Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1191: Chapter 32: If I Die Young

Luo Qiu didn’t think about the question anymore, carefully hiding his thoughts in his heart.

He felt that the altar at this moment seemed to be missing something, giving off an overly rigid feeling… He didn’t know if the subtle communication he once had with the altar could be achieved by the previous Boss.

But instinctively, he felt that perhaps the current altar was the one encountered by the previous Boss.

There was no basis for this, it was purely a feeling.

Leaving the most vulnerable things here temporarily, Luo Qiu organized his thoughts and opened the door to the third basement level. His mood wasn’t particularly light, but it wasn’t heavy either, just normal.

On returning, Luo Qiu didn’t see Da Zhe. You Ye mentioned that a place had been chosen in Britannia to stay, a nice estate but somewhat abandoned, so Da Zhe was sent there to clean and arrange the estate.

Accompanying him was Nero.

This was akin to rescuing Ms. Nero from the horrifying book-copying Hell, as of yet, Ms. Nero hadn’t completed three thousand of the prescribed repetitions of twenty-seven thousand… The Maid’s Code was really long, and though the quill pen wouldn’t wear out, Ms. Nero’s hand would cramp from using it.

Thus, she gladly accepted the task, overjoyed, and probably didn’t fully recover from it during departure. Without the Maid’s presence by her side, she might’ve recklessly discussed the possibility of being kept with the Boss.

The shop suddenly quieted down.

Luo Qiu retrieved the sealed evil souls traded from Rich Lady Su Zijun during the Mount Tai incident, and along with a wave of sacrificial rites, life within the red line had long been restored, far exceeding the standards before his South America trip, completely devoid of pressure.

Luo Qiu was the Boss, linked to the altar, without any major mission awaiting him, nor a big devil to fight… or perhaps he himself was already a big devil.

Suddenly, Luo Qiu felt…. felt that this was his best state.

“A picnic?”

At the counter, the Maid waiting for the owner to return from the altar space asked with some surprise… The owner had been somewhat different lately, but now seemed to have recovered.

“Spring is here,” Luo Qiu smiled slightly and said, “Let’s go outing.”

The Maid absolutely followed the owner’s will, so she nodded upon hearing. If it’s an outing, naturally some food needs to be prepared.

“Let’s make sandwiches,” Boss Luo said as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing a relaxed smile.

So Luo Ya was called out, and the three of them started making layer upon layer… sandwiches in the kitchen.

…

“No more investigations?”

Miss Song Ying was full of energy that day, planning to find new leads to pin down the murderer from years ago — although she had thought the same way yesterday and the day before.

Unexpectedly, she received a call from her grandfather in South America early in the morning, stating that the investigation could be halted.

Song Ying naturally asked why.

Grandfather Song Tianyou gave a simple response, saying it was Luo Qiu’s request… although Song Tianyou was quite puzzled by the request, having met the boy grandson briefly, in Elder Song’s eyes, Luo Qiu was more reliable than Song Haoran and Song Ying.

Of course, part of it was due to Mr. Blind: because Mr. Blind once said, Luo Qiu is a Supreme Noble.

Elder had no desire to curry favor — with the Song Family’s current wealth and capabilities, there was no need to please anyone, or rely on any elusive luck to further progress; it’s just icing on the cake, better than a Song family descendant’s allegiance.

Because the Song Family truly has too few offspring.

Hence, Elder Song is more keen on seeing the Song Family branch out… Song Haoran seems hopeless.

“Young people must learn temperance. Though I’m old, I’m still physically fit, waiting a year or two is fine, as long as you maintain your health, understand?”

Song Ying constantly felt her grandfather misunderstood something… yet she didn’t know what could have led him to misunderstanding.

So what really happened?

She planned to ask Luo Qiu well about the situation but found the call couldn’t go through — though the phone was there, Luo Qiu’s call often couldn’t connect.

She remembered visiting Luo Qiu’s house and noticed no bad signal there?

Infuriating!

Suddenly felt infuriated for no reason… Sitting in Alpha’s back seat, after ending the satellite call with Song Tianyou, Miss Ying’s face clearly showed “Don’t provoke me” written all over it.

