Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1185: Chapter 26: Just a Little Good Thing Is Enough

Ever since he was very young, Zhao Le had learned to cook for himself at home. Over the years, his skills were actually quite good. He knew what his sister Zhang Xiaoqin liked.

It didn’t take long to cook a meal.

For just two people, there was no need to make too much—two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Zhao Le looked at it with satisfaction, then took off the apron, walked to Zhang Xiaoqin’s room, and pushed her out.

Several months ago, Zhang Xiaoqin attempted suicide but broke both legs quite severely. It took a long time for them to heal. The doctor said that with perseverance in rehabilitation exercises, she still had a chance to stand up again.

However, since Zhang Xiaoqin was discharged, she had not gone to the hospital for such exercises. After returning home, Zhao Le took care of her daily life. When he was in class, a kind aunt from next door would take care of her.

But ever since the suicide attempt, Zhang Xiaoqin almost never spoke… In these days, it was only when Lin Feng visited and mentioned Wang Liang, that she became emotionally agitated, shouted for him to leave.

“Sis, try the taste.”

Zhao Le placed a dish into Zhang Xiaoqin’s bowl, smiling as he watched her, waiting for her to pick up her utensils. But Zhang Xiaoqin didn’t make a move.

Zhao Le’s smile slightly froze, and he cautiously asked, “Sis, don’t you want to eat this? There’s more in the fridge, I can make something else for you.”

With that, he quickly stood up and walked to the kitchen.

“Xiao Le, I’m not hungry.”

“Sis, you spoke?”

Zhao Le froze, then suddenly turned around, quickly came to Zhang Xiaoqin’s side, squatted down, grabbed his sister’s hand, smiling, smiling, it was so good.

Zhang Xiaoqin’s complexion was somewhat pale, her cheeks were thin, she didn’t look as good as she used to. She looked at Zhao Le, and said softly, “Aunt brought me something to eat in the afternoon, so I’m not hungry now.”

“Sis, sis! You really spoke, that’s great! That’s great!”

Looking at this face that had been with him all along, so very familiar since he could remember from childhood, Zhang Xiaoqin managed a slight smile, reaching out to stroke Zhao Le’s cheek, “Let’s find a time and take me for rehabilitation, I can’t sit all the time.”

“Ok… ok, okokok! Tomorrow, let’s go now!” Zhao Le suddenly stood up.

“Silly, do you know what time it is now.”

“I’m happy!” Zhao Le was so happy, somewhat ecstatic, grabbing the wheelchair handle, starting to move Zhang Xiaoqin around as if crazy.

“Hey, stop spinning, I’m dizzy!”

“Dizzy? A bit more?”

“Alright, stop it, sis is really dizzy! You little thing…”

It felt like a long time since their laughter was this loud.

If only time could slow down.

…

The siblings played around for a while, then Zhao Le fetched a basin of warm water to start washing Zhang Xiaoqin’s feet.

It’s said that frequent warm compresses can clear the meridians. These days, Zhao Le hadn’t stopped doing it, also massaging her legs every day.

“Sis… why so sudden?”

After drying the water off her calves and covering her with a blanket, Zhao Le sat by Zhang Xiaoqin’s side, hesitating as if afraid of something.

Zhang Xiaoqin then revealed the reason, “A few days ago, two police officers came, I actually know… about that person’s death.”

Zhao Le silently held Zhang Xiaoqin’s palm.

Zhang Xiaoqin gently sighed, “I was really foolish… So grown-up, yet still couldn’t let go, even wanted to die. Xiao Le, thank you for taking care of me and never giving up. I’ve figured it out, not just for myself, but for you, I should be strong and live well.”

Zhao Le didn’t speak, just leaned on his sister’s leg. When he was little, he would do this, acting spoiled, listening to his sister tell stories, and then the stories would take him into dreams.

Zhang Xiaoqin gently patted his head, amused, saying, “Such a grown-up now, still acting spoiled.”

“Can I act spoiled for a while?” Zhao Le asked softly, like a plea.

Zhang Xiaoqin didn’t speak, just stroked his hair steadily.

Zhao Le seemed to remember something, “Oh right, sis, your birthday is coming up. How about we go out for a nice meal that day?”

