Lin Dongxue went down to the underground garage out of habit, reminding her that her car was getting repairs done at the mechanics. Two weeks ago, she crashed her car while she was chasing after a suspect. She violated over a dozen traffic rules in a single breath, so all her points were deducted from her license. She also received severe disciplinary action as she disobeyed orders by acting as she did.

Annoyed by the memory, she started walking outside, when all of a sudden, a car honked at her. A police sedan slowed down and rolled up beside her. A smiling face emerged behind the window, which was being slowly rolled down, “Dongxue, I’ll give you a ride!”

“No need!” Lin Dongxue bluntly refused.

“Fighting with your older brother again?” Based on her tone and expression, the clever Xu Xiaodong accurately guessed what her situation was, “Why are you acting so unhappy? The criminal investigation unit’s captain is your brother by blood. Others can’t even hope to develop such a close relationship with the captain, no matter how much they yearn for it. If I were you, I’d be smiling, even in my dreams.”

Lin Dongxue suddenly stopped and raised her brows, yelling, “In everyone’s eyes, I am just the captain’s little sister. Nobody has ever thought of me as just Lin Dongxue. If you want to be his sister so badly, then go ahead. I wouldn’t long for this position in a million years!” With that, she hastened her pace and left the garage.

“I only casually spoke about it. What about the conversation made her so angry?” Xu Xiaodong scratched his head in confusion.

After passing a few intersections, Lin Dongxue calculated that she was not at risk of running into Xu Xiaodong again, as she had avoided his usual route when leaving the precinct. Lin Dongxue took out her phone and called for a Wang Yueche. The driver seemed to accept the order within seconds, but after waiting for five minutes, the car icon on the map still hadn’t moved. Lin Dongxue dialed the driver, “What’s going on? I’ve stood here for five minutes already!”

The driver answered unapologetically, “Sorry, beautiful; I’m in a bit of a situation here. Would you mind walking over?”

“Forget it. I’m going to call for another car!”

“No, no, I’ll give you a 20% discount, okay? Do you see a beef stew restaurant across the road?”

“I can see it. What about it?”

“There’s a little alley next to it. You’ll be able to see me once you cross the street.”

“So troublesome!”

Lin Dongxue hung up and crossed the street, and walked into the alleyway. Initially, she had thought that the “situation” the driver spoke of would be a traffic jam, but there were barely any cars around. There was an uncle on the side who was washing a car, using a hose dragged from a nearby kitchen of a restaurant.

It was a red Changan Eado[1]. Lin Dongxue verified the license plate and confirmed that this was the Wang Yueche which was meant to pick her up.

Lin Dongxue walked over and crossed her arms as she stood next to the driver. The driver was completely oblivious, and complained as he washed the car, “This damn sparrow could have pooped anywhere else, but it just had to poop on my beloved car!”

Lin Dongxue coughed dramatically, and the driver turned around and smiled, “Oh, you’ve arrived? Step right in!”

Lin Dongxue stared him down angrily, “This is the situation that you were going on about? I waited five whole minutes on the side of the road, yet you were here washing your car so leisurely?”

“Don’t be so petty. It was only five minutes.”

“You say it so casually. Even if you were to have wasted just one second of someone else’s time, let alone five minutes, would you be able to compensate for that one second?”

The driver turned around, wearing a sleek smile fitting a middle-aged man who’d walked through countless experiences in his life on his face. Combined with a pair of stern eyes, he argued, “If you must say it that way, then I’ll have to undergo a little theoretical exchange with you. From the place you were originally standing to our present location, it was merely a straight line with a distance of fifty meters. However, if I were to drive, I would have had to go around the block, meaning I would require at least ten minutes to get to you. From this perspective, I didn’t waste five of your minutes. Instead of costing you time, I saved you five minutes. With regards to the car wash, it’s because I’m a clean freak. There were bird droppings on the windshield, and since I get very uncomfortable when looking at it, it could cause an accident because I wouldn’t be able to focus with the droppings in front of me. Would you not say that it’s better to wash the car in order to provide better service or to just continue with these hazards?”

“Hmph, all these excuses.” Lin Dongxue snorted, “Even if what you say is true, why didn’t you take the initiative to call me earlier instead of causing me to wait for five whole minutes?”

