Skin - Chapter 28

　Chapter 28 – Wen Yi Nursing Home

　Meng Zhao had originally planned to visit Zhao Yunhua’s old home, so he also decided to go to Wenzhao High School.

　　The morning rush hour had not yet ended, the traffic was heavy and the main road was too congested, so Meng Zhao decided to take a shortcut.

　　Wenzhao District was the old city district of Mingtan City. Although it was slightly remote compared to the urban area, but because the famous attractions of Mingtan City were concentrated in that area and the government had focused on the tourism industry in recent years, Wenzhao District had reaped a lot of policy dividends and its economic development was no less than that of those districts in the city.

　　There were not many cars on the road, but because the road was narrow and the cars ahead were driving slowly, Meng Zhao could only slow down and observe the road conditions nearby. It was one of his occupational diseases. Whenever he would come across an intersection, he would start thinking about which intersection to choose and quickly form a dead end in case he encountered a wanted criminal.

　　When he came across a traffic light, there was a long line of cars parked in front. Meng Zhao stopped the car and waited patiently for the red light. The wait lasted for one and a half minutes. When there were still thirty seconds left, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a car parked in front of the sanatorium across the road. A man and a woman stepped out of the car.

　　Meng Zhao immediately recognized Lu Shichen at a glance. What a coincidence! He had also come to Wenzhao District and Lu Shichen also happened to come too.

　　He suddenly remembered Lu Shichen’s question from the previous night, ‘When will we meet?’ They actually ended up meeting so soon…

　　However, what was Lu Shichen doing in the nursing home so early in the morning if he wasn’t working?

　　Was the girl next to him the same one who appeared at his house last time? If they went to the nursing home to visit their elders together, then their relationship was really ambiguous… And he still dared to say that she was not his girlfriend?

　　‘Scumbag, a total scumbag,’ Meng Zhao thought.

　　The red light turned green, and the convoy in front began to move slowly. Meng Zhao released his foot on the brake. He decided not to say hello to the scumbag. It was more important to finish his business.

　　He stepped on the accelerator and crossed the road at the last second when the light turned green.

　　*

　　”What’s your name?”

　　”Xing Qi.”

　　”Mr. Zhou, please tell me about the situation of the elderly in your family and I will make a recommendation for you.”

　　Lu Shichen walked along the corridor inside the sanatorium, stopped by the window, and observed the structure of the sanatorium.

　　It was the most luxurious sanatorium in the city. The pavilions and towers in the courtyard were built with a sense of antique charm. Several elderly people were walking slowly on the corridor opposite. Compared to the time when he was in high school, the place had been expanded later, and the structure and layout had also changed a lot.

　　Seeing that Lu Shichen didn’t say anything, the account manager next to him asked again: “Mr. Zhou?”

　　”Go ahead and do your work. I’ll just take a look at it myself.”

　　”How can I do that?” The account manager smiled attentively, “It is our responsibility to serve customers. You can’t let me fail in my duty.”

　　”Then let’s keep going forward.” Lu Shichen didn’t insist anymore. He followed the instructions of the account manager and continued walking towards the other end of the corridor.

　　”The doctors here are all recruited from top-level hospitals and are very experienced. If an elderly person has a medical emergency, treatment will be provided immediately…”

　　”Last year, the entire hospital was equipped with a fresh air system. Please, come to this room and feel it. The temperature is very suitable. Summer will come in two months. If this system is turned on to cool the air, the guests will not feel uncomfortable at all…”

　　The account manager was introducing the facility nonstop, and Lu Shichen interrupted him: “Sorry, can I use the bathroom?”

　　”Sure,” the account manager walked to the door and pointed to a place not far away. “The public restroom is at the end of the corridor. Come on, I’ll take you there.”

　　”Let him go by himself, you can continue introducing me to the rooms,” Qiao Yu, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. She picked up her phone and glanced at the time. “I have something else to do after we finish looking at the rooms. Anyway, it’s a room I’m going to recommend to my grandma, and my boyfriend just took time out to come and accompany me…”

　　As Qiao Yu was speaking, Lu Shichen had already walked away.

　　”Ms. Qiao, your boyfriend is really handsome,” the account manager flattered Qiao Yu when he saw her showing affection through her words, “He’s like a movie star.”

　　”Movie stars are not as handsome as my boyfriend,” Qiao Yu smiled. “Let’s continue looking. I think the first floor is too low. Are there any rooms on the upper floors? The view is very important. A good view will make one feel good. A good mood will make the elderly live longer. Don’t you think so…?”

　　Qiao Yu took the initiative and pulled the account manager to the elevator. At the same time, Lu Shichen also entered the bathroom.

　　The public restroom was empty. Lu Shichen walked to the window and raised his hand to open it. He supported himself on the window sill with his hands, flipped over with his long legs, climbed out from the first floor, and walked towards the carefully maintained garden of the nursing home.

