Chapter Five: Midnight
It was past six o'clock when Yi Chu finished writing his lesson plan in the office. In winter, it was already completely dark outside at this time. He originally planned to go straight back to his apartment, but he felt inexplicably irritable. It was probably because he had been dealing with too many things in the past few months and had been feeling suppressed for too long. Fortunately, the next day was Saturday and he didn't have any classes, so he decided to take a taxi to Suichuan's famous "nightclub street" to find a quiet bar to sit in.
The nightclub street was a bustling mix of people, including many thugs. Yi Chu spotted three or four groups of police officers keeping watch at a glance. He was about to enter a quiet bar he frequented during his university days when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar young man walking towards a bar diagonally opposite—Xiao Yan!? Beside him walked a tall man, and from the outline of his trousers, Yi Chu vaguely sensed a knife. He glanced at him a few more times before continuing into the bar.
"A Zombie!" Yi Chu waved to the bartender.
"Sorry, sir, we don't serve Zombie here, it's too strong. Perhaps you could try something else?" the bartender suggested.
"No, thank you." Yi Chu knew, of course, that this drink wasn't on the menu. He smiled at the bartender, indicating his refusal, and turned to leave.
"Take care, sir!"
He left the quiet bar and went into the bar diagonally opposite. As soon as he entered, he sensed an atmosphere of "illegality and disorder" from the chaotic environment and dim lighting. He unzipped his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"A Spritz, please." Yi Chu chose a spot at the bar where he could easily observe his surroundings without being too conspicuous. He glanced around, his keen eye spotting several familiar faces in the crowd—police detectives, though disguised. Several of them were his former teammates from the criminal investigation team; for the city bureau to have so many people involved, it couldn't be anything like petty theft. He carefully observed the movement of people around them for a while—they were being watched, but the surveillance was very discreet, unlikely to be detected. At the same time, there seemed to be several unfamiliar faces, people he'd never seen before at the police station, whose attire and behavior suggested they were ordinary customers, also being watched. It seemed… the other side hadn't been able to confirm their suspicions yet.
He looked up and downed the remaining half glass of wine in one gulp. This was an Italian aperitif, which wouldn't cause any harm even to someone with a low alcohol tolerance.
"Handsome, still Spritz?" the bartender asked.
“No, just a Martini, to complement the beautiful night view.” Yi Chu smiled brightly, with a hint of danger. The bartender smiled knowingly in return.
Yi Chu took a sip of his drink and walked towards one of the police detectives. When their eyes met, a slight shock flashed in the detective's eyes, but it vanished instantly, replaced by a composed expression. He smiled and whistled at him. Yi Chu stepped forward, leaning half his body against the detective in a rather wild manner, his lips almost touching the detective's ear, a smile on his face that appeared to outsiders like a flirtatious remark.
But in reality, it was, "My student Xiao Yan is here. You've been exposed. Leave the task to me, let's go." Although Yi Chu had been working at the school for many years, he held a reserved position in the criminal investigation team, so it was understandable that the task would be handed over to him in this critical situation.
He managed to make a perfectly serious statement sound incredibly charming and alluring. Zhou Musen couldn't help but marvel at the power of a university professor.
After saying that, he stepped back a little, smiled, and waved his glass in front of the other person: "Want to try a sip? The bartenders here are very skilled."
"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not interested in men," the other person said coldly, giving him a dismissive look.
"Well... that's a real shame. I won't bother you any longer. Have fun!" Yi Chu waved his hand and walked away, downing more than half of the strong liquor in his glass in one gulp. He unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt, his cheeks flushed, and wandered around in a slightly drunken state, even intentionally "flirting" with a few people who were tailing him, truly "leaving a trail of broken hearts."
But what kind of people aren't here? He didn't perform a striptease in public, so he wasn't exactly outstanding; at most, people would mentally call him an idiot.
Yi Chu walked onto the dance floor and, under the blinding lights, reluctantly pretended to be happy and swayed a couple of times. He squeezed in and out with many other people, and the lingering smell of alcohol and some drugs almost made him vomit. Fortunately, a moment later, he felt something being stuffed into his pocket.
He went to the restroom, closed the door, and touched something—it was a note. It read: "No orange peel Hanky Panky at bar number seven. My undercover agent. First contact today. Code name 'Yan Bai,' password 'I saw you here last time.' Proceed with caution. Contact can be postponed. Do not expose yourself."
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat, unsmoked, but the pack was badly worn, probably from being in his pocket for too long. Yi Chu pulled out the foil insert, took out two cigarettes, and lit them on the end with a lighter before throwing them into the corner trash can. Then, looking at the pitted wall where a layer of white plaster had been scraped off, revealing the cement, he scraped off a bit of plaster with his fingernail, wrapped it in the foil, and stuffed it back into the cigarette pack: "People who frequent these kinds of places know that many smokers mix something into their white powder. When things get urgent, there's no time to look for flour or anything like that; generally, plaster is the easiest material to find on the spot."
Yi Chu looked down and saw several needles scattered on the ground. One of them was still unopened. He probably threw it away carelessly because he was high on drugs. He picked it up through a wet wipe, wiped it several times, and put it in his coat pocket.
"Knock knock knock knock—" A banging sound came from outside. "Are you done yet?! Huh, are you dead inside?"
"What's all the noise about... what's all the noise about!" Yi Chu pretended to be out of breath, spitting out a sentence before cursing back, his voice cracking and his breathing becoming labored. "In such a hurry to be reborn?"
"Damn it!" the other person cursed, followed by the sound of the door slamming.
It wasn't until he came to his senses that he realized his palms were sweaty... He wondered if that person had been testing him...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
