Miss Forensics – Chapter 15
by Little PandaPart One
Frailty
Today, for the first time, she tasted the flavor of “frailty” in Lin Yan.
After leaving Li Shiping’s home, Song Yuhang waved down a taxi. She gave their destination to the driver and lightly closed her eyes to rest.
“Miss, we have arrived at Landi Bar.”
“All right, thank you.” She handed over the fare, pushed open the door to get out, and looked up at the massive neon sign. Even standing by the roadside, the deafening thrum of music pounded against her ears.
A few young men with hair dyed in a kaleidoscope of colors stood near the entrance, smoking. At the sight of her, they crowded around to drum up business. “Miss, care for a drink? Drinks are twenty percent off today.”
Song Yuhang pulled her credentials from her pocket. “Police. I’m looking for someone named Zhou Mo.”
The group instantly lost all interest. Businesses of this nature feared nothing more than the police showing up at their door; it was bad luck.
A youth with listless, green-dyed hair pushed open the door. “Zhou Mo, someone’s looking for you.”
Behind the bar, a boy was wiping glasses. He snapped his head up, but the moment his eyes met Song Yuhang’s, he lowered his head again and went back to his work.
Song Yuhang knew this was her target. She walked over and tapped the bar counter. “Police. I need to ask you a few questions.”
Because Zhou Mo was still a student, he did not sport any bizarre hairstyles. He wore the bar’s standard uniform, looking clean and neat.
At the sight of her badge, he did not even bat an eye. “Is this about Teacher Ding?”
Before Song Yuhang could speak, he added, “I don’t know anything. I think you might have the wrong person, Officer. That night, after Teacher Ding sent me back to my dorm, I stayed there to rest. My roommates and the dorm manager can all vouch for me.”
The kid even knew what an alibi was.
Song Yuhang remained calm and unruffled. “There is currently no evidence suggesting you killed her. No need to be so defensive. I only came today to learn how you got along with her normally, or who she was particularly close to…”
Just as she spoke, a customer shouted, “Where’s my drink?! Why isn’t it here yet?!”
Zhou Mo picked up a tray to head out. “Excuse me, I have to work.”
Song Yuhang reached out to block his path, signaling for him to wait a moment. “Don’t you want to know who killed her?”
The boy’s steps faltered slightly. After a brief pause, he let out a mocking laugh. “Officer Song, I’m not even eighteen yet. As far as I know, questioning a minor alone without a guardian present isn’t exactly legal.”
Quite clever.
Song Yuhang was taken aback, and in that split second, he had already vanished into the crowd with his tray.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here is your Long Island Iced Tea, please enjoy.”
Turning back around, he passed one of his colleagues. Zhou Mo handed over the tray, took off his apron, and said in a low voice, “The police are looking for me. Keep an eye on the front, I’m heading to the back.”
It was the green-haired youth. He nodded, and the two swapped places. Zhou Mo vanished into the bustling, packed crowd.
The bar switched to a faster, more intense dance track. The multicolored lights flashed so wildly they blurred one’s vision. Coupled with the constant flow of people rubbing shoulders, Song Yuhang had only followed him a short distance before she realized she had lost her target.
An amused smile played at the corner of her lips, continuing until someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
Her instinct was to execute an over-the-shoulder throw. She grabbed the back of the person’s hand, but the touch was soft and completely without resistance, while a sweet, crisp scent of perfume wafted into her nose.
Lin Yan pressed against her ear, murmuring something she couldn’t quite catch. Her warm breath brushed over the back of Song Yuhang’s neck, leaving behind a faint, tickling itch.
Song Yuhang let go, taking a step back to steady herself. “What did you say?”
Lin Yan held a mojito in her hand, her eyes dancing with amusement as she cast a sidelong glance at her. “I said, so even the great Officer Song has days when her calculations fail.”
Song Yuhang pursed her lips. She had heard this line clearly. “What are you doing here?”
“Investigating the case, what else? I told you, kids these days don’t fall for your stiff tactics anymore. Just watch this queen.”
Lin Yan stuffed her glass into Song Yuhang’s hand, swept her hair back with sultry elegance, and pulled down her off-the-shoulder dress slightly to accentuate her full curves.
Without even waiting for her to press the service bell, a waiter immediately hurried over to attend to her.
