Chapter 5 – Who Stole My Savory Crepe?

“Don’t mention it, really, don’t mention it.” The young man in the hoodie waved his hands dismissively, his gaze landing on Dou Hua’s light blue uniform. “You guys are police, right?”

Dou Hua nodded, the bloodshot streaks in his eyes from his recent panic yet to fade. His voice still carried a heavy, tearful tremor. “Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, Brother Pei would have fallen.”

“Psh!” The youth gave a casual flick of his hand and grinned. “All in a day’s work serving the people. No need for thanks—it’s what I should’ve done.”

Pei Yu offered a curt nod of acknowledgment before turning his attention toward the young woman. Behind him, he heard Dou Hua continue.

“I’m Dou Hua, an officer with the Municipal Bureau. If you ever need anything, come find me.”

“Dou Hua? Like ‘Tofu Pudding’?” The two seemed to exchange a handshake. “What a cute name.”

Pei Yu heard the young man introduce himself in turn. “Peng Dongdong.”

A few helpful bystanders were already assisting the woman down the stairs. Pei Yu observed her from the side; she remained silent and listless, her face pale, though fortunately she appeared uninjured. He then turned to Peng Dongdong, who stood behind Dou Hua with a round, cheerful face that radiated a festive sort of joy. Pei Yu pointed toward the woman.

“Do you know her?”

Peng Dongdong shook his head. “Just passed by on my way to work. Saw a chance to do a good deed—call it building up some good karma.”

Pei Yu nodded. Before he could speak further, a young man wearing glasses sprinted up the stairs, rushing to the woman’s side.

“Xue! Are you okay… Why would you do something so reckless, Xue…”

As he spoke, he took her by the arm. From his manner, he seemed intimately acquainted with her, yet the woman only offered a faint sigh and remained silent upon seeing him. The young man supported her, his helpless gaze scanning the area until it naturally settled on Dou Hua, the only one present in a police uniform.

Once he was certain the situation was secure, Pei Yu gave Dou Hua a quick nod and slipped away. He was responsible for the rescue; as for the tedious business of dealing with the living, he would leave that to ‘Tofu Pudding’ to handle.

———

“Why are you back? Aren’t you on leave?”

In the corridor, Pei Yu—who had just emerged after meticulously scrubbing his hands for several minutes—ran headlong into Liao Ming. The Captain looked equally perplexed by his presence.

“Captain Liao.” Pei Yu let out a casual lie. “I remembered there was some paperwork I hadn’t finished. Just came back to take a look.”

The young criminal investigation captain’s eyes, sharper than a hawk’s, scrutinized him for a moment before he nodded and prepared to walk away.

“Brother Pei!”

He turned to see Dou Hua running toward them from the other end of the hall, waving frantically. Out of breath, the rookie reached them and flashed a brilliant smile. “Captain Liao.”

Running too fast, Dou Hua nearly failed to brake in time. However, both he and Pei Yu shared a silent understanding, instinctively stepping back to ensure they didn’t touch.

In Pei Yu’s memory, Dou Hua had spent his six months on the force making a very conscious effort to avoid any physical contact with him, barring emergencies. He had once overheard someone ask Dou Hua about it; the rookie had scratched his head and admitted sheepishly that since Brother Pei was a forensic doctor who touched corpses all day, looking at his hands made his skin crawl.

Dou Hua had been teased mercilessly for being a coward because of it. To Pei Yu, however, it was a blessing. He had no desire to interact with the living; the fewer he had to touch, the better.

Liao Ming glanced at the dried tear tracks on Dou Hua’s face and the lingering flush on his cheeks. He crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow. “Have you been crying?”

“Captain Liao, you have no idea! The rescue Brother Pei just pulled off was so terrifying, I nearly died of fright…” Dou Hua clapped his hands and began to recount Pei Yu’s heroic deed with vivid gestures and animated excitement. “…Later her boyfriend showed up and took her home, so I came back.”

Pei Yu had no interest in standing there listening to a storytelling session. He was about to leave when Liao Ming called out to him.

“Next time the team reports for ‘Good Deeds and Heroic Acts,’ I’m putting your name down for the commendation board.”

“Don’t.” Pei Yu rejected the idea at lightning speed. “That whole business with the living is too much trouble.”

Dou Hua choked on his words, then remembered something and added quickly, “Oh right, do you know who her boyfriend is? The one with the glasses.”

Pei Yu and Liao Ming both stared at him; neither responded.

“Her boyfriend is Zou Sheng, a procurement officer for our Bureau’s canteen. And that girl? She’s a server at one of the canteen windows! I knew she looked familiar.”

Seeing that Pei Yu remained expressionless, Dou Hua pressed further. “Brother Pei, didn’t she look familiar to you?”

Pei Yu shook his head. To him, the living were merely passing strangers in a foreign land, fleeting clouds drifting across the sky. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t look familiar; it was that he hadn’t bothered to look at her closely at all.

“Anyway, regardless of all that, Brother Pei, you looked incredibly cool saving her today.” Dou Hua grinned, revealing a row of small, white teeth. “I’ve decided to move you up to the ‘Top Two’ on my list of idols!”

He then turned to Liao Ming and patted his shoulder with feigned bravado. “Don’t be jealous, Captain. You’ll always be number one.”

Pei Yu didn’t care to hear any more nonsense. He nodded and turned to walk away. Behind him, Dou Hua was still trying to make amends.

“Brother Pei! Since I know you hate physical contact the most, I won’t touch you. Just take my word for it!”

Pei Yu waved his hand without looking back, mentally critiquing the rookie’s words. ‘Tofu Pudding’ wasn’t precise at all; what he hated was unnecessary physical contact with the living.

As he walked, he heard Dou Hua turn back to mumble to Liao Ming.

“Speaking of jealousy, I just remembered… I asked the vendor to put extra vinegar in my savory crepe. It’s bound to be delicious… Hey, where’s my crepe? Captain Liao, did you eat my crepe?”

There was no sound from Liao Ming; he had likely ignored him and walked off. A set of frantic, stubborn footsteps rang out, then suddenly stopped.

Pei Yu’s head throbbed. He quickened his pace, wanting to vanish immediately. Sure enough, the tap-tap-tap of pursuit followed him, the clear voice drawing closer.

“Brother Pei, was it you who stole my savory crepe…”

———

While the events of the previous night had solidified Pei Yu’s resolve to uncover the truth, he couldn’t immediately trust this Shen Xingchen who had appeared out of thin air.

In that man’s eyes, there always flickered a light that was nearly maddening and unfathomably deep. His words were a mix of truth and lies, designed to beguile. It made one suspicious, yet left them unable to resist digging deeper.

Furthermore, before his mentor Yan Lang had departed, he had specifically instructed Pei Yu not to disturb him without cause, wanting only his own peace. Thus, Pei Yu decided he would first examine the files of the Jiang Tianxiao case himself.

However, the door to the Major Crimes section of the archives was kept locked year-round, requiring a specific key he did not possess. 

Bureau regulations prohibited easy access to that area. If he were to borrow it directly from the colleagues managing the archives, he would need a written authorization signed by a superior.

As he hesitated, he suddenly remembered that Liao Ming had a key. As the Captain of the First Criminal Investigation Squad, Liao Ming naturally held more administrative authority than technical investigators like himself.

But asking Liao Ming directly would also appear suspicious. With eyes like a hawk, there was no guarantee the Captain wouldn’t detect his ulterior motives. He didn’t want any uninvolved parties getting mixed up in this just yet.

With that thought, a plan began to surface in his mind, slowly taking shape.