Chapter 10: Chronology

Chapter 10: Ji Lu

After the supervisor left for a moment, An Changpu suddenly stood up and motioned for Qin Ruonan to follow him outside.

"Let's go take a look. Now that Song Chengliang is dead, Ji Lu is the trump card here. I'm afraid that supervisor might not be able to persuade him," he explained to Qin Ruonan.

Qin Ruonan nodded and followed him into the main hall. Although the supervisor they had just spoken to held a managerial title, his manner of speaking clearly lacked executive presence. Ji Lu, on the other hand, had given off an impression of arrogance and coldness during their brief initial encounter. If they didn't go check, chances were that the supervisor really wouldn't be able to convince him.

Stepping out of the consultation room and into the spacious hall, they cast a glance around and soon spotted the supervisor talking to Ji Lu near a large marble pillar by the window. The supervisor wore a troubled expression, while Ji Lu looked thoroughly impatient, both hands shoved into his trouser pockets with his head tilted to one side.

Seeing this, An Changpu walked straight over, nodded and smiled at Ji Lu, and extended a hand: "You must be Mr. Ji? We met earlier, but we didn't have a chance to introduce ourselves. We're from the public security bureau, here to look into Song Chengliang's routine work here. We need to speak with his former supervisors and colleagues, and we hope you can spare a few minutes. We can keep it brief so it won't interfere with your normal work."

His words were polite and courteous, but in reality, they left no room for choice. With the slimming center supervisor standing by in tacit agreement, Ji Lu seemed to have no reason to refuse. Therefore, despite his obvious displeasure, he could only nod in consent.

"Have a seat right here and ask away. It'll be easier for you to leave once you're done," Ji Lu casually gestured toward a cluster of small sofas nearby. Though it sounded as if he were being considerate of An Changpu and Qin Ruonan, the tone made it sound more like an eviction notice.

"No problem!" An Changpu acted as though he hadn't noticed Ji Lu's attitude at all, which left Ji Lu with no opening to continue putting on airs.

Relieved by this response, the supervisor quickly excused himself and left. The remaining three walked over and sat down on the small sofas. As soon as he sat down, Ji Lu crossed his legs, folded his robust arms across his chest, and turned his body slightly sideways, adopting a posture that clearly showed his reluctance to face two unwelcome visitors.

At that moment, Qin Ruonan began to understand Xiao Cai's previous description of Ji Lu: aside from a decent appearance, his words and demeanor reeked of arrogance and conceit, making him thoroughly unlikable.

"Mr. Ji, you and Song Chengliang must have worked together for quite a while. Can you tell us what your impression of him was?" Qin Ruonan asked.

"I don't have any impression of him," Ji Lu replied expressionlessly, without even looking at her.

"How is that possible? You worked together at the same slimming center for so long..."

Before Qin Ruonan could finish, Ji Lu frowned and interrupted her impatiently: "How is it not possible?! You're from the public security bureau does that mean you know, are familiar with, and understand every single person up and down the bureau?!"

With that, he seemed quite pleased with his own aggressive retort and let out an involuntary, mocking chuckle.

"You're right, I couldn't possibly know everyone in the public security bureau," Qin Ruonan's face hardened. "But if someone came to me to inquire about a particular person, at least I wouldn't make such a rash judgment. I'd actually stop and think about it seriously first, especially when a human life is at stake."

Since partnering with An Changpu, she had been learning from him, trying to rein in her temper and avoid being overly aggressive, but that didn't mean she was a pushover.

To her surprise, Ji Lu was completely unfazed and curled his lip: "You are you, and I am you. Just because you'd do that doesn't mean I have to. And don't try to pressure me with all that high-and-mighty talk about human lives. You're a police officer playing the righteous savior isn't that enough? Do you have to play the moral paragon too?!"

Noticing the heavy hostility in Ji Lu's tone, An Changpu frowned and prepared to put him in his place. Though he usually had a mild temperament and was accustomed to solving problems through gentle means, even he felt his temper flaring up when confronted with someone so excessively arrogant.

Unexpectedly, Qin Ruonan did not fly into a rage or look displeased as An Changpu had anticipated. Instead, she just offered a cold smile and said to Ji Lu, "I've seen plenty of men like you living off women. Maybe other women are willing to pamper you, cater to your moods, and listen to your cold remarks, but I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Putting on a tough act like this doesn't make you look any more masculine. If you're unwilling to cooperate, fine. There are plenty of ways to find things out without having to ask the parties involved directly. There are eyes and mouths all around us; there are simply too many channels to find what we want to know."

With that, she gestured to An Changpu: "Let's go. We shouldn't waste any more of this person's time."

