Hu Jia was suddenly stunned.
What was she doing?
She kissed him?
Qing?
Kiss?
Hu Jia’s heart pounded as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
Had she kissed herself before?
No, judging by her evasive look and shy expression, this didn't seem like something she did often.
Hu Jia’s mind went blank, yet countless questions flashed through her thoughts in mere seconds.
Forget it, no matter what happened before, he thought this time felt incredibly sweet.
"Qing, kiss..."
"Get lost..."
Lü Qingqing’s face was flushed crimson, utterly embarrassed. That kid was asking her to kiss again, as if!
Lü Qingqing’s face burned, and she got up to run. After a couple of steps, she turned back, "Tomorrow, I'll kiss you when you return tomorrow."
Hu Jia understood with a smile. She meant she would kiss him again when he came back tomorrow.
Sweet, his heart felt so, so sweet.
Hu Jia was so happy her mouth couldn't close.
Shy, his heart felt so, so shy.
Qingqing covered her cheeks and ran out without looking back.
Uh...
The intimate atmosphere was abruptly shattered by someone who suddenly barged in.
"What are you doing? Walking without looking where you’re going. Bumping into the softest part you can find?" Hu Jia yelled before Lü Qingqing could even speak.
This left Zhan Ruoxuan feeling indignant.
Me? What was I doing? I just bumped into Lü Qingqing?
No, it was Lü Qingqing who, with her head down, ran forward and bumped into me.
Lü Qingqing’s shy expression instantly exploded upon hearing Hu Jia’s words. Was that even human language?
Seeing Zhan Ruoxuan’s innocent expression, and recalling Hu Jia’s words, Lü Qingqing retorted with annoyance, "So clumsy, are you being chased by a ghost?"
Uh...
Zhan Ruoxuan was speechless. Were these two crazy?
"Uh, we just received news. Tong Hua is gone."
"Gone? Who pulled him out?"
Hu Jia really didn't expect anyone could rescue Tong Hua from the Supervision and Inspection Bureau.
Zhan Ruoxuan waved his hands repeatedly, "He wasn't rescued, he's gone, like *snap*, he stopped breathing."
Uh...
This time, both Lü Qingqing and Hu Jia were stunned. "What did you say? Tong Hua is dead? How did he die? Suicide?"
Being in the Supervision and Inspection Bureau, only suicide could explain such a bizarre situation.
"Respect the deceased, let's rephrase it as 'gone' or 'stopped breathing'," Zhan Ruoxuan corrected Hu Jia's phrasing.
Hu Jia couldn't be bothered. "Whether he *snapped* his last breath or *creaked* into silence, just tell me, how did he die?"
"Hanging!"
Tong Hua hanged himself?
Lü Qingqing instinctively looked back, and upon meeting Hu Jia’s gaze, they said in unison: "Let's go!"
What kind of person was Tong Hua, Hu Jia and Lü Qingqing knew very well.
Would he commit suicide?
Don't fool me.
Soon, Hu Jia and his companions arrived at the Supervision and Inspection Bureau. Tong Hua’s body had already been taken down. The person who came to greet them was Bai Nian, the investigator from the Supervision and Inspection Bureau responsible for the Tong Hua case.
He knew Hu Jia too, as he had been Ouyang Wen’s classmate back in the day.
"Brother Bai Nian, what exactly happened?" Without time for pleasantries, Hu Jia knew that someone had assassinated Tong Hua because Tong Hua had uncovered a secret. And the fact that this secret could cost Tong Hua his life indicated it was no simple matter.
"This afternoon, Tong Meng came to see Tong Hua. They met in the conference room. When Tong Meng left, she made a request, saying Tong Hua was dirty and probably hadn't bathed in days, and hoped we could arrange a bathroom for him."
Bai Nian got straight to the point without preamble.
However, this left Hu Jia and Lü Qingqing speechless.
Tong Meng had visited, so this matter was likely related to her. But Tong Meng was Tong Hua's sister; could she really do it?
No, Tong Meng couldn't have done it. Not because she couldn't bring herself to do it as a sister, but because as a woman, she wouldn't be able to.
Hanging Tong Hua's body required considerable strength, which she wouldn't have.
Also, she asked the inspection bureau to let Tong Hua take a bath?
This request, while sounding strange, seemed plausible.
How utterly baffling!
"The result was that Tong Hua committed suicide in the bathroom," Bai Nian continued. He explained that they figured Tong Meng and Tong Hua were their own people. Although Tong Hua had committed some offense, who in this era didn't have something on them? Many people were in jail just a few days ago and were out driving cars the next. Who could guarantee Tong Hua wouldn't make a comeback?
Therefore, such a small favor was no trouble at all.
Tong Hua got the chance to take a bath.
The bathroom was located in the internal guesthouse of the Supervision and Inspection Bureau, a two-story building. The bathroom was in a corner on the first floor.
"No one was following him?" Lü Qingqing asked.
"Heh heh." Bai Nian glanced at Lü Qingqing, then back at Hu Jia. He treated her as Hu Jia's subordinate.
Hu Jia pointed at Lü Qingqing, "This is the chief captain of our city bureau's criminal investigation team, Lü Qingqing."
With that one sentence, her rank was higher than his.
Upon hearing this, Bai Nian immediately dropped his dismissive attitude.
"Captain Lü, this is a matter of discretion. We only investigate internal personnel who have violated discipline. As you know, such individuals often hold important positions, so we can't monitor them like common criminals."
Lü Qingqing understood.
This was about leaving a line of retreat. If you brought in a high-ranking official and couldn't convict him, he might seek revenge later.
Tong Hua, while not a major official, was the head of the judicial section of the municipal police bureau, a position of considerable power.
It was best not to offend him unless absolutely necessary.
Seeing Lü Qingqing understood his meaning, Bai Nian continued, "Tong Hua took a bath, and it took him a full hour. At the time, we didn't think much of it, assuming he was a person who valued cleanliness and, having finally gotten a chance to bathe, wanted to savor the fresh air outside."
However, two full hours passed, and Tong Hua still hadn't emerged. That's when someone went in to check and discovered Tong Hua had hanged himself.
"Where did the rope come from in the bathroom?" Hu Jia asked, confused. "Did he use his belt?"
"No, he used the curtains!"
Curtains?
Lü Qingqing was speechless. Had he been in the dark for so long that he wanted to die in the sunlight?
As they walked and talked, they soon arrived at the bathroom where the incident occurred.
Tong Hua's body was outside the bathroom. Lü Qingqing wanted to take a look, but Hu Jia blocked his view with his body.
Lü Qingqing glared at him, but Hu Jia acted as if he hadn't seen it.
He gently lifted the white cloth covering Tong Hua's body and then sighed in relief, "He's clothed, you can look now."
Lü Qingqing was speechless. No wonder he had blocked her view; he was afraid she would see Tong Hua's naked body.
Hmph!
Having trained in autopsy rooms, what naked bodies hadn't she seen?
Lü Qingqing stepped forward and examined Tong Hua's body. He had no wounds except for a laceration on his neck.
They then inspected the bathroom. The door lock showed no signs of tampering, and there were no traces of a struggle inside. Tong Hua had hanged himself from a pipe at the top of the bathroom, using the bathroom curtains.
Indeed, it looked very much like suicide!
But he was Tong Hua. Lü Qingqing would sooner believe a sow could climb a tree than believe Tong Hua would take his own life.