These tall buildings presented icy exteriors. Their straight-up-and-down trunks were oppressive. Their lobbies were usually floored in bright, reflective stone, and the front desk attendants and security guards would fix their gazes on anyone who set foot inside.
Each building had its own distribution of elevators—all the elevators had their own systems. Some couldn't go up, some couldn't go down, some distinguished between odd and even floors, some could only be used after swiping a card; they formed a body unto themselves, often leaving strangers at sea, leading them to feel estranged from these repellant little "states."
But the Gemini Building was different. Even though it had already been completely redecorated, it was still as familiar to him as the palm of his hand—he had done an internship here for half a year, but afterwards he hadn't stayed, because they'd just had to have an exchange student from a "well-known school" who only understood European and American legal systems.
There was no comparing the present to the past. These people waving around attractive legal assignments could only review a basic contract. In order to handle any matter that required a very high level of specialization, they had to ask him to come back and act as adviser. In this building, the intern Xiao Zhao had become "Mr. Zhao" with the wave of a hand.
But each corridor, each stairwell hidden in the shadows, was carefully recorded in his mind. Even if the power hadn't been turned off, he still had the assurance of being able to avoid the building's security cameras.
But sadly, while all the conditions were perfect, someone had upset his plans.
When he'd been mixed in with the crowd, ready to watch a splendid "performance" on the Canopy of Heaven only to be interrupted midway by Fei Du, he'd flown into a rage. He'd decided almost at once that this was a base publicity stunt—perhaps he was supporting his drinking buddy, and perhaps there was some commercial purpose.
These people controlled assets and social resources that it was hard for him to imagine, even though each one was a blockhead, even though listening to an ordinary due diligence report could have them ready to pass out, yawning their heads off—if through the efforts of countless experts they could occasionally pretend to issue one or two obvious conclusions, then they would immediately be lauded as "young geniuses."
A policeman leading several security guards temporarily hired to help with the evening performance hurried over to maintain order. "Everyone, please don't hang around near the high rises. We're still investigating the rooftops, there's a chance of danger here. Will you cooperate? Thank you, sorry, it's for your safety…"
Hearing this, the crowd slowly moved away. No one noticed a fair and refined man turning and disappearing into the darkness.
The police dispersing the crowd here clearly indicated that they would soon come to search, and that stupid woman still hadn't jumped.
He didn't know whether she'd gotten scared at the last moment, or whether she'd been hoodwinked by that pretty boy's inferior performance. In accordance with reason, he had a contingency plan—only one side of the rooftop of Tower A faced the central square. He had fixed up the guard rail so that even if she hesitated at the last moment, the loosened guard rail would help her make her decision.
His arrangements ought to have been foolproof. What had gone wrong?
He had to go back to look.
He considered briefly and pulled out a crafty idea. He didn't go into Tower A, but went around to one side of Tower B, going in through the side door of a coffee shop on the ground floor of the office building. He familiarly went up the emergency passage specially provided for package and fast-food delivery people, running up to the eighth floor—there was an open-air corridor linking the two towers, connected to the eighth floor emergency stair.
There was a camera at the entrance to the open-air corridor, but that was all right. There was a wall of greenery on one side of the corridor, with enough space in the gap behind it for a person to pass through. It was a camera blind spot. Even though he knew that the Gemini Building's power was off and the security cameras were all only for show, he still decided to take his prudence to the limit.
The power being off truly was the best gift fate could have given him.
Feeling pleased with himself, he walked briskly through the greenery wall, failing to note that the wind of his passing had touched a plant climbing the wall and set it shaking.
The greenery wall blocked the camera, and he didn't notice that as the leaves trembled faintly, the security camera, which had been still as death, suddenly turned a very slight angle—
Luo Wenzhou came down following the EMTs and saw Wang Xiujuan to the ambulance. He turned his head and saw Tao Ran and a few criminal policemen escorting a delicate-featured man to a police car. This man, whom he'd seen once before, felt his gaze; his enraged, hateful look at once shot towards Luo Wenzhou.
Tao Ran gestured at him, raising the evidence bag in his hand. Inside it was a pair of gloves.
