Chapter 45: Special Days

Chen Shi had a smile on his face as he came back. Lin Dongxue could not help but ask, “What have you heard?”

Chen Shi opened his phone, turned down the volume and played the recording. After listening to it, the two were shocked. Lin Dongxue said, “So there is a problem with them after all!”

Xu Xiaodong said, “With just this recording, you can apply for a search warrant!”

“No, this is not legally obtained evidence. But it has opened the tip of the iceberg, pointing out the direction for us to head towards. Let's go!”

“Are we really going this time?” Lin Dongxue asked with a smile.

“Of course… Not!”

They went to the downstairs of the company and found a cold drink shop to sit down at and have a drink. They sat there until about six in the evening. They still didn’t see a single person come out of the company. Xu Xiaodong said, “This company really ruthlessly makes their employees work overtime!”

“There are many companies that do not abide by the labour law around, but employees just have to bear it. After all, this is a rice bowl.” Chen Shi said, “That’s why I’m so unwilling to do a 9 to 5 job.”

“I feel the same way! You get a lot more freedom being a police officer than this.” Lin Dongxue said.

“But it is not easy.” Xu Xiaodong added.

“If you like a job, even if you are tired, you would still be happy!”

At this time, an old aunty who looked like a cleaner came down from the building. Chen Shi immediately stood up and said, “The target appears! Go, go, go!”

The two chased after him. Lin Dongxue questioned, “You waited for almost half a day just for the cleaner?”

“We don’t have enough evidence to do a frontal attack. We have to knock on the side drums first.”[1] Chen Shi said.

Chen Shi went straight to the front of the cleaning aunt and said, “Sorry to trouble you. We are the police and want to ask you some things to gain some understanding.”

“Looking for me to understand what?” The cleaning aunt showed a look of alert.

“Do you come to clean this company every day?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the situation of this company? Anything you know will do.”

“It's an ordinary company. Are you here to check things like tax evasion? I don't know about anything like that.”

Chen Shi took out a hundred-yuan bill and said, “Just tell us literally anything you know about the company. This is a little intelligence fee. Don't worry, we will definitely keep it secret.”

Seeing that there is extra money to earn, the aunty was incredibly happy and immediately began informing them what she knew. She said that the company’s management was quite strict, starting work at 8 o'clock in the morning, often working overtime until 10 o'clock in the evening, mainly to make sales or to do door-to-door marketing.

Also, this company seemed to have been promoting wolf culture[2]. She had seen the employees slap each other in the face because they were unable to meet their quotas. Otherwise, they would kneel down or swallow paper. She couldn’t express anything due to her position, but she thought that it was pretty sad for them to have to torture themselves like that. Those people were also children born from a mother and father. How could they their lives like this by this group of people? However, there was no way around it in order to earn a meal to eat.

“Hai, it’s not easy for anyone!” the aunty sighed.

“Wolf culture?” Xu Xiaodong asked. “Is it a wolf-like culture?”

“Yes, that's it. That’s the idiom. For a while, there was a picture of a big grey wolf stuck at the bottom of the company. Baring its teeth at people, it was actually quite scary to look at.”

“Has there been someone missing from the company recently?” Chen Shi asked.

“I don't know about that. I don't know all of them... But it seems like there is a girl I haven’t seen for a few days. She usually always greets me.”

“What is her name?”

“Xiao Li? I heard her colleague call her.”

“Has she been sick recently?”

“Sick? What sickness is it? Is it serious?” It seemed that the aunty was not aware of the death.

Chen Shi asked her to describe the characteristics of Xiao Li. However, the aunty was unable to describe her properly no matter how much she tried, so they had to give up. Chen Shi took out another hundred-yuan bill and gave it to her. The aunty widened her eyes and tried to refuse. “I didn’t provide you with much information. It doesn’t seem right. Ah yes, what case are you investigating?”

“We can’t disclose that. You go back to your work for now!”

After bidding farewell to the aunty, Lin Dongxue said to him, “You can be really generous. Just disclosing a tiny amount of information will already gain them two hundred yuan.”

“It's not easy for them either... Yes, this money should be expense claimed!”

“Why don’t you go and ask the aunty to open an invoice for you then!” Lin Dongxue laughed.