Green Hair asked, “Miss, what would you like to drink?”
“…”
Song Yuhang turned her head away, expressionless.
“Your most expensive alcohol. And I want the good-looking young boys here to come keep me company.” She acted as though she were drunk, her footing unsteady as she stumbled and hooked her arm around Green Hair’s neck, letting herself be guided into a booth.
“Two bottles of Louis XIII,” Green Hair instructed a younger kid behind him. He then turned back, his face full of sycophantic smiles, his eyes practically dazzled by the designer labels covering her from head to toe.
Lin Yan arched her back in the booth, once again wrapping her arms around his neck without the slightest hint of reservation. Her eyes were unfocused and her tongue was slightly thick as she slurred, “I heard… I heard you have a handsome guy named Zhou Mo here… Jie has plenty of money… let him come out and drink with me… and all of this is yours.”
As she spoke, she carelessly pulled a thick stack of Renminbi from her LV bag and stuffed it into his shirt front.
Green Hair’s drool almost dripped out, but after a moment’s thought, a look of hesitation crossed his face. “Jie… he isn’t in today. How about… I get someone else to drink with you? They’ll be just as attentive, obedient, and sensible.”
Lin Yan’s mind whirled through a hundred calculations, but her face curled into a seductive smile. She reached out and pulled him down toward her. “Well, all right. I don’t think we need anyone else—just you will do. As long as you make your Jiejie happy, all this money is yours~”
Song Yuhang was separated from her by only a single aisle. Watching her trade cups back and forth with those young men in a booth packed with hedonistic men and women, she saw Lin Yan giggling, her body trembling with laughter. She lowered her head as if overcome by the alcohol and buried her face in Green Hair’s chest.
Her voice was soft and gentle, her body lithe and seemingly without bones, her eyes rippling with waves of feigned distress. “It’s a pity that little didi isn’t here. Jiejie wanted to keep him as a pet. I just love these younger, wild little wolf dogs1.”
Held and embraced by her like this, Green Hair’s bones turned completely soft. How could he care about anything else? “Keep him? That kid hasn’t been short on cash lately.”
Lin Yan lay back against his lap, letting him feed her a sip of alcohol. “Oh? How so? If he isn’t short on cash, why would a student like him come to a place like this to work?”
Green Hair was also quite drunk, and the words tumbled right out. “Who knows what gold master2 he hooked up with recently. Just yesterday, I saw him wearing an Omega watch.”
Although the Omega brand was not quite as luxurious as Rolex, it was still considered a light luxury item for a student.
Lin Yan’s brow arched slightly. “Oh? A man or a woman? How dare they try to snatch a man from Jiejie… they clearly don’t know who they are dealing with…”
Song Yuhang, listening intently, picked up her glass and took a sip, only to suddenly realize something was wrong. Wasn’t this the one Lin Yan had just drunk from?
Frowning, she quickly put it back down.
Yet the crisp, cool aroma of the alcohol lingered in her mouth, refusing to dissipate.
The group drank with wild abandon until the bar closed late at night. Having extracted all the information she wanted, Lin Yan cast a glance out of the corner of her eye. That other woman was still sitting upright and proper in her chair, the drink in front of her untouched.
The eldest Miss Lin stood up unsteadily, tossing a stack of bills onto the table. “Alright, we’ve had our drinks and our fun. Let’s wrap this up, scatter, scatter.”
Having said that, she turned to leave. Green Hair quickly supported her and shot a look to the other men nearby. They exchanged glances and followed close behind them as they headed out.
Song Yuhang pulled up her hoodie’s zipper, flipped the hood over her head, paid her tab, and walked out too.
“Hey, Miss, slow down. The car is over here.” Lin Yan’s steps were floaty, her eyes unfocused, and she bent over from time to time to pretend she was sick, her small face pale.
For a moment, even Song Yuhang could not tell if she was truly drunk or just acting, so she had no choice but to follow them.
Seeing that the car pulling up was not her own, Lin Yan let out a cold laugh in her heart.
Fucking hell, they want to go picking up a corpse3.
Green Hair ordered someone to open the car door, preparing to help her inside. Lin Yan appeared too unsteady to stand and clung to his waist, but her right hand had actually crept like a shadow to his third vertebra—a spot where a heavy blow would cause death or permanent disability.