“That was my fault. I just so happened to be using my phone at the time. My mother had cerebral thrombosis and had just finished her surgery to remove the blood clots, so the doctor gave me a call. Wouldn’t you say that’s a call that I had to pick up?”

Lin Dongxue was speechless, “Okay, I get it, I get it. Stop playing the sympathy cards and just start the car already!”

Sitting in the back seat, Lin Dongxue saw the name “Chen Shi” on the license displayed. Chen Shi adjusted the rear-view mirror a little, and a pair of shifty eyes fell on Lin Dongxue’s chest area. He opened his mouth and asked, “Where are we going, beautiful?”

“Are you retarded? Did you not look at the address when you took the order?”

“Sorry, I used to drive a taxi, so it’s a habit of mine to ask whoever gets into the car… Just some small talk, but it’s all just useless banter either way.”

“Who would want to chat with you? Don’t flatter yourself!”

After a period of silent driving, Lin Dongxue noticed that there were a pair of leering eyes focused on her, making her very unhappy. She patted the shoulder of the driver’s seat, “Watch the road, alright? Stop being such a pervert.”

“I’m not staring at you. I’m currently observing you.”

Lin Dongxue breathed out a laugh, “What exactly are you observing?”

“There’s an internal fire within your liver[2]. Are you finding that you have insomnia as of late, morning bitterness in the mouth, and a white tongue[3]?”

“Y-you know Chinese medicine?!”

“I know a few things here and there,” Chen Shi smiled and took out a pack of cigarettes from the glove box.

“Hey, don’t smoke in the car! Don’t you have any manners?”

“I just wanted to see how many were left, or is that not allowed?” Chen Shi shook the packet and threw it back inside the glovebox, “What type of work do you do, beautiful?”

“None of your business! Just drive the car!”

“You’re a police officer, right?”

Lin Dongxue was shocked. She checked her body from head to toe. I’m wearing casual clothes, so could he possibly have seen my gun? Impossible! The gun was hidden behind her jacket the whole time, and the gun belt was also hidden very well.

The talkative driver chattered to himself without any prompting, “Occupations leave a mark on people. The way you look at people is unlike that of common folk. The look in your eyes is usually present in those working in law enforcement.”

“So, why did you guess that I was a police officer out of any law enforcement profession?”

Chen Shi smiled, “The place where you got into the car is two streets away from the police station. It also just so happened that a few police cars drove out. Hey, can you divulge a little information on what kind of case you guys are currently investigating?”

Originally, Lin Dongxue didn’t want to tell the truth. Even so, she decided to use this opportunity to retaliate back against this know-it-all, so she boasted, “The Wang Yueche driver homicide!”

Chen Shi replied without a hint of amazement, “Oh, really? If you need me to cooperate in any way, give me a buzz. Oh, yeah. Will there be a reward if we provide informative leads?”

“You have a lead?”

“Not currently, but if there’s a generous reward, I could go and investigate a little myself.”

“Ha, you make it sound like you can actually investigate cases or something.”

“It’s just cracking a case; it simply requires a little luck. Maybe I’ll be fortuitous today!”

His words made Lin Dongxue very unhappy. She wanted to argue but stopped when her phone rang. A WeChat notification popped up, informing her that Xu Xiaodong added her into a group chat. Every time there was a new case, he would set up a group chat to exchange information and be up-to-date on any progress.

Xu Xiaodong excitedly informed everyone, “I found out who the Wang Yueche driver was on that day!”

Lin Dongxue showed a face of disdain. What a show-off!

A long message appeared in the chat, “Chen Shi, male, 36 years old, a citizen of Wu’An City, driven for 15 years, his license plate number is…”

Lin Dongxue looked up and saw the dopey smile on the photo of the license displayed. Suddenly, sweat trickled down her back as she pulled out her gun in a panic and pointed it at Chen Shi’s head, “I order you to stop the car immediately!”

1. The Changan Eado is a car produced by a Chinese Auto Manufacturer called “Changan”.

2. A condition which is non-life threatening and occurs when you’ve had lots of “hot” food (i.e. deep-fried foods, junk, spicy food, etc.), lack of sleep and/or stress. Food is categorized as either yin (cold) or yang (hot) in traditional Chinese medicine, and has various subcategories as well. However, for a basic understanding, visit here: https://archive.shine.cn/feature/ideal/Beginners-guide-to-TCM-food-classification/shdaily.shtml.

3. White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the papillae on the surface of your tongue. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae.