Blinded chapter 79

Extra 1

In the afternoon before leaving work, Xie Li called Chang Xiaojia to say he would be home late that day.

Chang Xiaojia was outside, slightly coughing from the cold air. He asked, “Why?”

Xie Li stood outside the office, holding the phone, and said, “A colleague who just transferred from another city is an old classmate from the police academy. We agreed to have dinner together tonight.”

Chang Xiaojia asked, “Is it a man or a woman?”

Xie Li said, “A man.”

Chang Xiaojia didn’t seem pleased. He said, “Oh.”

Xie Li saw a colleague approaching in the corridor, lowered his voice slightly, and said, “Remember to have dinner. If I come back late, go to bed early.”

Chang Xiaojia softly responded with an “Hmm.”

Xie Li continued, “See you later. I’ll hang up now.”

He hung up the phone, saw Xu Hao already coming out of the office, went back to get his coat, and said, “Let’s go, have dinner.”

Xu Hao was Xie Li’s classmate from the police academy, a native of Harbor City. Last year, when Xie Li was undercover in Harbor city Xu Hao was participating in training at the Hangfeng base. When he returned to Harbor city after completing his training, Xie Li had already finished his mission and returned to Chongfeng.

This job transfer was Xu Hao actively participating in the internal selection of the police force due to emotional problems. When he returned to Harbor City after six months of training, his girlfriend had moved on and broke up with him. Disheartened, Xu Hao decided to start a new life in a different environment.

He had just arrived today, dragging a suitcase directly to the police station to report, and then came to find Xie Li. They chatted in Xie Li’s office all afternoon, and when it was time to leave work, Xie Li drove him to dinner.

Xie Li bought a car, primarily for picking up Chang Xiaojia. The car wasn’t expensive, but it consumed almost half of his savings, making life suddenly feel tight.

During dinner, Xie Li accompanied Xu Hao in drinking. Xu Hao was very interested in Xie Li’s experience undercover with Chang Guanshan. For people in Harbor city, Chang Guanshan was almost a legend. Xu Hao couldn’t imagine that Chang Guanshan would eventually fall into Xie Li’s hands.

“Amazing,” Xu Hao raised his glass and clinked it with Xie Li. “I thank you on behalf of the people of Harbor city!” He sighed, regretting that he missed the spectacular experience of toppling Chang Guanshan while he was away.

Xie Li just smiled and clinked glasses with him.

After drinking too much, Xu Hao began to talk about his relationship problems, and the more he talked, the more uncomfortable he felt. In the end, Xie Li couldn’t stop him, and he ended up drinking three or two shots of white wine, along with seven or eight bottles of beer, successfully drinking himself unconscious.

Since Xu Hao had just reported today, his accommodation in the police dormitory was not arranged yet. Xie Li was afraid that he might have trouble if left alone in a hotel, so he had to call a designated driver and take Xu Hao back to his own home with Xiaojia.

By the time they arrived home, it was already past midnight. Xie Li put Xu Hao on the guest room bed, took off his shoes, covered him with a blanket, and even helped him lie on his side before he could breathe a sigh of relief and leave the guest room, closing the door.

Xie Li walked to the entrance of the master bedroom, twisted the doorknob slightly open, saw the room darkened, and could barely make out someone lying on the bed through the sliver of light coming through the door. He guessed Chang Xiaojia should be asleep already, so he gently entered and quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake him up.

When Xie Li reached the bedroom, he still had some lingering coolness from the shower.

It was the end of December, and now was probably the coldest time of the year in Chongfeng City. Although it was also a southern city, Chongfeng’s winter was much colder than Harbor City. Every night, Chang Xiaojia had to turn on the air conditioner to sleep comfortably.

So, the room was warm, and the slight chill on Xie Li’s body was particularly noticeable.

Not wanting to disturb Chang Xiaojia, Xie Li climbed into bed with gentle movements. However, as soon as he touched the bed, Chang Xiaojia sat up in the darkness, turned over, and sat on Xie Li’s lap, burying his head near Xie Li’s neck and face. He sniffed and said somewhat displeased, “You’ve been drinking.”

Xie Li hugged him, felt the smooth and soft back, pulled up the blanket to cover both of them, and said, “I told you, I had dinner with a classmate.”

Chang Xiaojia was still not very happy. He opened his mouth and bit Xie Li’s shoulder.

Xie Li pretended to cry out in pain, “Ouch,” and waited until Chang Xiaojia let go before saying, “My classmate got drunk, so I brought him back.”

Chang Xiaojia, looked at him. His eyes seemed to flicker in the darkness, reflecting a trace of light. Unable to resist, Xie Li raised his head, kissed his eyes, and said, “You don’t have to worry about him. He’ll leave when he wakes up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” Chang Xiaojia said.

“Yeah,” Xie Li replied.

Chang Xiaojia asked again, “Are you on duty tomorrow?”

“No, I’m not,” Xie Li said. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you tomorrow.” He didn’t know how to cook, but since Chang Xiaojia came, he had been trying to learn.

Chang Xiaojia lay on Xie Li’s body, quietly thought for a moment, and said, “Spare ribs.”

Xie Li agreed, “Okay, tomorrow, I’ll go to the market to buy spare ribs.”

Chang Xiaojia yawned, rolled off Xie Li, lay down beside him, pressed against his shoulder, and said, “I’m going to sleep.”

Xie Li also turned to face him, hugged his waist, kissed his forehead, and said, “Go to sleep.”

Xu Hao slept soundly in the guest room all night, not waking up until the next morning, awakened by the urgent need to pee.

It was already bright outside, but the winter light was dim. The room’s curtains were drawn, making it still gloomy inside. He was a bit confused about the time, let alone where he was.

Xu Hao was still immersed in the pain of a hangover. He raised his hand, held his head, and almost let the unfulfilled sleep pull him back into a dream. However, he couldn’t resist the strong urge to pee. In the end, he got up, pulled back the blanket, and got out of bed.

He couldn’t find slippers by the bed, so he reluctantly put on his own sneakers. Seeing that he had only taken off his coat and was still wearing a sweater and long pants, he ruffled his messy hair, walked toward the door in the direction of the restroom.

As soon as he opened the door, Xu Hao saw someone squatting on the sofa in the living room. He squinted, suspecting that he was dreaming. He took a few steps forward, and when the person on the sofa turned around, he looked at him with a cold gaze.

In that instant, Xu Hao was completely awake. Subconsciously, he reached for the nonexistent gun at his waist.