Skin - Chapter 85

Chapter 85 – “Officer Meng, Will You Arrest Me?”

　　Although Meng Zhao lost too much blood, he did not have any other fatal injuries. His physical fitness was always good, so he recovered relatively quickly and was discharged from the hospital after three days.

　　On the day of discharge, Captain Zhao came to the hospital again.

　　Lu Shichen went to handle the discharge procedures, and Meng Zhao stayed in the ward and chatted with him: “Brother, you are so busy at work but you still came here in person, let’s take a taxi and go back.”

　　”Actually, I’m not here just to pick you up from the hospital,” Captain Zhao smiled, “I have something to tell you about the case. I wanted to come and tell you in person.”

　　”What?” When Meng Zhao heard it was related to the case, he was immediately interested.

　　”Lin Mai’s son woke up. When we were taking his statement, he provided some information about the black box. He said that when Lin Mai handed the real bag to the kidnapper, he was conscious and saw the kidnapper take out the black box from the bag. It should have been a recorder.”

　　”Recorder? Are you sure?”

　　”Lin Mai’s son works in a digital mall and deals with all kinds of electronic products. He also studied a related major in school, so he shouldn’t be wrong. And according to him, judging from the appearance, the recorder is quite old. It’s a very old model.”

　　”Zhang Linqing gave Lin Mai a recording pen?” Meng Zhao pondered. “Recording pens were not common in the market 20 years ago, and they were very expensive. Judging from what Lin Mai said before, Zhang Linqing was not very rich at the time. He spent so much money on a recording pen, so the content he recorded must be very important.”

　　At this moment, Lu Shichen completed the discharge procedures and walked into the ward. Captain Zhao heard the footsteps and turned around to greet him.

　　Seeing Meng Zhao’s serious expression, Lu Shichen walked over and put down the things in his hand: “What’s wrong?”

　　”What Zhang Linqing gave to Lin Mai was a recording pen,” Meng Zhao said to Lu Shichen, then looked at Captain Zhao and continued, “It is certain that this recording pen must contain evidence of Wu Jiayi’s crime, otherwise Wu Jiayi would not be so eager to get it, and Zhang Linqing would not have asked Lin Mai to guard that bag so tightly.”

　　”Yes,” Captain Zhao nodded and sighed, “What I am most worried about now is that after those two people get the recorder, the first thing they will do is to destroy it immediately, and the evidence that Wu Jiayi hired a killer to kill someone will be completely destroyed.”

　　Meng Zhao’s expression became serious. After the two people got the recorder, would they choose to destroy it immediately, or…

　　At this time, Lu Shichen spoke up and expressed the thought that was flashing through Meng Zhao’s mind: “Not necessarily.”

　　”Hmm?” Captain Zhao looked up at Lu Shichen, “What do you mean?”

　　”Twenty years ago, Zhang Linqing concealed Wu Jiayi’s secret and secretly recorded the evidence of Wu Jiayi hiring a killer to kill someone. With this precedent, Wu Jiayi may not fully trust his subordinates now. Can he be completely confident in handing over the task of destroying evidence to others? Who can guarantee that there won’t be another Zhang Linqing?”

　　Lu Shichen paused and continued, “A recorder from 20 years ago cannot be opened without repair because of the lack of power. For Wu Jiayi, the safest way to destroy it is to have this unrepaired recorder handed over to himself intact, so that he could destroy it by himself. This way, the recording can be guaranteed to not have been heard or copied by anyone.”

　　Captain Zhao thought for a moment and said, “It is indeed possible.”

　　”I agree with Consultant Lu,” Meng Zhao said to Captain Zhao, “So, Senior Brother, I hope you guys don’t give up searching for the two killers in Yancheng. As for Wu Jiayi, I’ll try to get someone to monitor him and prevent him from getting the recorder.”

　　”Okay.” Captain Zhao nodded.

　　”Let’s go,” Meng Zhao stood up, “We can talk while we walk.”

　　As he spoke, he noticed the large and small packages that Lu Shichen had just brought back: “So many medicines? I just lost a little blood…” Thinking of Lu Shichen’s extravagant style of buying a lot of painkillers before, he shifted his gaze to Lu Shichen’s face and said warily, “You didn’t buy all the blood-replenishing drugs in the hospital, did you?”

　　”No.” Lu Shichen picked up those things again calmly.

　　”The doctor prescribed so many medicines?” Meng Zhao took a gift box from Lu Shichen and looked at the outer packaging. “Is this a health product? Isn’t it against the rules for a hospital to prescribe health products?”

　　”I bought it at a drugstore outside,” Lu Shichen said, “to replenish qi and blood.”

　　”…” Meng Zhao was speechless for a moment. Looking at the other gift boxes in his hands that were obviously expensive, he couldn’t help but complain, “Lu Shichen, you will definitely be the main victim of health care product pyramid schemes after you retire.”

　　Captain Zhao on the side said, “That’s not the case. Consultant Lu did the right thing in buying this health product. It’s quite effective in replenishing qi and blood. My wife ate it when she was in confinement after giving birth.”

