Lu Linjiang entered the apartment reeking of alcohol. As usual, a bowl of hangover soup sat on the table. He didn’t even glance at it. Kicking off his shoes by the heels, he staggered toward his bedroom, shedding clothes one by one until a trail of garments littered the floor. By the time he slammed his door shut, he was down to his underwear.
Almost simultaneously, the door to the guest bedroom opened. Jiang Cheng stepped out and retraced Lu Linjiang’s path from the bedroom to the front door. He gathered the discarded clothes and turned toward the laundry room.
Lu Linjiang had clearly been drinking heavily; the clothes in Jiang Cheng's hands reeked of booze. Jiang Cheng had to hold his breath every few seconds to save his olfactory nerves.
He turned the clothes right-side out and tossed them into the washing machine one by one. When he reached the dress shirt, his hand faltered. On the left breast of Lu Linjiang’s shirt was a perfectly clear lipstick print. Jiang Cheng stared at it expressionlessly for a long moment. Then, he pulled a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the cabinet, used a dropper to carefully saturate the stain, and gently rubbed the fabric with his fingers.
The lipstick mark faded bit by bit. It took five washes before every trace was finally gone. Jiang Cheng threw the shirt into the machine and pressed the start button. As the sound of rushing water filled the room, he went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of plain water. It was well past midnight. Habitually, he opened the electronic calendar. On the square for December 31st, someone had made a striking red mark with a single word: "End."
Jiang Cheng stared blankly at those characters until the chime of his smartwatch alerted him that the laundry cycle was complete. He took the clean clothes out and meticulously ironed them until they were crisp and neat. Since Lu Linjiang was still asleep, he couldn't go in to put them away, so he left them folded in the laundry room for the time being.
Returning to his room, he placed his pre-packed clothes into a suitcase. After living here for four years, his belongings didn't even fill a single twenty-six-inch suitcase. He picked up the light luggage and set it by the entryway.
Jiang Cheng checked the time; it was nearly six in the morning. Normally, Lu Linjiang would wake up in half an hour, but he had returned so late and had been drinking. After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Cheng went back into the kitchen to cook a bowl of plain white porridge and set out some small side dishes he had prepared himself.
He washed the pot, wiped down the counters, and looked around. Finding nothing left to do, he opened the drawer at the entryway and took out a slip of paper that had been sitting there for a long time. He signed his name. Placing the paper on the table next to the porridge, he turned, picked up his suitcase, and walked out without a single look back.
At exactly six-thirty, Lu Linjiang sat up groggily in bed. He took a shower, which cleared his head slightly, though his hungover brain refused to let him off easy, throbbing with a rhythmic ache like a beating drum.
As usual, breakfast was waiting on the table, still warm. He picked it up and took a few mechanical swallows before noticing the extra piece of paper. Lu Linjiang initially thought it was a note from Jiang Cheng, but when he picked it up, he realized it was a divorce agreement.
His swallowing faltered. Jiang Cheng’s signature was already in the bottom right corner. Lu Linjiang set down his bowl, fished out his phone, and dialed Jiang Cheng’s number.
"Where are you?"
Jiang Cheng looked out the car window, his throat tightening for a fleeting second. "I'm on my way to the airport."
Lu Linjiang’s head still hurt. "You’re leaving too early. You should have at least let me see you off."
For a moment, Jiang Cheng almost laughed. He pressed a hand against his eyes, forcing back the rising bitterness. "No need. I saw you got back quite late last night." He coughed lightly. "By the way, the agreement is on the table. I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip to finalize it."
On the other end of the line, Lu Linjiang visibly relaxed. "It’s no trouble. I’m heading that way anyway."
"...Alright."
Silence fell between them. In the past, if Lu Linjiang didn't hang up, Jiang Cheng would stay on the line in silence with him. But as he watched a plane take off in the distance, Jiang Cheng took the initiative to speak for the first time. "That’s all, then."
"...Okay."
