Chapter 18 - A Sparrow Bodyguard

Editor: kllua

Huo ZhenYe sent Da Tou back to the precinct. While there were still no new clues to the case, he seemed to have uncovered something, but he just could not figure out the connection.

After returning to the Huo residence, he shut himself in his study with all the known clues written on paper.

Mother Liu knocked on the door and entered. “Young Master, you have been rushing about for the whole day. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?”

It was only then that Huo ZhenYe felt hungry as he had only eaten a piece of bread. “Anything is fine, it just has to be filling.”

Even then, Mother Liu would not just find something random for the young master to fill his belly. She prepared a bowl of duck soup with big wontons where the leg meat of the duck was torn into strips and fried with bean sprouts. The heads of the bean sprouts were even carefully plucked off.

Seeing that Huo ZhenYe was eating well, she asked him, “How are you doing with Miss Bai?”

Huo ZhenYe almost spat out a mouthful of wonton soup. Swallowing it, he replied, “It is pretty good.”

Mother Liu smiled widely, “That is good. I am currently stewing the Royal Pot with gentle heat. After stewing it for the whole night, it will become delicious and you can send it to her tomorrow.”

“Put more tofu.”

“Miss Bai likes to eat tofu?”

Huo ZhenYe bit on another big wonton and said nonsense, “The old madam of the Bai family likes to eat it. Besides, with her old age, tofu is suitable for her.”

As soon as Mother Liu heard that he was planning to give it to Old Madam Bai, she became more energetic. “Ok, there is no need for you to worry. I have stewed the abalone, sea cucumber, and dried scallops till its flavor came out. Within these three days, I have also continuously changed the ingredients and fished them out cleanly. Even those who are particular with their food would be able to taste it in a single bite after I add a block of old tofu and cook it inside.”

Huo ZhenYe held back his laughter and flattered Mother Liu, “Yes, the old madam of the Bai family has a harsh mouth. She would definitely be satisfied with the stewed tofu in the Royal Pot.”

Mother Liu was also very satisfied. The Bai family has an old madam with a harsh mouth which meant that it was most likely a big family. She then suggested an idea, “You should take Miss Bai to see a movie and enjoy some music.”

When Huo ZhenYe thought of taking Bai Zhun to the movies, he could not help smiling, which in turn caused Mother Liu to smile. Mother Liu sighed in her heart that this man still needed a woman to take care of him.

A single Miss Bai was all it took to make such a little devil so docile and obedient.

Huo ZhenYe smiled lightly and finished his wontons. After stretching, he bent over the table and continued examining the clues. He had “borrowed” Song MingJie’s kidnapping ransom case file from the precinct.

At that time, the precinct had locked onto a suspect but did not manage to obtain any evidence. As the suspect was also a member of the secret society, no one was caught in the end.

He flipped through the messy information. However, when he was halfway through, he had a strong feeling of being watched.

The gaze was coming from behind him where there was a glass door that was connected to the small balcony on the second floor.

Despite that, Huo ZhenYe did not stop writing. With one hand, he opened the drawer and took out the pistol. Quickly walking to the side of the glass door, he then pulled open the curtains. However, the glass door was tightly closed, and there was nothing behind the curtains.

He proceeded to open the glass door and stepped out. Standing at the banisters of the balcony, he looked out to the whole garden.

The Huo residence had been lit up early including the garden. The sides of the rose garden and the stone pathways had also been decorated with long lamps, so that the owner could enjoy the beautiful scenery in the garden at night.

At this moment, there was no one in the garden, only the dim lights.

Was it because he was too tired that he had started hallucinating?

Here, the wind blew into the study, and the pages of the case file were flipped over. When Huo ZhenYe closed the door, he lowered his head and saw a small round handprint on the glass. Reaching only his calves, it looked as if there was a child who had hidden here to play hide and seek.

Huo ZhenYe frowned. Although there were servants’ children in the residence, they were not allowed to come up to the second floor. However, when he thought further about how he had not been home for half a month, he felt that a child might have snuck in during this period of time.

The next morning, after packing up his things, he was about to leave for the precinct but Mother Liu chased after him. “Here, this is some red bean rice cake 1 In Chinese, it is called “条头糕” (tiao tou gao) and it is quite a popular snack in Shanghai. A tube-shaped cake filled with red bean paste, you can see how it looks like here: https://order.shanghaiyougardennyc.com/products/red-bean-rice-cake and shuang niang tuan 2 “双酿团” (shuang niang tuan) is also another popular snack in Shanghai. It is a glutinous rice ball with red bean paste and black sesame. If interested to know more about other common Shanghai snacks, you can try viewing this: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/shanghai-street-food-experts-guide/index.html that you can give to Miss Bai. For the Royal Pot tofu you will have to wait another two days.”