“Let’s just cook at home, no need to spend money.” Zhang Xiaoqin shook her head, “If you really care about me, don’t let me feel more guilty, okay?”

“Hmm… then I’ll come back early, and we’ll make something delicious together.” Zhao Le nodded.

The siblings chatted for a long time, until Zhang Xiaoqin got tired and naturally fell asleep. Only then did Zhao Le carry her to bed, tucked her in, turned off the lights, left the room, and went back to his own room.

…

He turned on the desk lamp, looking at the calendar on the desk. A date was circled in red pen, it had been circled for quite a while, perhaps he had been waiting for this day to come for a long time.

However, the good thing didn’t wait until this day to arrive, the hope to see his sister’s smile had come even earlier than this.

Zhao Le gently breathed a sigh, feeling very good… Suddenly, he remembered something, hastily took the school bag, pulled out the silver handgun, and then looked at that small torn paper card.

He quickly picked up his phone, opened a social app… kept swiping, clicked on the blank profile icon, and entered the chat interface.

He held the phone in one hand… and the handgun in the other, as if pondering something.

For quite a while.

Zhao Le shook his head, randomly tearing the small paper card into pieces, tossed it into the trash bin.

He took a box, shook his head again, put the silver handgun inside, and then placed it on top of his wardrobe… After washing up, Zhao Le lay down on the bed, fully dressed.

He slept soundly.

…

…

During class, the usually full lecture hall welcomed a rather elderly teacher.

The crowd looked at the old lecturer curiously, everyone knowing his identity, he’s at the vice dean level.

“Students, today your Teacher Gao has some matters and took a day off, so I will be substituting…”

Lecturer Gao Wen took a leave… hmm, if there’s something he needs to do, then there’s no helping it. However, some students knew that Gao Wen seemed to have some concerns these past few days, so his leave seemed expected?

…

In the graveyard, Gao Wen dressed in a black suit, holding a bouquet of flowers, walked among the many tombstones until he stopped at one.

Placing the flowers on the grave, Gao Wen clasped his hands in front of him, lowered his head, and was silent for a moment.

Looking at the inscription on the tombstone, Gao Wen suddenly smiled, “You, huh, you didn’t have any particular favorite foods when alive, I really don’t know what I should bring for you.”

“These days I don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s hard to discern truth from falsehood.”

Gao Wen slowly sighed, “But don’t worry, your family is doing well… I won’t let anything happen to them. Though your wife is quite good at causing trouble daily. But don’t worry, your group of brothers, each and every one of them is quite capable, with them looking after things, I can’t even find a chance to intervene. The only thing I can do is ask the traffic police to give some leeway each time Old Ma comes with a ticket. But lately, there haven’t been any tickets, which saves a lot of worry.”

No one was around, and this was not the best day for worship, Gao Wen sat down, back against the tombstone, as if chatting with an old friend.

“Unknowingly, it’s already the fourth year, I’ve been teaching for three and a half years, right? Actually, I’m really not suited to be a policeman, teaching suits me better… Luo Qi, in my life, I truly admire you. You are… you are the type of person who can always uphold your beliefs to the end. Relentless, without any hesitation, perhaps that’s why so many kinds of people gather around you, even I… was unconsciously influenced by you, right?”

“Inside me, there’s a devil… I think I’ll never be able to defeat it in this lifetime, ever since I decided to do this from the start.”

“These days, I’ve seen your son, yet it seems I’ve never seen him. Even now, I can’t be sure if when your son first appeared, the first time he asked me something, was it real or fake… Sometimes, I feel like I’m truly fragile.”

He turned back, looking at the words on the tombstone, “Tell me, when can I be as strong as you talk. But rest assured, you are perfect…”

He slowly stood up, facing the tombstone, “I’ll come to see you next time, I really wish I could have a drink with you after wrapping up a case in a little place…”

Bring your heart when you see someone, leave with half of it when you go, connected to the next time.

…

The car stopped at the graveyard entrance. Zhou Yusheng rubbed his hands, got out of the car with a bouquet of flowers, wearing sunglasses as he looked around, seeing everything covered in a tea-yellow color.

