Chapter 149 Testing

Xining. Midnight.

The aroma of delicious food and the sounds of hawkers echoed along Xiaolong Street.

It was a night market street with very wide roads. In the middle of the street was a row of small vendors, while both sides were lined with shops.

Gulp, gulp.

The sound of liquid being swallowed rose from one of the stalls.

Looking closely, the two men drinking at a small square table stood out from the surrounding crowd.

They were both over fifty, whereas ninety-five percent of the people passing by them were young.

The main demographic of the night market was, after all, young people.

"Old Xiang, do you know how I've spent this past period of time!"

Uncle Wang slammed his beer bottle onto the tabletop with a 'bang'.

It made a jarring sound, and looking closely, one could see that both of his cheeks were already flushed.

"How have you spent it? I'm also curious why you ran all the way here from Muhe when everything was fine."

Old Xiang, whose original name was Xiang Yongzhan, was 60 this year. The two had forged a deep friendship back in the army.

Although they didn't keep in touch often, when they sat together, memories of their days carrying rifles would come flooding back.

Any sense of unfamiliarity vanished instantly.

"It all started back in early September, when I went to watch that case involving Old Man Liu cheating with his daughter-in-law..."

"Last month, for a whole month, 30 days, I basically spent every day in a detention cell."

"Tell me, isn't that miserable!"

Uncle Wang said, taking a sip of bitter alcohol.

The bitterness within it was something only he understood.

"Isn't it just going to a detention cell? What's the big deal?"

Old Xiang blinked, looking like he was thinking, 'That's it?'

'You ran all this way just for that?'

"You don't understand. The key point is that I was taken in over ten times last month!"

"Every single time, they treated me as a suspect."

"It's no exaggeration to say that on the first of last month, I was a suspect in a dismemberment and organ harvesting case. On the second, I was a suspect in a home-invasion murder case. On the third..."

"Just yesterday, before I arrived in Xining, I had just come out of the Anti-Drug Squad for drug-related involvement!"

Uncle Wang recounted his trials and tribulations of the past month to his old friend.

A look of grievance appeared on his face.

"Tell me, who did I offend?"

"I just like to watch the excitement, why does everyone bully an honest man?"

As he spoke, he pitifully wiped away a tear with his sleeve.

A man does not shed tears easily, unless he is truly heartbroken.

"It's that bizarre!?"

Hearing about his experience, Old Xiang found it inconceivable.

He hadn't expected his good brother, who should have been enjoying his twilight years, to be living so miserably.

For a moment, he couldn't help but feel pained for his friend's plight.

"Once you've come to Xining, you're safe. Xining hasn't really had any cases over the years."

"Rest assured."

He reached out and patted his good brother on the shoulder.

"Yeah, ever since I left the station and breathed the first breath of Xining air, I knew I had come to the right place."

"The air here is full of freedom!"

"And safety!"

Uncle Wang emphasized 'freedom' and 'safety' heavily.

He was at this age; how many years did he have left?

Was he supposed to spend half his time living his own life and the other half in a detention cell?

He simply couldn't accept that!

"You can't stay in Xining forever; you need to find a solution."

"Everything has a cause and effect. The cause is you going to watch the excitement, and the result is that you keep running into cases and getting treated as a suspect."

"Change your hobby. You've been watching the excitement for so many years anyway..."

Old Xiang tried to help his good brother resolve his current predicament from the root cause.

But to Uncle Wang, this advice was like telling him not to eat.

Everyone needs to eat, and Uncle Wang must watch the excitement!

"You said it yourself, I've watched the excitement my whole life, but starting from the first of last month, things spiraled into a situation I couldn't control."

"After long verification and analysis, I've actually locked onto a jinx!"

Although Uncle Wang kept saying he had been unlucky recently, when mentioning Chen Mo, he naturally took the hat of 'bad luck' off his own head and placed it on Chen Mo's.

No one ever thinks the problem is themselves.

"Who?"

"You don't know him, and of course it's not important. The most important thing is that he isn't in Xining right now."

A happy expression appeared on Uncle Wang's face.

"Oh."

Seeing that he didn't want to explain, Old Xiang didn't press further.

Just then, a noisy sound erupted from the surroundings.

"On the bridge over there, someone is going to jump into the river!"

"Good heavens, let's go over and take a look."

"I heard it's because his girlfriend broke up with him, that's why he's jumping into the river."

"..."

The news spread from ten to a hundred people, and soon everyone around ran over.

The desire to watch the excitement is something everyone has to some extent.

It's just that Uncle Wang and Chen Mo are both more persistent than the average person.

"What are you standing there for? Aren't you the one who loves watching the excitement most? Let's hurry over!"

Old Xiang looked at Wang Wu, who had stood up but suddenly sat back down, and urged him anxiously.

"Wait a moment!"

"Wait a moment first!"

Uncle Wang looked anxious, desperate to know what was happening by the river.

But a man cannot trip over the same spot multiple times.

Before going, some preparatory procedures had to be followed.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to watch the excitement with peace of mind!

He took out his phone from his pocket and, with the fastest typing speed of his life, tapped away rapidly on the nine-grid keypad of his old-fashioned phone.

"Chen Mo, are you asleep?"

After sending the message, Uncle Wang waited for a reply with an anxious look.

Although he knew in his heart that Chen Mo was in the Provincial City Bureau at this moment, he had truly been scared out of his wits.

He had to confirm it before he dared to go.

Time ticked by, and every minute and every second felt extremely slow to Uncle Wang.

He wished Chen Mo could reply to his message immediately.

That way, he could rush over as quickly as possible.

"Not yet, I'm planning to go get some late-night snacks. What's up?"

"By the way, have you arrived in Muhe?"

Two text messages came back from Chen Mo in succession.

"Xiao Chen, I've arrived in Muhe, no need to worry."

"Yeah, that's good. I'll be heading back in a few days too."

Hearing this, Uncle Wang stood up from his chair.

OK, a simple verbal probe.

He had confirmed that Xiao Chen was currently still at the Provincial City Bureau.

"Is that so? Then you aren't going anywhere else in the next few days?"

He sent another inquiry.

"I might go to the capital later, but it's not certain yet."

Chen Mo's voice, filled with thought and hesitation, came through the phone.

He wasn't sure if he could make it to the finals either.

There were too many talented people.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang took steps toward the riverbank.

OK, double-confirmed that Chen Mo wouldn't be coming to Xining!

"Alright, then I won't disturb you."

After hanging up the phone, the grievance on Uncle Wang's face instantly vanished, and his whole being seemed as if it had been injected with spiritual energy out of thin air.

He became refreshed and full of vigor!

"Let's go, let's go! If we go too late and the police arrive, there will be nothing left to see!"

Uncle Wang locked his gaze on the direction where the crowd was gathering by the river.

Taking small, quick steps, he ran at the peak level of his elderly body.

Here I come!