　　Meng Zhao: “…”

　　The three of them left the ward and walked towards the elevator. Captain Zhao continued, “What were we talking about? By the way, don’t worry about Yancheng. We sent out a notice of cooperation to all traffic checkpoints that night, stipulating that anyone with injuries must have their identity checked to ensure that the criminal does not escape Yancheng. And the main reason I came here this time is to ask you and Consultant Lu for a favor.”

　　Meng Zhao: “Brother, you say.”

　　”We want the technicians to draw a portrait of the suspect based on the criminal’s characteristics. Xiao Meng, Consultant Lu, you both had contact with the kidnappers that night. Can you provide us with some information about the criminal’s characteristics?”

　　The three of them took the elevator downstairs, walked to the hospital parking lot, opened the car doors and got in.

　　”The facial features of the criminals…” Meng Zhao said to Captain Zhao in the front seat after sitting in the back seat with Lu Shichen, “Those three people were wearing masks that night, and one of them even wore a hat, revealing very limited facial features.”

　　”Try to recall what happened,” Captain Zhao took out a recorder, raised it up and shook it towards the back seat twice, “I’ll record something.”

　　”The one I fought head-on that night was mainly the leader. As for the other one,” Meng Zhao turned his head to look at Lu Shichen, “you fought more often. You can recall it.”

　　”Yeah.” Lu Shichen responded.

　　Meng Zhao recalled the scene that night and described: “The man who fought with me had a downward scar under the corner of his eye. The scar was not visible in its entirety because it was blocked by the mask. The contours around his eyes were deeper than those of ordinary people, his eye sockets were slightly sunken, and his eye corners were slightly drooping… Judging from the exposed facial features, he should be around 40 years old…”

　　Meng Zhao also described in detail the man’s eyebrows, face shape, body shape and other features.

　　While Lu Shichen was describing the characteristics of the other person, he sat aside and fell into thought.

　　When he was describing the local features of the scar just now, he always felt that the more he thought about it, the more familiar it seemed, as if he had seen this person somewhere.

　　Especially the scar at the corner of his eye… Suddenly, a portrait appeared in Meng Zhao’s mind. His face changed and he murmured, “…Is it him?”

　　Lu Shichen heard his whisper, turned his head and asked him: “What did you think of?”

　　Meng Zhao took out his phone and quickly flipped to a picture of the suspect he had saved earlier. “Take a look. Does it look like the description I just gave you?”

　　Lu Shichen stared at the photo: “Is this… the person who killed Lu Yang? The ‘manager’ that those two suspects mentioned?”

　　”Yes,” Meng Zhao nodded, “This man covered his face tightly that night, and I couldn’t recognize him for a while. It seems that after killing Lu Yang, he fled to Yancheng to continue committing crimes. He is really Wu Jiayi’s capable subordinate…”

　　Captain Zhao drove the car and asked, “So, is there a ready-made portrait of the suspect?”

　　”There is a ready-made one, but it seems that the details of the portrait are still a little different from the real person.” Meng Zhao looked at the portrait and said, “Brother, please ask the technicians in your bureau to update the details around the eyes according to my description just now.”

　　”Okay.” Captain Zhao responded.

　　The car stopped at the entrance of the hotel. Meng Zhao and Lu Shichen got out of the car. After saying goodbye to Captain Zhao, they walked up the stairs in front of the hotel.

　　The two walked through the lobby and took the elevator upstairs.

　　Meng Zhao had been feeling dizzy and nauseous for the past few days, and he felt even more dizzy after sitting in the car all the way. He leaned his back against the wall of the elevator, just trying to find some support, when Lu Shichen raised his arm and went around his back to embrace him.

　　As soon as he arrived at the hotel, the first thing Meng Zhao wanted to do was to take a shower. These past few days, he always smelled blood on his body.

　　He walked towards the bathroom wearing pajamas and slippers. Lu Shichen was sitting on the sofa studying the instructions.

　　Meng Zhao used his uninjured hand to pull the back collar of his shirt and pulled it off his head. At this time, Lu Shichen also entered the bathroom.

　　The T-shirt he took off pulled at the wound on his shoulder, and Meng Zhao gasped in pain.

　　Lu Shichen came over and helped him take off the T-shirt from his left arm. He then took out the plastic wrap he bought when he was injured last time and wrapped it around the bandage on Meng Zhao’s shoulder to prevent water from seeping into the wound.

　　Lu Shichen didn’t look like someone who could take care of others, and he moved very carefully, fearing that he might hurt Meng Zhao’s wound.

　　After Lu Shichen helped Meng Zhao bandage the wound on his shoulder, he looked at him and asked, “Do you want me to help you wash up?”

　　”No need.” Meng Zhao said immediately.

　　Lu Shichen didn’t say anything else and walked out of the bathroom.

　　Meng Zhao stood under the shower and rinsed himself for a while. The warm water relaxed his muscles.

　　He had been sleeping intermittently in the hospital and had no time to think about anything else. Only now did he feel a sense of relief at having survived the disaster.

