Soul Patch

Chapter 33 Beyond the Law

I spent that day in a daze and had no motivation to work.

He suffered setbacks at work but found success in love; now that he's in the Second Precinct, he can see Yang Shanshan every day.

Wenjie chuckled to himself.

He finally made it to the end of the workday and rushed home.

He hurried through the narrow paths of the park toward the apartment building.

In a corner of the park, out of his sight, an old man sat on a stone bench, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan. He wore a straw hat, held a teacup in one hand, and stroked his white beard with the other.

Staring at Wenjie's departing figure, she muttered to herself: Looks like I'll be sleeping alone tonight.

He slowly got up, walked towards the northwest corner of the park, passed through the park gate in the northwest corner, and blended into the crowd.

When Wenjie got home, he searched through his stash for a long time and finally found a packet of spicy instant noodles.

After opening the bag, cook the noodles for ten minutes. Once the noodles have stretched out, they will become incredibly smooth and chewy. After cooking, drain the noodles and toss them with a rich Korean chili sauce, shredded seaweed, white sesame seeds, and a vegetable packet…

Ah! A plate of fragrant Korean-style spicy chicken noodles is ready, and Wenjie keeps swallowing his saliva.

He wolfed down his food, and as the last noodle was swallowed, he pushed away his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

Thinking about Qin Fen's changeable moods, he got up and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

After swallowing the last drop of coffee, he took a few deep breaths and solemnly activated the system.

———Enter the mission again——

The system switched scenes, and Wenjie appeared at the artificial lake in the canal wetland park.

He glanced at Qin Fen on the suspension bridge and rushed towards it.

This time he ran even faster. Wenjie felt the wind whistling against his face, and the scenery in his field of vision became blurry. Only Qin Fen's figure was getting closer and closer.

He ran there before Qin Fen even stepped off the suspension bridge railing.

"I can run really fast now!" Wenjie said breathlessly, grabbing Qin Fen's arm.

Qin Fen shook off Wen Jie's hand. Where did this crazy person come from? She didn't even know him. Why did he suddenly run over and say such a silly thing?

Ignoring Qin Fen's disgusted look, Wenjie looked down at the brown high heels she was wearing.

“Let’s go, there’s a merchandise section over there, I’ll go buy you Magnum ice cream,” Wenjie said with a shrug.

Qin Fen was slightly taken aback. How did he know I liked cold drinks, and even that her favorite was Magnum ice cream?

"Who...who are you?" Qin Fen pondered for a moment, a hint of fear flashing in her eyes.

"Are you...?" Qin Fen took a few steps back in a panic, staring at Wen Jie hesitantly.

Wait a minute, he can't be Lin Tao, the age doesn't match! Lin Tao must be at least forty years old!

The young man in front of me looks to be only in his early twenties!

Qin Fen looked at Wen Jie with suspicion, not knowing who he was for a moment.

Wenjie keenly caught the fleeting fear in Qin Fen's eyes. Who could make Qin Fen afraid?

murderer!

So she just thought I was Lin Tao?

"I'm not Lin Tao, my surname is Wen, my name is Wen Jie! I'm here to save you. If I hadn't run over and stopped you, you know what would have happened..."

As she spoke, Qin Fen's foxy eyes widened, staring intently at Wen Jie.

Wenjie calmly met Qin Fen's wary gaze, and asked in a gentle but not arrogant tone, "Why did Lin Tao force you to jump into the lake and commit suicide?"

"You...you should leave! I don't know any Lin Tao!"

After speaking, Qin Fen lowered her eyes and stopped looking at Wen Jie.

Wenjie listened in silence for a while. Qin Fen chased him away again, just as she had done last time to find a way to get rid of him.

He remembered the hypnosis technique he had hastily learned. Should he give it a try?

but……

Hypnosis requires a very specific environment; at least… Wenjie looked around the park and saw people of all ages singing, dancing, and playing… it was quite a lively scene.

It had to be indoors, preferably in a quiet room, just the two of them.

hotel?

Qin Fen, let's go to the hotel. Then Qin Fen cursed him in the street: "You filthy scoundrel!"

