Grocery Store No.514

Chapter 72



~Brought to you by Cafe No. 20~

On February 17, 3021, a murder occurred in Yihe Apartment. Ling Hua’an followed Jiang Chengyan to Yihe Apartment. Originally he planned to wait and see what would happen in the car, but he accidentally saw a familiar face and got out of the car with curiosity.

Holding a cane, he walked towards the noisy crowd, Ling Hua casually looked at the familiar face and frowned. He was very sure that the female ghost he had seen before was the one who was pestering Sun Ting. When he saw it before, he found that the female ghost had a strong resentment, but Wang Lei said that Sun Ting’s face was normal, which in itself was very abnormal, and today he found that the resentment of the female ghost had decreased a lot, which was even more abnormal.

“Give a way, give a way, please give away.”

“Oh, it’s a corpse. Get out of the way, don’t run into it. How unlucky it is to celebrate the New Year.”

Ling Hua’an backed up with the crowd, his eyes looked in the direction where the sound came from but found nothing. When he looked at the female ghost, the corners of her mouth rose, revealing a wry smile. He raised his head to look upstairs, only to find that the entangled resentment had disappeared. Ling Hua’an’s brow once again tightened.

“Hey, Ling Dage, why are you here?” Yao Min’s voice came from the crowd.

Ling Hua’an answered with a smile, “I came with Captain Jiang.”

Yao Min teased, “hehe, Ling Dage is watching him very closely until you come here. Ling Dage, don’t worry, Liu Jie and I are on your side to watch the captain. We will never let those flowers and plants close.

Ling Hua’an smiled and asked, “Officer Yao, what is happening here?

“Ling Dage, just call me by my name. Officer Yao feels a bit estranged.” Yao Min pulled Ling Hua’an aside and whispered, “A man died in 703 on the seventh floor, his girlfriend reported it. I looked at the scene before and combined with Sun Ting’s statement, I suspect that the deceased should have committed suicide.”

“Sun Ting?” Ling Hua’an instantly caught the familiar name and asked, “This Sun Ting is the deceased’s girlfriend?”

“Yes, Ling Dage knows Sun Ting?” Yao Min thought of Jiang Chengyan’s reaction before and said, “Oh, oh, I remember, Captain also said that Sun Ting looked familiar. Sun Ting said they met on the plane to Lincheng.”

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“She’s really here.” Ling Hua’an whispered.

“Ling Dage, what did you say?” Ling Hua’an’s voice was too low for Yao Min to hear clearly.

“Yao Min, go and call Captain Jiang for me. I have something to say.”

Yao Min answered quickly and said, “Okay, Ling Dage, wait a minute. I’ll go now.”

Ling Hua’an looked in the direction of the female ghost again, only to find that the female ghost was looking at him eerily as if sensing something. Ling Hua’an quickly turned his eyes away and returned to the car with his cane.

About five minutes later, a rush of footsteps sounded, and Jiang Chengyan ran over panting, saying, “Hua’an, what’s the matter? Why are you looking for me?”

Ling Hua’an asked bluntly, “I heard from Yao Min. Is this a suicide case?”

“No. Although the scene looks like suicide, I don’t think so.” Jiang Chengyan looked around, approached Ling Hua’an, and whispered, “Hua’an, are there any ghosts around here?”

“I didn’t find the soul of the deceased.” Ling Hua’an took out the bull’s eyes tears from his pocket and said, “Captain Jiang, take this to the crime scene and see if the deceased’s soul is still there.”

“Okay.” Jiang Chengyan took the cow’s tears, turned around, and left.

“Wait.” Ling Hua’an stopped Jiang Chengyan and said, “Be sure to wash your eyes with clean water before going downstairs.”

“Why?” Jiang Chengyan asked, puzzled.

“This place is full of wandering ghosts. I’m afraid you will be traumatized, just listen to me.”  Ling Hua’an didn’t want Jiang Chengyan to meet the female ghost. He was afraid to beat the grass to scare the snake1.