　　When they reached the sixth floor, Qiao Yu pestered the account manager to take her to visit all the rooms.

　　Ten minutes later, she had finished touring the rooms on the sixth floor. Accompanied by the account manager, she walked in the corridor. When she looked outside, she saw Lu Shichen had returned from the direction of the garden.

　　The account manager was so confused by Qiao Yu’s constant pestering that he almost forgot about Lu Shichen who hadn’t shown up: “Ms. Qiao, where’s your boyfriend?”

　　”Oh, yeh, where’s my boyfriend?” Qiao Yu pretended to have suddenly remembered it, “Oh, I was so happy just now that I forgot about my boyfriend. I guess he didn’t find us…” At that moment, Qiao Yu’s cell phone rang. She smiled at the account manager and said, “Look, he called.”

　　”We are on the sixth floor. I’m sorry, dear. I was wrong. I’ll go downstairs to find you…” Qiao Yu hung up the phone and pulled the account manager over. “It’s over. My boyfriend is angry. Let’s go downstairs quickly.”

　　After going downstairs, Lu Shichen was waiting in the hall. Qiao Yu hurried over and kept saying, “It’s my fault…”

　　The account manager fell behind and saw the man who was a head taller than Qiao Yu. There seemed to be some impatience between his brows, and it seemed that he was indeed a little annoyed from the waiting.

　　The account manager realised that he had made a mistake and walked over to apologise repeatedly: “I’m so sorry, Mr. Zhou, it was due to my negligence.”

　　Qiao Yu took the initiative to excuse him, saying, “It has nothing to do with you. It’s mainly my fault. By the way, Manager Yu, I think the conditions here are pretty good. I’m quite satisfied. Can you leave me a copy of your business card? I’ll contact you after I’ve thought about it.”

　　”Would you like to take Mr. Zhou for some shopping?” the account manager suggested.

　　”I have something else to do, forget it.” Lu Shichen said in a cold tone.

　　Faced with Lu Shichen’s somewhat uncooperative attitude, the account manager was a little speechless. Seeing Lu Shichen turn around and leave without saying anything, he had no choice but to send the two of them out of the hall with a smile and watch them leave.

　　”How was it? Did you find what you were looking for?” After they walked away, Qiao Yu asked in a low voice.

　　”I guess so.” Lu Shichen said.

　　”What exactly are you looking for… I helped you, so you should at least satisfy my curiosity.”

　　Lu Shichen didn’t say anything and didn’t seem to intend to answer.

　　Qiao Yu muttered, “What is so mysterious…”

Chapter 31

　　Wenzhao High School.

　　”Report cards?” This time, a middle-aged man in his forties attended Meng Zhao. He was much more slick than the woman last time. “Officer Meng, you must be joking. Which school would keep the report cards of the exams from more than ten years ago? We only have the list of students who were admitted to key universities. How about I find that for you?”

　　Without waiting for Meng Zhao to nod, the other party turned around and told the staff to pull up the list on the computer and print it out.

　　”Please find their graduation photographs as well,” said Meng Zhao.

　　After receiving the graduation photographs and college entrance examination score sheets, the other party graciously escorted Meng Zhao out of the campus, as if they were afraid that something unpleasant would happen if Meng Zhao stayed in the campus for even a second longer.

　　When getting off the elevator, Meng Zhao chatted with the man for a few words: “I just walked up the stairs and saw a lot of resumes of outstanding alumni hanging on the wall. It seems that your school attaches great importance to students.”

　　”Of course,” the other party nodded solemnly, “Schools are naturally student-oriented.”

　　”It’s based on famous alumni, right? For people like Zhao Tong and Zhou Yan, who either jumped off a building before the college entrance exam or were strangled to death ten years later, it’s as simple as a stray dog dying on the campus, right?”

　　The other party realised that Meng Zhao’s words were not well-intentioned, and laughed dryly twice and said: “You are too kind. We also want to know the truth, but we are really powerless…”

　　”When Zhao Tong committed suicide before the college entrance examination, the school spent a lot of money on public relations in order to improve the enrollment rate the following year. It also took the trouble to hire Lu Chengze as a lawyer. In the end, the manager was quite successful in maintaining the school’s reputation.”

　　The elevator opened and the two walked out. The middle-aged man didn’t say anything, probably because he wanted Meng Zhao to finish his words and leave quickly.

　　When they reached the school gate, Meng Zhao stopped and said, “Originally, this bullying case happened ten years ago, and the city bureau doesn’t have to mobilise police force to investigate thoroughly. But since your school is so cooperative in this case, I also plan to give your school a generous gift on behalf of our city bureau. After the truth is found out, we will definitely ask the official media to come forward and focus on reporting this old case, ensuring that no details are missed, and publicise all of your school’s actions that year before the enrollment season.”