Jiang Cheng hung up. He deleted every app from his phone, cleared his photo gallery, and pulled out the SIM card. Just as he finished, the driver pulled over.
Jiang Cheng stepped out of the car and tossed the phone, along with the snapped SIM card, into a trash can.
Four years ago, he had pulled this same suitcase into this city, suppressing the fluttering in his heart and carrying a soul full of expectations as he signed a marriage certificate with Lu Linjiang—even though Lu Linjiang had told him from the very beginning that this marriage would last four years at most.
Jiang Cheng knew Lu Linjiang was straight, but so what? Four years was a long time; surely there would be a chance. Lu Linjiang wasn't made of stone.
But he had been too young then. He hadn't understood that in this world, not all effort is rewarded. Over those four years, Lu Linjiang had only drifted further away. All of Jiang Cheng’s efforts and devotion became the very reasons Lu Linjiang avoided him. In the end, they had become nothing more than housemates living under the same roof.
He just hadn't expected that the end of these four years would come without even a "goodbye."
Holding his boarding pass, Jiang Cheng stood by the window, watching a plane soar into the sky. He gave a self-mocking smile. Of course there was no goodbye; they would likely never see each other again in this lifetime.
***
Three Years Later.
Lu Linjiang walked into the precinct right on time. Passing Yang Bo’s desk, he habitually picked up the breakfast his subordinate had brought for him.
"Captain Lu, why so late today?"
"Minor car accident near my place. The road was blocked, so I had to wait a bit." He took a sip of the soy milk and immediately made a disgusted face, as if he were drinking dishwater. "Did someone knock over the sugar jar in this?"
Yang Bo had been bringing this boss breakfast for three months and had yet to satisfy his palate. He said helplessly, "This is the best soy milk for miles around. People line up for it every day. If you still don't like it, you’ll just have to make it yourself."
Make it himself? Captain Lu’s culinary skills were limited to boiling water for instant noodles. Having his weakness poked, Lu Linjiang stayed silent and took a bite of his *jianbing guozi*.
Yang Bo continued, "Then stop being so picky. You don't cook, yet you’re this fussy—aren't you going to starve to death sooner or later? Where on earth did you develop such a pampered tongue?"
Lu Linjiang acted as if he hadn't heard a word and turned back toward his office with his food. Tang Hua waited until Lu Linjiang closed the door before kicking Yang Bo. "Do you realize you just poked a tiger’s backside?"
Yang Bo was a bit slow on the uptake. "Huh?" He thought about it for a moment, remembering the rumors that Captain Lu was divorced. He leaned in and whispered to Tang Hua, "Was it pampered by the former 'sister-in-law'?"
Tang Hua rapped him on the head. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Linjiang stepped out of his office again. The two men, huddled together gossiping about their boss’s private life, froze instantly. Lu Linjiang’s suspicious gaze swept over their faces, making every hair on Tang Hua and Yang Bo’s bodies stand on end.
Fortunately, Lu Linjiang was busy and walked past them without stopping. Only then did the two relax their racing hearts.
Tang Hua waited until he was sure Lu Linjiang was out of earshot before speaking again. "You really can't talk about people behind their backs." He peeked out the door, confirming Lu Linjiang was heading toward the stairwell, before saying steadily, "Whatever you do, never mention the 'ex-wife' in front of Captain Lu."
Yang Bo had only been there for a year. His knowledge of the office gossip was fragmentary at best; he knew Lu Linjiang was divorced, but he hadn't realized it was a taboo subject.
"Why? Did Captain Lu and his ex have a nasty falling out?"
"It wasn't exactly 'nasty,'" Tang Hua said, taking a sip of water. "It was an arranged marriage. The elders’ wishful thinking. Captain Lu was forced into it. A match made in hell."
"Oh," Yang Bo said, enlightened. "No emotional foundation."
A sudden cough came from the doorway, nearly making the whispering pair jump out of their skins. Xu Sichen stood there with a mischievous grin. "What are you chatting about? Count me in!"