Huo ZhenYe smiled and nodded, “Ok, I will give it to him.”

Thinking about how Bai Zhun must be very tired these days, Huo ZhenYe felt that Bai Zhun should enjoy some sweet snacks. So, he drove to Yu Qing first and gently knocked on the main door of the Bai’s house.

When he entered the house, he put down the snack box and whispered to Ah Xiu, “When your brother gets up, give him this. Your share is also here.”

Ah Xiu nodded.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhun was lying in bed. He had heard Huo ZhenYe’s voice but was too lazy to get up and acknowledge him. Turning over, he then intended to continue sleeping, but he suddenly smelled a scent that did not belong to Huo ZhenYe.

He swiftly opened his eyes, got up, and went out of the room. “What is that scent on you?”

Huo ZhenYe turned back. He saw Bai Zhun sitting in a wheelchair a step away from him, staring at him with a frown.

Huo ZhenYe smiled. “Your nose is really sensitive. There is some shuang niang tuan, do you want to eat them?”

After saying that, he opened the box, revealing four of them. Snow-white, round and fat, one could see the color of red bean paste and black sesame stuffing under the white skin while smelling a sweet fragrance.

Bai Zhun shook his head. “It is not this smell.”

Huo ZhenYe put down the snack box and raised his sleeve to sniff them. “There is no smell though, I even took a bath in the morning before I head out.” As Huo ZhenYe broached the topic of bathing, he took a peek at Bai Zhun and thought that the Bai’s family should install a bathtub and shower.

Bai Zhun then approached Huo ZhenYe. Reaching out his hand to grab the other person’s tie, he pulled him down, causing the latter to bend over. Huo ZhenYe, who was caught unaware, found his nose almost touching Bai Zhun’s.

He was so close that he could see himself in Bai Zhun’s pitch-black eyes which looked like stars in the vast sea. Initially, Huo ZhenYe wanted to make a joke, but at this moment, he was unable to think of even one.

Bai Zhun pushed him away and asked, “What have you incurred now?”

“What do you mean about me incurring things? Regarding the matter with Jin DanGui, she was the one who found the wrong person.” Although he was innocent, he was regarded as an easily deceivable person and a playboy with no regard for human life by Jin DanGui and Han Zhu respectively.

“Aren’t you the one who attracted them first?” Bai Zhun snorted and swept his gaze over him before whistling softly.

The small yellow siskin flew totteringly out from the inside of the house and fell onto Huo ZhenYe’s hair, causing his neatly combed hair to suddenly turn into a bird’s nest.

“Let it follow you.” This was so that he could see what it was that dared to behave so rampantly.

With a grab, Huo ZhenYe pulled down the yellow bird and held it in his hand. Seeming to know that it had received an order, the little thing was prancing around in Huo ZhenYe’s palm proudly.

“Such a little thing… protecting me?” Right after Huo ZhenYe said that, the yellow bird gave his palm a harsh peck, causing him to cast it away. The little thing flew around the house before landing on his head again.

Bai Zhun gave him a sideway glance. He dared to nitpick?

“Although it is small, its structure is complete. It is more than enough to be your bodyguard.”

Huo ZhenYe looked at the whole house full of paper items and conceded. After all, carrying a yellow siskin was better than carrying a paper doll around. He waved to Bai Zhun and said, “Then, I will be leaving now.”

Bai Zhun responded with an “en” but after thinking further, felt slightly unwilling and added, “I am not doing this to protect you.”

Huo ZhenYe restrained himself from smiling. “Yes, the seventh master is righteous so he could not bear to see me being bullied and sent a bird to protect me.”

Faced with such banter, Bai Zhun had only one word to say to him and it was “scram”.

Seventh Master Huo swiftly left the Bai house. As he walked, he scratched the little head of the yellow siskin while saying, “Today you will be following me.”

The yellow siskin stretched out his neck as his eyes kept flashing around. After putting it in the car, Huo ZhenYe looked at it from time to time.

Sometimes, the small yellow siskin would lower his head and give a random peck or look up and trot forth two steps. With his wings gathered close to his round body, it looked like a living creature no matter how one looked at it.

