Chapter 14
Chen Liuchi frowned: "Release from prison early?"
Ten years ago, Jiang Bozheng was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for crimes such as molesting minors and illegally disseminating pornographic materials.
The seventeen-year-old Chen Liuchi was one of the victims that year. So even if the Shen family used their connections to prevent Jiang Bozheng from dying in prison, his sentence was almost the maximum sentence for his crime.
Now, this damn beast will be released from prison after ten years. Shen Maoyuan, who was the first to hear the news, was furious and then worried. He was worried that Chen Liuchi was still traumatized by what happened that year, and he was also afraid that Jiang Bozheng would come to trouble him barefoot instead of wearing shoes.
"I'll ask the prison for details." Shen Maoyuan looked at Chen Liuchi with worry in his eyes. "You should stay at my place for the time being and try to spend less time in the bar. It would be best if you could go back to Yinhe to work."
In the darkness, Chen Liuchi half-lidded his eyes, his expression taking on a gloomy look. He wasn't known for his gentle appearance to begin with, and the brief silence at this moment was like a tangible color, accentuating the sharpness and oppression of his features.
"Need not."
When he looked up again, Chen Liuchi had calmed down and said calmly, "Back then, I could smash his ladle open with a stool, and I can do it now."
Life on the street seems dim, the sky is dim, and the trees are gloomy, standing quietly, one by one, as if without any random thoughts. But the fallen leaves under the trees have long been tangled into a mess.
Shen Maoyuan stared at the sinking pond for a long moment, his gaze filled with hesitation and scrutiny, a complex expression difficult to describe. After a long pause, he slowly hummed, "Don't just beat him to death, or it'll be hard to get you out."
Chen Liuchi seemed to smile when he heard this, but the moon had already set. In his drowsiness, Shen Maoyuan could not see clearly. He only heard him unbuckle his seat belt and get out of the car. His voice was vague through the car door: "Go back and rest early. Tomorrow is a workday. Don't be late for Mr. Shen's morning meeting."
After returning home, Chen Liuchi first sent a message to Cen Zhao, and then took advantage of the time when the other party was replying to open the bouquet of tulips he brought back in the morning and put them in a vase.
He didn't have any special vases at home, but he had some leftover wine bottles. He tore off the labels, washed them, and put flowers in them, and it looked quite like a vintage vase.
He thought for a moment, took a picture of the vase with his phone, and sent it to Cen Zhao: [Artwork.]
Cen Zhao replied quickly with a thumbs-up emoticon, the kind commonly used by middle-aged and elderly people, which made Chen Liuchi laugh.
Cen Zhao continued to send messages: [Arrived home? ]
Sinking pond: [puppy nods.jpg]
Cen Zhao: [Are you happy with your brother?]
Sinking pool: [Puppy nods.jpg]
Cen Zhao's phone displayed that he was typing. After a few seconds, a voice message came through:
"When does the puppy sleep?"
Chen Liuchi's face turned red immediately.
Cen Zhao's voice was light and flirty, with a hint of laughter and teasing, but his tone was gentle, with an indescribable feeling of indulgence and doting, as if Chen Liuchi was really a puppy that was cherished and protected in his palm with great care.
Chen Liuchi covered his lips with one hand, clicked on the two-second voice message and listened to it again. An uncontrollable weird cry came out of his throat. He threw the phone on the sofa, feeling his heart and blood explode with a muffled bang, and his boiling nerves were almost burned out.
He squatted beside the sofa for two seconds, then took the phone and played it again.
"When does the puppy sleep?"
ah.
"When does the puppy sleep?"
Ahhh!
"When did the puppy—"
The voice stopped, but Chen Liuchi still finished yelling "Ahhh" before looking up, and saw that the voice message had actually been withdrawn by Cen Zhao.
Sedimentation pool: [? ]
Cen Zhao: [Did this offend you?]
Sink: [puppy shaking its head.jpg] [puppy erecting its ears.jpg]
Cen Zhao: [puppy_success_.jpg] [puppy_dependence_.jpg] [puppy_kis ...
Chen Liuchi collected the emoticon while laughing and asked him: [You have become a puppy too? ]
Cen Zhao: [I was also born in the Year of the Dog.]