"You brat, you nearly scared your father to death."
Xu Sichen tossed her bag aside and casually brewed a cup of coffee. She glanced at Lu Linjiang’s wide-open office door. "Where’s the Boss?"
"He went to see Director Chu."
With the gossip only half-finished, Yang Bo was itching with curiosity. He asked persistently, "But why was Captain Lu so unwilling?"
Xu Sichen rapped Yang Bo on the head with her coffee-free hand. "Why are you so gossipy?"
"I’m trying to avoid stepping on the boss’s landmines!"
Tang Hua sighed. "Everything was fine, except the gender was wrong."
Yang Bo stared blankly for a moment, his brain quickly processing the information. "No way... Captain Lu’s family elders are that progressive?"
"I heard—just heard, mind you—that the grandfathers of both families served in the military together. They were brothers-in-arms who’d bleed for each other. The ex-husband had a hard life; first his parents died in an accident, then his grandfather was failing. On his deathbed, he entrusted the boy to Captain Lu’s grandfather."
"The old man pounded his chest by the hospital bed and gave his word. It just so happened that the new marriage ordinances had recently been passed, so the old man made the two of them get their licenses."
Yang Bo’s mouth hung open. When the new marriage ordinances were first added to the law, there were countless news stories about parents stopping their children from registering. He hadn't expected Captain Lu’s old-school military grandfather to be so surprisingly open-minded.
"The only problem is, Captain Lu is a die-hard straight man. In the end, it got so bad he wouldn't even go home," Tang Hua sighed.
Yang Bo’s expression was conflicted. Just as he was about to offer his opinion, Lu Linjiang’s voice rang out from the doorway: "We have a case. Move out immediately."
The three people in the office snapped to attention like springs and filed out the door.
Once in the car, with Yang Bo driving, Lu Linjiang handed the file to Xu Sichen. "I’ll give you the gist. The International Hotel is currently hosting a global virology symposium. A professor named Tao Minxing was found dead in his room this morning."
"This could be big or small. Everyone, stay sharp."
Xu Sichen had already skimmed the file. As Lu Linjiang finished, she picked up the thread seamlessly. "Tao Minxing. Chinese-born, Danish nationality. A renowned virologist and one of the keynote speakers for this conference. His assistant went to wake him this morning, realized something was wrong, and had hotel staff open the door. They found the professor dead in the bathroom."
"The specific time of death hasn't been determined yet. The forensics team is already on-site."
Xu Sichen flipped through the pages. "No scene photos yet. This professor must be in his seventies; could it just be natural causes?"
"If it’s natural causes, we’re lucky," Tang Hua said, rubbing his chin with a rare solemnity. "If it’s anything else, it could turn into an international incident. One wrong move and we’re all taking the fall. The case hasn't even been classified yet, and Director Chu is already pushing us out there. The pressure is immense."
Lu Linjiang glanced at him. "Yeah, that’s exactly what I told him."
"What did Director Chu say?"
"That we go to our deaths while he takes the blame. If we don't clear this up within ten days, our bonuses for the year are gone."
Xu Sichen listened with one ear while using her phone to search for information about the conference. It was a massive event; almost every virologist of repute in the world was there. It was a five-day symposium at the International Hotel, and today was the final day. Then this happened.
Thanks to the prevalence of social media, a search on Weibo turned up plenty of photos from the conference. It was clear that Professor Tao Minxing was highly respected in his field; almost every post related to the event featured a photo of the old man. With such a figure suddenly dead, it was easy to imagine how grim Director Chu’s expression must be.
Xu Sichen sighed as she scrolled through the photos. Suddenly, her finger froze on a picture. Before scrolling back, she instinctively looked up at Lu Linjiang. He was focused on the files in his hand and hadn't noticed her. With the guilt of a thief, Xu Sichen tilted her phone up to hide the screen and zoomed in on the details.
In a photo of attendees entering the conference hall, there was a face in the hallway that she knew exceptionally well.
***
