Li Yang arrived.
He rushed in, his urgency evident.
He took Hu Jia to a private room. Whatever he said, Hu Jia's mood improved significantly by the time they emerged.
Lü Qingqing wanted to say a few words to Hu Jia but hesitated, unsure of what to say.
"Sister-in-law!" Li Yang called out.
"How is he?" Lü Qingqing responded instinctively, not even noticing the term. Perhaps she had grown accustomed to it, or perhaps her mind was still preoccupied with Hu Jia.
"Much better. I'll take him home first." Li Yang led Hu Jia away. Before leaving, Hu Jia glanced back at Lü Qingqing.
They exchanged a wordless look.
Sigh…
"I never expected the famous Captain Hu to suffer from such an ailment," Zhan Ruoxuan emerged as soon as they had left.
"Don't talk nonsense. He's just encountered some difficulties," Lü Qingqing corrected him.
The events of that night had been a profound shock for Lü Qingqing. Once all the police officers from Tongyuan Gate confirmed her identity, Hu Jia seemed to lose all his spirit.
He was first stunned and bewildered, then furious and hysterical, and finally lost and helpless.
Lü Qingqing had never seen Hu Jia like this before. For a moment, she felt a desire to protect him.
It turned out that even the strongest people could be vulnerable. Vulnerability stemmed from past trauma, and what's more, this man had lost his past experiences.
"Oh, right, that memo..."
It was better that Zhan Ruoxuan hadn't mentioned it; Lü Qingqing's teeth itched with anger at the thought.
"I only asked you to clarify my identity. Who told you to admit we went on a robbery?"
"I didn't understand the situation!" Zhan Ruoxuan was still on edge. They had robbed the captain of the Special Operations Team. If that man recovered his senses someday and came after him, wouldn't he be wronged?
"You didn't look at that memo, did you?" Lü Qingqing asked.
"Of course not! Am I the kind of person who casually flips through others' notebooks?" Zhan Ruoxuan had his own moral code.
As they walked and chatted, a man ran towards them in a panic.
It was Ouyang Wen.
"Where is he?"
"Li Yang took him back."
The police from Tongyuan Gate had split into two teams to fetch people. Li Yang knew Hu Jia's address, so he arrived relatively quickly. Ouyang Wen had moved to a new home, and the police from Tongyuan Gate had to search for a long time to find him.
Upon hearing this, the anxiety on Ouyang Wen's face subsided somewhat. "What happened? Why was he out at this hour of the night?"
Uh…
Seeing Lü Qingqing's awkwardness, Ouyang Wen initially thought the engaged couple was up to some special games late at night. Little did he know, Lü Qingqing's first words shocked him.
"A fake engagement? And you set his house on fire?"
Lü Qingqing had wanted to clear up all misunderstandings for a long time, and this was her chance. She told Ouyang Wen everything that had happened last night, except for the incident with the river water.
As Lü Qingqing spoke, Ouyang Wen felt his head buzz. He had been hoping Lü Qingqing would marry Hu Jia soon, but it turned out to be all a bubble.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to say this earlier, but I never found the opportunity." Lü Qingqing felt very guilty.
What could Ouyang Wen say?
He could say nothing.
"Forget it. Fate cannot be forced, and life should not be compromised. If he's fortunate enough, he'll meet someone willing to spend the rest of their life with him. So, you don't need to apologize."
Ouyang Wen's words seemed to comfort Lü Qingqing, but they didn't improve her mood.
Because at that moment, Lü Qingqing felt another tie between her and Hu Jia loosen.
This weakening of their bond did not bring her any relief.
They walked side-by-side for a long time, the oppressive silence weighing on Lü Qingqing.
"Hu Jia seems to be afraid of fire?" Lü Qingqing tried to break the silence.
"Yes, his life was changed by a great fire," Ouyang Wen said.
"Can you tell me about it?" Lü Qingqing wanted to understand Hu Jia better.
Ouyang Wen did not refuse. "You know I'm Hu Jia's adoptive brother, right?"
Lü Qingqing nodded.
"I'm only 5 years older than him. My father and Uncle Hu were lifelong friends. After he passed away, I grew up in the Hu family." As he spoke of the past, a certain light seemed to flicker in Ouyang Wen's eyes. "Those were wonderful times. Uncle Hu treated me like his own son, and Hu Jia and I were like brothers, carefree, laughing and playing all day."
"But it was all too brief, too fleeting to hold onto." Lü Qingqing even sensed a hint of resentment in Ouyang Wen's tone.
It was ten years ago, in March 1918, when a male corpse was found near Lianglukou.
He was a merchant, discovered robbed of all his possessions, with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
The incident caused a great stir, and the police department even formed a special task force. Hu Shilong, Hu Jia's father, was a member of this task force.
However, before any progress was made on the case, a month later, another tragedy occurred near Futuguan. This time, the nature of the crime was even more heinous; an entire family of five, not a single soul survived.
The motive, again, was robbery.
These two consecutive cases put immense pressure on the task force.
But besides determining that the bullets in both cases were of the same model, there was no other useful information.
This matter became a thorn in Hu Shilong's heart. He pursued the investigation day and night, but strangely, no matter how he investigated, he found no results.
Until the tragedy struck.
It was September 16, 1918, the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chongqing was filled with festive cheer. Ouyang Wen was on duty at the city police station that night, while Hu Jia had just graduated from the police academy and was assigned to the Yiren Alley patrol station.
As Ouyang Wen and his colleagues were admiring the full moon, a phone call shattered their peace and beauty.
The call came from the patrol station in Lai Long Lane. They reported a homicide in their jurisdiction at No. 8 Lai Long Lane, and the informant was none other than Hu Jia, his younger brother.
At that moment, Ouyang Wen felt dizzy and disoriented. He raced home frantically.
But it was all too late.
The home he had lived in for over a decade was gone.
The house was covered in bloodstains. His adoptive father, Hu Shilong, lay in the living room, shot twice, already lifeless.
Hu Jia, however, sat on the steps in the courtyard, covered in blood. From the moment Ouyang Wen saw him, he hadn't spoken a word, until Ouyang Wen put his arm around his shoulder, and he finally burst into tears.
Hu Jia recounted that he had been reading upstairs when the doorbell rang. He didn't pay it much mind, as his father was a police officer, and people often visited during holidays.
He vaguely heard his father talking with a guest, but he didn't pay attention to the specifics of their conversation.
Suddenly, a gunshot startled him. Hu Jia immediately opened the door and rushed out. Peering down from upstairs, he saw his father lying in a pool of blood. Due to the obstruction of the walls and cabinets, he only saw a figure crouching in front of a cabinet, rummaging through something.
The sound of the door opening startled the figure rummaging. He stood up and quickly disappeared from Hu Jia's sight, likely hiding behind a wall.
Hu Jia was a rookie and was not armed at the time. As he prepared to rush downstairs, another gunshot rang out. The assailant was ambushing him. Fortunately, the bullet hit a wall pillar.
Hu Jia dodged into a bedroom and locked the door.
At this point, he heard the killer coming upstairs. As the assailant tried to force the door open, Hu Jia jumped from the window on the second floor, managing to escape.
Afterward, Hu Jia hurried to the Lai Long Lane patrol station to get help. But when he returned home, the killer had already vanished without a trace.