36 Past
Although Lin Long's face was flushed from drinking, he wasn't truly drunk. After quickly extinguishing the fire in front of him, he turned around, his whole body trembling slightly, but he still inadvertently glanced inside.
Fang Chengjin curled up in Zhou Yun's arms.
Damn it! This is bad!
Lin Long immediately regained his senses, as if someone had slapped him a few times. He quickly went inside, closed the door, and then came to Zhou Yun's side.
When Lin Long saw that Lao Fang, such a big man, was still whimpering and leaning against Zhou Yun's chest, he felt embarrassed and helpless. He could only quickly explain that he was afraid that Zhou Yun would do something bad to Fang Chengjin.
"Captain Zhou, I'd like to trouble you to look after Lao Fang. You... don't find it strange, he has some trauma from this..."
Lin Long pointed to the location of his heart.
trauma.......?
Zhou Yun was suspicious, but seeing Fang Chengjin's frail and unusually vulnerable state, she had no reason to push him away.
"So what do we do now?" Zhou Yun asked Lin Long, looking up at him.
Can't we just keep holding her and wait for Fang Chengjin to recover on her own? How long will that take?
Lin Long sighed and said, "I guess... could you please take him home for me? It might take two or three hours, but he can't stay in my shop forever. I still need to clean up the mess here. Captain Zhou, here are my keys. That black car downstairs is mine. It has my English name on it."
Lin Long tossed a key to Zhou Yun, then helped Zhou Yun lift Fang Chengjin up.
"No, I don't want to..." Fang Chengjin mumbled, cold sweat beading on his face in pain.
Lin Long could only pat him on the back, "Alright, Lao Fang, don't be afraid, it's all over, it's all over..."
Lin Long's voice became extremely gentle, and Zhou Yun even wondered if she was hallucinating.
It's like putting a child to sleep.
Feeling Zhou Yun's gaze, Lin Long's face turned a little red, but luckily she was already blushing.
How can I explain this? If I weren't Lao Fang's friend of over ten years, no one would believe it.
Lin Long carried Fang Chengjin on his back and went downstairs through the staff passageway on the other side.
On the other side of the stairs, the flames had mostly been extinguished, but they had still affected the surrounding area. Many customers and people from the neighborhood came to join in the fun, and it's likely that someone called the police. Familiar sounds also rang out in the night—voices, ringing bells... For a moment, Zhou Yun felt that it was much more lively now than when she first entered the store.
Soon, the three arrived at the back door downstairs.
There was indeed a black "ordinary" car at the back door? A Maybach? That's flashy too.
Zhou Yun wondered just how wealthy Lin Long's family was. How could someone like that be friends with Fang Chengjin? What was Fang Chengjin's family background like?
"Thank you for your trouble, Captain Zhou." It was rare for Lin Long to trust someone so much, so he handed Lao Fang over to Zhou Yun.
Zhou Yun took on the heavy responsibility, saying, "It's alright. Professor Fang is my mentor after all, so it's only right."
She placed Fang Chengjin in the back seat, where he curled up alone. Zhou Yun then got into the driver's seat and closed the door.
Lin Long waved to her from outside the car window.
Zhou Yun nodded slightly and drove away from the bar.
**
As dusk settled, the dazzling lights refracted into the car, illuminating half of Zhou Yun's face. She rested her hands on the steering wheel, and through the rearview mirror, Fang Chengjin remained silent in the back seat.
The car was very quiet, with only the steady sound of breathing. It must be said that the privacy of a luxury car is indeed excellent. Once the door is closed, you can hardly hear any outside noise. Whether the driving speed is slow or fast, the car moves smoothly without any discomfort.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yun drove her car to the luxury villa area. It has to be said that luxury cars and villas are a perfect match. This time, the gatekeeper did not make Zhou Yun stop the car. As soon as he saw her car, he raised the gate and Zhou Yun drove in directly.
After wandering around for a while, we finally arrived at the foot of Fang Chengjin's villa.
Zhou Yun stopped the car, turned off the engine, got out of the car, went to the back seat, and opened the door.
"Professor Fang?" Zhou Yun asked first.
There was no response from the back seat.
Zhou Yun could only bend down and peer inside, and immediately saw Fang Chengjin with his eyes closed.
Zhou Yun reached out to pull him up, but Fang Chengjin refused to move, remaining completely still as if he wanted to stay alone in the car.
Although there was nothing wrong with it, it was still home, and it was more comfortable to be inside. Besides, Zhou Yun didn't want anything outside to upset Fang Chengjin.