Wenjie shook his head. This...won't work!

If the hotel doesn't work, let's try another place. There should be private rooms at restaurants.

Wenjie's mind raced, and he suggested:

"Let's go, aren't you hungry? Let's grab something to eat! Anyway..." Wenjie glanced at the small crossbody bag around Qin Fen's waist, thinking that it must contain her phone.

"Anyway... your phone didn't fall into the lake, you can treat me!"

Qin Fen appeared to be listening to him, but she hadn't actually heard a word he said about food. She was contemplating suicide by jumping into the lake; what mind did she have for food?

But when she heard the part about treating everyone, her pretty eyebrows rose, and she showed an incredulous expression.

"Who wants to invite you?" Qin Fen asked sternly.

"You're not going to treat me? I just saved your life! Well... fine, I'll take the loss and treat you!"

"That's more like it!" Qin Fen chimed in.

Wait a minute... I clearly didn't want to eat, so why did I agree to his suggestion?

"Let's go!" Wenjie reached out and tugged at Qin Fen, who was still in a daze.

A gentle breeze ruffled her long, flowing hair, and Wenjie noticed that Qin Fen was wearing a beige bodycon dress that accentuated her shapely figure.

As she walked gracefully forward in her high heels, she swayed her waist lightly and naturally—uh…it was very alluring.

"Want a cigarette?" Wenjie took out a cigarette and lighter, lit it, and put the cigarette in his mouth, exhaling.

Qin Fen stopped as expected and turned slightly. Under the streetlights, a large, S-shaped beauty appeared before Wenjie's eyes.

Seeing Wenjie smoking, Qin Fen glanced past him and looked into the distance, then casually said, "Have one!"

"Stop, you stop right there!" Wenjie didn't want Qin Fen's alluring body to come closer and slip her cool fingertips into his pants pocket.

Wenjie had less than half a pack of cigarettes left, so he put the lighter into the pack and tossed it to Qin Fen.

Qin Fen deftly caught the cigarette box, skillfully tapped out a cigarette, and lit it with her head turned to the side.

"Hey!" Wenjie held up the cigarette between his fingers to Qin Fen. "Tell me, when was the first cigarette you ever smoked?"

"Hmm? The first cigarette?" Qin Fen exhaled the white smoke from the burning cigarette, her gaze fixed on Wen Jie, a hint of world-weariness in her hazy eyes: "...It was an old boss harassing you, wasn't it!"

Qin Fen's voice was extremely calm, but Wenjie's heart pounded with fear. It must have been a dark memory: pent-up grief and resentment finding no outlet, ultimately turning to the solace of cigarettes and nicotine.

For a long while, neither of them spoke, and the air was quiet: they stood a few steps apart, smoking their cigarettes and lost in their own thoughts.

……

During the day, Officer Cao hung up Wenjie's phone call and looked thoughtfully into the interrogation room.

Wenjie said on the phone that the East District police were very efficient; they had just merged the drowning case into one case yesterday and solved it today.

Officer Cao glanced at Lin Tao in the interrogation room.

Wenjie is wrong about this.

It wasn't that the police officers at the Eastern District Police Station were highly efficient, nor was it that Cao Guoqiang was a genius.

Lin Tao turned himself in just as the latest developments in Qin Fen's drowning case were posted on the police station's official website.

Officer Cao lowered his head, took off his police hat, and smoothed his buzz cut hair.

For some reason, I didn't feel the same joy I had when I was talking to Wenjie on the phone.

After solving this serial murder case, Officer Cao initially felt relieved, and his tense nerves instantly relaxed.

Officer Cao watched as Lin Tao signed and fingerprinted documents in the interrogation room. Lin Tao calmly picked up a pen, breathed on it to warm it, and smoothly signed his name on the paper.

After signing, he examined it repeatedly, tears slowly welling in his eyes. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time, ever since the first person he had drowned.

But he knew that he couldn't turn himself in at that time, as there were still bad people at large, and the law couldn't punish them, so he had to take matters into his own hands.

Lin Tao buried his head in his palms and sobbed softly, like a wronged child.

(End of this chapter)