Before she could strike, her body suddenly felt lighter as Green Hair was ripped away from her. Lin Yan actually felt a twinge of disappointment. Her tensed right hand relaxed, and she went with the momentum to wrap her arm around the newcomer’s waist, resting her head on the person’s shoulder.
“Darling, you’re here. I feel so sick, take me home, okay~” Her deliberately sweet, coquettish voice was so cloying it brought goosebumps to both of them.
Both shuddered at the same time.
Song Yuhang looked down at her with a deadpan expression.
In the brief moment their eyes met, each had her own thoughts.
Lin Yan blinked her innocent eyes, tightening her embrace, grabbing a fistful of her clothes as she buried her head against Song Yuhang’s chest.
…
Suppressing the urge to throw the woman off her, Song Yuhang kept her arm around Lin Yan’s shoulders and walked toward the exit.
Seeing her ruin their plans, the men’s expressions turned hostile. One of them, fueled by alcohol, rushed forward to snatch Lin Yan away. Song Yuhang shifted her from her left arm to her right, delivering a reverse elbow strike directly to his vitals. The man stumbled back several paces, gasping in pain.
“Fuckers, get her!”
The men swarmed her all at once. Song Yuhang pushed Lin Yan behind her, saying in a low, back-turned voice, “Call the police.”
“Oh dear, I didn’t bring my phone. Isn’t Captain Song one of the top criminal investigators in Jiangcheng? Why bother calling the police?” The drunkenness vanished from Lin Yan’s face as she stood up straight. She wished she had a plate of melon seeds and a folding stool to sit back and watch the show; that would make it perfect.
One of the thugs threw a punch aimed straight at her head, but Song Yuhang ducked aside. Armed with extensive combat experience, she swept her leg out, instantly taking him down to the ground in one clean, swift motion.
Catching a sneak attack out of the corner of her eye, she tilted her head to dodge, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and executed a clean shoulder throw.
Another man rushed her with a baseball bat, but Song Yuhang showed no fear despite being outnumbered. Her fighting style was fierce, steady, and remarkably agile. With a swift knee strike, she sent Green Hair flying backward, yet before he could slide away, she caught his wrist and yanked him back.
Green Hair howled in pain. Relying on raw strength, he tried to headbutt her, but Song Yuhang landed a direct hook that sent his nosebleed spraying. She shoved him back with a force that rivaled any male investigator, slamming him hard against the car. The impact made a loud thud, leaving him completely dazed. With a twist of her hand, his weakened wrist gave out, and the baseball bat clattered to the ground. She picked it up and threw it far away, pulled out her handcuffs, and locked him securely to the car door handle.
Watching the bat roll to her feet, Lin Yan stopped smiling and decided it was time to slip away.
The police cruisers had not yet arrived, and the thugs littered the ground, wailing in agony.
Song Yuhang turned around to look at her, her eyes deep and searching. “Forensic Examiner Lin put on quite a show. Where do you think you’re going?”
Just as Lin Yan was about to speak, her stomach churned violently, and she had to lean against a utility pole, dry-heaving.
She had intended to use those thugs to test Song Yuhang’s combat skills, while Song Yuhang had intended to kill the chicken to warn the monkey. Otherwise, why be so brutal against a few street punks?
She was clearly using her actions to warn her: don’t make any reckless moves.
Song Yuhang was a clever person; she still remembered what had transpired in the archives.
Her suspicions of Lin Yan had never faded.
At these thoughts, Lin Yan coughed even harder, bending lower over the pole. She had drunk heavily, making the vomiting exceptionally painful. Barely able to stand, her jade-white neck lay exposed under the streetlamps, looking pale and frail.
The police cars arrived. Song Yuhang tore her gaze away from the figure under the streetlamp and turned back to the colorful assortment of thugs. After they were loaded into the vehicles, she looked back once, asked Fang Xin for some tissues, and walked over.
“Here.”
Staring at the tissues extended to her, Lin Yan froze slightly. She wiped the mess from the corner of her mouth and looked up, her gaze burning bright. “No need. I’m not drunk.”
Finding her gesture rebuffed, Song Yuhang did not press further. She turned and walked away.
After a long while, Lin Yan finally felt better. She supported herself against the wall and walked out of the alley, surprised to see the police lights still flashing. Song Yuhang had not left.