“Okay. It’s cold outside. Go to the car and wait there. I’ll be back in a while.”

Jiang Chengyan turned around and walked towards the unit building, Ling Hua’an looked in the direction of the female ghost before opening the car door and getting into the car.

About ten minutes later, Jiang Chengyan returned, opened the car door, and sat up, saying, “Hua’an, there is no ghost in the deceased’s room.”

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Ling Hua’an frowned and asked, “when did the deceased die?”

Seeing Ling Hua’an’s serious expression, Jiang Chengyan frowned and said, “Between 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock in the evening. Hua’an, is there anything wrong with this? Why are there no the victim’s ghosts at the scene?”

“The souls of people who just died usually don’t leave the body. You didn’t find the souls of the dead at the scene, and just when the body was transported away, I also didn’t find the soul of the deceased, which is very abnormal. Unless…” Ling Hua’an fell into deep thought.

Jiang Chengyan curiously asked, “unless what?”

“Unless someone took his soul before you arrived.”

“Took his soul? Could it be an underworld’s messenger?” Jiang Chengyan guessed.

“Unless it’s their the end of life2 and there is a record in the book of life and death, the Underworld Messenger will appear in time. For people like this who died in vain, before the time limit,  the book of life and death has changed and cannot be discovered in time. So it will give the resentful ghosts time to grow. Thus, there are will be incidents of ghosts claiming life.”

End of life2? Could it be that I made a mistake in judgment, is this person really committed suicide? ”

Ling Hua’an said in amusement when he heard the words, “Captain Jiang, suicide is not in the category of the end of life. Suicide is a felony in the underworld, and you will go to hell after death.”

“So that’s how it is.” Jiang Chengyan rubbed his nose embarrassingly and asked, “then what does it mean when you said about having the soul being taken away?”

“There are ghosts in this world, and naturally, there are ghost hunters, but very few people believe it now. Also, most of them have already changed their profession. I suspect that the souls of the deceased were taken away by people who knew how to do it.

“Why did he take away the soul of the deceased? How did they know that the deceased was dead? Could it be that the person who took away the soul is the murderer?”

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Ling Hua’an looked out the window, where the female ghost had just been, but there was no shadow of the female ghost appearing. Ling Hua’an said without answering the question, “Listening to Yao Min, the deceased’s girlfriend is Sun Ting?”

Jiang Chengyan was stunned and said, “Yes, it’s the same Miss Sun you had a friendly chat with on the plane.”

“Friendly chat?” Ling Hua’an smiled helplessly and said, “Captain Jiang, do you know why I ‘friendly-chat’ with her?”

“How do I know? I’m not a roundworm in your stomach3.”

“Because there’s a resentful ghost around her.”

“Resentful ghost?” Jiang Chengyan opened his eyes wide in surprise and said, “You mean she is haunted by ghosts? But she looks very good, completely different from Wu Zheng.”

“That’s what I’m wondering about. Captain Jiang, you should pay more attention to Sun Ting in investigating the case. I always think something is wrong with her.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Knock knock knock

The car window was knocked, Jiang Chengyan hurriedly lowered the car window and said, “Su Ke, why haven’t you gone back yet?”

Su Yan glanced at Jiang Chengyan, but his gaze fell on Ling Hua’an, and he smiled, “I wasn’t at the dinner before. I heard Mr. Ling was also here, so I came to get to know him.”

Ling Hua’an pushed open the door, got out of the car, stretched out his right hand, smiled politely, and said, “Hello, Forensic Doctor Su. I’m Ling Hua’an, Chengyan’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you.”

Su Ke reached out and shook hands with him. It seemed light, but he used all his strength and said, “Hello, Mr. Ling, although Chengyan looks shrewd, he is very innocent. Please take care of him in the future.”

Ling Hua’an raised his eyebrows and said, “don’t worry, Doctor Su. With me around, no one can hurt him.”