"Excuse me, Professor Fang," Zhou Yun said softly, then forcefully pulled Fang Chengjin out.
Although Zhou Yun is a girl, because she used to be a criminal police officer, she is physically strong enough to carry a big guy like Fang Chengjin.
Otherwise, Zhou Yun wouldn't be able to become the captain of the criminal police.
Besides being mentally strong, physical strength is also an important performance indicator in the police department.
Despite being treated so roughly, Fang Chengjin did not show any dissatisfaction; he kept his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.
Zhou Yun had no choice but to half-support him and grab him as they walked home.
Upon arriving at the iron gate, Zhou Yun glanced around and saw a facial recognition machine nearby. She then dragged Fang Chengjin to the machine. The machine quickly recognized them, and Zhou Yun, supporting Fang Chengjin, smoothly entered the villa.
Zhou Yun had been here once before, so she was quite familiar with the place this time. She helped Fang Chengjin upstairs, quickly found his bedroom, and helped him onto the bed.
Fang Chengjin kept his eyes closed, hunched over and curled up.
Zhou Yun glanced at him and gently closed the door.
After leaving the bedroom, Zhou Yun paused outside the door for a moment. In the vast villa, under the pitch-black night, the bright moonlight shone through the window and fell on half of the wooden staircase.
The staircase was empty. At that moment, Zhou Yun turned around and went into another room.
This is Fang Chengjin's study.
Upon entering, you'll see four rows of tall wooden bookshelves, each row with five or six shelves, all filled with books. Beyond the bookshelves is a desk near the floor-to-ceiling window.
Fang Chengjin demolished this entire wall and turned it into a floor-to-ceiling window. The desk is rectangular, spacious, and bright, with only an old-fashioned palace-style desk lamp on it, and several silver-gleaming fountain pens inserted in a pen holder.
Looking down from the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the flowers and plants in the villa's courtyard, and you can also glimpse the visitors below.
The study is very simple, with only a desk and no other furniture.
Zhou Yun looked around, then opened the drawers on both sides of the table and searched through them, but still couldn't find any particularly useful information.
The bottom drawer was locked.
This lock has a keyhole and some numerical combination.
Zhou Yun glanced at it, took a pen from the pen holder, and then looked at the lock and tried to unlock it.
After a long while, it still wouldn't open.
Zhou Yun put the pen away and looked at the padlock. She took a picture of the padlock with her phone, planning to study it later.
Zhou Yun continued to look around the study for a while, then glanced at the bookshelves. The books on the shelves were arranged neatly, without any mess, and there were all kinds of books.
After staying there for more than ten minutes, Zhou Yun stopped searching. She came out of the study, turned around and gently closed the door. She listened carefully, but the huge villa was unusually quiet.
Once Zhou Yun confirmed that Fang Chengjin had not woken up, she felt relieved.
He took a step and walked downstairs.
........
Zhou Yun drove the Maybach back to school, thinking she would return the car to Lin Long the next day.
That night, thankfully it was nighttime and the security guards weren't watching too closely, otherwise they probably would have been peeking around when they saw the luxury car entering the campus.
Back in her apartment, Zhou Yun took a shower to wash away the smell of smoke and alcohol. After a while, she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
She went to the table and used a wooden hairpin to curl up her long, loose hair, revealing her long, slender, and fair neck, like that of a white goose.
She drew back the curtains, revealing a square whiteboard with various messages displayed on it. At each of the red line nodes, and at the central node, a photograph was pasted.
The photo is blurry, but a dense forest is vaguely visible. In front of the lush green forest stands a figure—it is Fang Chengjin. The photo was taken by a reporter, and Fang Chengjin was investigating the crime scene.
Zhou Yun picked up a red pen, stepped forward, and added a few words under the photo.
Sense of smell, traumatic stress.
Zhou Yun shook the red pen, stared at the clue diagram, and pondered for a moment.
After a while, Zhou Yun took out her phone again. She found the photo of the lock she had taken earlier and sent it out.
Then a few more rings, and her phone rang. Zhou Yun immediately answered, and a click of the tongue came from the other end, "This lock is hard to open."
Zhou Yun paused for a few seconds, then uttered two words: "A solution."
The person on the other end of the phone seemed very troubled. "This lock has obviously been modified, and it's not a simple lock. If you need it in a hurry, then check if the owner has a key or a combination. I can't say when I can give you an answer."
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