Guo Chengyu had been abroad for business for more than half a month. When he came back and saw Li Wang, the first thing he asked was, “How’s Shuai-shuai lately?”
Li Wang held it in for a long time before he squeezed out two words, “Getting by.”
“Why just ‘getting by’?” Guo Chengyu glanced sideways at Li Wang. “I’ve been busy lately, didn’t even have time to call him. Is that little brat mad at me?”
Li Wang cleared his throat and said, “No, he’s fine.”
But hearing Li Wang’s sour tone, Guo Chengyu immediately knew something was up.
“Fine how?”
Li Wang cautiously spoke, “Fine to the point that you might not even recognize him.”
Guo Chengyu raised a finger. “Take me to the clinic.”
So the car drove straight from the airport to Jiang Xiaoshuai’s clinic.
Jiang Xiaoshuai was playing idly with a medicine bottle when he heard brakes screech outside. He glanced out, and his eyes immediately lit up. But when the person got out of the car, he quickly hid the glow and resumed his lazy, proud demeanor.
As soon as Guo Chengyu stepped in, Jiang Xiaoshuai’s phone rang. Glancing at Guo Chengyu, he leisurely picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What?”
“You want me to come out? Not a chance. Who told you to flake on me yesterday and make me wait all day for nothing?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai still had his signature wild curls, his flashy slim-fit suit, bouncing on his toes like he couldn’t care less about Guo Chengyu.
Guo Chengyu didn’t get angry. He calmly pulled out a chair, sat down, and squinted at Jiang Xiaoshuai, openly flirting on the phone in front of him.
“Do you know how disappointed I was when you didn’t show up yesterday?”
“Bad weather? That’s your excuse?”
“Even if you come find me now, I won’t see you. Who told you to stand me up yesterday?”
“Give it to whoever you want, I don’t care.”
“Ugh, why are you like this? I already said I don’t want it and you still insist on sending it to me.”
“…Alright, alright. You look so pathetic. Fine, I’ll take it. Leave it at the little supermarket next door, don’t bother showing your face here.”
Hanging up, he feigned surprise and looked at Guo Chengyu.
“Oh? You’re here? When did you arrive?”
“Since you answered the delivery guy’s call,” Guo Chengyu said.
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s face stiffened. “What delivery guy’s call?”
Guo Chengyu grinned, tongue pressing against his teeth. “Wasn’t that just now the delivery guy calling you?”
Damn… Jiang Xiaoshuai cursed inwardly. What’s the point of teasing this old fox? A few little mind games and he sees right through them.
“What delivery guy? What kind of crooked thoughts are in your head?”
Just then, a loud voice came from outside. “Who’s Jiang Xiaoshuai?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s face turned green as he walked to the door and snapped, “Didn’t I tell you to leave it at the supermarket? Why are you here at my door?”
The stocky delivery guy with a square face looked him up and down mockingly.
“You don’t wanna see me, but I wanna see you. I get it now — in this line of work, you run into all kinds of recipients.”
Then he twisted the throttle hard, and his moped roared off, leaving behind a faint ‘damn you’ on the wind.
Before Jiang Xiaoshuai could turn back, Guo Chengyu’s calm, teasing voice came from behind. “I don’t think my thoughts are crooked, it’s just that your curls are.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai sat silently on the couch with a black face.
Guo Chengyu walked over, ruffled his curls and said, “What if I want to straighten all these little curls?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai gritted his teeth. “You wouldn’t dare!!”
Guo Chengyu leaned close to his ear and asked softly, Guo leaned to his ear and whispered, “Is the hair down below this curly too?”
Sparks flew from Jiang’s eyes as he swung a punch; Guo caught it with relish, then hauled him into a fierce hug, his canines pressing dents into Jiang’s forehead. “Missed you.”
Jiang, however, said, “Night before last, Wang Shuo crashed here again.”
Guo’s face sank. “Why are you hanging out with him?”
“What’s with the hissy fit?” Jiang shot him a sideways look. “You and Chi Cheng both bristle the moment he’s mentioned—afraid he’ll blow your secrets?”
“There you go again…” Guo bared his teeth. “What secrets could he possibly expose?”
“Fine, fine.” Jiang waved him off. “Skip that for now, I’ve got something to show you.”
He handed Guo a stack of photocopied medical records.
One glance and Guo’s expression changed; the muscles in his legs tightened and his waist stiffened. “Where did you get these?”
“Wu Suowei fished them from Chi Cheng’s aunt. Seven years ago, in the six months before Wang Shuo left, he showed up at that clinic every few days.”
Shock flickered in Guo’s eyes as he skimmed the doctor’s notes and patient statements; his face grew even graver.
“You three were tight back then, something this big and you didn’t know?” Jiang hit the mark. Guo really hadn’t. All he remembered was Chi Cheng and Wang Shuo fighting constantly; after each row Chi would come to his place to drink, get plastered, call him “Guo-zi, Guo-zi,” and refuse to say a word.
“Where’d all your cunning go?” Jiang grilled.
Guo’s face chilled. “All that cunning, I picked it up later.”
“Shit!” Jiang ground his teeth. “Wang Shuo sure is something. His leaving really helped you two mature, he’s practically the blacksmith of your souls.”
Guo was silent a long while before saying, “I still have to find Wang Shuo. I didn’t get to question him last time before work blew up.”
Jiang nodded in support.
Guo asked uneasily, “You don’t mind if I bring a gang along to rough him up, do you?”
Outside, Li Wang felt embarrassed for his boss. Boss Guo, where’s that brazen nerve of yours? All those tough words thrown around for nothing, look at you now, total wimp; I’m cringing for you.
Jiang clasped his fists. “Big bro, I’d love nothing more! We need you now, dig out that honeycomb of schemes you’ve got. I’ve waited for this case to wrap up so long my hair’s turning white.”
Holding the medical files, Guo strode out of the clinic, face dark and resolute…