Chapter 81
It had been raining for several days in the northern suburbs where the prison was located. The cold dampness in the air rushed over them the moment they stepped out of the car.
“Achoo—”
Shu Ci’s nose tickled from the wind, and he couldn’t help but sneeze.
The next second, a heavy trench coat landed on his shoulders.
Lu Wanqing hugged him lightly from behind, tightened the collar, and then methodically unrolled the shirt cuffs underneath.
“Do you know there is a type of cold known as ‘your husband thinks you’re cold’?” Shu Ci pouted, buttoning the top button as he spoke casually.
Lu Wanqing paused in his steps and turned to look at him.
Shu Ci almost bumped into his back.
“…?” He looked confused.
“Say it again.” Lu Wanqing stared at his lips.
“Say what?” Shu Ci didn’t react in time. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure behind Lu Wanqing. He tilted his head to look. “Reporter Zhao?”
Lu Wanqing sighed softly and turned around. A group of staff members stood by a van parked opposite them, seemingly packing up.
The logo of the Zhaoxi Agency was pasted on the van.
Zhao Qinfeng looked up and saw the surprise on Shu Ci’s face. Then, seeing Lu Wanqing, his wrist reflexively raised the microphone.
The colleagues behind him also instinctively reached for their tripods.
“A lawyer’s letter has already been prepared for your agency.” Lu Wanqing gave Reporter Zhao a faint glance. “Do you want to make headlines in your own industry?”
“Occupational hazard, occupational hazard. Please don’t hold it against us.”
Zhao Qinfeng laughed dryly and quickly signaled his colleagues to stop.
He turned back, smiling awkwardly. “It’s just that we’ve been camping out for days and haven’t been able to interview that person, so we’re a bit anxious. You two are here to…?”
“Uh…” Shu Ci was about to answer when Lu Wanqing suddenly reached out and tapped his lips, silencing him.
He raised an eyebrow. Before he could protest, he heard Lu Wanqing’s voice drop. “Zhaoxi Agency, Reporter Zhao Qinfeng.”
“Huh?” Reporter Zhao responded with a guilty conscience.
Lu Wanqing’s vocal pressure kept him on edge.
“Back then, you took quite a bit of bounty money from Gu Lanzhu to act as his informant. Now you don’t seem to feel any hesitation about biting the hand that fed you?”
Lu Wanqing’s gaze was sharp as it swept across to him.
Reporter Zhao: “Well, um…”
He stammered awkwardly twice, turned around to push his colleagues into the van, jumped in last himself, and slammed the door.
“We’re leaving now!”
Shu Ci, who had been watching the drama, was suddenly startled by the car exhaust. He paused and asked, “What did that mean?”
Lu Wanqing glanced at him. “After you left the Central Hotel that day, Gu Lanzhu wouldn’t have been able to find you that quickly. Even using your camellia necklace as a clue, he shouldn’t have found the Shu family so fast.”
He had dealt with Shichen Jewelry later regarding the Purple Pomelo Stone. Even if Gu Lanzhu bypassed procedures and relied purely on pressure, it would still take time.
“Among the evidence collected against him this time, there was a photo secretly sent to several partner media outlets. It was a high-priced bounty for you.”
Most media outlets follow the wind and know how to read the room. After Gu Lanzhu’s status plummeted, they revealed everything to clear their own names.
“Making this kind of news public would cause panic among the populace and distrust in the media, so it was suppressed.”
Lu Wanqing had weighed the pros and cons repeatedly but decided to tell him.
“Bounty… on me? Because I ran away, he wanted to find me?” Shu Ci frowned. “The first time I saw him was at Shen Ti’s house. He was doing an exclusive interview on Cui You.”
So, when Zhao Qinfeng saw him then, he immediately passed the news to Gu Lanzhu?
No wonder he was followed on his way home after updating his documents at City Hall. The problem originated here.
Zhaoxi Agency… Shu Ci frowned. His disgust and loathing for Gu Lanzhu climbed to a new peak.
“Mr. Lu, Mr. Shu.”
A clear voice interrupted his thoughts. Shu Ci looked up to see a female Alpha in uniform jogging over and stopping in front of them.
She looked as if she was about to bow to Lu Wanqing in the next second.
