No Ghosting Allowed

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The night breeze was slightly cool, and the cold wind seeped through the gaps in the aluminum alloy window frame. Pei You adjusted his sitting posture and pulled Zhou Qingbo’s coat up.

Zhou Qingbo blinked and turned his head slightly in response to Pei You’s actions, burying half of his face under Pei You’s collar coat.

He knew it was wrong to hit someone, but since he had already done it, he didn’t regret it, nor was he afraid. He was prepared to take responsibility for his actions.

But at that moment, Pei You held him, covering him with his coat as if to shield him from all the chaos outside.

How could there be such a gentle person? Zhou Qingbo thought vaguely.

Outside the waiting room was a noisy atmosphere, with sounds of arguing coming from the adjacent room. Policemen were busy going in and out of the hallway, and the footsteps were chaotic and urgent. Pei You glanced at Zhou Qingbo lying on his leg and gently touched the injured spot on his forehead.

“He treasures you a lot,” a sudden male voice came from the door. Pei You looked up and realized that the police officer from earlier had returned without him noticing. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and leaned against the door, staring at the two of them.

There was a complex emotion in his eyes, like envy and pure admiration.

Pei You blinked but didn’t speak, acknowledging the man’s words.

He didn’t need the man to tell him; Pei You was aware of it himself—Zhou Qingbo disliked trouble, leaving his comfort zone, and socializing with people he disliked. But for him, Zhou Qingbo had already done so many things he originally wouldn’t have liked or done, from working overtime to going on business trips, and even getting into fights.

Pei You could tell Zhou Qingbo’s unfounded favoritism towards him and see his affection.

“I’ve asked about the situation and reviewed the surveillance footage. It’s true that he struck first,” the man said, crossing his arms nonchalantly. “According to witnesses, there were a total of five men and two women in the room, all colleagues from the same company. When he came down from upstairs, he opened the door and immediately attacked without any hesitation.”

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The man paused and smiled ambiguously. “He’s pretty daring, daring enough to pick a fight with a local tough guy.”

“He got angry because he found out about Liu Xin drugging me,” Pei You didn’t want to leave a bad impression of Zhou Qingbo in the officer’s mind and subconsciously explained, “There was a reason behind this incident.”

“Don’t worry, I know he did it for you,” the man smiled and said, “When I saw you two at the bar that time, you really stood out. Although I can’t claim to be a hundred percent accurate in judging people, I can see that he’s not a competitive and ruthless person. So, when he mentioned the drugging incident at the club, I understood.”

The man straightened his body slightly, adjusted his posture, and leaned back against the door frame with a mysterious smile.

“How should I put it?” The man fiddled with the cigarette box in his hand and casually said, “From a law enforcement perspective, I strongly disapprove of such low-level retaliation methods, but from a personal emotional standpoint, I think this incident is entirely understandable.”

Regardless, it was a good thing for Zhou Qingbo to gain the favor of the investigating officer, and Pei You breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his tense mood relax slightly.

“Thanks for understanding,” Pei You said, lowering his head to look at Zhou Qingbo. He then asked, “By the way, Officer, do you have any band-aids?”

“Uh, yes,” the man mumbled with the cigarette in his mouth and then searched his body up and down for a while before finally finding a few crumpled band-aids in his pocket, handing them to Pei You.

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“Also, ,” the man said, “My surname is Lu, and you can just call me Lu Ye by my name.”

Pei You thanked him lightly and then took out a pack of tissues from his own pocket, gently wiping away the bloodstains on Zhou Qingbo’s face.

“Speaking of which, did Liu Xin return?” Pei You asked as he tore open the band-aid.

His actions were gentle, with a touch of tenderness, as if he was afraid of disturbing Zhou Qingbo.

Lu Ye observed his actions for a while and then chuckled inexplicably, saying, “He won’t be coming back tonight.”

Pei You didn’t understand his meaning and furrowed his brows, looking at him in confusion.

“He was confirmed a drug addict while undergoing medical examinations at the hospital,” Lu Ye explained. “So he’s temporarily detained there.

