Chapter 21: Strange Neighbor 21

The electric fan mounted on the wall whirred at full speed, sending stacks of files and documents rustling noisily on the office desk. Yu Bai answered the police officer’s questions with complete honesty.

“I was focused on watching the person next to me play Go, so I didn’t see exactly how it happened. But it definitely wasn’t A Qiang and his friends stealing anything—they were standing by the flower bed the whole time and only rushed over at that exact moment.”

“They didn’t have time to steal anything, and they had no reason to. Besides…”

Yu Bai glanced toward A Qiang and the others, who were being questioned by other officers a short distance away.

After A Qiang and his crew had grabbed the thief, the scene had been so chaotic—not to mention their unusually striking appearances and demeanors—that when the police arrived, they initially thought some major crime had gone down. They ended up hauling back everything at the site that could possibly be evidence, including a highly suspicious black trash bag.

The officer eyed the group of burly men in their floral shirts with grave seriousness. “What’s inside this?”

The men exchanged awkward glances, reluctant to explain. “…Nothing. Don’t look.”

The officer’s brow furrowed. He donned a pair of gloves with extra caution and opened the black bag.

Then, amid the men’s shifty gazes darting everywhere, the officer’s eyes suddenly widened as he peered inside. His expression gradually turned utterly bewildered.

…It was filled with a dense pile of watermelon seed shells.

“They even properly bagged their watermelon seed shells,” Yu Bai said, withdrawing his gaze and sighing helplessly. “They’re model law-abiding citizens.”

The young officer conducting the interview witnessed the scene and couldn’t help bursting out laughing. He quickly cleared his throat, forcing his face back to seriousness. “The officers on duty today were just transferred from out of town, so they don’t know you guys yet. Next time, they’ll have the experience.”

“That’s good.”

“Though that doesn’t sound quite right,” the officer said, scratching his head. “Better if there’s no next time.”

Yu Bai agreed. “I hope so too.”

“Next time would be the fifty-first. I’ll try to personally come pick you up.”

“…Hey.”

“Haha, just kidding.”

The young officer waved with a grin, instructing his note-taking colleague to file the record properly. Then he turned to Yu Bai. “The facts are pretty clear right now, so no need to worry. It’s just that there’s no surveillance at that spot in the park. The guy insists he didn’t steal anything and is spouting all sorts of nonsense, which makes him a bit tricky to deal with. So we still need statements from you eyewitnesses.”

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze to the blue-eyed man sitting quietly nearby. “Is this your friend?”

Yu Bai nodded. “Does he need to give a statement too?”

He was a little worried about how this utterly truthful non-human would handle the questioning.

Moreover, he wasn’t even sure if the guy had a legitimate human identity registered in any system.

“Yeah, we’ll need your friend to cooperate with us too.” The young officer eyed the silent Xie Wufang with some curiosity. “Does he understand? Do we need to use a foreign language?”

Yu Bai was wrestling with whether to boldly lie to the police to help his non-human neighbor skip the statement—when Xie Wufang nodded slightly and said, with perfect honesty, “I understand. No need.”

…

Why was he so eager in front of human police!

Yu Bai shot him a resentful glare.

Hearing the complete lack of accent, the young officer blinked in surprise. “Wow, I thought you weren’t familiar with the area—like a foreigner visiting for the first time.”

Then he glanced at the bag of chips still in Xie Wufang’s hand and reminded him, “Hold off on the snacks for now. This is the station, after all. Keep it a bit serious.”

In a way, the guy really was a foreigner visiting for the first time, utterly clueless about local rules.

Yu Bai tried to wriggle out of it. “He was playing chess the whole time, so he probably didn’t notice what happened in the crowd either. He knows about as much as I do.”

“Oh, it’s not about that,” the officer said. “It’s something else.”

“The old man he was playing Go with got sent to the hospital. Since it coincided with the theft report, some bystanders thought a murder had happened in broad daylight at the park… Ahem, he’s a party to the incident, so we need his record. Don’t worry—just tell the truth.”

The young officer had his colleague open a new file and addressed Xie Wufang. “Do you have your ID? Hand it over for registration. What’s your name?”

