The correct way to eliminate your love rival
Autumn in Jiangnan is a bit strange. When you go out in the morning, the breeze carries a slight chill that seeps into your bones. By noon, it gets so hot that all you want to do is drink water. Gao Junxiao fanned himself vigorously with a newspaper. Chen Yao even said that the climate in Jiangnan is mild and suitable for living. He dared to stand up and say it again. He'd better not kill him.
Autumn in the North is more comfortable. Yellow ginkgo leaves fill the streets, and various acrobatic performances on the overpasses are captivating. It's just that the season is a bit short, and soon it will be dry and cold winter. Winter is actually quite nice too, with red walls, green bricks, and white snow adding to the charm of the North.
Thinking of his hometown, Gao Junxiao felt a pang of sadness. He casually flipped through the calendar; Liu Shengqi's execution was the day after tomorrow, marking the end of his notorious life. He had to keep a close watch on him these next two days and ensure nothing went wrong.
His gaze swept across the two large characters for Mid-Autumn Festival on the calendar, and his heart clenched again. Gao Junxiao forcibly ignored the two words representing reunion and continued to flip through the calendar to check his schedule. He had shooting training tomorrow and was going to pick up his custom-made fountain pen today.
He needed to call Miss He first and arrange to meet her. This girl was definitely the bravest girl he had ever met; she could shout "Hands up!" at a criminal without batting an eye. He was amazed by Miss He's courage.
Gao Junxiao sighed helplessly. He thought his plan of surrounding three but leaving one open was flawless, but who knew that a single oversight would drag innocent people into it. It was his fault, and he couldn't blame Miss He for being angry.
However, she was quite stubborn. After her two editorials were retracted, she tried to skirt the rules by publishing them in the literature section as a detective novel. The detailed description of the corpse in the article gave him the illusion that He Qingcheng had secretly read the autopsy report.
Yes, it must be an illusion. All the relevant records of the case have long been handed over to the headquarters. She couldn't possibly know. She only wrote such a thrilling story because of her vivid imagination. There is absolutely no way she could have obtained the autopsy report by bribing the forensic doctor. Haha, even he himself doesn't believe this nonsense.
"Forget it, the murderer is about to be executed. Let her write it if she wants. I won't hold it against her. It's better to resolve conflicts than to make them fester," Gao Junxiao kept reassuring himself, and then dialed the head office of the State Council Information Office.
After being transferred by Ms. He's colleague, he finally heard that friendly and calm female voice: "Hello, this is He Qingcheng from Shenbao. Who is looking for me?"
"Miss He, are you free now? I'd like to ask you about something." Gao Junxiao suppressed the turmoil in his mind.
"Business or personal matters?" Miss He across from him recognized his voice, but her tone was somewhat indifferent.
"It's a private matter," Gao Junxiao blurted out, following her words.
"What private matters do I have to discuss with you?" Ms. He replied curtly, perhaps still harboring resentment over his retraction of the two reports.
"Then it's business." Afraid she would hang up, Gao Junxiao quickly changed direction.
"As for the missing person notice, there's still no news." He Qingcheng's formulaic answer did not deter Gao Junxiao.
He cut to the chase: "Are you free tomorrow night?"
"...Huh?" Perhaps his thoughts were jumping around too much, because He Qingcheng on the other side couldn't keep up.
"Are you free tomorrow night? I'd like to apologize to you in person," Gao Junxiao patiently repeated.
"Supervisor Gao was just doing his job, what's wrong with that?" He Qingcheng still seemed angry.
"I was a bit harsh last time, but I absolutely did not belittle your work. With Miss He's talent, she will become the Mu Guiying of the journalism world sooner or later," Gao Junxiao complimented sincerely.
But He Qingcheng was not buying it at all: "Director Gao, you are too kind to me. I am new to this industry. It was my fault for not knowing the rules and for making a mistake by publishing reports. I have to ask Director Gao to be more understanding."
