S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 35

Ghost Murderer 03 - Zhao Zhen’s Troubles

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Watching the video gave all the SCI members the chills. Bai Chi thought about making ginger milk pudding to warm his stomach.

“Head,” After the colleagues from the traffic division left, Zhao Hu touched the goosebumps on his arms and asked Bai Yutang, “is this… a prank or is it real?”

Bai Yutang thought about it and asked Bai Chi, “Has Zhao Zhen been busy performing lately?”

“Oh, he’s taking a break after his last performance today.” Bai Chi added in a whisper, “He’s been quite tired lately.”

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, “Don’t worry, we’ll simply consult him, we won’t bring him out to catch ghosts.”

Bai Chi blushed and looked at Zhan Zhao, who narrowed his eyes and smiled at him.

“Jiang Ping, get a professional to analyze the video,” Bai Yutang said to Jiang Ping, “see if there’s any tampering, and…”

“I’ll analyze it frame by frame!” Jiang Ping looked full of energy and ran off with a copy of the video.

“Let’s go to the traffic division to get the information, and then go look for witnesses to verify it.” Ma Han, Zhao Hu, and Wang Chao left together.

Luo Tian also wanted to go but Bai Yutang stopped him and said, “You aren’t officially on duty until tomorrow. Come on, go pick up Yang Yang and invite Ma Xin for dinner.”

Luo Tian was a little anxious. Bai Yutang smiled and nudged him, then looked at Ma Xin, “Take someone with you.”

Ma Xin smiled faintly, tugged on Luo Tian’s collar, and pulled him away.

“Gongsun, are you coming to see Zhao Zhen?” Bai Yutang asked him, “Let’s call Brother to join us for dinner later.”

“Ahem.” Gongsun coughed ambiguously and looked aside without answering.

Bai Yutang was stunned when Zhan Zhao tugged him, narrowed his eyes, and gestured ‘one’ at him.

Bai Yutang paused momentarily, then immediately snapped out of it. He coughed, nodded, and said to Bai Chi, “Let’s go then.”

Gongsun smiled faintly, put his hands in his pockets, and wandered off to the forensic room to change his clothes, when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He walked out with a smile and ran to the elevator to go downstairs…

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and walked over to the window, and of course, they saw Bai Jintang’s car parked downstairs.

“Hmm…” Bai Yutang said enviously, “it’s been a year since the wedding.”

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose, “Xiao Bai, let’s go tie the knot too!”

Bai Yutang’s eyes widened as he looked at him, “Cat, is this a marriage proposal?”

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows at him and reached out to pinch his chin, “Will you marry me or not, Captain Bai?”

Bai Yutang looked around and found that only Bai Chi was stirring his milk tea with a red face. No one else was there, so he held the arrogant Zhan Zhao and punished him!

……

When the time came, Bai Chi rushed to pack up his things, he definitely had to see Zhao Zhen’s last performance.

Zhao Zhen’s latest tour had been going on for almost half a year, and it was said that after this performance, he would be able to take a break for over a year to work on some new shows. Bai Chi was relieved that he could finally take a break. Zhao Zhen was usually extremely lazy, but he worked very hard whenever he was on a magic tour and would always seem to be tired.

When he got into the car, Bai Yutang started the car and couldn’t help but ask Bai Chi, “If Zhao Zhen is taking a break, shouldn't he get a nutritionist to adjust his diet? Or would it be better if I cook more calorie-rich foods?”

“En…” Bai Chi slumped over between their two seats, somewhat depressed, and said, “I think he should eat more calories.”

“Does he have to make himself so skinny for every magic show?” Zhan Zhao asked, “It’s very unhealthy.”

“It’s because magicians have to hide a lot of things on their body.” Bai Chi said, “But one of his selling points is that he is handsome and can't get fat, so in the end, he had to make himself as thin as possible.”

“Just like a boxer, ah.” Bai Yutang suddenly let out a sigh.

Zhan Zhao looked at him and said, “Xiao Bai, don't make cold jokes, Zhao Zhen's clothes aren't as sexy as a boxer's.”