No sooner had he spoken than a growing commotion erupted from behind them.

Everyone turned to look.

Surrounded by officers, A Qiang—still dripping with filthy water—finally lost his temper and started brawling with the real thief, who was sneering at the bag of watermelon shells. Nearby, a drunk spectator who’d been brought in after passing out on the roadside cheered loudly, turning the scene into utter pandemonium.

A Qiang’s eyes blazed with fury. “I’m gonna beat you to a pulp today, you little bastard!”

His brothers struggled to hold back their boss. “Brother Qiang, don’t lose it! This place is crawling with cops!”

The thief wailed like a banshee. “Murder! Help! I told you these guys aren’t any good—”

“Nice hit! Beautiful punch!” The drunk spectator was thrilled. “Uppercut! Lower hook!”

The two officers handling statements jumped up to help control the chaos. “Hang on a sec—we’ll be right back.”

Yu Bai: “…”

Fine. Good job.

Seizing the moment while no one was paying attention, he quickly turned to Xie Wufang. “Do you have an ID?”

If the guy wasn’t prepared with the essentials for human life, Yu Bai figured they could just slip out of the station.

Sneaking away under the police’s noses would be a novel experience.

It could always reset anyway.

But Xie Wufang said, “Yes.”

Yu Bai was a bit surprised. “On you?”

Xie Wufang pulled a thin card from his pocket and handed it over.

He’d come fully prepared.

The ID’s details were convincingly fabricated—nothing off about it. The photo on the right showed Xie Wufang himself, with gray-blue eyes and slightly wavy black hair, the collar of a white shirt peeking from his neckline, just like what he wore today.

Evidently, his phone number and lease were handled through legitimate channels too.

Yu Bai finally relaxed with a breath of relief.

No matter how he’d obtained it, at least there was no risk of the non-human getting exposed on the spot.

Xie Wufang watched him, then spoke up. “I did notice what happened in the crowd. It was the man who got pinned down—he stole something. He quietly took a phone and a wallet from someone else.”

Yu Bai blinked, then realized what he meant. Embarrassment washed over him uncontrollably for a second as certain mortifying memories resurfaced.

Tracking this guy earlier had been a terrible mistake.

Good thing it was inside the loop.

Then Yu Bai whispered, “Why didn’t you tell the police just now?”

It didn’t fit his abnormally honest nature.

“I was going to,” Xie Wufang paused. “But it seemed like you didn’t want me to speak.”

He’d even picked up on that intention.

Yu Bai couldn’t help laughing, then remembered something. “Can I ask you a question?”

“What?”

“If someone gave you a gift, what would you give them in return?”

In this loop, Yu Bai hadn’t given the giant watermelon to his next-door neighbor, so he hadn’t received that mysterious gray-white small ball either.

He was dying to know what the small ball did.

Since he’d confirmed the man never lied, he decided to ask directly.

“A gift?”

Xie Wufang rattled the bag of chips in his hand. “This?”

“That doesn’t count.” Yu Bai tried to recreate the scenario. “Something more formal—maybe food, but much bigger, presented properly. Like leaving it at your doorstep with a note introducing the gift.”

Xie Wufang listened intently, his gaze focused.

“The note didn’t say much, but… uh, it was a sincere gift.”

Yu Bai thought back to his initial motive for gifting the yoga-ball-sized watermelon and felt a twinge of guilt.

“So, in that case, would you give something back? And what?”

Under his expectant gaze, the black-haired, blue-eyed man pondered seriously for a long moment before shaking his head.

“I don’t know what I would give in that situation.” Xie Wufang said. “Sorry, I’m not good at imagining things.”

“…” Yu Bai thought that was a bit much and blurted out, “Not good? You just learned Go and beat two old men at it.”

The thought of the endless possibilities on that Go board after each move gave him a headache.

“That wasn’t imagination,” Xie Wufang corrected. “Just simple calculation.”

…Simple calculation.

How infuriating.

If hot-tempered Old Man Yuan heard that, he’d probably faint again.

As Yu Bai mulled this over, he peered past the chaotic bustle inside the police station and vaguely spotted the figure of another old chess player lingering at the doorway.