"No, no, I genuinely believe in you. Aren't we friends? How about I arrange an exclusive interview for you, an interview with Captain Pang?" Gao Junxiao lowered his stance even further.
“No, I don’t need it,” He Qingcheng replied firmly. “I have never despised food offered with contempt.”
Frustrated by He Qingcheng's rebuke, Gao Junxiao scratched his head in frustration. What could he possibly do to get her to forgive him? Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and Gao Junxiao deliberately sighed, "We haven't had a single good night's sleep because of this case. This criminal is too important, so it's inevitable that we're anxious and stressed."
"Inspector Gao, there's no need to play the victim here. I heard there's a reward of 300,000 silver dollars for that prisoner. Besides, you've worked so hard, Commander Xiong must have seen it. Don't forget your humble friend when you get a high-ranking position and a generous salary," He Qingcheng flattered in return.
The little girl knows quite a lot, but she's missing a crucial point. Gao Junxiao's smile faded, and he asked in a deep voice, "Then do you know why the bounty on this criminal is so high?"
"He's hard to catch, but he's no match for Inspector Gao." Kiyosumi said with a hint of teasing in his voice.
“He’s too much of a threat. With him around, the people in the mountains can’t celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival properly, or even the New Year. It’s not that I’m heartless, but I have a responsibility to the people in the mountains.” Gao Junxiao didn’t really think he was any great. Qingcheng was right. Catching bandits was his job, and he should do it.
However, he still harbored a simple wish in his heart: he hoped that his hard work could bring a glimmer of hope and light to the people in this chaotic world, even though he knew that little bit of light was just a drop in the ocean.
"Even though you say that, I'm still not free tomorrow, nor the day after, and definitely not the day after that. But..." Qingcheng deliberately kept him in suspense, then delivered a gentle blow to Gao Junxiao, "I'm free today."
"Okay, it's a deal! I'll pick you up from get off work." Gao Junxiao was overjoyed to receive Miss He's offer and made a note of it in his schedule, adding a big little red flower.
"If you're late, I won't wait for you," Miss He warned him as she finished speaking.
"Understood." After hanging up the phone, Gao Junxiao grabbed his car keys and rushed downstairs to get his car. He didn't even bother to talk to Chen Yao, who had come to invite him to dinner. Under Chen Yao's questioning gaze, he disappeared like a breeze at the door.
Palace lanterns hung on both sides of the busy street, and posters of mooncakes and jade rabbits were everywhere, giving Gao Junxiao a festive atmosphere. It is said that there will be a lantern festival at the City God Temple tomorrow night, where everyone can guess lantern riddles.
At this moment, Gao Junxiao didn't care about the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival; he just wanted to know what the custom-made pen looked like, lest the actual product be of such poor quality that he wouldn't be able to give it as a gift. When he arrived at the department store, the counter was crowded with men buying gifts, and he never expected to be one of them.
While most others were buying regular rings and necklaces, the pen he bought was a miscellaneous item at the jewelry counter and a custom-made piece. He was immediately taken to the VIP room by the sales clerk to wait. Apart from him, there was only one other person in the entire VIP room, a foreigner with deep-set features, waiting for the sales clerk to pick up the pen.
Beside the foreigner was a huge bouquet of red roses, probably 99. Holding such a large bouquet to a girl, could she even see his face? But generally speaking, anyone would be happy to receive flowers.
"Aren't the roses pretty?" Gao Junxiao was surprised by the foreigner's fluent Chinese. Before he could answer, the foreigner extended his hand in a friendly manner to introduce himself, "Harvey Alpha Pampango, you can just call me Harvey."
"Hello, Gao Junxiao." Gao Junxiao politely extended his hand. "Mr. Harvey, your Chinese is very good."
“Because I have a good teacher who taught me the romantic stories behind the profound and difficult-to-understand ancient texts. For example, ‘A beauty’s smile is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.’” Harvey’s amber eyes had a childlike clarity.
"Haha, the roses are very beautiful, and I imagine the lady who receives them is even more beautiful." Gao Junxiao guessed that the girl who received the flowers was probably Chinese.
