Chapter 45 (1/2)
Killer Nights
Chapter 45: Xiaomei’s Brother
After Lu Xiaoqiang left, Jiang Zhengkai sat there and let out a long sigh of relief. It was a small world after all. The rookie Lu Xiaoqiang just happened to be the brother of the very first murder victim, Lu Xiaomei, aka A-Mei. Jiang Zhengkai sat there and thought for a while, but he eventually decided to consult the commander of the sub-bureau, Wu Jun.
After Wu Jun finished listening to Jiang Zhengkai’s explanation of the situation, he sat there and frowned, obviously anxious about the problem this presented. “Zhengkai, this Lu Xiaoqiang was hand-picked by Commissioner Yao.” Wu Jun paused to rub his hands together. “But from what you’ve just told me, he is indeed not the right choice to be your a.s.sistant right now. d.a.m.n, this really puts us in a bind.”
“Could we discuss this with Commissioner Yao, perhaps get Lu Xiaoqiang transferred to another department?” probed Jiang Zhengkai. “I’m just afraid this is going to be too much of a blow to him.”
“The Commissioner is at the provincial capital for a conference,” Wu Jun replied. “He arranged to have Lu Xiaoqiang sent here before he left, and he specifically told us to take good care of the rookie.”
“But with the way things are now…” Jiang Zhengkai didn’t know how to continue. “Ai! He’s just a kid!”
“He’s not that young.” Wu Jun glanced at Jiang Zhengkai. “Besides, when you were his age, you were already a veteran cop.” He sighed. “How about this? You tell him the truth and see how he reacts. We’ll rea.s.sess based on his reaction.”
“Alright, Commander. I understand,” Jiang Zhengkai nodded. Lu Xiaoqiang wouldn’t be the first police officer to experience a tragedy in the family, although his situation was more delicate than most. First of all, he was about to find out on his first day on the job that his sister was dead. Second, he was also going to find out that his sister had been supporting their family by being a prost.i.tute. Jiang Zhengkai really didn’t know if Lu Xiaoqiang would be able to accept those facts.
When it was almost time to leave work, Lu Xiaoqiang hurried back to the sub-bureau from the munic.i.p.al HQ. First he went back to his shared desk with Liu Na to organize the minutes he took of the meeting. He then excitedly brought the minutes to Jiang Zhengkai’s office. “Inspector Jiang, here are the meeting minutes I took.”
“Hehe, you’ve got really good handwriting, young man!” Jiang Zhengkai complemented Lu Xiaoqiang as he flipped through the minutes. “Hey, you got anything going on tonight?”
“No,” Lu Xiaoqiang straightforwardly replied.
“Perfect!” Jiang Zhengkai set down the meeting minutes on his desk and said, “Let’s go! I’m taking you out to dinner tonight!”
“Inspector Jiang, I…” Lu Xiaoqiang originally thought Jiang Zhengkai was going to take him on an a.s.signment. He hardly expected Jiang Zhengkai to take him out to dinner instead.
“What’s with the hesitation? Come on, let’s get going!” Jiang Zhengkai said frankly as he patted Lu Xiaoqiang on the shoulder. “I don’t usually take people out to dinner. Hurry up before I change my mind!”
“Umm… let me buy you dinner instead!” Lu Xiaoqiang said somewhat uncomfortably.
“Haha, you got any money?” Jiang Zhengkai laughed at Lu Xiaoqiang. “Don’t worry about it. You can buy me dinner once you get your first paycheck.” He landed a hard punch squarely on Lu Xiaoqiang’s chest. “Let’s go!”
“Okay!” Even though Jiang Zhengkai’s punch almost caused Lu Xiaoqiang to tip over, he nevertheless felt like they had suddenly grown a lot closer. Inspector Jiang… he’s really a good big brother! Lu Xiaoqiang couldn’t help but feel that way.
The two men arrived at a small mom-and-pop restaurant. Jiang Zhengkai knew he would be drinking tonight, so he naturally didn’t drive. He picked a secluded table and then motioned for Lu Xiaoqiang to join him.
“What do you normally like to eat?” Jiang Zhengkai casually asked as he tossed the menu over to Lu Xiaoqiang.
“I’m good with anything, Inspector Jiang,” Lu Xiaoqiang responded with a smile. “I’m not a picky eater.”
“Good! How about meat skewers and beer then?” Jiang Zhengkai didn’t bother looking at the menu. He knew a small hole-in-the-wall joint like this specialized in home-cooked dishes and didn’t have anything fancy like sea cuc.u.mbers or abalone. “Give us ten meat skewers, shredded potatoes, and hot-and-sour soup. Oh, make sure to put plenty of hot chili powder on the meat skewers. And give each of us two pitchers of beer.”
Before long, the waiter brought out Jiang Zhengkai’s meat skewers, side dishes, and beer. The two of them ate and made small talk for over half an hour. When Jiang Zhengkai saw that the pitchers were near empty, he called over the waiter and ordered another two pitchers.