He was just about to take a closer look when the two officers handling the statement came panting back into the room.

“Let’s continue. Where were we?” The young police officer noticed the ID card in Yu Bai’s hand, took it casually, and slotted it into the scanner. “Oh, right—let’s register it first.”

Once the machine read the card, Xie Wufang’s personal information popped up smoothly on the computer screen. At first glance, there wasn’t a single flaw.

Yu Bai finally let himself relax completely.

“You’re a local, huh.” The officer glanced idly at the address on the ID and began going through the procedure. “Name of the person being questioned?”

“Xie Wufang.”

“Residential address?”

“Skystar City, Sun Street…”

Yu Bai watched silently from the side, itching to pull out his phone and record this bizarre yet oddly normal scene.

Suddenly, the rapid clacking of the keyboard slowed to a halt.

The officer in charge of recording paused, nudged his colleague with an elbow, and said in bewilderment, “Xiao Li, take a look at this. Something’s off here.”

“Huh?” Xiao Li turned to him. “What’s wrong?”

He held up the ID card and pointed at the information on the screen for comparison. “Look—the photos don’t match. The faces are different.”

“Hm? Isn’t that him in both? What’s different—hey!”

Xiao Li sounded surprised too. “Why are the clothes different?”

In the database entry, the ID photo showed Xie Wufang in a formal black suit. But on the card in their hands, he was wearing a white shirt.

Xiao Li blurted out on instinct, “Is the system glitching? Did he get a new ID, but the old photo didn’t update?”

The other officer shook his head and lowered his voice. “Nah, that doesn’t make sense. No one takes an ID photo in a white shirt like that. And check this—his profile is completely blank. No history, no nothing…”

“What’s going on here?” Xiao Li’s expression turned wary as he eyed the remarkably calm man with his peripheral vision. “Fake ID? Fake identity?”

The moment Yu Bai heard the officers mention something strange, he sensed trouble.

He leaned in and whispered to the man beside him, “Why doesn’t the photo on your ID match the one in the system?”

The man answered in a perfectly casual tone, “Because I change clothes every day.”

“…” Yu Bai took a second to process it, hardly believing his ears. “You changing clothes is one thing—the photo doesn’t need to change with it!”

No wonder the clothes in the ID photo matched exactly what Xie Wufang had on right now.

If he was going to change them, he should have updated the system’s version too!

…How exactly did this non-human understand what an ID card even was?

Yu Bai gazed into those lake-like eyes, half exasperated and half amused. A flicker of apologetic regret shimmered within them.

He knew Xie Wufang was about to apologize again.

Meanwhile, Xiao Li discreetly signaled his colleagues, preparing to surround the mysterious man holding what appeared to be a fake ID.

“Sir, let’s move to another room to finish the statement.” Xiao Li flashed a perfunctory smile. “If you would kindly follow me this way?”

That fleeting glimpse of the chess-playing old man earlier hadn’t been a hallucination. Old Man Zhang—the regular opponent of the Stinky Go Basket, Old Man Yuan—was craning his neck to peer inside the station. When he caught sight of those familiar blue eyes, he waved enthusiastically.

“Hey! Old Yuan’s been mumbling about you nonstop from the ambulance. He practically shoved me out and told me to come find you.” Old Man Zhang cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. “Young fella, he wants to learn chess from you—and so do I—”

Uncle Li, the Criminal Investigation Captain, had been in the area on business. He’d heard Yu Bai was at the station again as a witness and stopped by to check on him, only to find one of his old rival’s subordinates bold enough to assault someone right here.

“You lot have some nerve.” Li Nanxiao sneered. “Does Sun Tiantian want to go back to his old tricks?”

Yu Bai thought, what a chaotic day.

So a little more chaos wouldn’t hurt.

Suddenly, Yu Bai seized the man’s wrist, cutting off the apology on his lips, and bolted for the exit with him in tow.

“Never tried running from the cops before, have you?” A rich amusement bloomed in his pale eyes. “Well, now you have.”

His fingertips brushed against a patch of icy skin, and the warm summer breeze ahead surged toward them in a rush.