“Yes, she is beautiful, independent and refined.” Harvey’s eyes were full of tenderness as he touched the delicate petals of the rose, as if he were touching someone through the petals.
During the conversation, the sales clerk brought out Harvey's custom-made item, a gold-plated, intricately carved soundbox inlaid with mother-of-pearl, peridot, amethyst, sapphire, and other cool-toned jewels—it was quite valuable. Harvey politely asked Gao Junxiao if he could try out the sound.
After receiving permission, Harvey carefully opened the box. The lid was decorated with enamel depicting little angels playing music. In the center of the box was an angel doll holding a bow and arrow, looking simple and cute. As he wound up the clockwork, he chatted with Gao Junxiao: "She is the sun in my life. She is worth anything, no matter how precious."
"Mr. Harvey, is it because of her that you traveled all the way to China?" Gao Junxiao asked with some curiosity.
“Yes, even if she refuses to go back with me to continue her doctoral studies, I can invite her to my shipbuilding materials research institute in the French Concession. We can continue our research, just like in university. I will conduct the experiments, and she will verify the data.” Harvey stopped turning the metal handle.
As soon as you release the metal handle, the little angel holding the bow and arrow starts spinning on its own, and gentle, ethereal music fills the entire VIP room. The crisp tinkling sound is soothing.
Based on Harvey's description, Gao Junxiao pictured a man and a woman in white lab coats and exclaimed, "Oh, so you're both scholars."
“We can’t call ourselves scholars yet, but if we continue to devote ourselves to research, with our academic abilities, who knows, we might become great scholars who publish books and biographies in the future,” Harvey naively envisioned the future.
"Then I wish you success in advance," Gao Junxiao said sincerely.
At that moment, the clerk brought in the pair of fountain pens he had ordered. Two pens were placed on a black velvet tray, one pearl white and the other royal blue, both sparkling under the crystal chandelier.
Upon seeing the actual gift, Gao Junxiao finally felt relieved. Since it was close to the holiday, the teller thoughtfully gave each of them a 3D greeting card, explaining that it was a special Mid-Autumn Festival card and that they could write a message for the recipient and participate in a lucky draw.
The so-called Mid-Autumn Festival special was nothing more than a regular greeting card with a three-dimensional rabbit pounding medicine drawn on it. Gao Junxiao scoffed at the merchants' fancy marketing methods. Why would you need a greeting card when you're giving something in person? Don't they have mouths under their noses?
In contrast, Harvey enthusiastically accepted the greeting card and pen, writing something very carefully, stroke by stroke. This made Gao Junxiao, who was next to him and wanted the clerk to wrap up the gift, feel a little ashamed. He wondered if he had been too perfunctory and thought he should write one too.
When he caught sight of the bouquet of fiery red roses, it was as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water. What was he doing? He was writing a letter to his lover; what was there for him to learn? If he dared to overstep the bounds, He Qingcheng's explosive temper would surely set him on fire.
But he had heard that foreigners were very good at handling things. Gao Junxiao glanced at Harvey's greeting card without making a sound, and his heart tightened immediately. Harvey, who was next to him, wrote three Chinese characters in an awkward manner: He, Qing, Cheng.
Gao Junxiao recognized every single word, yet he didn't want to. His heart felt like it was being torn apart by cat claws, and his gaze towards Harvey held a deeper meaning. If it were just a girl with the same name, that would be fine, but otherwise… he needed more information.
"Could you please get me some ink? I'd like to try out my new fountain pen," Gao Junxiao instructed the clerk beside him, then turned to Harvey and asked, "Mr. Harvey, are you familiar with our traditional festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
“I know, we eat mooncakes and crabs for the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Harvey nodded and said, referring to the customs of Jiangnan.
"It's not just about food; there will also be a party in the evening where everyone can enjoy the moon, drink wine, recite poetry, and solve riddles in the courtyard, similar to your salon."
"Yes." Gao Junxiao blinked and gave an easy-to-understand example of Harvey.