The bodyguard beside her vaguely heard Elder Song’s faint voice from the phone, hence staring at the street intently, displaying a vigilant surveillance posture.

He swore never to reveal that he reported to Elder Song the night after witnessing the young master and lady in the car for long, and Miss Ying’s waist injury thereafter.

“Let’s go!” Song Ying commanded angrily.

“Where to?”

“Shopping!”

…

Liu Minghao and Wei Zidao were still diligently investigating those checked out, who had passed through the alley during the crime and two days afterward.

Progress was okay these two days, among the fifty-plus aura holders, thirty-two have been checked so far, unfortunately all unrelated.

The investigation continues.

…

…

Officer Ma’s investigation also continues, due to orders from above, the focus of the entire First and Second Teams is now on the dismemberment case.

Due to a newly discovered case involving Wu Rong, combining the two cases increased the workload drastically… yet public attention surprisingly declined.

Should this be lamented as an era of entertainment to death, or bemoaned as an era of entertainment to death?

Nonetheless, overtime must be worked, the whole team has been continuously working for almost a week already… and the most significant progress was using new technology to roughly determine Wang Liang and Wu Rong’s exact times of death — thanks to the help of the new forensic doctor.

The investigation into Wang Liang and Wu Rong’s social circles was completed — but the results only made the case more perplexing.

Both Wang Liang and Wu Rong’s deaths happened before the New Year, their times of death being no more than two weeks apart, and the posts in their social circles, based on data from the internet provider, were all logged in from different places.

Meaning the photos in those posts weren’t randomly found or Photoshopped but genuinely taken in various locations.

Comparing Wang Liang and Wu Rong’s login times and places — mostly from out of town, while Zhao Le, the prime suspect during these times, stayed local… how could a person possibly be in two places at once?

Under these circumstances, Officer Ma and Zhou Yusheng reluctantly had to remove those monitoring Zhao Le — Zhao Le had been under secret surveillance all along.

…

Those tasked with following Zhao Le were Lin Feng, along with his partner Xiaowang.

“I understand, Officer Ma…”

Inside the rehabilitation center, Officer Lin turned off the phone, then twisted his slightly stiff neck. Colleague Xiaowang asked what was going on.

Lin Feng told the truth, and Xiaowang stretched lazily, as if relieved.

These days they have been investigating Zhao Le’s situation – the deeper you investigate, the more you can understand a person. These days following Zhao Le, they discovered that this young man is genuinely a person of good character.

He has excellent academic performance and received the school’s scholarship without relying on dubious means. The neighbors see him as the ideal child, and even the security guard downstairs praises him immensely.

Perhaps this shows Zhao Le is very conscious about his reputation. After all, the more calculating a person is, the more perfectly they will behave and conceal themselves better.

However, these days they have been following him, watching Zhao Le taking his sister Zhang Xiaoqin in and out of the rehabilitation center, observing his care for his sister, that genuine family affection… Watching it, Xiaowang couldn’t help but feel a bit sour in his heart.

Cancelling the investigation finally let the two of them feel like they could breathe a sigh of relief… Who hopes for such a hardship-stricken family to face more adversity, or to see their small moment of respite cruelly extinguished?

“Do you have any money?”

Just when they were planning to leave, Officer Lin suddenly looked at Xiaowang and asked.

Xiaowang paused, then took out his wallet for a glance, finding only three ‘Chairman Mao’ bills and a few coins left.

He was thinking of asking what Lin Feng wanted to do, but Officer Lin, perhaps influenced by Officer Ma after being with him for so long, had learned a thing or two about thick skin. Without a word, he grabbed them from Xiaowang, counted out three ‘Chairman Mao’ bills, and returned the remaining change.

Then, under Xiaowang’s astonished gaze, Lin Feng stood up and walked straight into the rehabilitation room… Xiaowang guessed what Lin Feng intended to do, but felt very aggrieved!

…

Zhao Le wasn’t here; he still had classes during the day and would only come to visit at lunchtime.

It was just the time Zhao Le would normally visit, but at the moment, he wasn’t present as he had gone to wash towels, intending to wipe Zhang Xiaoqin’s sweat.