Luo Wenzhou nodded, put a cigarette in his mouth, and looked the prisoner up and down.
The man roared at him in outrage. "I just came back to fetch a document, why did you guys grab me? Do you have evidence? The police can't solve the case so they just grab some innocent person off the street and stick him with the blame? Let go, you barbarians, if you wrinkle my clothes you won't be able to be pay for it!"
"Wow, precious," said Luo Wenzhou, cigarette in his mouth, "I'm so scared. Looks like this poor wretch will have to borrow some money from Daddy Fei."
Watching the man being forced into the police car, Luo Wenzhou raised his hand and blew him a kiss. "Bye-bye."
He had just spoken when a hand reached over and rudely pulled the cigarette out of his mouth.
Lang Qiao's makeup had worn off long ago, revealing the circles around her eyes picked up from running around half the night, so noticeable that there was nothing left of her face but her eyes. She casually threw the cigarette into a garbage can a few steps away, then pointed at the ambulance behind her. "You get in there, too!"
Luo Wenzhou: "…"
"Look at you!" Lang Qiao criticized irritably. "Hurry up and get in. Tomorrow, behave yourself and stay in the hospital. Don't come back."
With a sigh, Luo Wenzhou said, "Daughter, you aren't yet grown and already planning to seize your imperial father's authority?"
Lang Qiao steamed at the ears, jabbing at him with a sharp finger. "You…"
"Hey, don't fuss," Luo Wenzhou interrupted her. "Do you know where President Fei went?"
Lang Qiao froze. She subconsciously looked up at the Canopy of Heaven. It was already broadcasting the closing ceremony rehearsal. It had reached the end now, the fireworks so splendid they dazzled the eye. Though compared to the cops-and-robbers film from earlier, fireworks weren't all that interesting. The surrounding crowds became bored and went to scroll through their social media.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him. Why do you want…" Lang Qiao twisted her neck in a circle. When she had turned her head back, Luo Wenzhou was gone.
Luo Wenzhou picked up a jacket someone had left in a police car and threw it on, covering up the bloodstains. He called Fei Du's phone; it rang, but no one picked up. Luo Wenzhou then strode over to the Trade Center and went in. First he went to the control room, where he found the workers eating a midnight snack. He questioned them and learned that Fei Du had already left.
He clarified the approximate direction he'd gone in, then went after him, calling as he walked. In the end, he finally faintly heard the "You Raise Me Up" ringtone behind the building.
Luo Wenzhou followed the sound and found a small garden, surrounded by shrubs, with some stone chairs and tables inside. By looking up you could see a corner of the Canopy of Heaven. There were no streetlights.
Fei Du was sitting on one of the blocks of stone, not worried about getting dirty, leaning against a stone table. His phone was set down, playing like a public loudspeaker.
Luo Wenzhou hung up the phone and went over. "You want me to play a little song for you, is that it?"
Fei Du didn't feel like paying attention to him. He closed his eyes, looking like he was already asleep.
Luo Wenzhou stiffened his upper body and sat down several steps away from him. "Why don't you go see her?"
Fei Du spoke indolently. "Isn't she safe?"
"The murderer loosened the guard rail on the rooftop," said Luo Wenzhou. "It was a close call."
Fei Du's hand, tapping out a beat, paused at once. Opening his eyes to look at Luo Wenzhou, he just happened to meet his gaze.
Luo Wenzhou's face was haggard. When he sat, his back was unnaturally stiff; he looked as if he was half-paralyzed.
But there were two lights reflected in his eyes, flickering slightly, not scorching.
For a moment, Fei Du felt this fairly familiar man become a little strange.
Luo Wenzhou's features were clear and handsome, his figure as good as before. His age wasn't very evident. If you said he was thirty, people would believe it, and if you said he was twenty, they would probably believe that, too—although Fei Du knew that in reality he hadn't looked like this when he'd been just past twenty.
Back then Luo Wenzhou had been a true young master, deeply accomplished in cockiness, always showing off his cleverness and very unwilling to spare anyone's feelings. His exterior had resembled his interior, always having a flamboyant and domineering flavor of immaturity.
