Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The first thing that they saw when they opened the door in the early morning—Cheng Zheng……

  Shocking, right?

  Xiang Wan was so horrified that she thought this was worse than seeing a ghost!

  As for Cheng Zheng, he had soon awakened the moment he flopped down. The astonishment on his face was no lesser than them.

  For a good while……

  They looked at each other.

  None of them said a word.

  As he awakened after a hangover and was sleeping outside the door of Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan’s room, Cheng Zheng was obviously in quite a bad shape.

  “I, this……”


  All these questions were written on his face.

  However, no matter what expression he had on his face, it could not change the awkwardness of his situation.

  In the blurry lights in the night, his intoxicated blood was screaming the sounds of loneliness, sadness, and bitterness…… all these had turned into embarrassment.

  “Last night, I seemed to have walked to the wrong room……”


  Cheng Zheng touched his head. When he spoke, his voice was dry and gruff like rust had grown inside his throat.

  Even he himself did not believe such an explanation.

  Xiang Wan cleared her throat. She felt her throat going ticklish.

  Before she could say anything, Bai Muchuan placed an arm around her shoulders.

  Since Sir Little Bai had a good night’s sleep, he was relaxed and cheerful. “Are you done sleeping?” he asked in a slightly arrogant tone.

  Cheng Zheng’s lips were pressed together tightly.

  “If you’re done,” Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows. “Then it’s time to get cracking. We’ve got work to do!”


  Cheng Zheng glanced at him.

  He got up from the floor and adjusted himself.

  “I lost my room card and my wallet!”


  He intoned, like a child who had been wronged.

  He did not seem to be nervous anymore.

  His “performance” made Xiang Wan sweat!

  Cheng Zheng, who had never drunk alcohol, would actually do such a thing? How drunk was he when he could walk to the wrong room and even sleep outside someone else’s room?

  What made him behave this way?

  Xiang Wan was a little curious, but Bai Muchuan moved his hand to hold her waist. He held her close, tightly. It was clear he was asserting that both of them were an item before Cheng Zheng.

  When her look suggested any sign of protest, his gaze would come scanning her like laser beams……

  Xiang Wan decided she should just become a background scenery and not say a word.

  Her performance satisfied Bai Muchuan very much. When he talked to Cheng Zheng, there was a smile on his face.

  “Your act make me see you differently! Hur, are you thinking of going back in time to last night? When you find your old self, give him a good thrashing before losing the room card and wallet?”


  Cheng Zheng halted his footsteps and looked back at him.

  “Yeah, I really wish I could go back…… and start all over again.”


  This took Bai Muchuan aback for a moment.

  He had a complicated look on his face as he stared at him. “There’s no turning back in life,” he raised his eyebrows. “You better think of a way to get your wallet back!”


  she thought.

  Xiang Wan felt speechless and followed Bai Muchuan quietly.

  Cheng Zheng paused for a moment. “Wait for me a while.”


  He was a fastidious person.

  He was neat and tidy. More than anything, he hated messiness—


  He got the hotel concierge to help him get into his own room. He took about 10 minutes to wash his face, changed into a fresh set of clothing and so on. When he appeared before Xiang Wan and Bai Muchuan, he was back to his neat and tidy self—a frosty-looking and reserved Cheng Zheng.

  “Let’s go!”


  A corner of Bai Muchuan’s lips lifted upwards. “Do you still remember where you left your wallet?”


  Cheng Zheng responded, “It’s all right. There isn’t much money in there.”


  Bai Muchuan chuckled. “Bank card, identity card?”


  Cheng Zheng returned a glance. “There are none of those inside my wallet.”


  Xiang Wan just stared at him quietly. “.……”


  she thought.

  After hearing that one tiny detail like this, maybe most would have thought Cheng Zheng did things differently from others.

  However, for Xiang Wan, a person who was accustomed to analyzing characters, there were a lot more to consider in a small detail like this.

  When she looked at this from another angle, this could be proof that—Cheng Zheng could be a paranoid person.

  He was afraid of landing himself in a desperate situation!

  He might be afraid to do things with all his heart and soul!

  No matter in life or relationships, he would not give his all.

  Was this a good habit?

  Or a bad habit……

  As Xiang Wan contemplated over this; she glanced at him out of habit.

  Unexpectedly, Cheng Zheng also looked at her.

  Their line of sight met in mid-air.

  Xiang Wan looked away in half a second.

  However, all of this did not escape Bai Muchuan’s eyes—


  He took her hand and squeezed it so hard that Xiang Wan almost gasped, but she managed to contain it.

  You’re annoying…… She mouthed silently, with an irritated look.

  Xiang Wan’s eyes seemed to be saying that to Bai Muchuan.

  “.……”


  At Nanmu police station, it was another busy day.

  A new day had begun, all of Nanmu’s cases, no matter big or small, would be settled here.

  During the handling of the 121 case, Bai Muchuan had appeared there regularly. Hence, many of the police officers there recognized and knew him.

  The moment he entered the lobby, the officers greeted him.

  Bai Muchuan smiled and nodded at them, looking casual and relaxed.

  In contrast, Cheng Zheng was gloomy throughout. He looked like someone who came out from a coffin with no expression on his face……

  At this moment, a woman in front of the reception desk who was speaking to the police suddenly turned her head. When she saw Cheng Zheng, she was slightly surprised and her face brightened up.

  “Officer,” she exclaimed happily, “it’s him, it’s him. No need to look for him anymore!”


  The rest of the team looked at him in unison. “.……”


  Cheng Zheng narrowed his eyes in confusion but did not utter a word.

  The woman, however, stared ambiguously at Cheng Zheng’s frosty, handsome face, and licked a corner of her lips lightly. Her voice sounded a little sexy and her words were a bit suggestive. “He’s the one who left behind his things at my place……”


  Cheng Zheng’s brain blanked out for a moment.