When he climbed the steps and reached the destination, he saw a bouquet of flowers placed here… The graveyard is managed by someone, and offerings are cleaned up daily.

Who… came?

Zhou Yusheng looked around but didn’t see any trace of anyone, not even a caretaker.

Zhou Yusheng stood silent for a moment, silently placed the flowers down, and whispered, “Captain Luo, I’ve been busy lately, I’ll come to see you next time and report my work to you.”

Until he got back to where he parked his car, Zhou Yusheng didn’t see anything… He really couldn’t find out who had been here before him.

Bring your heart when you see someone, take it whole when you leave, otherwise you can’t go.

…

…

The second eerie death case emerged.

This time, the police’s suspects were the three men who rode with Chang Xiao — they believed the only ones who could shoot someone dead from the front without bullets penetrating the windshield and windows were those inside the car.

The three men in the car were already in custody, constantly being questioned, but they’ve continuously denied involvement.

But the death was the same as the one in the detention center, no bullet could be found in the skull, an inexplicable occurrence which still has no explanation… If the murderer was the same person, it seemed possible as well.

Chang Xiao’s case was quickly halted again by Secretary Liu, re-establishing contact with Liu Minghao and Wei Zidao.

As for Officer Ma, although somewhat angry, indeed had the dismemberment case on his hands, and another victim, Wu Rong, had turned up. At this time, dividing focus was unwise — although, Ma Houde remained very skeptical about the ‘provincial personnel’ who have claimed investigation but never appeared.

Criminal Investigation Team One and Second Team are focusing all efforts on investigating Wang Liang and Wu Rong’s cases — these two cases have already been merged.

On the other hand, Liu Minghao and Wei Zidao have started to handle Chang Xiao’s case, and have begun to worry.

Their worry comes from the fact that if this incident was really caused by someone Transcendent, it would be excessive — While, those with grave crimes might provoke action in anger from a Transcendent, the management bureau generally looks the other way most times, but if it’s repeatedly happening, it shows disrespect for the New Kingdom.

One person dead inside the detention center can be kept under wraps due to limited knowledge. However, in Chang Xiao’s case, plainly put, it’s murder in a busy city — even if most would think it was a car accident.

Yet this is already the second time, and who knows if there’d be more… the management bureau can’t truly tolerate such things. Even more so, since the Mount Tai incident, their attitude towards the Shenzhou Dao and Yaoworld has become slightly complicated.

“Brother Hao, where are we going?”

Exiting from the place where they examined the body, Liu Minghao looked at the document in hand, driving away, not heading to the lodging at the office.

“Going to meet this guy named Qian Er.” Liu Minghao said casually.

Wei Zidao was stunned, “Qian Er?”

He had read the police report, so he was even more puzzled, “What’s worth seeing about this Qian Er? The report says he got beaten up and was dead drunk, he fundamentally doesn’t have the ability to act?”

“Anyway, he was the last one to come into contact with Chang Xiao.” Liu Minghao pondered, “According to normal people’s understanding, Qian Er doesn’t have the ability to act. But with the bizarre nature of the incident, are we going to handle it as usual?”

“Brother Hao, do you suspect this Qian Er possesses… abilities?” Wei Zidao frowned.

Within the management bureau’s intranet, there’s constant consultation and real-time uploads from agents nationwide to help agents in other areas gain more insight and handle unexpected incidents better.

Wei Zidao couldn’t help but think of what had been discussed most recently — instances of ordinary people being found possessing ‘abilities’ have become more frequent.

Initially, a few newborns were discovered, yet just yesterday, a case of someone able to absorb metal was found — even though, over the years, reports of superpower cases have surfaced, most were forms of physical mutation… With billions of people globally, one or two physical mutations occasionally aren’t unbearable.

But this person who can absorb metal doesn’t fall under those previously reported cases… but genuinely possesses some kind of ability.

“Maybe he suddenly acquired the ability, without even knowing himself.” Liu Minghao shook his head, “Or maybe he’s just an ordinary person. But given the current situation, with no more clues, we can only try our luck… All right, we’re here.”

The car stopped in front of a six-story building, Liu Minghao and Wei Zidao got out and went up the stairs.