Chapter 6 Boss Wu

Li Cu didn’t speak the entire ride over as he looked out the window at the passing street and wondered if he should jump out of the car and run away.

But where could he run back to? To his mom? Forget it, although she still cared about him, she already had her own family and there was no room for him. Where was his dad? Probably looking to give him another hard beating.

It was at this time that he realized what it was like to be homeless, and he felt a little ridiculous.

Real homelessness wasn’t that you didn’t have a home, but that you were unwilling to face your family. He suddenly remembered Zhang Weiwei, and the time he had once seen her crying alone at the school’s playground at night. She had always lived in the dormitory, and her mother was off working in other places. She must not have felt a real sense of home, right? Unfortunately, he didn’t even have a dormitory to go back to. With this final analysis, he really felt that he didn’t deserve her.

Liang Wan was obviously hurt by the taser and whined the whole way without taking care of him. Li Cu’s hand was placed on the car’s door handle, ready to get out any time there were red lights, but he finally dropped his hand. He suddenly felt a deep sorrow, thinking that if he really took this irreversible path, it wouldn’t even cause much trouble to others.

“Why aren’t you talking?” When the car passed by the Sun Palace, Liang Wan asked him, “Are you scared of me?”

“What the hell’s going on?” Li Cu turned around. “I don’t know what to say. Who are they? What’s your relationship with them? Why did you sell me out to them?”

Liang Wan frowned and didn’t want to answer. Looking back at the whole thing now, she felt that the way things had developed was out of line. But judging from Li Cu’s appearance, she knew that if she didn’t say anything now, this guy would bolt. Besides, she would have to tell him later anyways. So she thought for a moment and replied, “I don’t know much about them either, but their identity is very special. They’re not a crime syndicate or anything, but their nature is more mysterious than that. I didn’t sell you out, but they said they would give you compensation. And I really liked him, too. He arranged everything, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“What are they? Secret agents?”

“No, these people are grave robbers.”

“Grave robbers?”

“Yes.” Liang Wan nodded. “Although they didn’t come out and say it, I think it’s very close.”

The day before yesterday, she met Wang Meng for the first time in the early morning when she was on the night shift. At that time, she was bored and playing “Plants vs. Zombies” when she saw Wang Meng come in. At that time, Wang Meng was wearing a black suit and had a slender figure. This was exactly her type, so she instantly perked up.

Liang Wan was the type of woman who liked handsome men very much. Although Wang Meng wasn’t handsome, he emanated a very special aura with every move he made. Then she saw another person following behind him, whom Wang Meng called “Boss”. He had just come in and taken a look, before immediately stepping out again. She heard the man say to Wang Meng, “You handle it, I don’t see any strangers”, and then he left.

From Liang Wan’s point of view, although Wang Meng’s boss was young, there was a weathered and worn look about his brows that was beyond the reach of ordinary people. On the whole, both of them felt very strange.

Only later did Liang Wan learn that Wang Meng had come to take care of the body that the police had left there. The autopsy had been completed, so she took Wang Meng below and asked him to sign the forms to take the body away. Just when she had decided to return to the office to continue her shift, Wang Meng suddenly stopped her and said that his boss wanted to ask her a favor. Could he have a meal with her alone tomorrow?

Liang Wan thought of his boss and immediately agreed. That person’s temperament was so special that it made her even more curious than before.

But what she didn’t expect was that the boss didn’t come the next day, only Wang Meng came. The two chatted for a while, and Wang Meng told her something that she thought was a bit ridiculous.

“The pattern on your back should be the cause. Wang Meng told me that they were engaged in researching cultural relics. Three months ago, a corpse was unearthed in an ancient tomb of the Sui Dynasty in Guyuan, Ningxia. They found a tattoo on the corpse’s back. The pattern is very special, and they think there may be something strange about it. They were going to take the corpse to the research institute for an examination. Unfortunately, there was an accident during transport and the man in charge of the body went missing. They’ve been looking for him for three months, but they couldn’t find him anywhere. Until recently. He died right next to you and carved that pattern on your back.”

“Ancient corpse?” Li Cu was surprised and said, “The pattern on my back turned out to be a tattoo on a recently discovered corpse’s back? That’s even more disturbing. Do they think I’m some terracotta soldier?”

Liang Wan said: “They think the man in charge of transporting the body discovered something from this design and wanted to sell it to others. But something happened in the middle, which led to this situation. At that time, the man, Huang Yan, who drew the picture on your back, was seriously injured. He knew that he wouldn’t live much longer, so he caught you as his sketchpad.”

“Why would he want to draw on me? Wouldn’t it have been better to draw it on the ground?” Li Cu said, “That kind of stupid act isn’t ok.”

“I don’t know, maybe because you look very delicate. Wasn’t there a movie where the Nazis liked to tattoo children’s skin?”

“Impossible.” Li Cu found it odd. He recalled what the man said when he attacked him and felt that the man’s purpose was very clear. He certainly wasn’t attacked because he was weaker than the other guy. He probably carved something on Li Cu’s back because he thought it was safer. That is to say, he had a strong desire to leave this message behind.