With Liu Xin at the hospital was an experienced senior police officer with many years of service and extensive experience. On the way to the hospital, he had noticed something was off about Liu Xin’s condition. Relying on his experience, he conducted a urine test before treatment, and the results confirmed Liu Xin was a drug addict.

Due to the fight that occurred, Liu Xin’s drug addiction effects were severe, and at the hospital, he appeared drowsy with frequent yawning, leading him to be detained for more check ups and examinations.

For Pei You, this was good news, as the more trouble there was on Liu Xin’s end, the more favorable it would be for Zhou Qingbo’s situation.

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Pei You slightly relaxed and then carefully applied the band-aid on Zhou Qingbo’s forehead. He then reached down into the suit jacket and gently pulled out Zhou Qingbo’s right hand.

There was also a cut on the back of his right hand from the broken bottle. Pei You gently applied the band-aid to his hand and then held both of his hands, using his palms to press the band-aids firmly.

Zhou Qingbo, still asleep, seemed to trust his presence, not waking up and sleeping soundly.

“So, how are his injuries?” Pei You asked softly. “We have the right to know about this.”

Lu Ye, watching their interaction as if observing a rare animal species, responded, “Apart from the addiction, his injuries from the beating aren’t severe, just some bruises nothing serious.”

Lu Ye knew what Pei You was concerned about and added, “And the issue of him drugging you is nearly confirmed. If everything goes as expected, he probably would be in big trouble.”

“Are the test results already out?” Pei You was a little surprised and asked, “What did he use to try and drug me?”

“Potent sleeping pills, or you could call them date-rape drugs,” Lu Ye said. “The test results haven’t come out yet, but we caught the person who spiked your drink.”

As if to confirm Lu Ye’s words, a large group of people suddenly passed by the open station’s waiting room door. A young man was sandwiched between two policemen, his hands in shiny handcuffs, and he was sobbing incoherently.

“That’s him,” Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, pointing in their direction as they left. “Being a victim, even though it was an attempted one,  you have the right to know. He’s one of the service staff at the club, and coincidentally, when we arrived at the club, he was acting suspicious and trying to escape. He was caught red-handed by my colleague. My colleague thought he was selling ‘drugs’ at the club, so he caught him. After he was caught, before we even had a chance to question him, he confessed, saying something like ‘I did it under Liu Xin’s orders.'”

Pei You: “…”

“If possible, I hope you can investigate whether Liu Xin has reserved any rooms in the club or elsewhere,” Pei You said. “I think he might have hidden some drugs there.”

“Huh?” Lu Ye looked at him somewhat surprised and asked, “how do you know that?”

Pei You briefly explained his identity and his relationship with Liu Xin, clarifying their interests, as well as Liu Xin’s motive for trying to drug him.

“I’m a man, so things like being drugged and blackmailed with nude photos don’t apply to me,” Pei You calmly said, “As for drugs, it’s probably difficult for me to get addicted even if they were put in freshly squeezed orange juice. So I think he might be planning to frame me using some other method.”

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“Like planting some drugs on me.”

“Accusing me of possessing drugs or planning to drug me and then injecting me with drugs to frame me,” Pei You said, subconsciously covering Zhou Qingbo’s ears, as if he was afraid that Zhou Qingbo might hear, “But regardless of which one, there needs to be a suitable occasion for him to execute his plan.”

“Wow,” Lu Ye praised, “I didn’t expect that a well-mannered and sophisticated auditor like you would also understand these things.”

“It’s all through interpersonal experience,” Pei You said.

The audit firm where Pei You worked was one of the top firms in the industry and had previously cooperated with the state’s auditing agency due to overlapping business scope. Whenever they got involved, they almost always had a case, so during that time, Pei You heard a lot of “industry experience” at dinner tables and work, and he became familiar with some unscrupulous and shady methods used.

“Also, there’s one more thing.”

Pei You pressed his lips together, carefully pondered for a moment, and said, “I would like to file a case.”