"...Officer Han Meng."
The moment Han Meng called out to him, a flicker of guilt flashed through Chen Yifei's eyes, but it quickly returned to normal. "Is there something you need from me?"
"A Fusionist, daring to infiltrate the ranks of the enforcers... You have quite a pair of balls," Han Meng said slowly. "Tell me, what's your purpose?"
This sentence fell on Chen Yifei's ears like thunder!
Did he find out?!
No... It's impossible... It was the Red Paper Monster that fought with him last night. He didn't see my face from start to finish! How could he recognize me at first glance?
"Ah?" Chen Yifei's eyes were filled with confusion. "Officer Han Meng... What are you talking about?"
"Don't you understand what I mean?"
"...I don't."
"Where were you last night?"
"Sleeping at home."
"And before that?"
"Practicing opera singing with my younger brother in the wild."
"Why were you there if your younger brother was practicing opera singing?"
"He's timid and wanted me to accompany him."
"What piece were you practicing?"
"Farewell My Concubine."
"What's the last line of the script?"
"...Oh!"
"And the second last line?"
"...Let me see!"
Han Meng's questions came rapidly, leaving no time for Chen Yifei to react.
As Chen Yifei answered, cold sweat trickled down his back. By the last three questions, he was tempted to turn and run.
Chen Yifei had no exposure to the theater in this world and didn't know what repertoires there were. He had to grit his teeth and say the one he was most familiar with from his previous life... He had to gamble that Han Meng didn't understand opera at all!
As for the lines, this was indeed not difficult for Chen Yifei. There were often Peking Opera performances in the theater in his previous life. He had heard "Farewell My Concubine" no less than twenty times. He still remembered very clearly the scene where Xiang Yu turned around and found that Yu Ji had committed suicide.
As it turned out, Chen Yifei had guessed correctly.
After asking the last question, Han Meng stared straight at Chen Yifei, his eyes seemingly piercing into his heart... After several seconds of silence, Han Meng spoke slowly:
"Oh, maybe I was mistaken."
This guy was indeed trying to trick me!
It seems that the blow I gave him last night was too light!
Chen Yifei took a deep breath. "Officer Han Meng, if there's nothing else, I'll go back first."
"Wait." Han Meng stopped Chen Yifei. "Which street were you assigned to?"
"...District Two, Bingquan Street."
"Don't go home first... Just head there directly."
"Ah? I thought we had three hours to prepare..."
"That's an order."
Han Meng's simple four words silenced Chen Yifei completely.
Chen Yifei and Han Meng locked eyes in the cold wind, their cotton robes and windbreakers fluttering respectively, and the world fell into a dead silence...
After an unknown period of time, Chen Yifei slowly spoke, "I understand..."
"It takes a maximum of two hours to get from here to Bingquan Street in District Two. Two hours later, I will confirm whether you have arrived there... Understand?"
Chen Yifei gritted his teeth and said, "My legs are tired from walking, so it will take a bit longer."
"I'll get you a rickshaw."
"..."
Han Meng truly embodied the phrase "swift and forceful". He stopped a rickshaw puller on the street, the same one who had spoken to Chen Yifei when they arrived, and directly told him to deliver Chen Yifei to Bingquan Street on time. He would reimburse the fare.
Thus, under Han Meng's gaze, Chen Yifei reluctantly got on the rickshaw and headed straight for District Two.
Watching Chen Yifei leave, Han Meng stepped on the burnt-out cigarette butt with his foot and snorted coldly.
"Meng, why are you targeting him?" Jiang Qin approached with confusion.
"Don't you find it strange?" Han Meng replied calmly,
"On the night of the Grey Boundary convergence, Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan went to the mass grave in the rain, saying they wanted to pay their respects to their son... The next day, the disaster恰好 struck their home, killing two enforcement agents who were following them, but curiously sparing the two of them... And during this process, the two Chen brothers were conveniently not at home and had no alibi."
"But, they already explained about paying respects to their son. Many years ago, they had a child who died early..."
"You're missing the point."
"Ah?"
"The point isn't about paying respects to their son, but about going to pay respects in the middle of the night, during a rare heavy rainstorm in the Aurora Domain that occurs once every ten years... Do you think it's worth it for them to do so for a child who died early and didn't hold much emotional significance?"
"This..." Jiang Qin was speechless.
"The early death of a child and practicing opera singing are all one-sided claims by Chen Yifei, without any evidence." Han Meng patted Jiang Qin's shoulder, "As enforcement agents, we must see with our own eyes, not listen with our ears."
"...I understand, Meng."
"If you understand, come with me to 128 Hanshuang Street."
"What for?"
"Chen Yifei has been distracted by me... What remains is to interrogate Chen Muyu." Han Meng's eyes slightly narrowed.
...
Thud—Thud—Thud...
The rhythmic hammering of the iron hammer drove the nails into the wall bit by bit.
As the wooden boards were neatly laid on the wall, the original large hole was gradually repaired. Chen Muyu wiped the sweat from his face, secured the last wooden board in place, and then sat down on a chair, panting.
He turned back to look at the living room and saw the man wearing silver-wired glasses curiously examining the wooden boards he had just laid, wondering what he was thinking.
"Can't even help out..."
Chen Muyu muttered under his breath.
Chen Muyu didn't actually want to let this man into his home, but since the man held his older brother's handwritten letter, he was a legitimate guest.
However, how come he had never heard his older brother mention that he had friends in the Aurora City?
Just after Chen Muyu finished his work, the man slowly stood up, walked to the tightly nailed wooden boards, and asked in surprise,
"How was this done...?"
"Repairing a house isn't difficult. When I was young, my older brother even took me to build a wooden house... Although it was for birds to live in." Chen Muyu proudly lifted his head. "I heard that people in your Aurora City are all delicate and precious. You probably don't have such good craftsmanship for building houses, right?"
The man was about to say something when a sudden urgent knock on the door came.
"Enforcement agents are here to ask questions. Open the door immediately!!"
Upon hearing these words, Chen Muyu's face turned pale instantly.
He didn't know why the enforcement agents suddenly came to his door, but his intuition told him that their sudden arrival at this time to ask questions was definitely not a good thing...
Chen Muyu had a quick thought and said to the man, "You open the door later and say there's no one home."
After speaking, he immediately hid in the bedroom and concealed his presence.
"Enforcement agents, huh..." The man frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward to open the door.
Behind the door stood Han Meng and Jiang Qin.
Seeing a stranger opening the door, Jiang Qin was taken aback. He looked at the doorplate again and asked in confusion, "Strange... I didn't take the wrong turn?"
Han Meng saw the man and his eyes slightly contracted.
"Why are you here?"
"I thought it was someone else... It's you." The man's mouth curved up. He pushed his silver-wired glasses and spoke calmly, "I should have guessed earlier. District Three is your turf."
Seeing the two of them chatting directly, Jiang Qin, who was standing nearby, leaned towards Han Meng's ear and whispered, "Meng, who is he?"
"Chu Muyun, the miracle doctor from Aurora City."