Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Lychee Wine

"Dammit, this bone is tough. So fucking hard to chop!"

Jiang Li was bewildered when she heard the voice. The Zhao Qinghe case had just ended, and she’d thought she would finally get a few days of good sleep after coming back.

But she had only just closed her eyes.

’What am I seeing?’

’An animal? It can’t be a person, can it?’

Even though she had been through this so many times, her heart still couldn’t take seeing such a bloody scene again.

"Alright, hurry it up. We have to open for business at dawn."

"I know, I know! Damn woman, you talk too much. Go portion the meat on the side. Oh, and the Chen Family from the east side said to save twenty catties for them. They’re having people over to help today, so they need a bit more."

"Alright."

Jiang Li listened to the conversation. ’Saving meat?’

’So besides dreaming of murder, now I can dream of butchering pigs too?’

Jiang Li’s tense body instantly relaxed. There was nothing scary about butchering pigs. Years ago, she used to help hold down pigs’ trotters just to earn a meal.

Through the man’s eyes, Jiang Li scanned the slaughterhouse. The conditions were poor. It was pitch-black all around, and the ground beneath his feet was slick and wet; it was hard to tell if it was water or a pool of pig’s blood.

Jiang Li followed the man’s movements. Suddenly, he opened a large jar and tossed what was in his palm straight inside.

It was too dark to see clearly, but a foul stench assaulted her nose.

"Hmph, those old bastards love my exclusive, secret-recipe lychee wine."

Jiang Li was shocked. ’Lychee wine?’

’That stuff from before... it reeked. How could it possibly be...?’

’Will people really not die from drinking this?’

"Husband, there’s a young lady outside. She’s holding up her phone like she’s here to do a review, says she came for our lychee wine.

"If this video goes viral, we’ll be rich!"

Hearing this, Jiang Li’s attention sharpened. She wanted to see just what kind of vlogger this was.

The pitch-black door in front of him slowly creaked open, letting in a sliver of light. Jiang Li’s eyes widened, and just as she was about to get a clear look...

...the scene shifted to her own ceiling.

Jiang Li stared blankly for a few seconds, then irritably ruffled her hair. ’Seriously!’

’Does it have to be so dramatic!’

Jiang Li grabbed the phone from her bedside. "Hello, Ji."

"Jiang Li! I’m on my way to pick you up," came Ji Qinghe’s excited voice from the other end, before she promptly hung up.

Jiang Li stared at her phone, the corner of her mouth twitching. ’Is that the only thing she ever says?’

’Apparently not.’

Jiang Li got out of bed to wash up. Just as she finished, she heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Ji Qinghe, she opened it without a second thought.

The next second, a face she had nearly forgotten appeared before her.

"Lili, long time no see." Jiang Li’s expression darkened. She was about to slam the door shut, but the man’s hand shot out and grabbed the doorframe.

Jiang Li narrowed her eyes and, in the next instant, yanked the door with all her might.

A loud bang rang out.

The man let out a pained scream as the door slammed on his hand. He clutched the injured limb, staring at Jiang Li in utter shock.

He seemed unable to believe that the timid, socially anxious Jiang Li he once knew would do something so dangerous.

"Get out!" Jiang Li looked up, her eyes glinting with a sinister light and her voice laced with ice.

Qiao Siyuan shivered involuntarily at her gaze.

"Lili, I know I was wrong, but I never thought people would find out and gossip. And you, just because of one little thing, you didn’t even show up on our wedding day! You made my whole family a laughingstock among our relatives..."

Those unbearable memories came rushing back like a tidal wave, and Jiang Li’s breathing grew ragged.

Lu Xingye, who had just arrived, saw the scene and strode forward, shoving Qiao Siyuan aside. "Who are you?"

Jiang Li looked at Lu Xingye standing protectively in front of her, and her tightly clenched fists relaxed. "My ex-boyfriend, Qiao Siyuan."

Jiang Li pulled Lu Xingye aside and glared at Qiao Siyuan. "Qiao Siyuan, crawl back to whatever hole you came from, or don’t blame me for forgetting any history we had."

Qiao Siyuan looked at Lu Xingye, who stood before him. The man was about six feet tall, dressed in a black coat and exuding an air of youthful energy.

Qiao Siyuan angrily crushed the flowers in his hand. After all the trouble he’d gone through to find out she’d moved to this small city, he’d come all this way and even bought flowers to apologize.

"Jiang Li, we only broke up three months ago, and you’ve already found a new flame? You’re shameless! Does he know that you..."

SLAP!

Before Qiao Siyuan could finish, a sharp pain flared across his face. In the next moment, with a strength that seemed impossible for her small frame, Jiang Li slammed him against the opposite wall, her hand clamped around his throat.

A terrifying sense of suffocation washed over him. Qiao Siyuan could only feel the grip on his neck tightening, and his vision began to blur.

Seeing this, Lu Xingye quickly stepped forward and pulled Jiang Li away.

"Jiang Li, calm down."

It was the first time Lu Xingye had ever seen Jiang Li like this. He turned to glare at the clueless Qiao Siyuan. "Get lost."

Clutching his throat, Qiao Siyuan scrambled up from the floor with a look of pure terror and fled in a blind panic.

After Qiao Siyuan was gone, Jiang Li immediately seemed to return to her senses. She pushed Lu Xingye away.

"Did Officer Ji send you to pick me up?"

Lu Xingye nodded, his expression complicated. "Yeah. Something came up for her last minute, so she asked me to come get you."

Jiang Li picked up the bag she had packed. "Then let’s go."

Seeing her current mood, Lu Xingye suddenly felt a pang of worry.

"Jiang Li, are you okay?"

Jiang Li looked up, a blank expression on her face. "Huh? I’m fine. I was just being impulsive. It won’t happen again."

"He’s my ex-boyfriend. He cheated on me with his ’best female friend’ the night before our wedding. I called off the marriage and left. I didn’t expect him to follow me here."

Jiang Li said all this with a completely calm expression.

"What a total scumbag. Hey, do you want to move? I happen to know a landlord with a place near the station. I could introduce you."

"Okay. Thank you, that’d be a big help." Jiang Li didn’t refuse. She’d feel safer living closer to the police station. Besides, the round-trip travel fare was costing her almost a day’s worth of food money.

Lu Xingye had gotten the call from Ji Qinghe at the last minute, so he had come on his motorcycle.

A flash of surprise showed in Jiang Li’s eyes. She’d never been on one of these before.

Lu Xingye picked up a second helmet and helped her put it on. Noticing the lost look in her eyes, he glanced back at his bike.

"Uh, how about... I help you up?"

"Okay," Jiang Li nodded. She was afraid of making a fool of herself.

The tips of Lu Xingye’s ears immediately turned red. He stepped forward, lifted her up in one motion, and set her down on the seat behind him.

Jiang Li’s expression went completely blank. She thought "help" meant giving her a hand to steady herself.

"Your hands..." Lu Xingye didn’t even get to finish his sentence before a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

"Let’s go. Please ride a little slower. This is my first time on a motorcycle like this."

"Yeah."

Lu Xingye rode the motorcycle to the entrance of the police station.

Still wearing his helmet, Lu Xingye came over to give Jiang Li a hand. She took it and dismounted smoothly.

"You must be Jiang Li!"

A female officer said as she walked out of the station.

Lu Xingchen looked at her younger brother. ’Why is this little punk acting so weird today?’

Jiang Li looked at the officer before her. "Hello, Officer Lu."

Those simple words made Lu Xingchen’s eyes well up with tears.