　　After Meng Zhao finished speaking, he walked to the school gate and extended his hand to the other party. The man looked a little embarrassed, but due to Meng Zhao’s status, he had to extend his hand and shake it.

　　After getting in the car, Meng Zhao fastened his seat belt, glanced at the college entrance examination score sheet and graduation photographs, put them on the passenger seat, and he planned to take a closer look at them when he returned to the Municipal Bureau.

　　He planned to compare the graduation photographs with the short video clip restored by Zhang Chao to see if they could match the people in them. However, the video was too blurry that he probably wouldn’t gain much, so he could only explore step by step.

　　He put the information on the passenger seat. His cell phone rang at this time. It was Zhang Chao from the technical investigation team calling: “I just checked the Internet number you gave me this morning.”

　　”How was it?”

　　”Multi-layer encryption, even if the two layers are cracked, the location of the third relay station cannot be determined. This kind of Internet number with multiple layers of protection is basically impossible to crack.”

　　”Thank you, Brother Chao. I have another question. Is it difficult to get this kind of Internet phone?”

　　”It’s difficult,” Zhang Chao said. “The paid Internet phone numbers that are easy to access usually have only one or two layers of encryption, which are generally easy to crack. For one with a professional-level like this, it would probably cost a lot of money.”

　　After hanging up the phone, Meng Zhao retrieved the text message. ‘Who on earth would go to such great lengths just to provide me with clues…?’

　　‘No matter what, let’s follow this clue first.’ Meng Zhao turned off the screen and threw the phone back on the centre console.

　　Leaving the school, Meng Zhao drove to the address of Zhao Yunhua’s old home.

　　After driving about one kilometre, the car arrived at a crossroad. After driving a little further, he passed by Wen Yi Sanatorium.

　　While waiting for the traffic light, Meng Zhao thought for a moment, took out his cell phone and called Lu Shichen.

　　There was a beep in the receiver, and after a while the other party answered the call.

　　”Where are you?” Meng Zhao asked.

　　”Outside, what do you want to talk to me about?”

　　”Don’t you want to have a barbecue? I’ll treat you later. I’m on a business trip right now and I can drive you there. Give me the address.”

　　”Where are you?” Lu Shichen asked.

　　Meng Zhao noticed Lu Shichen’s caution. It seemed that Lu Shichen always spoke like that. He didn’t know whether he was deliberately hiding something or if he was always like that.

　　”Tell me where you are first,” the green light came on, Meng Zhao drove through the intersection, and simply played the childish rhetoric of a junior high school student with Lu Shichen, “I asked first.”

　　There was a brief silence in the receiver, and Lu Shichen asked, “Are you in Wenzhao District?”

　　”Yeah, I saw you when I came here.” After having his tricks guessed by Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao stopped playing tricks on him. He drove slowly along the roadside, “Why are you taking a girl to the sanatorium so early in the morning?”

　　”Visiting the elderly.”

　　‘Nonsense’, Meng Zhao complained in his heart, if he went to the nursing home instead of visiting the elderly, would he say that he went to visit children?

　　Seeing that the other party’s every answer had the effect of ‘clearly saying something but seeming to have said nothing’, Meng Zhao realised that Lu Shichen might be trying to avoid revealing his love life. After all… no one wanted others to see through their true nature as a scumbag.

　　Meng Zhao felt that the call he made was a bit too much, and even he, himself, couldn’t explain the reason why he made the call.

　　Seeing that he was about to drive away from the entrance of Wen Yi Nursing Home, he suddenly felt bored and wanted to hang up the phone: “Then you can visit the elders and, I’ll drive away first.”

　　”Don’t go,” Lu Shichen said on the phone, “I see you.”

　　Meng Zhao subconsciously stepped on the brakes and turned around to see that Lu Shichen had just walked out of Wen Yi Nursing Home. He had long legs and was walking in front, followed by the girl who was jogging behind him.

　　Lu Shichen turned his head and said something to the girl, then walked straight towards Meng Zhao.

　　Lu Shichen walked over, opened the car door, first took the graduation photographs and college entrance examination score sheet resting on the passenger seat, then got in. Meng Zhao raised his chin in the direction of the girl: “Are you just going to leave her here like this?”

　　”She drove over here.” Lu Shichen fastened his seat belt, “Where are you going?”

　　”Let’s go take a look at Zhao Yunhua and Zhao Tong’s former home.” Meng Zhao glanced at the girl not far away again, thinking that Lu Shichen was such a scumbag and he felt so confident about it.

　　”Hurry up and go back with the girl,” Meng Zhao didn’t rush to start the car, “I’m working and I don’t have time to take you back.”

　　”I’ll go with you.” Lu Shichen said.

　　The girl walked away to her car, drove over, rolled down the window and waved to Lu Shichen twice.

　　”She left.” Lu Shichen said again after the car drove on the road.