“Fine, fine!” Chen Shi turned towards the main entrance of the company. His right hand pointed to the signboard of the company with a gesture like that of a pistol. “This Kang Xing Electronics Company has issues! Tomorrow, we need to continue to investigate. I believe the truth is hidden in this building and behind the greasy-faced manager... Let's stop here for today!”

Xu Xiaodong cheered, “Let’s take a break and go eat hot pot.”

“No, I have to go home to take a shower.”

“Great, I am going to the 4S shop to take my car, so give me a ride since it’s on the way.”

After getting to the 4S shop, Xu Xiaodong was still paying attention to Lin Dongxue and said, “I will send you home!”

Lin Dongxue said, “No, I am going to just call a taxi. It’ll come very quickly.”

Chen Shi said, “Then give me business. I didn’t take any orders today.”

“You’re so thick-skinned.”

“Ten yuan and I’ll send you straight home. Come on!”

Lin Dongxue still got into Chen Shi’s car despite what she said earlier. Chen Shi caressed the steering wheel and said, “Baby...”

Lin Dongxue turned to glare at him, but it turned out that Chen Shi was talking to his car. “I haven't seen you for two days, and you have become even more beautiful.”

“Car fetish?!” Lin Dongxue laughed.

“What a presumption! Do you want to eat dinner on the way?”

“Here’s your ten dollars. The service was quite rich... No thanks, I want to go home to take a shower. My body smells.”

Chen Shi took Lin Dongxue straight to the community where she lived and got out of the car to follow her. Lin Dongxue did not say goodbye, “What are you doing?”

“Sending you up!” Chen Shi smiled and said.

“Tch!”

When they got to Lin Dongxue’s door, she said, “What? You going to come in?”

“Since you have asked me, then I’ll come in and sit down for a bit.”

“Wow you really are thick-skinned. I warn you, don’t have any funny ideas. I’ll pin you down!”

“I have to get beaten just for coming in and drinking a cup of water?”

Entering the room, Chen Shi said, “It really is a girl's room.”

“Don’t put up an act! Didn’t you see it last time?”

After running around for a day, Lin Dongxue was exhausted. After changing into her slippers, she sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV.

Chen Shi was very impolite. He entered the kitchen and got down to work. Lin Dongxue initially thought that he was boiling water. Later, when she heard the movement of pots and pans, she peeked her head out and shouted, “What are you doing?”

“Cooking a bowl of noodles to eat!”

“You think this is your own home?!”

“It’ll be done soon!”

After a while, Chen Shi came out juggling two bowls and set one on the coffee table. He cooked two bowls of instant noodles, cut some cucumber strips and kelp. On the surface, there were two poached eggs along with a sprinkle of coriander. It was very fragrant.

“Come and let’s eat this casual meal together!” Chen Shi smiled and handed over chopsticks.

“I didn’t think you were so thoughtful with your food.” Lin Dongxue took the chopsticks and started eating.

Eating while watching TV, Lin Dongxue suddenly felt very strange. How could she feel safe letting an uncle enter her house?

She glanced at Chen Shi, and Chen Shi immediately noticed her eyes on him. He turned his head and asked, “Is there beer?”

“No!” she said stiffly.

After eating, it was already eight o'clock. Lin Dongxue wondered why this guy still didn't leave, and she kept staring at Chen Shi. Chen Shi also looked at her. Lin Dongxue suddenly said, “I won't sleep with you.”

“Pfttt!” Chen Shi sprayed the soup in his mouth out and quickly grabbed the tissue paper from the table to wipe his mouth. “Miss Lin, you’re rushing with your car, I couldn’t prevent that!”[3]

“I just gave a warning, lest you start thinking of anything funny.”

“Yes, yes, I know!” Chen Shi’s eyes suddenly dimmed. “Today's October 10th. It’s a pretty special day. I didn't want to be alone, so I followed you here for some human presence.”

“What's that? Your birthday?”

To be precise, it should be regarded as the day of my death. A faint voice inside Chen Shi said to himself.

1. The people beside him (the manager).

2. Wolf-culture has been a term that’s been used fairly often during the last decade to describe negative practices of businesses. It’s a highly discussed subject on public forums. It’s been said that the younger generation is so used to this type of corporate culture that they are numb towards it and feel like it’s the norm. When they cannot live up to the expectations of such a culture, they are often filled with shame. This has been a heavy subject relating to politics which I will not delve into here.

3. Such a sudden remark, he just couldn’t respond properly.

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