Bai Yutang laughed and looked at Zhan Zhao, “Cat you're the one telling cold jokes, they’re getting colder by the day!”

The car pulled up to the entrance of the Grand Theatre.

“Oh.” Bai Yutang got out of the car and said, “Look at the parking lot full of cars.”

“This show is sensational, ah.” Bai Chi said, “They say that the tickets were sold out two months ago.”

“We don’t have any tickets,” Zhan Zhao was a little worried, “will we be able to get in?”

“I have an employee badge.” Bai Chi put the badge around his neck and said, “Just follow me inside.”

As Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang followed him inside, Zhan Zhao whispered, “Did you see it? VIP!”

Bai Yutang laughed, “Cat, you’re very excited today. Are you excited because we have a case?”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “This case is very exciting, don’t you think?”

“En… it is indeed special.” Bai Yutang was rather helpless, “The kind that is so special that you want to have nightmares about it.”

The two of them joked as they followed Bai Chi inside.

Sure enough, the security guard let them in and Bai Chi went backstage, meeting Zhao Zhen’s agent on the way.

“Xiao Bai Bai, you’re here?” 

Zhao Zhen's previous agent had retired due to health problems, and it was said that Zhao Zhen had a new beautiful agent.

At first glance, she was indeed a beauty. She looked to be in her thirties, with a sexy body and good features, and appeared to be the competent type.

“Hey,” The female agent put her arm around Bai Chi’s shoulder and asked him with a smile, “who are those two handsome guys?”

Bai Chi smiled and said, “They’re my brothers.” He then introduced Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang to her.

"Brother, this is Li Ying, Zhao Zhen's agent."

“Hi, handsome.” Li Ying was quite cheerful and greeted Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang enthusiastically.

The two had heard from Da Ding and Xiao Ding that this woman was a top agent, very competent and extremely well-connected. For Zhao Zhen's tour this year, she has done an excellent job in terms of preparation, promotion, and directing the show, allowing Zhao Zhen to focus on his magic without having to worry about anything else.

This time, due to their excellent cooperation, when Bai Jintang signed Zhao Zhen, she was also signed along with him, and is now an exclusive agent for the company under the management of Da Ding and Xiao Ding.

“Oh, Xiao Ying.” Uncle Wu, the assistant who had been with Zhao Zhen for over five years, walked over and said to Li Ying with a smile, “This is the young boss of the Bai Group.”

“Oh?” Li Ying's eyes lit up as she moved over and asked, “If you’re not a couple, can I pursue one of you?”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao showed her their rings together.

Li Ying immediately clung to a pillar in a battered way, “Another couple… I originally came to the Bai family to hook up with Boss Bai, the diamond king, but I didn’t expect him to get married. Zhao Zhen is also claimed, but I didn’t expect him to be controlled by such a cute little brother. Half of the men in the world have owners, and the other half are their owners, what a shame for an old lady like me…” (Angel: The author used 小正太 to describe Bai Chi, I changed it to cute little brother for it to make more sense in English. This term is used to describe a young boy with no beard, who is a bit feminine, cute, and physically weak. It is similar to the male version of a lolita)

“Li Ying, don’t tease them, they are cops, the kind you say you can’t marry.” Bai Chi patted her in order to comfort her.

“No way…” Li Ying's eyes widened at the two men, “Such handsome cops?!”

“They have many handsome men in SCI, and they have various types.” Uncle Wu whispered to her.

“SCI?” Li Ying's eyes widened as she stepped forward and asked, “Do you want to start a group and release a record?”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang shook their heads decisively, uninterested.

Li Ying once again rubbed herself against the pillar in a mournful manner.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, the agent was a bit excitable.

Bai Yutang was curious, “Why can’t you marry a police officer?”

“Because too many things happen!” Li Ying answered without hesitation.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought about it – That’s right.

Bai Chi had already run backstage towards the stands on the sides of the stage. The audience was in high spirits, so it was clear that Zhao Zhen's performance was a success.

When Bai Chi was gone, Li Ying let go of the pillar. A young assistant brought two drinks for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang and ran away with a red face.