She was leaning casually against the car door, hands in her pockets, hood still up. In her simple gray T-shirt and black trousers under the cool moonlight, she looked exceptionally gentle and serene, as if she were not the same person who had fought so viciously moments ago.
For some reason, this thought suddenly crossed Lin Yan’s mind. A shiver ran through her, marking the second time tonight she had disgusted herself.
“Cold?” Noticing her pale complexion and how she trembled again, Song Yuhang glanced at her exposed shoulders and collarbones, considerately handing her own jacket over.
Lin Yan made no move to take it. “You’re not angry?”
“Forensic Examiner Lin is full of schemes. If I got angry at every single thing you did, I’d have died of anger by now.”
The words made Lin Yan grit her teeth again. She snatched the jacket from her hands and slid into the car.
“You should just shut up!”
Song Yuhang smiled, following her inside. “Duan Cheng, let’s go.”
On the way back, she finally quieted down. Perhaps due to the lack of rest over the past few days combined with the alcohol hitting her, she fell asleep shortly after.
Wrapped in Song Yuhang’s jacket, she noticed that the other woman did not seem to use perfume or makeup. The fabric carried a faint scent of sunlight.
Half-awake, Lin Yan thought it smelled like a quilt dried in the winter sun for a whole afternoon.
Pillowing herself on this scent, she drifted completely into sleep.
The alley was narrow and difficult to navigate. The uneven road jolted the car, and with another bump, Lin Yan’s head tilted over, resting on Song Yuhang’s shoulder.
Song Yuhang wanted to reach out to steady her, but accidentally caught her breath, its warmth brushing softly against her fingers.
The interior of the car was dark. Her skin looked strikingly pale. With her eyes closed and her breathing even, she was indeed fast asleep.
That frail neck lay exposed to her gaze. Song Yuhang came from a military and police family; her father and older brother were both officers. Since childhood, she had learned military boxing instead of standard school gymnastics, and by seven or eight years old, she had joined the provincial team to specialize in freestyle wrestling.
Her father and brother had never allowed her to be weak, and her own pride drove her to catch up with her brother. As she grew, her height quickly surpassed that of other women her age. She had a large frame; though she appeared lean, she was packed with muscle built over years of training. Stripped of her uniform, she could probably easily find work as a fitness trainer.
She had never known what “frailty” meant, but today, for the first time, she tasted the flavor of that word in Lin Yan.
That pale neck was so delicate that a small amount of force from her hands could easily snap it.
It was no wonder; frail things always tended to spark a desire for destruction in others.
This was a truth she had realized after fighting countless brutal criminals.
Song Yuhang’s throat suddenly felt a bit dry for some reason.
“Captain Song, we’ve arrived.” Duan Cheng turned off the engine and parked the car outside the municipal bureau.
Lin Yan sat up, looking exhausted as she let out a yawn. The uniform jacket slid off her body. While she bent down to retrieve it, Song Yuhang had already leaped out of the vehicle.
The jacket inevitably smelled of stale alcohol. After getting out of the car, Lin Yan raised an eyebrow at her. “Hey, I’ll wash it before returning it to you.”
Song Yuhang nodded, walking straight into the bureau without a single word. She moved fast, and before Lin Yan could fully recover her energy, she called out, “Hey—what are you running for?”
The question made the figure ahead pause. Song Yuhang’s lips parted, and without turning back, she replied:
“Interrogation.”
Underneath her seemingly calm exterior, only she knew what kind of dark thoughts had just crossed her mind.
The author has something to say:
Although these two bicker every time they meet, I swear this is genuinely the sweetest couple I have ever written.
Thank you for reading.
After discussing it with my editor, this novel will be going VIP starting tomorrow. I will be releasing three chapters in a row, but since I don’t have many drafts saved up right now, I’m currently rushing to write them. To ensure the quality of the work, I apologize but there won’t be another update tonight. Ugh, I love you all, sending kisses!
Footnotes
- Internet slang for an attractive, younger, and fiercely protective or passionate male partner.
- A slang term referring to a wealthy patron or benefactor, often implying a sugar daddy or sponsor relationship.
- Chinese nightlife slang for predatory behavior where someone takes advantage of an intoxicated, unconscious person to take them home for sexual exploitation.
Both of em are
Both of em are
Freaky ahh
Omg