In the room, Zhang Xiaoqin slowly maneuvered herself with help from the frame. However, perhaps she was pushing herself too hard, as her forehead was covered in sweat.

Maybe due to exhaustion, Zhang Xiaoqin lost her grip and was about to fall.

Someone quickly grabbed her arm, stabilizing her body, fortunately preventing a fall.

Zhang Xiaoqin silently counted her blessings, initially thinking of expressing her thanks, but upon looking up, she saw Lin Feng, who had visited her home previously, and couldn’t bring herself to smile.

“Take a break,” Lin Feng said softly, “Let me help you.”

Zhang Xiaoqin said nothing, just nodded, and with Lin Feng’s assistance, she slowly moved to the resting area to sit down… Then she suspiciously looked at Lin Feng, “You…”

Lin Feng quickly said, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not here for you. I just came to visit someone here and didn’t expect to run into you, Ms. Zhang.”

Zhang Xiaoqin nodded half-convinced.

Lin Feng took a breath, then took out the ‘Chairman Mao’ bills he had seized, adding two of his own, and handed them to Zhang Xiaoqin.

“What’s this?”

“Buy some supplements.” Lin Feng smiled, “Life will naturally get better when the time is right.”

“But…”

Zhang Xiaoqin wanted to say something, but Lin Feng hastily bid farewell and quickly exited the room… She clutched the few hundred yuan in her hand, watching Lin Feng’s disappearing figure, then shook her head.

“Sister!”

Zhao Le came back with a towel, wiped Zhang Xiaoqin’s face, and curiously asked, “Did someone visit?”

He saw the cash in Zhang Xiaoqin’s hand and couldn’t help but frown.

Zhang Xiaoqin had Zhao Le sit down, smiled, and said, “I just ran into a friend and chatted a bit.”

“Who?” Zhao Le smiled, “We should thank them properly; they are a kind person.”

Zhang Xiaoqin said, “You don’t know them; an old coworker I haven’t contacted in a long time. Didn’t expect to meet here.”

Zhao Le responded with an “oh,” then looked out the window suspiciously, seeing two figures leaving. He frowned slightly… Turning back, he smiled gently and crouched down, looking at Zhang Xiaoqin, and softly said, “Let me massage you for a bit.”

Zhao Le squatted down and earnestly massaged Zhang Xiaoqin’s calves, while Zhang Xiaoqin stretched out her hands, gently kneading Zhao Le’s shoulders.

Zhang Xiaoqin laughed, “Your shoulders are so stiff. Don’t spend too much time reading. No one in our family is near-sighted, except you!”

Zhao Le chuckled warmly.

The doctor said Zhang Xiaoqin’s recovery was going well; by summer, she should be able to walk naturally. She might still have difficulty running, but it wouldn’t interfere with daily life.

“I’m not tired,” Zhao Le said joyfully, “If I don’t work hard, how will life get better? Sister, good days have to be fought for!”

“Silly boy.”

Zhang Xiaoqin poked Zhao Le’s forehead and then rubbed it with her palm, whispering, “Off you go to class, or you’ll be late.”

“Let me massage you for five more minutes,” Zhao Le said, lowering his head again, massaging the pressure points on Zhang Xiaoqin’s calves intently.

He’s become familiar with the massage techniques he’s researched over the past days.

Zhang Xiaoqin thought of Lin Feng’s words.

When the time is right, life will naturally get better.

So maybe life is starting to get better now?

She glanced at the 500 yuan placed beside her and smiled knowingly.

…

…

In the afternoon, the students didn’t see Lecturer Gao Wen; the vice-principal was still substituting.

“Your Teacher Gao has taken a few days off; I’ll be substituting for him these days, so don’t ask anymore.”

The classroom was filled with quiet discussions.

Chen Mingming wasn’t listening; sitting in the back row, he picked up the book he intended to finish and started reading carefully.

He actually didn’t need to come to school anymore, but he was used to finishing everything he started, so he came.

However, the vice-principal’s voice over the microphone was too loud, so Chen Mingming simply put on his headphones, and music filled his world.

——”if-i-die-young”