“Do you have a name?” Huo ZhenYe chatted with the yellow siskin as he kept his hands on the steering wheel. “Why don’t I call you Ah Jiu?”

When the yellow siskin turned his head and ignored him, Huo ZhenYe smiled. “You are such a little thing and yet still dare to be so picky? Ah Jiu!”

Meanwhile, Bai Zhun with his head buried in the goose feather pillow, had focused part of his attention on the yellow siskin. The more he listened, the more he frowned. Why was this man so talkative? He even managed to strike a conversation with a yellow siskin!

Huo ZhenYe took the yellow siskin to the precinct. However, as it refused to stay in his pocket, it ended up perched on his shoulder with its head turning around.

It made sure to take a glance at every policeman that Huo ZhenYe passed by.

Regarding that, Huo ZhenYe also did not provide any explanation. After all, he was a wealthy young master so what would the issue be with bringing a bird to work?

Before he could take a seat at his desk, Da Tou hurried over. “Young Master Huo, three members of a small gang died in Hongkou district yesterday.”

Huo ZhenYe found it strange and asked, “Hongkou district is a Japanese settlement. What does this case have to do with you all?”

“Three of them died and the only one remaining ended up partially crazy. They also found Song MingJie’s small suit at the scene. As his name was embroidered on it, this proved that they were the ones to kidnapped him. Not only that, two days ago, they had kidnapped a Japanese businessmans’ child but the child disappeared after they died.”

“Let’s go and take a look.” Saying that, Huo ZhenYe drove to the scene.

The kidnappers held the hostages in a warehouse. As this area of warehouses was full of goods being unloaded from the pier and there was a continuous flow of boxes in and out, no one was paying much attention.

This had then made it convenient to transport both money and people.

The interior of the warehouse was in a mess. The ground was covered with blood while some red and white things were splattered around. Huo ZhenYe only took a look before turning his head and asking, “What are those?”

Da Tou took a careful look and replied, “It seems to be human intestines.”

Huo ZhenYe forced down his nausea. “Intestines?” What murderer would rip out others’ intestines?

“Those three people died grotesquely. Their stomachs were cut open while their hearts and livers were pulled out. Their intestines were also splattered all over the ground.” Towards such a scene, Da Tou was not afraid at all, so he described it to Huo ZhenYe in detail.

“Please stop talking.” After seeing this, Huo ZhenYe could go without eating meat for at least a month.

Meanwhile, the yellow siskin that was perched on his shoulder, flew out and circled around the crime scene. It eventually stopped by a wooden box and tilted its head as if it had seen something.

Huo ZhenYe walked in further with his nose covered. In addition to the red and white found on the ground, there were also pools of yellow. As the smell of blood and excrement mixed together, Huo ZhenYe felt that he would not be eating today.

He walked to the wooden box and stopped. On top of it, he saw half of a leather shoe print with part of a string of Italian words visible. Custom-made, the owner of the shoe would not be more than ten years old according to its size.

“Da Tou! Was that Japanese businessman’s child wearing clogs or leather shoes when he was abducted?”

Regarding the question, Da Tou did not know and he asked, “Young Master Huo, why are you asking about that?”

Huo ZhenYe took out his camera and took photos of the shoe prints.

At this moment, the yellow siskin flew up again. Flapping its wings, it landed on the narrow window.

As this was a warehouse, there were only windows near the top. At that height, it was unreachable by even adults so Huo ZhenYe moved over some wooden boxes.

When Da Tou saw him carrying the boxes, he ran over to move them for him. “Young Master Huo, what are you doing with this?” Saying that, he then suddenly recalled Su ManLi’s case where Second Liu climbed up with a rope. Perhaps like before, the murderer had really came in through the window. If that was so, the murderer’s physique must be quite thin and flat to squeeze in.

However, it did not seem possible that the murderer who killed three people and scared one crazy would be someone who was really skinny like a bag of bones.

Stepping on the wooden boxes, Huo ZhenYe’s line of sight swept over before freezing.

There was a child’s handprint on the windowsill.

1

In Chinese, it is called “条头糕” (tiao tou gao) and it is quite a popular snack in Shanghai. A tube-shaped cake filled with red bean paste, you can see how it looks like here: https://order.shanghaiyougardennyc.com/products/red-bean-rice-cake 2

“双酿团” (shuang niang tuan) is also another popular snack in Shanghai. It is a glutinous rice ball with red bean paste and black sesame. If interested to know more about other common Shanghai snacks, you can try viewing this: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/shanghai-street-food-experts-guide/index.html