Jiang Chengyan looked at the two people still holding hands, frowned, and said, “you two can let go.”

Su Ke let go of Ling Hua’an’s hand, feeling uncomfortable, but still smiled and said, “Why? Chengyan, are you jealous?”

Jiang Chengyan’s face heated up, and said frankly, “No kidding. If someone is holding on to the person you like, won’t you be jealous?”

Jiang Chengyan didn’t understand the meaning of Su Ke’s words, but Ling Hua’an heard it clearly. He said with a smile, “it’s really hard to say about fate. Some people grow up together but may not be able to love each other. And some people you meet once, you might fall in love at first sight. But, Doctor Su, no need to worry. I believe your other half will appear sooner or later.”

Translated by Cafe No. 20 – cafeno20.wordpress.com

Ling Hua’an’s words poked Su Ke’s wounds. Obviously, he had worked with Jiang Chengyan for many years, much earlier than Ling Hua’an, and had a lot of time together. But it was Ling Hua’an and Jiang Chengyan who finally became together, which had made Su Ke wonder if he and Jiang Chengyan were really not meant to be.

Seeing Su Ke’s face was not right, Jiang Chengyan followed and comforted him, “Su Ke, Hua’an is right. Are you still worried about not finding a partner with such good conditions as yours? It’s just that your fate hasn’t arrived yet. Don’t be impatient, maybe your other half is on his way.”

Su Ke looked at Jiang Chengyan and felt helpless for a while. When he met someone with such a low EQ, he could only say he used the wrong method. Maybe taking the initiative to attack would have different results, but it was too late to say anything now.

“Mr. Ling, I must say you are really good at it. You can handle a person with a negative EQ like him.”

Ling Hua’an heard Su Ke’s underlying meaning and said with a smile, “I also have to say that I have spent the greatest amount of patience I have ever had on Captain Jiang.”

“Now, what do you two mean? Why do I have a negative EQ? Also, Hua’an, it seems that I was the one who chased you. If I have a negative EQ, how can I take the initiative to pursue you?”

Ling Hua’an’s eyes deepened with a smile, and he said extremely sketchy, “Mmmm, it was indeed Captain Jiang who took the initiative.”

Seeing this, Jiang Chengyan said, dissatisfied, “Hua’an, can you be more perfunctory? ”

Seeing the interaction between the two, Su Ke couldn’t help sighing, but he was relieved a lot, “there is a limit for you two to show your love. I’ve had enough dog food.”

Jiang Chengyan’s face was hot, and said in embarrassment, “then why don’t you hurry going back.”

“Yes, take your time to show off.  I’ll go first.” Su Ke looked at Ling Hua’an and said, “Mr. Ling, Chengyan is in your hands for the time being. I hope you don’t let him down.”

“Forensic Doctor Su can rest assured that the ownership of Captain Jiang belongs to me now and in the future.”

Su Ke took a deep breath and said, “Okay, then we’ll wait and see.”Su Ke turned and left, Jiang Chengyan looked back and asked, “Hua’an, why did I smell gunpowder4 between you and Su Ke?  Did yo two have problems in the past?”

Ling Hua’an looked at Jiang Chengyan, he sighed deeply, and said in amusement, “Captain Jiang, if it weren’t for your IQ when you solved the case, I doubt how you got to the position of captain of the criminal investigation team.”

“Hua’an, what do you mean?”

“It means that Captain Jiang is too popular, and I have to hold on to it firmly.”

“Come on! Be honest, what’s going on with you two?”

“Captain Jiang, we’ll talk about this later. You should go back to the police force. I’ll go back to rest for a while, and I have to go to pay New Year’s greetings tomorrow.”

“I’ll ask someone to take you back.”

“No, I’ll just take a taxi by myself.”

“Then be careful of yourself.”

“Okay.”

~~~

  1. this means to inadvertently alerting an enemy ↺
  2. this means the end in somebody’s life span ↺
  3. this means can’t read your mind ↺
  4. this means tense situation ↺

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