　　Meng Zhao used to be fearless of death, he even thought it would be nice if he could die in the line of duty like his mother. So when the dagger stabbed at him, he didn’t have much fear of death in his mind.

　　But it was not until he stood side by side with Lu Shichen and Lin Mai pointed the gun at him that he realized that if he died like this, he would feel relieved, but never complete. His life was regrettable. The regret was that he and Lu Shichen had known each other for many years, but the number of times they had stood side by side like this was very few.

　　After taking a shower, Meng Zhao walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair.

　　Halfway through drying his hair, he felt sleepy again and simply went to bed early.

　　These days, he did nothing but eat and sleep, enjoying the treatment of fattening a pig before slaughter, and making up for the sleep he had missed before.

　　Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt a cool touch on the side of his neck. He opened his eyes and saw Lu Shichen lying next to him, looking at him, with two fingers on the artery on the side of his neck, testing his pulse.

　　”Hmm?” Meng Zhao was still sleepy and opened his eyes to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

　　”Nothing.” Lu Shichen’s fingers still didn’t move away. The pulse was beating where his fingertips touched, and the rhythm made him feel the meaning of the word “fresh” for the first time.

　　He removed his fingers, lowered his head after a moment, buried his face in Meng Zhao’s neck, and touched the pulse with his lips.

　　Then, Lu Shichen noticed that the pulse rhythm on Meng Zhao’s neck seemed to become faster. It turned out that this lively heartbeat would change because of him.

　　Meng Zhao tilted his head slightly, the side of his neck felt a little itchy and wet. Lu Shichen was licking him with the tip of his tongue, like a little animal being affectionate with its companion.

　　After kissing his arteries, Lu Shichen gently touched Meng Zhao’s Adam’s apple with his lips.

　　Meng Zhao swallowed subconsciously, and his Adam’s apple rolled.

　　He once again sensed Lu Shichen’s desire. Perhaps it was because Lu Shichen looked too calm at ordinary times, but once he had desire, Meng Zhao could always easily feel his changes.

　　He could feel the warm touch and breath around his Adam’s apple. After a pause, he spoke: “Lu Shichen, I’m so seriously injured, don’t take advantage of me.”

　　Realizing that his current physical condition was likely to make him a worthless fighter, Meng Zhao began to exaggerate: “I have won first place in the police fighting competitions held throughout the city every year.”

　　The warm touch began to move upwards and stopped at his jaw.

　　Meng Zhao continued, “I broke the record for the physical fitness test at Gongda University that year.”

　　Lu Shichen still didn’t say anything. He reached his hand under Meng Zhao’s body and groped inside the hem of his clothes.

　　Meng Zhao raised his hand to hold down Lu Shichen’s arm and continued, “If the three men hadn’t had guns that night, I could have easily defeated them all.”

　　Lu Shichen reached up and touched the shoulder blade on Meng Zhao’s back. When he carried Meng Zhao into the car that day, the bone hurt his arm a little, which reminded him of the collapsed boy he saw through the gap in the blinds.

　　Because when he carried him to the car that night, Lu Shichen’s arm, which was injured in the car accident, was involved, Meng Zhao didn’t dare to use too much force with his hands.

　　Seeing that his advice was useless, he began to warn: “Comrade Lu Shichen, any sexual behavior without consent will be considered a crime.”

　　Lu Shichen then raised his head and looked at him, touching his lips with his fingers and said, “Then Officer Meng, will you arrest me?”

　　Meng Zhao: “…” Even after saying this, this person still refuses to budge!

　　Just as he was about to speak, Lu Shichen lowered his head and kissed him, stopping him from speaking.

　　Then Lu Shichen pulled down the clothes on Meng Zhao’s back and looked down at him.

　　He found that although Meng Zhao’s tone contained a warning, his expression seemed happy.

　　Looking at Meng Zhao, Lu Shichen’s mind flashed with the moment when the dagger was about to stab Meng Zhao. Suddenly, he tightened his arms and hugged Meng Zhao closer.

　　Some thoughts began to run through his mind.

　　Is it really right to push the case to this point?

　　Is it really worth it if he lost the only person who could touch his heart in order to find out the truth?

　　Even if he finally found the truth, will the ending really be what he wanted?

　　The hug brought warm body temperature and a sense of being wrapped. Meng Zhao even wanted the hug to last longer.

　　But then, a few photos on the page of the notebook suddenly flashed through his mind.

　　Should he tell Lu Shichen about the notebook? But the truth had not been found out yet. Will this bring unpredictable consequences?

　　Or… forget it, he could just wait a little longer. Meng Zhao raised his hand, paused in the air for a moment, then landed on Lu Shichen’s back and hugged him.

　　He looked at Lu Shichen, who seemed to be in a trance, thinking about something. Meng Zhao said, “So you can be in a daze too, what are you thinking about?”

　　”No.” Lu Shichen came back to his senses, and after staring at Meng Zhao for a moment, he bent down and kissed Meng Zhao again.