"That sounds like a very romantic night," Harvey said, his eyes gleaming with envy.
"I don't know if you made plans for tomorrow, tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival." Gao Junxiao reminded her with a smile, and took the ink offered by the clerk. Thinking of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he finally understood why Miss He was not free tomorrow. She must be having a family dinner tomorrow.
"Oh dear, I don't have any plans for tomorrow," Harvey said apologetically, pursing his lips. "Actually, I only decided to come today on a whim; she didn't know I was coming."
"Then I'll go ask her if she's free tomorrow. Are you going to her house now? If I have a car going that way, I can give you a ride," Gao Junxiao tentatively asked Harvey.
“Thank you very much for your kindness, but it’s very close to her workplace, I can walk there.” Harvey politely declined Gao Junxiao’s offer. This distance only made Gao Junxiao more certain that this He Qingcheng was the same He Qingcheng.
"It's such a pity. This is your first time in China, so you must pay attention to your personal etiquette. We Chinese people value etiquette very much. Especially when you go to a girl's workplace, you don't want to leave a bad impression on her colleagues, do you?" Gao Junxiao wrote a greeting card while giving Harvey some advice.
Harvey shook his head, then anxiously tugged at Gao Junxiao's arm, asking, "Mr. Gao, how can I make a good impression on her? Should I...should I bow? Or kowtow?"
Gao Junxiao suppressed a laugh and said, "No need for that. You just need to greet all of the girl's colleagues, shake hands, and briefly introduce yourself. I believe the girl will feel very proud."
“I know how to do this.” Harvey suddenly pointed to the greeting card and exclaimed, “My God, Mr. Gao, your calligraphy is so beautiful! It’s slender yet vigorous, with fine and powerful strokes. I love Chinese calligraphy very much. This must be the Slender Gold style.”
"It's in the 'Slender Gold' style, but it can't really be considered calligraphy. It's just something I wrote casually," Gao Junxiao said modestly, closing the pen cap, though inwardly he was a little apprehensive. This foreigner actually knew quite a lot.
"Ah, when will I be able to write like this?" Harvey shyly closed his card after comparing it to his own handwriting.
“You can practice your handwriting slowly, but you can memorize a few ancient poems for the Mid-Autumn Festival in advance. For example, the poem I just wrote, ‘May we all live long and share the beauty of the moon, though we are thousands of miles apart,’ is a work by the great Song Dynasty writer Su Shi,” Gao Junxiao introduced the source of the poem.
“As expected of a great writer, it sounds very poetic. What do these two sentences mean?” Harvey asked inquisitively, with an expression that said, “I don’t understand, but I’m very impressed.”
"These two lines mean that I only hope that the person I miss will be safe and well, and that no matter how far apart we are, we can see the bright and beautiful moon together." Gao Junxiao patiently explained the meaning of the lyrics and music.
"So beautiful! I'm going to use this to confess my feelings." Harvey, moved by the words, took out his notebook and wrote down the two sentences. Gao Junxiao, standing beside him, smiled noncommittally and offered no objection.
After chatting for a while, Harvey left happily with the roses in his hand. Gao Junxiao glanced at his Mid-Autumn Festival card, smiled slyly, and casually tossed it into the wastebasket. That foreign kid was overthinking it; he hadn't asked anyone to use that song of brotherhood to confess their feelings.
However, he learned one thing from Harvey: He Qingcheng didn't have a boyfriend yet.
As the sun set, the ding-ding-ding of buses and trolleys echoed from not far away. It was rush hour, and cars were lined up in long queues. Gao Junxiao sat in his car, anxiously watching the traffic lights, wishing he could step on the gas and sprint a hundred meters.
Fortunately, the Shenbao Building was just across the street. However, the weather in Jiangnan was even more bizarre than he had imagined. Just moments ago, the sky was clear and blue, but now it was drizzling. This made Gao Junxiao, who was already feeling agitated, even more nervous.