So, what significance did this design from the back of an ancient corpse have that made that guy feel that it was so important that he wanted to leave it behind even as he was dying?

“If you knew Wang Meng was a grave robber, why didn’t you call the police?” Li Cu thought for a moment and said to himself: “If you had called them earlier, I wouldn’t have had to go through so many things today. And I might have even become an honorary citizen or something, showing my prestige during our morning exercises.”

“Call the police? This kind of person, who dares to say such grand things to me, certainly has nothing to fear. And how do I know if what he said is true or not? What if he’s a big liar? Besides, grave robber is such a cool profession and this man was good-looking. I wanted to get along with him for a time, and if there was any development, I could always call the police. And his boss is also very tasty. It would be wonderful if I could see him again.”

“Elder sister, don’t bring trouble to me with your love sickness.” Li Cu said, “I was almost tasered by the object of your infatuation today.”

“Who knew he just wanted to use me. But I think I had a good chat with him.” Liang Wan sighed. The pain on her back made her frown. “Men are so fucking unreliable.”

“You’re fucking unreliable!” Li Cu shouted at the driver, “Master, turn to the nearest public security bureau! We’re going to call the police! There are grave robbers attacking us!”

The driver turned around and inexplicably looked at them. Liang Wan immediately said, “Joking joking! My boyfriend is a little crazy.”

“Ah, to be dating at such a young age. Must be nice.” The driver said.

“What do you really want?” Hearing Liang Wan call him boyfriend, Li Cu finally relented and asked softly.

“I told you, these guys aren’t easy to handle. I think his boss is definitely not ordinary. And they obviously have a lot of people. If we rush to call the police and make this a big deal, they’ll retaliate against us. Then, where could we hide?” Liang Wan said, “You have to believe my social experience, the world isn’t as simple as you think.”

Li Cu grinned and thought that the police were way more reliable than a love-sick fool. He was determined to report those bastards and get revenge for his back, but not now. He still wanted to see what would happen to him and Liang Wan tonight.

The taxi drove on and finally stopped at Wangjing. Liang Wan wasn’t able to walk well in high heels, so Li Cu helped her stumble into a building in a residential area. On the fourteenth floor, they finally arrived at her home. They opened the door and went in to the dark room where Li Cu could smell the peculiar scent of a woman’s home. It wasn’t particularly fragrant, but it was very reassuring.

“Wait a minute. It’s a bit messy. Don’t be scared.” Liang Wan turned on the lights and Li Cu saw a living room with extremely simple decorations. There was no other furniture except for a sofa, but all kinds of clothes and black silk stockings were piled everywhere.

Li Cu frowned and thought that if she hadn’t warned him just now, he definitely would’ve thought this place had been robbed. Li Cu was about to make a few teasing remarks when Liang Wan suddenly let out an exclamation. He looked over and immediately saw someone sitting on the sofa.

The man must have been sitting there with his eyes closed until the light came on.

He was young with a slender figure, wearing a brown jacket and gloves, and looking very casual. A cup of coffee was placed in front of him, and Li Cu didn’t know whether he had brought it in or brewed it with Liang Wan’s machine. The young man looked at them very calmly, as if he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Your boyfriend?” Li Cu asked, thinking it was bad and he wasn’t ready to face such a scene. How many men did this woman have?

“No, this is Wang Meng’s boss.” Liang Wan said, “I saw him at the hospital once.”

“My name is Wu Xie.” The young man stood up and lit a cigarette. Li Cu found that it was the same brand that Wang Meng smoked. “I’m sorry, you two, my staff didn’t do a good job. I hope you’ll forgive me. I don’t think the deal between us has been completed yet.”

Liang Wan couldn’t help shivering a little and kept drawing back. Li Cu, who felt her fear, immediately became frightened and also retreated.

They had just taken a few steps back when they heard movement behind them. The elevator door opened, and several tall, powerful men came out and blocked their way.

“I won’t hurt you. My men are a little impatient, so that’s why they came up with that idea.” The young man, who claimed to be Wu Xie, approached Li Cu and said, “Give me five minutes. I just want to look at this little brother’s back, and we’ll leave in five minutes.”

“I have pictures here.” Liang Wan said, “Take them instead.” She took the envelope out of her bag with trembling hands.

“I want to see what the real figure looks like on the skin.” He took a puff of his cigarette and said, “We have to go somewhere else immediately, so please hurry up.”

<Chapter 5> <Table of Contents><Chapter 7>

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*Fangirl screams* WU XIE!!!!! Our precious gangster Wu Xie!!!! FINALLY! Pretty cool seeing him portrayed from the 3rd person point of view. Anybody else kind of chuckle when he was described as “strong and powerful”? Wonder what happened a year ago? Not sure if that’s the Tibetan Sea Flower story or something else (not sure how strongly the drama kept to the timeline of these books). Also cracking up at how thirsty Liang Wan is for good looking guys lol.