Chapter 146: Stealing Fragrance (1)
Huating was the final destination of this train’s long journey.
Xiao Ji sat in his original place without moving, sorting through the timeline.
Right now, he had just returned to the country. According to the original timeline, it would be nearly a month before he met Pei Yinnian.
Furthermore, the personality gap between Xiao Ji and the original owner was too large. Normally, the original owner, being a commoner, wouldn’t dare offend those children of high officials in the school. Being bullied and seeking a talk with parents was beyond reproach.
But for Xiao Ji himself, it was quite different from his style of action.
He didn’t intend to act according to the set line of fate. Instead, he asked 037:
[Where is he now?]
037: [At the Police Headquarters, drinking tea with Chief Zhao. Do you have any ideas?]
Xiao Ji said indifferently: [I haven’t decided.]
But 037 felt that Xiao Ji definitely already had an idea: [Didn’t you say you’d give him all the initiative?]
Xiao Ji didn’t deny it: [It’s enough if he thinks so himself.]
He sat in his seat, waiting until the passengers on the train had disembarked one after another and the carriage became empty. Only then did he stand up, pick up his old suitcase, and unhurriedly get off the train.
Although it was already night, there were many people at the station. Following the crowd out of the platform, he was instantly plunged into the noisy night of the “Ten-Mile Foreign Quarter.”
Xiao Ji moved through the area near the rickshaws soliciting business, wandering aimlessly around the station.
These years were chaotic, in every aspect.
In just ten minutes, Xiao Ji saw no fewer than five pickpockets reaching into other people’s pockets.
After hesitating for a moment, he randomly selected a pickpocket. While brushing past him, he conveniently slipped his own wallet into the pickpocket’s pocket.
Afterward, he headed to the Huating General Police Station.
“I want to report a case.”
At the gate of the Police Station, Xiao Ji spoke to the patrolman on duty.
The patrolman looked up at the coarse cloth long robe on Xiao Ji and the worn suitcase in his hand, then perfunctorily said with a lack of energy:
“What case?”
Xiao Ji said: “My wallet is lost.”
In these years, even a dead person wasn’t considered a major event, let alone a small matter like a lost wallet.
Hearing this, the patrolman yawned:
“How much money was in it?”
Xiao Ji opened his mouth and said: “Five hundred silver dollars.”
When the patrolman heard that, he gave a “hei” and finally looked directly at Xiao Ji:
“Are you bored in the middle of the night and ran here to mess with me? If your wallet could hold five hundred silver dollars, then couldn’t my thirty-square-meter yard house two hundred concubines?”
Xiao Ji was very practical: “Looking at your attitude, you wouldn’t help me find it if I said less.”
The patrolman was almost laughed to anger by him. There were so many cases in Huating they couldn’t handle them all. Even those who paid for connections had to see if they paid enough and if the connections were strong enough.
Losing a wallet was a tiny matter; one should just accept their bad luck. He really hadn’t seen many who specifically ran to the Police Headquarters to report it.
But it was a public office after all. The patrolman didn’t make his words too unpleasant, only saying perfunctorily:
“Got it. We’ll help you look for it. If you have a phone, leave the number. If not, come back in a couple of days to ask. I’ll register it for you.”
Xiao Ji looked at the patrolman. “You haven’t even asked where I lost it.”
Working the night shift was annoying to begin with. Right now, the patrolman only wanted to send Xiao Ji away to get some peace, so he followed along:
“Speak then. Where did you lose it?”
Xiao Ji said indifferently: “If I knew where I lost it, would I need to come find you?”
“Hei!”
Hearing this, the patrolman slammed the table and stood up from his chair:
“You kid really came to look for trouble, didn’t you?”
Xiao Ji didn’t say a word, just stood there in a standoff with the patrolman.
The patrolman took his police baton and came out of the duty room:
“Get lost. Don’t go looking for trouble, or I’ll have to kick you out.”
Xiao Ji nodded. “Kick me out then. Make your voice louder.”
In the current situation, even if this patrolman had a good temper, he had concluded that Xiao Ji was there to cause trouble.
He cursed a few times and prepared to use the baton to shove Xiao Ji out the gate of the police headquarters.
At this time, in the Chief’s office on the second floor of the police station, Pei Yinnian was leaning against the window, having lit one of Chief Zhao’s cigarettes.
As smoke puffed from his mouth, Pei Yinnian gave a light cough. His voice carried a bit of raspiness:
“What is this flavor?”
Chief Zhao gave a “haha” laugh. “It’s foreign tobacco sent up by the subordinates. Yesterday, I had your Third Auntie take apart the cigarette rolls and roll some jasmine into the tobacco shreds. How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
Pei Yinnian lowered his eyes to look at the flickering crimson between his fingers. He didn’t say if it suited his taste, only saying one sentence:
“You really know how to enjoy life.”
Technically, Chief Zhao was Pei Yinnian’s elder.
But to sit in the position of Chief, besides ability, one had to know how to read people’s minds, be aware of the times, and understand flattery.
Pei Yinnian was young, but his methods were formidable. He was ruthless and meant what he said. Only a few days after inheriting his father’s business, the troops of the entire three southern provinces looked to him as their leader. He was a difficult master to serve.
Chief Zhao chuckled and asked tentatively:
“Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have someone send some to the Pei Residence.”
Pei Yinnian stubbed out the cigarette butt. His expression showed neither joy nor anger:
“No need to trouble yourself.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard people shouting downstairs. He turned his head and saw a patrolman wielding a baton, pointing at a man in a long robe and glasses while cursing several times.
The distance wasn’t close. Pei Yinnian couldn’t see the man’s features clearly; he could only see his straight spine and his slightly pale skin under the illumination of the lights at the police station gate.
His brow twitched, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
“Have someone go ask what’s going on at the gate.”
Chief Zhao didn’t take it seriously at first and gave a “hai”:
“There are always people like this, running to report cases for tiny matters as if the police station were their own home. No need to pay attention.”
But Pei Yinnian suddenly turned his head and stared at Chief Zhao:
“I said, go take a look.”
Chief Zhao’s heart shivered. He first dialed the phone to his subordinate’s office, telling them to invite the person causing the commotion inside.
Afterward, he asked in confusion: “Do you know him?”
Pei Yinnian narrowed his eyes and said with certainty: “I don’t.”
He wasn’t lying.
He indeed didn’t know Xiao Ji.
But the reason he hadn’t gone home to rest in the middle of the night and had instead run to the police station to drink tea with this Chief Zhao was, firstly, because his father had just died and he needed to win over these people.
Secondly, it was because he couldn’t sleep.
He had been trapped in the same dream for half a month.
A burning fireplace, a reddish-brown sofa, a blue-and-white porcelain patterned carpet, a dim glazed lamp, and a man in a long robe wearing glasses.
Pei Yinnian could only vaguely remember that many, many things happened in the dream, yet he forgot everything completely every time he woke up.
Including the man’s face.
But just now, the moment he saw Xiao Ji, the two figures perfectly overlapped.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Pei Yinnian urgently needed to figure out the beginning and end of this matter.
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