An Changpu nodded and prepared to stand up, but his movements were much slower than usual because he noticed that after Qin Ruonan's harsh words, Ji Lu didn't storm off in a huff as expected; instead, he remained seated on the sofa.

Just as An Changpu was halfway up, Ji Lu suddenly spoke. Though his tone was still unfriendly and his expression grim, the content of his words had changed.

"What's the rush?! You're police officers out investigating a case, and I'm the person being investigated who hasn't lost patience and walked away yet. Does it make sense for you two to be less patient than me?!" He sat motionless on the sofa, staring intently at Qin Ruonan, who had already stood up to leave. Although his tone was harsh, his expression betrayed a hint of anxiety.

"Fine, then talk!" Qin Ruonan glanced at him, her face tight, and flopped back down onto the sofa.

"If you don't ask, how am I supposed to know what to say?"

"Oh? By the sound of it, you do have things you shouldn't say?" An Changpu sat back down as well, smiling on the surface, but with an unmistakable edge of displeasure in his voice.

"You know very well that's not what I meant," Ji Lu's expression darkened further. "Let's not waste time. I don't have that much leisure to drag this out with you."

"Back to the original question: either you answer, or we won't waste your work time and will go find someone else right now," Qin Ruonan told him in a tone that brooked no argument.

This time, Ji Lu didn't dare to beat around the bush or ask her to repeat the question: "I don't have any impression of him. We weren't familiar with each other at all—at most, we just knew each other's names."

"How did you get along usually?"

"We didn't get along. Surely you must know he was only a part-timer here! I'm a full-time, regular employee! Think about it: how much common ground can there be between a full-timer and a temporary part-timer?!"

While claiming to have no impression and no familiarity whatsoever, Ji Lu's choice of words was dripping with obvious disdain, discrimination, and even outright aversion.

"Was there any competitive relationship between you and Song Chengliang at work? For instance, did you share a fixed customer base, or did it affect your popularity?" An Changpu asked.

"What do you mean by that? Has someone been gossiping to you?" Ji Lu asked hypersensitively, before absolving himself. "Do you eat the exact same dish every time you go to a restaurant?! There are so many clouds in the sky—do you know which specific cloud is going to rain down below? There's no telling how many customers there will be; your numbers might be high today, and mine might be high tomorrow! What does that prove? Does it prove who's better or worse? Stop joking around!"

"Ji Lu! Someone's here for you!"

As fate would have it, just as Ji Lu's patience was wearing thin, someone called out from the other end of the hall, "A returning customer wants to renew their package! Come over here for a moment!"

A smug smile instantly broke across Ji Lu's face. He shot a defiant look at An Changpu, then at Qin Ruonan, lazily stood up, and jutted his chin out: "I've got business to attend to. You guys are pretty much done asking anyway!"

With that, without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and walked away.

"This guy is an absolute hedgehog!" An Changpu glared at Ji Lu's retreating back and said to Qin Ruonan.

Qin Ruonan smiled with mild contempt: "Him? He's the classic type of man spoiled rotten by women, thinking that his arrogance and rudeness equate to charm, and assuming everyone will fall in line and gladly put up with his attitude. A guy like this will learn his lesson once he takes a few more hits."

"You really know your stuff," An Changpu chuckled after hearing her remarks.

"I've always seemed pretty good at pissing men off, but as for how to win a man's affection... I've never had a clue." Qin Ruonan's voice was light, laced with a helpless resignation.

"Look at you, it's not that dramatic!" An Changpu checked his watch and asked, "Shall we head out then? Looks like that's about it for today."

"Wait a moment. Why don't you leave your phone number with the two girls at the front desk? That way, if they think of anything else to add, they can contact us privately." Qin Ruonan gestured toward the front desk with her chin.

"Why me?"

The tension finally vanished from Qin Ruonan's face, replaced by a smile. She blinked playfully at An Changpu and said, "Tianmi taught me this—she said that as long as the other party is a young woman, sending a man like you in gets twice the result with half the effort!"

An Changpu could only roll his eyes in helpless frustration. Muttering under his breath about the rotten ideas Tianmi put into Qin Ruonan's head and vowing to settle the score with her later, he walked over to the front desk to leave his number with Xiao Cai and the other female employee.

Watching from a distance as An Changpu exchanged a few words with the two young women—who beamed and spoke to him with great enthusiasm—Qin Ruonan suddenly thought of Tao Yinyin's member profile card in Ji Lu's client records. She turned her head to look at her own reflection in a nearby mirror, let out a soft sigh, and felt a quiet wave of melancholy wash over her.