me; then she quickly shifted her gaze somewhere else as she said, “I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“The bad one.”

“I knew you would pick that. Listen carefully now. Shen Shiyan called me just now and told me about the results of the DNA test. The perpetrator was not related to the Zhu family at all! This means that he’s not Zhu Shuyun! Not only that, the man was not born with mental disabilities; rather, his mental state was due to brain damage caused by trauma.”

“Who is he then?” I asked in shock.

“I had the same question. Guess what, Shen Shiyan told me that the man’s DNA actually matched that of a missing twelve-year-old child from Jiangsu. His name was Xu Zifeng, and his parents have been trying to search for him, but they were unsuccessful.”

“Why would Xu Zifeng avenge Zhu Shuyun?”

Tan Jiao shrugged her shoulders. “They were both abducted. Perhaps… they were close?”

“What’s the good news?”

“Well. I previously thought the case was done, and there were no more clues. But looking at things now, it seems there’s still something amiss about this case. Don’t you think we should continue digging?”

I nodded and said nothing.

“Yo, bro. What are you thinking about?” she asked with her head leaning over.

Not knowing when I had become a ‘Bro’ in her mind, I raised my hand to give her nose a gentle touch. Then I said in a somewhat annoyed tone, “Who are you calling bro? I was just thinking about who the real Zhu Shuyun is.”