Chenliuchi: [Then you are only four years older than me.]
Cen Zhao: [Yes, Boss Shen, can you please call me Brother?]
He didn't even use a question mark, and seemed to be quite confident and certain that he could hear it.
Chen Liuchi did not disappoint him. He opened his mouth for a moment, but the first word "brother" was a little muffled. He quickly swiped down to cancel the message, cleared his throat, and whispered, "Brother."
The voice message was sent out quickly, Chen Liuchi threw the phone back on the sofa, buried his face in the pillow, and his screams were all swallowed by the soft cotton.
Oh my god, Chenliuchi, 27-year-old Chenliuchi, you can actually shout out!
Chen Liuchi's face flushed red with embarrassment and shame, and he clutched the sofa pillow frantically. When the buzzing message rang, he immediately looked up and grabbed his phone:
Cen Zhao: [I'm going to have insomnia again tonight.]
This word "again" is very subtle.
The heat on Chen Liuchi's face subsided a little. He grabbed his phone and typed: [Forensic Doctor Cen, calm down.]
Cen Zhao: [Very good, calm down now.]
Cen Zhao: [Listening to it again, I can’t calm down.]
Cen Zhao: [Can I set it as an alarm?]
Chen Liuchi's face turned red again: [If you listen to it yourself, it's okay.]
He thought for a moment and said, "I want an alarm clock ringtone too."
There was silence on Cen Zhao's end for a few seconds. The chat box with the message "Type in progress" flashed and disappeared, then reappeared again. This cycle repeated several times before Cen Zhao's voice message came through:
"Xiao Chi, today is also a day I really want to see you."
After hearing Cen Zhao record an alarm, Chen Liuchi couldn't sleep all night. He was just dozing off when the sound of Xiao Chi came, and was immediately awakened by Cen Zhao's voice. Then he buried his face in the pillow and began to scream silently again!
How could Cen Zhao be so capable?
He thought so and sent a message: [Cen Zhao, you are a little too good.]
There was no immediate reply from the other end. Chen Liuchi got up after being lazy in bed. The bar was in trial operation these days, with both day and night shows, so he had to go there early to open the store.
Cen Zhao called while he was washing up. The other party's voice was slightly hoarse: "Sorry, I was just taking a shower."
Chen Liuchi spat out the toothpaste foam: "Did you not get enough rest or are you catching a cold? Your voice doesn't sound right."
Cen Zhao was silent for a few seconds and said nothing.
Chen Liuchi was washing his face and didn't hear clearly. He hummed in confusion with a hint of nasal sound from waking up in the morning.
Cen Zhao fell silent again on the other end of the phone. He suddenly said sorry and said something urgent had happened, then hung up the phone.
Chen Liuchi was stunned for a moment with the face towel in his hand, then suddenly understood something, cursed with a low laugh, and turned on the faucet to splash cold water on his face.
Cen Zhao, you’re not that good at it either.
High attack and low defense.
It wasn't until Chen Liuchi finished washing up and grabbed a lunch bag and got in the car that Cen Zhao called again. Chen Liuchi got into the driver's seat, connected the Bluetooth, and asked with pretended concern: "Is everything okay? Are you okay?"
Cen Zhao visibly choked. He didn't believe Chen Liuchi didn't understand, but Chen Liuchi was playing dumb and innocent. He could only go along with the answer, "It's okay. I'm fine. I just left home a little late. I might be late."
Chen Liuchi was very generous: "Boss Shen will make up for your full attendance."
Cen Zhao smiled and nodded, then reported today's schedule to him. It was nothing more than meetings, reports, autopsies, and slacking off. The nature of his job was stable and monotonous, but you never know when an emergency might occur.
Chen Liuchi remembered the severed hand they had retrieved and asked about it. Cen Zhao replied that there was only one hand, and there were no comparison results in the database, so it was difficult to identify the deceased.
Their city bureau encounters many unsolved cases of unidentified corpses every year. Cen Zhao has become accustomed to this and only reminds Chen Liuchi to be careful if he goes to the beach again.
Upon hearing this, Chenliuchi said, "The Sailing Festival officially opens on Saturday, remember to come."