“That’s right,” Li Ying acted quite familiar with them and came over to say, “it’s good that you two are cops.”

“What’s wrong?” Bai Yutang looked at her.

“Well… is it convenient for you to come with me? Can I show you something? Zhao Zhen has recently encountered some trouble. Although Xiao Bai Chi is also a police officer, I don’t dare to show him, Zhao Zhen said I’m not allowed to.” ​Li Ying said, guiding Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang towards the office backstage.

“Is something wrong?” Bai Yutang keenly felt that someone might be harassing Zhao Zhen, but he is an artist under the Bai Group, with Brother’s influence, who would dare? Hasn’t Da Ding and Xiao Ding used a bazooka to blast them to Mars?

Li Ying led the two to the inside the office and closed the door. She opened a drawer with a key she had with her, fished out a stack of envelopes, and handed them to Zhan Zhao.

“Letters?” Zhan Zhao took the stack of envelopes and opened them to read them.

“The performance company receives many letters and packages every day,” Li Ying moved chairs over for the two of them to sit down on and sat down herself, saying, “but this is the first time we've encountered letters sent on a large scale like this.”

“Large-scale?” Bai Yutang frowned slightly and asked,  “What kind of large-scale?”

“One letter almost every day for the past six months… And it will arrive! Rain or shine!” Li Ying laughed bitterly and said, “These dozens of envelopes are just from this month, there are over a hundred more locked away at the company. Zhao Zhen won't let us tell Bai Chi for fear of worrying him.”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and opened the envelopes. They saw that there were an enormous amount of mostly pictures and newspaper clippings of Zhao Zhen inside.

Bai Yutang frowned and looked at them, feeling somewhat disgusted no matter how he looked at them.

“It's disgusting, isn't it?” Li Ying also asked, “This person gives me the feeling that it’s like he does nothing all day but stalk and take photos of Zhao Zhen, as well as make newspaper clippings of him.”

“Cat,” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, “what kind of mental illness is this?”

Zhan Zhao patiently opened and looked at the letters one by one, and after reading them, he said, “Paranoid and extreme, this person is dangerous.”

Bai Yutang looked at Li Ying, “Why didn’t you call the police? Why didn’t Zhao Zhen say anything when he came home?”

“He's been planning a worldwide tour for the past six months.” Li Ying sighed helplessly, “Zhao Zhen is very lazy, other than magic and Bai Chi, he doesn’t care about anything. When he first received the letters, he took a look at them and said that they were very ordinary, so we shouldn’t bother with them. But even after it had been happening for several months, he said to ignore it… in short, it’s dragged on until now.”

Bai Yutang sighed, “According to Zhao Zhen's character, I guess he's going to wait until that pervert has followed him home and then clean him up himself.”

“It might not be that simple this time.” Zhan Zhao stared at a few of the newspaper clippings and frowned a little worriedly, “This man's paranoia is quite severe, and according to the dates, he's getting more and more impatient.”

“What does that mean?” Li Ying asked in disbelief.

“Well…” Zhan Zhao looked at the newspaper clippings. He held them up, putting them under the light, and raised his eyebrows slightly, “The paper the clippings were pasted on seems to have words written on it.”

Bai Yutang took the paper, looked at it under the light, and nodded, “Indeed, the words seem to be very big and the lines very thick, it’s like it was written with a marker.”

“En… bring a bowl of water.” Zhan Zhao said to Li Ying.

“Okay!” Li Ying ran out to get a bowl of water, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a few newspaper clippings and put them into the water.

Not long after, the glue used to paste the newspaper was dissolved by the water. When Zhan Zhao removed the newspapers, he saw that the papers underneath were ordinary pieces of A4 printing paper, but there was a sentence written with a black marker on each one.

“Heh…” Li Ying looked at them one by one before throwing the paper back in shock, covering her mouth, and widening her eyes, “Oh my god.”

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, “What do you think?”

Bai Yutang shrugged, “It seems that the problem is really a lot more serious than expected.”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: October 6/7, 2021