Lu Wanqing gently pressed against her shoulder as she leaned forward, stopping her, then quickly let go. “No need for formalities, Director Zhou.”
Director Zhou paused, then slowly straightened up. “You two arrived a bit earlier than the scheduled time. Visitation opens in fifteen minutes. Inmate Z01799 is still working. I’ll take you inside first.”
Once in prison, a person lost their name. Here, they became a number, stripped of all social identity.
Z01799 was Gu Lanzhu.
Lu Wanqing looked up at the three towering prison buildings.
“Z Block. He’s probably going to lose a layer of skin these next few days.”
“It’s to teach them how to be human again.” Director Zhou’s expression was solemn. “Felons undergo varying degrees of re-education before receiving final judgment and punishment.”
Lu Wanqing scoffed lightly and said nothing more.
As they spoke, the three walked from the parking lot to the entrance. Shu Ci narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between the two who were talking.
They followed Director Zhou through strict security checks and walked toward the visitation room when suddenly, someone behind them screamed hysterically.
“Why can they go in?! I’ve applied to visit Brother Ah-Zhu twenty times, and not a single one was approved! Why can they—I want to report this! A suspended General abusing his power!!!”
Shu Ci looked back and saw guards blocking Bai Yue, who was dressed in a small suit. He glared viciously at Shu Ci, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws.
The Chen family was now also at the center of public opinion. The two assistants beside Bai Yue were trembling as they tried to drag him back.
Out of trust in Lu Wanqing, Shu Ci believed their prison visit wouldn’t leave room for gossip. He ignored this undignified farce and continued walking inside.
Only when Director Zhou went ahead to swipe the access card did he tug on Lu Wanqing. “So, is this a compliant visit? You and Director Zhou seem very familiar.”
Gu Lanzhu didn’t accept visits easily; even the Zhaoxi Agency hadn’t managed to camp out for any valuable news. Regardless of how you looked at it, Lu Wanqing’s connections were very solid.
Lu Wanqing looked at him seriously, took the hand hanging by his side, and subtly interlaced their fingers beneath his sleeve.
“Don’t worry. We’re not familiar.”
“…”
His question just now didn’t mean anything else!
Gu Lanzhu was escorted toward the visitation room in a daze, the silver-white lips on the wall moving along with him.
The demonic whispers lingered in his ears.
He looked a bit trance-like, feeling as if his entire being was about to be torn apart by that voice.
What protagonist? What master? What true trajectory? Words with unclear meanings smashed into his mind one by one, giving him a splitting headache.
How could his natural-born outstanding talent be fake?
Why should he bow down to a broken mouth?
The only thing that gave him a slight sense of comfort was when it mentioned Shu Ci.
Even this supernatural entity thought they were a match made in heaven. A faint smile cracked across Gu Lanzhu’s face.
He threatened, “If you have the power, let me see him. Otherwise, why should I believe your words?”
Just as his voice fell, the door to the visitation room was pushed open, and the silver-white lips vanished from sight.
He stared blankly at Shu Ci sitting on the other side of the glass, his eyelids twitching rapidly.
Could it be that everything that thing said was true?
He and Shu Ci really were destined by heaven!?
On Gu Lanzhu’s exhausted face, his red pupils suddenly lit up. He stumbled into the visitation room, stood before the chair, and pressed both hands against the glass.
Shu Ci frowned and leaned back slightly.
Lu Wanqing wrapped one arm around his shoulder, worried he might be frightened.
Gu Lanzhu stared at Shu Ci absentmindedly, his gaze landing on the back of his neck.
His memory of him remained stuck on that night, the room full of jasmine scent that made one restless and willing to fall.
In their previous meetings, even if he just stood in front of him, even if he restrained his pheromones, Gu Lanzhu could still feel that fatal attraction.
Like two poles of a magnet, unconsciously drawing closer.
But now, that attraction was completely undetectable. He could no longer smell the scent that had once captivated his soul.
It seemed that ever since the cruise ship, the sharp pheromones that lashed at him, pressing upon him with rolling killing intent, had dispelled all temptation and enchantment.
Gu Lanzhu felt panic in his heart and couldn’t help but feel a trace of confusion. “Little Jasmine…”
“Stop, stop. That’s a bit nauseating.”