Cen Zhao assured him, "I've set three events and five alarms for the day. Shen Xiaochi will call me brother eight times that day. He will definitely not forget it."
Chen Liuchi was not very quick to respond and his face turned red immediately, especially since he was connected to Bluetooth at this moment. The three words "Chen Xiaochi" kept floating in the carriage and didn't disappear for a long time.
The two of them were not on a video call, so Cen Zhao couldn't see Chen Liuchi's face. He could only sense that there was a brief pause in the conversation. He laughed in his heart, not because he was deliberately trying to win back a game, but because he found the name really cute after he said it out loud.
"What are your plans for today?"
Cen Zhao stopped teasing and said, "My colleague recommended a restaurant. I think the signature dishes are not much different from the private dishes you wanted to eat before. I heard that the taste is very good. Do you want to try it?"
The sedimentation pond is naturally a good choice.
The two chatted all the way until Chen Liuchi's car pulled up to the bar door and they hung up. It was not yet ten o'clock, and the only person in the bar was the cleaning lady. Chen Liuchi helped her clean up a bit. It seemed that the nightclub was quite lively last night, with bottles, snacks and streamers scattered all over the floor. He probably had paid for the utilities and rent yesterday.
Chen Liuchi counted the wine list and checked the account book. He was surprised to find that all the income and expenditure from last night were recorded in a very detailed and orderly manner. Even the gross profit of the wine could be calculated to three decimal places.
This job definitely wasn't done by Chen Du. This guy has failed math since he was young. He's the kind of person who can calculate that a salary of 8,000 yuan requires a tax of 16,000 yuan.
He was just wondering when the door to the lounge opened and someone came out. Seeing Chen Liuchi, he was startled for a moment before greeting him: "Boss Shen."
Chen Liuchi looked at him for a few seconds and recognized that this was the guitarist from yesterday's band, whose name seemed to be Xiaobei.
"morning."
Chen Liuchi looked at him secretly a few more times. Without the messy costumes and stage makeup from yesterday, Xiaobei didn't look very old. He was probably just an adult. Which university's school band did Lu Zhao poach?
Xiao Bei saw him checking the accounts and yawned: "I went through it before going to bed yesterday, there shouldn't be any mistakes."
Chenliuchi was a little surprised: "Did you calculate it?"
Xiaobei nodded: "I studied economics in college and took courses in financial management."
Chen Liuchi nodded. The accounting was quite good and professional. If it was not possible, he could ask someone to hire him as a part-time accountant.
"You don't have classes this morning? It's already past ten."
Chenliuchi saw that he came out of the lounge, and skillfully opened a bottle of mineral water to wash up. The toothpaste and toothbrush seemed to be disposable items like those in the hotel, and he just wiped his face with a piece of toilet paper.
"I haven't paid my tuition yet, so I was forced to suspend classes." Xiaobei spat out the toothpaste foam, his expression calm and not embarrassed. "Now I'm performing to earn tuition and go back to school after I pay it."
Chen Liuchi was a little surprised. He had the impression that the tuition for one semester in college was only four or five thousand yuan, and their band earned two thousand yuan for a performance. This kid would at least get five hundred yuan. After deducting the cost of living, wouldn't it be enough to pay the tuition after saving for a month or so?
Xiao Bei probably saw his confusion and explained, "My dad used to be rich. I went to an international college, and the tuition was 100,000 yuan a year."
Chenliuchi watched the kid wash up and return to the lounge. There was a large travel backpack in it, which probably contained all his belongings. It was shrunken.
"Boss Chen said I can stay here temporarily." Xiaobei glanced at Chenliuchi, then stood up to fold up the bath towel he was using as a blanket on the sofa and put it away. "I'll stay here tonight and help with the cleaning during the day. If you trust me, I'm fine with settling the bill."
Chen Liuchi looked at his shrunken bag, then at the account book, and took out a calculator to do some calculations. "You don't have to work for nothing. I'll give you this salary every month, and you just need to take care of the accounts. Of course, your performance fees are calculated separately and are not included here."
Xiao Bei was obviously stunned when he heard this, and quickly said, "No money is needed. I am already very grateful to you and Boss Chen for giving me a place to stay. The settlement is just a convenient convenience-"
"Free things often become the most expensive in the end." Chen Liuchi interrupted him, his tone not serious but tolerant of refusal, "I don't mind spending a few thousand dollars, so don't let me down, will you?"
