Crazy Detective

“Yao Jia?! No way? Why is she calling me?” Zhao Yu thought he was hallucinating, and let the phone ring for a while before he picked up. He had thought that maybe Yao Jia had called because Hao Jiajun was pestering her again, but when Yao Jia started talking, it turned out that she was actually inviting Zhao Yu to lunch!

“No way!” Zhao Yu felt as if he had been blessed by the heavens. He never would have thought that his love interest from his previous life would willingly invite him to lunch! He was so excited he could not stop shaking, and it took a long time before he came back to reality. Once he got the address, Zhao Yu rushed toward a hot-pot shop on Dongyang Road.

The hot-pot shop was called Liuhe Village. It was a thirty-year-old shop. The store was a two-story building, almost antique! The walls were made of green bricks and jade, covered in marks that showed the building was clearly old. Due to the owner being loyal to using traditional style, Liuhe Village was very popular and was often full. Even at noon you needed reservation to get a seat.

When Zhao Yu arrived, Yao Jia had already been waiting for a while outside the shop. Private rooms required more than six people, so with only two, they could only sit outside.

“Sorry, Officer Zhao!” Seeing the crowded environment, Yao Jia was embarrassed, “This is my first time inviting you to lunch, but I picked a place like this! I’m truly embarrassed!”

“No problem, no problem!” Zhao Yu felt so excited that he was shaking. Wanting to help Yao Jia pour some tea, he nearly poured it all over her instead!

“Officer Zhao, have you eaten here before?” Yao Jia asked as she gave him his plate and silverware.

Zhao Yu shook his head. Prior to his cross over, he had often come to this area to destroy property, but there had never been a hot-pot shop like this.

“Then you’re in luck! Don’t mind the bad atmosphere, the food is really good! Try it out, the lamb meat here is the freshest!” Yao Jia’s smile was incomparably pure, leaving Zhao Yu breathless. The area may have been poor and dingy, and very crowded, but this only caused Yao Jia to stand out even more.

“Waiter!” Yao Jia was clearly well-practiced as she called out to the waiter, “First I want two plates of lamb, two bottles of beer, then an appetizer!” She turned back to Zhao Yu, “I used to live around here, this place is filled with memories! Look…” she pointed at the wall beside the stairs. There was a huge poster, but most of the poster had been turned black due to the oil in the air. Other than the line “Follow Your Feelings,” it was impossible to see anything else!

“Follow your feelings!” Yao Jia clearly looked a little bit excited, “Did you know it’s from a really old song? The singer used to eat here! She’s called…uhh…”

As Yao Jia tried to remember someone suddenly said from a neighboring table, “Su Rui! Follow your feelings, please take my hand! Haha…”

Zhao Yu and Yao Jia simultaneously turned, and saw a bulky, red-faced man wearing a suit. The most outstanding feature of this man was his red face, which looked almost as if he were wearing make-up. Most interestingly, he did not have a companion, and was only eating by himself.

“Right, right…” Yao Jia said.

“What a coincidence, when I was younger I also lived around here. As if…my only reason to study back then was so I could eat hot-pot here!” The red-faced man laughed, “Every time I come back to Qinshan, the first thing I do is come here and eat, haha…” To be polite, Yao Jia smiled back at him.

“Oh, right!” The red-faced man continued, “I lived near Yaowang Village, you?”

“Ah, Yaowang Village? I know that place, it’s so close to my house! My house was in Xiaotun!” Yao Jia clearly looked a bit more interested now. The red-faced man had wanted to continue, but was abruptly interrupted by Zhao Yu clearing his throat.

“Hey!” Zhao Yu thought to himself. How could he let this continue? Yao Jia had finally invited him out for food, but this guy was interrupting them. His expression darkened as he yelled out to the other, “Go finish your food! Where do you have the time for such useless chitchat? She didn’t even ask you, so why’re you talking?”

“You!” The red-faced man had never seen someone so abrasive, but he could not get mad over that one sentence, so he turned around and continued to eat his own hot-pot.

“Officer Zhao!” Yao Jia looked at Zhao Yu a little angrily, “He didn’t mean any harm, why are you so aggressive?”

“Ah, don’t say it like that!” Zhao Yu feigned innocence, “What am I? You see that guy, eating hot-pot by himself, and with his face so red! As soon as he heard a beauty talk, he decided to take advantage! He isn’t a good person! Miss Yao Jia, you’re so beautiful, so you have to be more careful!”

Hearing Zhao Yu’s straight-forward explanation, Yao Jia’s face turned red, but she was afraid the red-faced man had heard Zhao Yu’s words, and was nervous as well. But thank goodness, due to the crowd, the red-faced man had not heard Zhao Yu at all.

Because of the Miracle System, Zhao Yu was not being careless either. Ever since Yao Jia had asked him out for food, he knew that it had something to do with the Miracle System. Ever since he had entered Liuhe Village he was thinking, “Could there be some sort of key evidence to solve the slaughter case? Just like how I accidently entered the music hall when I was solving the Lost Hand Case?” But the hot-pot shop’s location and where the slaughter case had happened were too far away to have any connection. Not to mention, his hexagram did not have “Gen,” which represented work. So maybe it would be better if he just settled down and ate a good meal with Yao Jia, and did not overthink.

“Officer Zhao!” Yao Jia interrupted Zhao Yu’s thoughts, “Actually, I should’ve invited you out already! Last time, if you hadn’t gotten my bag back, I would’ve lost so much! Also, that time at the hospital, if it weren’t for you, I don’t even know what would’ve happened with Hao Jiajun!”

“No problem, I’m a police officer! I’m just doing my duty!” Zhao Yu was very good at praising himself. While they were talking, the hotpot, the lamb, and the appetizer had already been served by the waiter. The two chose their sauces, and started putting the food in the hotpot.

“Actually! I won’t hide it from you…” not even a few bites in, Yao Jia shyly spoke again, “My bag wasn’t worth anything, but because my boyfriend gave it to me, it’s very valuable. If someone took it, I really wouldn’t know what to do!”

Hearing the word “boyfriend,” Zhao Yu dropped the piece of lamb he had been picking up to eat. So Yao Jia did infact have a boyfriend! “This…isn’t good,” he thought.

“Officer Zhao!” Yao Jia pursed her lips, but was hesitant to speak, as if she were going to say something difficult.

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Yu asked.

“Actually, this time I asked you out…because I need to ask you for a favor,” Yao Jia’s face reddened as she lowered her head.

“Oh?” Zhao Yu realized that Yao Jia had invited him out for food because she needed a favor! But since they had already been eating for so long, he had to at least be polite. He continued without hesitation, “No problem, ask away! If it’s something I can help with, I’ll do my best!”

“Thank you very much!” Yao Jia expressed her gratitude, but her expression turned worrisome again, “Actually, it’s like this, I need you to investigate my boyfriend! Would it be possible?”