  “.……”


  Everyone looked at each other.

  Nanmu City was not a huge place after all. The police officers were very familiar with the people and the matters there.

  That woman’s name was Ran Sanjie, a widow. She was not a native, but she married and moved to Nanmu. Her husband died many years ago, and she opened a small bar in an alley in Nanmu. Business had been good so life was not too hard on her.

  People familiar with her knew that Ran Sanjie would also spend her nights with some regular customers privately where she would receive some amounts of “tips”. However, since these were not considered prostitution, the police couldn’t do anything about it.

  This was also because her motive was not really money, but “love”.

  Ran Sanjie had illicit relationships with many men. There were frequent occasions of women stomping into her bar, hurling verbal abuse, and smash her things. Some of them had even tried to reason with her. Most of them chastised her for being a slut and how she had shamelessly seduced their husbands……

  However, no matter how these women created a scene, Ran Sanjie was the one who actually benefited when such situations occur.

  Even though these women smashed her bar, the ones who helped Ran Sanjie renovate or replenish whatever they broke…… were still the husbands of these women.

  Ran Sanjie was a woman who didn’t really care. Some would say that she was unbridled and carefree, some would cuss that she was simply shameless. It never bothered her at all even after hearing all those remarks directed at her. Hence, gradually, she became well-known as “The Peerless of Nanmu”, not because she had peerless beauty, but because of her personality.

  There was also a private joke someone made about Ran Sanjie: “Her fair arms had caressed a thousand men as if her hands were their pillows, half of Nanmu city were once her beau”—


  However……

  It was impossible to relate such matters to Cheng Zheng!

  This was because he was such an austere man from the Capital!

  Ran Sanjie, what kind of woman was she?

  In the main lobby of the police station, there was no lack of people who knew Nanmu very well. Yet there was an indescribable look of bewilderment on their faces.

  They were curious as well. People were naturally interested in gossip about matters relating to that thing in their pants.

  The atmosphere had suddenly become complicated.

  Cheng Zheng was not dumb. Both Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan was also smart enough to know what was going on.

  From the eyes of the people around, they noticed the ambiguity hidden within it—


  Cheng Zheng’s already dark expression became gloomier.

  He did not move.

  He just kept quiet.

  As though he did not know her.

  Ran Sanjie grinned meaningfully, behaving warmly as she leaned against the table. “Mister, you left your wallet and room card at my bar last night……”


  Awkward.

  Really awkward.

  Ran Sanjie laughed again.

  “I shouldn’t be sending this back to you at the hotel either. Anyway, I’ve come to return this to the police station first thing in the morning. Come and see if there’s anything missing.”


  Her words sounded flawless.

  Yet every word of hers seemed to imply there was something between her and Cheng Zheng and how they might have a clandestine relationship……

  That sounded too suggestive.

  Cheng Zheng stayed expressionless, still rooted in his spot.

  He was a technical person; he was not good at handling such matters.

  Moreover, it was true that he had left his wallet and room card at her bar……

  A police officer cleared his throat lightly. “Do come and look if these are yours.”


  Cheng Zheng still did not move, but his Adam’s apple moved.

  Xiang Wan felt a little unbearable when she saw that pair of brooding eyes.

  Earlier on, she was still thinking about what had happened to Cheng Zheng last night.

  Now, she was a little nervous…… she hoped that he did not involve himself with such a woman!

  This was because this woman was certainly not used to a normal, decent life.

  If he really was involved with her…… she did not dare to think further.

  Cheng Zheng didn’t want to move while Bai Muchuan suddenly spoke. “Hurry and check if those are yours. Why are you in a daze? Weren’t you saying that you lost your wallet and room card earlier?”


  Was that a finishing blow?

  Xiang Wan observed for a moment as Cheng Zheng was enveloped in silence.

  Cheng Zheng swept a displeased glance at him and walked over quietly.

  At the same time, Bai Muchuan let out a chortle and looked at the police officers who were trying to speculate on what was happening. “Last night, both of us were out for some investigations and Captain Cheng lost some items—”


  He paused for a while and stared at that woman. “Are you the lady owner of the bar? At that kind of place, it must be common for people to lose their items. There might be a regular thief around. You should be more vigilant in such matters. If anything happens, hurry and make a police report! Do you understand?”


  The woman paused for a while. “.……”


  Bai Muchuan’s gaze was too cold and sharp.

  For a business owner like her, she had great powers of observation.

  This man was actually warning her not to go around spouting nonsense.

  She felt a chill in her heart and immediately, she behaved more demurely. “I see! Mr. Detective, my business last night was pretty good. Maybe you’re right. A thief could have been loitering at my bar……” As she said so, she quickly put on an innocent look on her face. “I found the wallet below a chair. The room card accompanied it…… Well, here I am. The moment I found it, I came to the police station first thing in the morning to make a report! I’m an honest citizen! Really honest one!”


  There were stifled waves of laughter around.

  Ran Sanjie was honest?

  If that was the case then there was no honest person in Nanmu!

  However, while she was explaining for herself, she had also cleared up whatever misunderstanding she had given Cheng Zheng.

  Cheng Zheng paused for a while when he heard that, then continued walking to the reception. A moment later, he took his wallet.

  “It’s mine.” That was all he said.

  When the woman heard that, it seemed as if his words had lifted a huge burden off her. “That’s great! Seems like I’ve really done a good deed. Officers, there’s nothing else for me to do, right? I’ll get going then……”


  The police officer at the reception furrowed his eyebrows slightly and he waved back. “Yeah, you may go now.”


  “All right, I shall make a move then. Goodbye!”