Xiaobei looked at him steadily for a while, then lowered his head slightly and said thank you in a low voice.
Chen Liuchi turned his head away without looking at his face, and pointed to the consumption area outside: "If the store is not busy, you can go out and find odd jobs after you finish what you need to do. As long as the account books you submit to me every month are good enough, it's fine."
Xiaobei responded with a muffled "OK". Although Chenliuchi did good deeds every day, he was not a psychologist who could comfort people. He patted Xiaobei's shoulder and stood up to leave the lounge.
The big boss Chen Du is always busy and lazy. Today is another day of drying the nets. He didn't show up the whole day. Chen Liuchi was too lazy to call him. He just sent a message to tell him that he had arranged a job for Xiaobei, but the other party must have not replied.
Around noon, Cen Zhao called and said he had to go out on business and would probably work overtime in the evening, so the dinner plan might be canceled.
It would be a lie for Chen Liuchi to say he wasn't disappointed, but the other party's job was of a special nature, and being able to help solve the case early would benefit society, so he generously expressed his understanding.
Cen Zhao sounded a bit glum on the other end. "I just saw today that they have a spring special. Today might be the last day they serve it. I wanted to let you try it, but now it seems you'll have to wait until next year."
Chenliuchi reassured him: "Next year, next year. As long as the store isn't closed, we can go."
Cen Zhao was coaxed into submission inexplicably, and his tone returned to normal. He was patiently reminded to drink plenty of water, not to be too tired, and to eat on time. Before he even finished saying the word "eat", his colleagues called him out to set off. He was extremely busy.
Compared to Forensic Doctor Cen's life of slavery, Chenliuchi seemed much quieter today. On weekdays, there were almost no people in the Baichang Bar, and it only started to get lively around five or six in the evening.
Although Xiaobei is not very old, he is very good at controlling the situation. Maybe he was promised another salary, which made him more motivated to work. He was so busy that he wanted to be like a top. After singing a song in front, he went down to serve drinks. Chenliuchi felt like he was some kind of skinning capitalist, making a child do so much work for one salary.
It was almost nine o'clock when Chen Du came with Xin Xin. When Chen Liuchi saw someone taking over, he immediately slipped away. Even if Chen Du was shouting sarcastically behind him, he couldn't stop his eagerness to get off work. The main reason was that he had just seen on the food delivery app that the restaurant closed at ten o'clock in the evening. If he hurried over now, he might be able to catch the last day's spring special dishes.
It was 9:20 when Cen Zhao received the message. Chen Liuchi asked if he had finished his work. Zeng Baoguo, who had heard the noise nearby, was gossiping: "Why, you didn't inform anyone? Are you here to check on me?"
Cen Zhao chuckled and shook his phone. "My family is here to bring me some midnight snacks, worried that I haven't eaten well while I'm out on duty."
Zeng Baoguo choked and snorted, "It's not like I don't get paid for overtime. Besides, the lunch boxes provided by the cafeteria are delicious, and there are two chicken legs!"
Cen Zhao put on his coat and went downstairs, not forgetting to pat his shoulder: "I'll give you my share too, four chicken legs, to nourish you more."
Ignoring Zeng Baoguo's weird cries behind him, Cen Zhao went downstairs in a good mood.
Chen Liuchi was waiting in the security room. When he saw someone coming out, he showed the takeaway bag in his hand: "Want to have dinner?"
Cen Zhao smiled, took the bag from him, and signed his name on the entry and exit register before leading the group inside. "It's a must. I've been heartbroken for standing up Boss Shen once."
Chen Liuchi slapped him and told him he was being frivolous, then began to enthusiastically introduce the bag of food. "You know what, this restaurant is really good. Their spring special seems to be a stir-fried mushroom and wild vegetable dish. It smells really good."
Cen Zhao was surprised when he heard this: "Which store did you go to?"
Chen Liuchi raised his eyebrows and was about to say something, but his eyes swept over Cen Zhao's shoulder and saw a figure standing outside the hall. His expression changed immediately.
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