Shu Ci put a hand to his forehead. Thank goodness he smelled of sweet osmanthus now, otherwise, he really might have vomited hearing those two words.
“I came here specifically to hear one sentence.” He crossed his arms and looked at Gu Lanzhu. “Do you have anything you want to say to—Shu Ci?”
Shu Ci.
Not just him, but the original owner of the body too.
Regardless of who was in this body, Gu Lanzhu had made the exact same choices.
Forcing, possessing, threatening, kidnapping.
In the name of compatibility, he broke through the bottom line of humanity time and again.
“I…”
Gu Lanzhu’s mind was full of ways to mark him; he couldn’t say a word for a moment.
Finally, he squeezed out a sentence: “I will definitely get out.”
His gaze was covetous, the subtext glaringly obvious. What he would do after getting out went without saying.
Lu Wanqing lowered his gaze, his palm protecting Shu Ci’s gland.
“That’s your answer? Fine.” Shu Ci stood up in disappointment.
He actually just wanted to hear an apology from Gu Lanzhu. In the five thousand chapters of the “crematorium” arc (redemption arc), Gu Lanzhu was always punished lightly and never truly said “I’m sorry.”
It was the same now.
He believed he was taking the fall for his family and never felt he truly deserved to die for his crimes. He only regretted that the Gu family made a wrong move, not that he deserved prison.
Shu Ci felt that the original host, who had suffered so much hardship, wasn’t worth it. The later favoritism and affection were nothing but a false illusion.
The original host thought love and happiness had finally arrived.
But the favored son of heaven only believed that he had obtained what he deserved through his own efforts.
“I hope you stop worshipping compatibility and study this book well.”
He handed the fully inspected book of laws to the prison guard to take to Gu Lanzhu’s side.
“I wish for your sentence to be a lifetime.”
The verdict hadn’t been officially made public yet, so no one knew the final punishment Gu Lanzhu would receive.
When Gu Lanzhu got the book of laws, Shu Ci had already walked out of the visitation room. He opened it and saw the title page was covered in writing.
…Sprawling, dense, full of curse words.
Greeting eighteen generations of his ancestors.
Sharp words, every one piercing the heart.
Three large words stood out in the center: F*ck Off Far Away!
Gu Lanzhu looked up and saw that Lu Wanqing hadn’t followed him out. He was still standing on the other side, his gaze on the book.
“What are you looking at?” He gave Lu Wanqing a dirty look.
“Looking at what he wrote,” Lu Wanqing said indifferently. “He hasn’t handwritten anything for me yet. I’ll ask for a few copies when I go back.”
“Drop the victor’s attitude.” Gu Lanzhu closed the book and glared. “Your 1% compatibility won’t go far. If you really like him, don’t even dream of marking him in this lifetime, unless you want him dead.”
Lu Wanqing’s eyes darkened. “There will be a solution.”
Gu Lanzhu’s words irritated him. He tugged at his collar casually, and the bite mark on his collarbone flashed before Gu Lanzhu’s eyes.
Unexpectedly, Gu Lanzhu’s pupils constricted, and he gritted his teeth. “If there really was one, my mother wouldn’t have died.”
Lu Wanqing’s hand froze mid-air.
“Z01799, visitation time is over!”
Someone pushed the door open, interrupting their conversation. He nodded slightly to Lu Wanqing and pushed Gu Lanzhu out.
Lu Wanqing watched Gu Lanzhu’s retreating figure and followed at a leisurely pace, as if in his own home.
Before leaving, he dropped a sentence: “Prepare the interrogation room.”
The prison guards looked at each other and silently lowered their eyes.
Room Z01.
Gu Lanzhu squatted in the corner, watching his cellmates pass around the book of laws. He wiped the injury at the corner of his mouth, jumped up, and tried to snatch it back.
“Z01799, prepare for interrogation.”
A cold voice came from outside the door.
Gu Lanzhu stood frozen, but the surrounding cellmates scattered like birds and beasts, sitting back on their respective beds, lowering their voices.
“Big brother, did I hear that right?!”
“I’ve only lived with him for a few months? Ask Third Master!”
“Fuck, that voice…”
“Yama has returned?!”
Author’s Note: Preparing to strip off Old Lu’s final layer of disguise ) —— For Reporter Zhao’s backstory, refer to Chapters 5-7.
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