But now, his outward appearance was like a stone carving that had been worn by the passing ages. The originally blurred outlines had come clear, while the spirit floating on top had settled; seen from a greater depth, it was unexpectedly almost gentle.
Luo Wenzhou shifted his posture slightly. "What you said on the Canopy of Heaven just now, was that true?"
Fei Du carelessly raised his eyebrows. "Of course not. I was just blending my own experiences with hers, trying to establish an emotional connection."
Luo Wenzhou hesitated for a moment—he had little experience speaking properly to Fei Du. They had always entered the personal attacks stage at the first misstep. He considered for a long time without settling on the appropriate wording and could only continue as before, saying whatever came to mind.
"I investigated your dad back then," said Luo Wenzhou.
This wasn't at all novel. A woman dies in her home without a sound and her only child maintains that she didn't commit suicide—for insurance, aside from the forensic evidence, the people close to her would also have to be looked into slightly. Therefore, Fei Du looked at him a little impatiently, wanting to make him stop saying useless things.
"In the process, I found that there was another group of people following him. I grabbed them and asked what they were doing, and found that they were a bunch of unemployed young men calling themselves 'private detectives.' You were the one paying them, right?"
Fei Du's patience came to an end. He stood up to go.
"There was another time when you were doing your homework at Tao Ran's house and left behind a few pieces of unused graph paper. There were indentions on it, and I went over them with pencil and found that it was your father's itinerary. It was already more than two years after your mom's death. I thought then, these two years and more, had you always been keeping track of your dad's whereabouts?" Luo Wenzhou paid no attention to Fei Du's bearing, quietly saying, "I thought that was horrifying, and then when your father had his accident…"
Having heard this much, Fei Du's steps paused. He was just passing Luo Wenzhou. Suddenly, he laughed silently.
He looked down at Luo Wenzhou, his gaze a little dangerous, and asked, "You suspected it was my doing?"
Luo Wenzhou looked directly into his eyes, which could throw out peach blossoms at any time, and couldn't help being moved—this brat really was well worth looking at.
Fei Du bent slightly, put a finger next to his lips, and in a voice almost as quiet as a whisper said to him, "It may very well have been me, Captain Luo. Think about it, whether he died or became brain dead, I was the only heir to his enormous property, as long as…"
He hadn't reached the end of his words when Luo Wenzhou suddenly forcibly interrupted his pretentious performance. He grabbed his collar, pulled his neck down, and smacked him on the forehead with the palm of his hand.
His palm was very hot. Fei Du felt like he'd been hit by an iron. Stupefied, he backed up half a step.
"I'm talking nicely to you, why are you being so obnoxious?" said Luo Wenzhou.
Fei Du came around and angrily pulled at his collar.—Who was the obnoxious one!
Luo Wenzhou's next words were: "But I suddenly thought, a person willing to open up his own chest in public to save a woman who was a complete stranger to him must not be a dangerous person. I was planning to apologize to you for all these years of prejudice and suspicion."
Fei Du froze. But before the sneer he was brewing had matured, he felt an entirely unexpected weight on his collar as Luo Wenzhou heavily fell forward right onto him.
Fei Du instantly felt that he'd been wrapped up in a scalding electric blanket. After a blank pause, he tentatively touched Luo Wenzhou's forehead with the back of his hand. It was burning, feverish enough to send up steam.
Fei Du pinched the edge of his jacket and lifted it to take a look; after that look he immediately twisted his head away—he wanted to throw up again.
He stood still in this strange position for a while, calmed his roiling stomach with difficulty, then stared expressionlessly at Luo Wenzhou, as if he were considering whether this piece of pork belly would be better stewed or sautéd.
Then he must have thought that this person was coarse and tough, the texture of the meat too old. Fei Du gave a "tsk" of disdain, bent, and tried out a few positions. He didn't want to carry him on his back or in his arms. He tried pulling him up over his shoulder by his belt but found that this bit of goods was rather heavy.
Fei Du tossed the unconscious Luo Wenzhou aside on a stone chair, picked up his phone, which would soon be out of battery, and called Tao Ran.
"Hello, is this 110?" In a tone that wasn't nice at all, he said, "I've picked up an old man, and I think he's about to bite it. How do I hand him in to the state?"