Decayed Vulgarian chapter 28
Really Unlucky
It was unclear whether the person on the other end of the call genuinely didn’t catch the innuendo or was pretending not to. In their conversation, Meng Yuan Cen’s voice was low but carried a hint of amusement. He asked, “So, Officer Shen, how long should I serve you to satisfy you, hmm?”
Shen Xun’s ears suddenly felt hot, and even being immersed in the night air couldn’t cool them down. He hesitated and said, “…”
“Hello? Shen Xun?” But the instigator, Meng Yuan Cen, was playfully persistent in his questioning. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Can you hear me? Is it a network issue?”
“… Let’s not talk about this; it sounds a bit strange.”
Just after Shen Xun spoke, a light laugh came from the other end. After a quiet moment, it was followed by more chuckles. Meng Yuan Cen couldn’t hold back any longer and decided to break the tension. He even laughed while speaking, “Are you really so innocent?”
“…”
Shen Xun had known this would happen. He was aware that Meng Yuan Cen had detected the hidden meaning behind his words and was now pretending not to understand and teasing him. As for being innocent, he was far from it. In his younger years, he had seen numerous things, including explicit content, and during that moment, quite a few inappropriate thoughts had crossed his mind. However, he didn’t say anything, to avoid letting Meng Yuan Cen seize upon it.
Meng Yuan Cen probably sensed that Shen Xun didn’t want to respond, so he changed the subject, engaging Shen Xun in casual conversations about everyday life. They exchanged words as if they were old friends, and that’s how they continued talking.
Meng Yuan Cen was engaged in mundane topics again, and Shen Xun felt an impulse building up. He almost uttered the words, “Meng Yuan Cen, how about we be together?”
Meng Yuan Cen asked, “Huh? What’s wrong?”
With the atmosphere being so harmonious and ideal, Shen Xun was encouraged to summon the courage to break the window paper.
“…I’m home.”
Yet, he didn’t say it.
Shen Xun breathed a sigh of relief, and in front of him was the dim entrance to the corridor, where he wasn’t sure if it was a dead-end or if there would be a breakthrough in the near future.
Besides, shouldn’t he save the confession for when they meet in person? That would make it more sincere, wouldn’t it?
His rare sense of ceremony manifested itself at the most inappropriate time.
“That was quite fast,” Meng Yuan Cen remarked, completely unaware of Shen Xun’s inner turmoil.
Shen Xun nonchalantly agreed, “Mm.”
After Shen Xun returned home, they didn’t chat for long before it was time to sleep. Shen Xun and Meng Yuan Cen exchanged their goodnights over the phone.
After finishing his bedtime routine, Shen Xun got into bed. He wasn’t prepared to sleep immediately because he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep; he was accustomed to staying up late.
Shen Xun spent a long time on his phone, reading about various tips for confessing from internet users. He used to not believe in such things, but he had changed his perspective now, considering the experiences of people who had been there.
Unfortunately, an hour later, his phone’s battery couldn’t hold out any longer, forcing him to unplug from the virtual world. He connected it to the charger and wall socket.
Finally, Shen Xun lay down, resigned to the fact that this night would be another sleepless one.
His bedroom was shrouded in darkness. Despite feeling physically exhausted, his brain refused to stop working. He was thinking about what would happen when they meet tomorrow. Could he do it? Would he be successful?
The last question troubled him for a long time. Unable to resist, he extracted every encounter, big or small, from his memory and contemplated and scrutinized them repeatedly, attempting to find more clues that might indicate whether he could successfully confess tomorrow.
At some point, he fell asleep, but he didn’t remember when. He woke up late in the morning, around ten o’clock, and hastily prepared a simple breakfast.
After rummaging through his closet and picking out what appeared to be his newest clothes, he stepped into the bathroom to take a shower.
This was one of Shen Xun’s professional habits since he became a forensic investigator. He repeatedly showered before what he considered important events. His sense of smell had dulled to various odors, and he always worried about having a scent on him that he couldn’t detect.
After changing into fresh clothes and drying his hair, he checked the wall clock. It was 10:45.
It was time to leave, and he realized he needed his keys. But where were they?
Shen Xun searched the house in circles, but they seemed to have vanished into thin air. It was only when he felt his pockets that he discovered the keys were right there.
And then there was his phone.
Hurrying back to the bedroom, he picked up his phone to put it in his pocket when he noticed the battery was at three percent.
He had charged the phone last night, and the charger was still connected to the socket. He realized he had forgotten to flip the switch on the extension cord off. This oversight had drained his phone’s battery.
Now, there was no time to wait for it to charge fully. He had to rely on a power bank, but where was it?
Shen Xun marveled at himself. Thankfully, he had planned to leave early today, with more than an hour before noon. He should heed Liang Yan’s advice to plan ahead, as circumstances often change.
He started searching the house again, and although it took some effort, it was not in vain. In the kitchen, he found the power bank, covered in dust, but still had about seventy percent battery life. He only needed a charging cable now, which he got from the bedroom.
Just as he was about to place the phone in his pocket, the phone rang. Was it Meng Yuan Cen?
Shen Xun felt somewhat nervous for no apparent reason.
He turned the cold, metal back of the phone to face him, hesitated for a moment, and finally flipped it to accept the call.
But it wasn’t… Meng Yuan Cen.
It was Captain Liu.
Shen Xun hurriedly pressed the answer button.
Captain Liu’s solemn voice came through, “The police station called, there’s been an incident in our jurisdiction. You need to get to the scene as soon as possible.”
Captain Liu provided a brief description of the situation and then hung up, depleting the last bit of battery from Shen Xun’s phone, which automatically powered off.
Shen Xun thought he was lucky to have found the power bank just before this call.
Quickly connecting it, he tried to turn on his phone again. However, the phone didn’t turn on.
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Today is just my bad luck.”
The taxi driver, on the other hand, seemed to be having a good day as he encountered nothing but green traffic lights.
Shen Xun had only left the taxi for a short while when he got into a police car.
Upon seeing him, Old Zhang joked, “Xiao Shen, can you guess which forensic officer pulled the short straw today?”
Shen Xun casually guessed, “Lao Wang.”
Old Zhang laughed, “Why are you guessing Lao Wang? It’s definitely not him; he was on duty with you last week.”
Seeing that Shen Xun didn’t seem interested in playing guessing games, Old Zhang went straight to the answer, “It’s Xiao Ruan, who would’ve thought? Xiao Ruan is incredibly unlucky. This is the third homicide case he’s dealt with.”
Shen Xun nodded, “Mm.”
Old Zhang scrutinized Shen Xun for a moment as if sensing something. “What’s wrong? You look a bit off. Are you feeling unwell?”
Shen Xun shook his head, “I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
Old Zhang patted Shen Xun’s shoulder, “Hang in there. We’re all having a tough time. After this case, you should get a good night’s sleep, sleep until you can’t tell night from day.”
Normally, Shen Xun might have quipped, “Using idioms this way?” But at that moment, he only managed a faint smile and said, “Thank you, Zhang-ge.”
“Thank me for what? Why are you being so polite today? Isn’t that a bit formal?”
Shen Xun politely replied with a “Mm” again and lowered his head. He couldn’t remember how many times he had attempted to turn his phone back on. But it remained unresponsive.
Most likely, either the power bank was broken or the charging port was loose, and he was starting to lose hope.
He turned to Old Zhang and asked in a low voice, “Could you lend me your phone for a moment?”
Without hesitation, Old Zhang handed it to him. “Here.”
He then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“My phone ran out of battery,” Shen Xun replied as his fingers rapidly moved across the screen. “I need to send a text message. Someone is waiting for me.”