He parked his car across from the Shenbao building and, while the lady was still out of sight, secretly checked himself in the front mirror, smoothing his disheveled hair. He had even changed into a suit before leaving, so he was sure he wouldn't look disrespectful.
The knocking on the window startled him. Outside, He Qingcheng was holding a black umbrella and smiling at him. Gao Junxiao's mind went blank for a moment, and he even forgot to open the car door for her.
Seeing that he didn't get out of the car, Miss He wasn't angry. She walked around the car, her high heels splashing playful water droplets on the muddy path. Only then did Gao Junxiao remember what he should do, and he immediately got out of the car and opened the door for Miss He in the rain.
Back in the car, Gao Junxiao said guiltily, "I'm sorry, I haven't been sleeping well lately, and I've been acting a bit silly."
"It's nothing, my back has been hurting from sitting in the office all day lately." He Qingcheng stretched rather ungracefully and asked casually, "How do you plan to make amends?"
“Miss He, it will be a while before we arrive at the restaurant. I have some simple tea and snacks in my car, please have them and don’t mind them.” Gao Junxiao said, taking out a paper bag that he had prepared in advance.
Upon seeing the small red and white pastries in the bag, Qingcheng's eyes immediately lit up: "Orange-red cake!"
Years of good manners led Miss He to nod and thank him before eating the snacks, while Gao Junxiao smiled and started the car: "I don't know what this is called, I just thought it tasted good and bought it for you to try."
He Qingcheng, sitting in the passenger seat, lowered her head and murmured an "Mmm." She picked up a small piece of orange-red cake and put it in her mouth. The deep swirling marks on her cheeks showed that she seemed to really like the cake. Gao Junxia felt that he had made the right purchase. He then focused on driving, afraid that if he kept peeking, he would cause a traffic accident.
The rain outside the car window swayed in the wind like cotton threads, then clumped together and fell onto the eaves, rolling and merging into a babbling brook that flowed down the eaves like a crystal curtain of water. Through the rain-drenched glass window, one could see the distorted figures of pedestrians on the roadside, and the neon lights on the signs blended all aspects of life into this rainy scene.
In the elegant and luxurious Western restaurant, the two seemed to have endless topics to discuss. He Qingcheng playfully rattled off the names of fish dishes to Gao Junxiao: squirrel fish, boiled fish, sauerkraut fish, cold pot fish, simmered fish, braised fish...
"You're going to eat all the fish out of the family line," Gao Junxiao teased with a laugh.
"Before I eat a certain type of fish to extinction, I might eat a chicken to extinction first." He Qingcheng revealed her preferences without any hesitation.
"Shall we go for Chinese food next time?" Gao Junxiao asked cautiously, already thinking about where to go next.
“Okay, I’ll tell you a secret.” Kiyosumi said mysteriously, “Actually, you only realize how delicious the food is when you go abroad. What kind of crap is all that stuff from abroad?”
"Haha. I know, my relatives complained to me about how terrible the British food was. I heard they were so hungry after they came back that they ate half a jar of pickled vegetables straight from the pot." Gao Junxiao took a sip of water in a very good mood.
Perhaps his performance was too enthusiastic, because Kiyosumi chuckled: "Won't it be too salty? But if you go to England and know how to cook, that's fine. If you don't know how, then it'll be too pitiful."
“British food at least uses salt, but Japanese food is tasteless without soy sauce.” Before Gao Junxiao could finish speaking, a person wearing a black raincoat ran to their table. The person pulled down his rain hood and it was Lu Xian.
"Brother, we have to go back, it's urgent." Lu Xian couldn't say it outright, but his face showed an indescribable anxiety, which made Gao Junxiao realize the seriousness of the problem.
"Excuse me, I have to go now. This is a gift for you." Gao Junxiao hurriedly took out the gift box from his arms. Miss He smiled and accepted the gift, but the disappointment in her eyes made him unable to bear looking at her.
He now channeled all his guilt towards the woman into resentment towards the jerk who interrupted his date.
Liu Shengqi, you're still not at peace even on your deathbed.
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