Chapter 9 (1/2)

Faster, Faster, Much Faster!

“Who are you calling? Xia Xue? Or Ma Xiao-An?” Jiang Ru-Yi was very interested to know who Xia Lei could be calling at this time.

“A friend you don’t know. Don’t ask,” said Xia Lei as he waited for the call to connect.

There was no ringing – the person on the other end picked up after five seconds.

“Hello? Who’s this?” A female voice came over the line. It was cold as ice, probing and full of suspicion.

“It’s me, Xia Lei,” said Xia Lei, “remember me?”

“Of course. I called you last night but you didn’t pick up.”

Xia Lei then remembered the caller with the unknown number from last night when he was at the hospital. He’d thought that was from some insurance person but it was actually Long Bing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was you so I didn’t pick up,” he said.

“So why are you using someone else’s phone to call me now?”, asked Long Bing.

“Well, you see…” Xia Lei hesitated, then said, “I’m in a spot of trouble, and I’m wondering if you could help me.”

“Where are you?”

“Hai-Zhu City North Police Station.”

“Wait for me. Fifteen minutes.” With that, Long Bing hung up.

Xia Lei stood, waiting. He still had the phone to his ear and did not react for a while. Wasn’t Long Bing going to ask him what trouble he was in? She didn’t ask anything except for where he was and said she would be coming. Did this mean that whatever trouble he was in was nothing to her?

Xia Lei’s decision to call Long Bing was a spontaneous one. Jiang Ru-Yi’s appearance made him think of her. Long Bing’s reaction during the shooting, her calm and collected manner all pointed to traits of an extraordinary woman. More importantly, she was not afraid of the police. When the police had arrived, she let him leave quickly too, so she was not a bad person. Based on these two facts, he could say that she was not one of the common folk and could possibly help him in his situation so he had made the call.

It looked like he had made the right choice. And she must be in Hai-Zhu City too, if not she wouldn’t have said that she’d be here in fifteen minutes.

“Who is that? You’re being so secretive,” probed Jiang Ru-Yi.

Xia Lei handed the phone to Jiang Ru-Yi and smiled as he said, “I said it was a friend. A friend you don’t know.”

Jiang Ru-Yi rolled her eyes at Xia Lei. “Oh, so you’re trying to be mysterious now? I was going to help you think of a way to get out of there with that video but it looks like I was being a busybody, huh? I’ll not bother to help you and just leave you locked up in here, then.”

“Stay out of this for now. You work here, so Li Qing-Hua could come after you.”

“You dummy. You’re too kind. You’re already in this state and you’re still thinking of my welfare? Society will chew you up and spit you on the streets.” Jiang Ru-Yi’s words were harsh but she was secretly glad that Xia Lei cared.

At that moment, Hu Bin walked over and spoke gruffly, “Jiang Ru-Yi, what are you doing here?”

Jiang Ru-Yi looked over her shoulder at Hu Bin, then spoke quietly to Xia Lei, “Lei, don’t worry. I’ll get you out.”

“Jiang Ru-Yi, I asked you a question. Didn’t you hear me?” Hu Bin sounded a little angry.

Jiang Ru-Yi turned around and smiled as she greeted him. “Oh, it’s Team Leader Hu! Good morning, Team Leader Hu.”

“I asked, what are you doing here?” Hu Bin looked at Jiang Ru-Yi and Xia Lei suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing. I know this guy so I was just asking what he got locked up for,” said Jiang Ru-Yi.

“You know each other?” Hu Bin was surprised.

“That was over ten years ago. I thought he looked familiar just now, so I asked and he turned out to be a schoolmate from my old school,” said Jiang Ru-YI.

Hu Bin suddenly spotted the mobile phone in Jiang Ru-Yi’s hand and his face darkened, “You gave him a phone to make calls?”

Jiang Ru-Yi was flustered, “No, no. Why would I? I didn’t.”

Hu Bin glared at Jiang Ru-Yi. “You’d better not be so foolish. What are you still doing here? Go back to work!”

Jiang Ru-Yi gave Xia Lei a look before she left, her head low.

Hu Bin opened the cell door and growled, “Move it!”

“Where are we going?”

“Are you allowed to ask questions? Be quiet! Move!” Hu Bin shoved Xia Lei roughly.

Xia Lei was brought to the same interrogation room from last night.

In the interrogation room, Hu Bin slammed his notebook heavily onto the table. “Chief Li was being kind last night and didn’t ask for you to be taken care of. Know your place and confess to your offence, then sign and nothing will happen to you. If you give me attitude again like last night… Humph!”

“So you’re saying if I don’t confess and don’t sign, you’ll torture me for a confession?”

“Looks like you won’t obey unless you get roughed up!” Hu Bin turned and gestured to the glass wall.