S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 1 Chapter 113

Shadow Murderer 21 – Past Events

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He was released from the sterile room and was very impressed when he first saw Bai Yutang. The little boy was so little, cute as could be, and would call him 'Brother' in a very clingy way, and he liked him a lot. Later, he found out that Zhan Zhao from next door always visited, and it was even more fun to watch the two little ones come in a pair and call him 'Brother' together. After he left, his brother was still the same round little boy in his memories, but when he came back a few years later to see him again, he found that he had suddenly grown up a lot.

Bai Jintang's relationship with the Bai family was bad. In the words of Bao Zheng, if the Bai family were tigers, then Bai Jintang was a wolf; he was somewhat of a bandit, and the elders of the Bai family avoided him. Bai Yutang was the only one who didn't. He still called him 'Brother' and listened to everything he said, and even occasionally pampered him, so Bai Jintang doted on him.

When he was in junior high school, Bai Jintang came back to see Bai Yutang and found out that he liked to practise combat, so he hired some masters to teach him, saying that it was always good to practise, not only to protect yourself, but also to protect the people you like. Six months later, Bai Yutang beat up all the people who came to teach him, so he returned the goods and said, "Brother, how much did you pay to hire them? So bad at fighting, can you get a refund?"

When he was in high school, Bai Yutang became obsessed with shooting, so Bai Jintang came back and introduced him to a good shooting range and gave him a few guns, saying: "Don't let anyone know, it's always good to practise properly, you're going to be a policeman in the future anyway." When Bai Yutang got familiar with the guns, he returned them again and said, "Brother, I'm going to live in the dormitory, it's not safe to leave them at home, and the old man will definitely get mad when he finds out."

When he was in college, Bai Jintang came back and bought Bai Yutang his first car, so that he wouldn't be bored at school when he had nothing to do and could take Zhan Zhao with him to see faraway places. Bai Yutang spent three years driving the car to retirement and turned around and said, "Brother, this thing is too slow, I'm going to fly a plane." So he went and became a pilot.

When he returned from the army, Bai Yutang really did not resist at all and went to work as a policeman, as the Bai family wanted. Bai Jintang had always been puzzled as to why, despite the fact that his brother was good at everything, whether it be literature or martial arts, and he was a great man in everything he said and did, he had to become a policeman. It was dangerous and troublesome, and he didn't believe in eliminating violence and restoring peace, he just wanted his only brother to live a happy life. But Bai Yutang just casually said, "It doesn't matter what I do." So he bought him a top-of-the-line sports car, one that could fly and really match his brother, as he couldn't stand the thought of him driving one of those stifling police cars. It was only later that he found out that Bai Yutang was not condemning himself for his family or anything, but did it because of – Zhan Zhao.

From a very young age, Bai Jintang knew that Bai Yutang was not simple; the most difficult part was that he had grown up but would not let anyone know, so no one understood what was actually in his heart, except, of course, Zhan Zhao.

Looking up at his brother who stood opposite him, already as tall as himself, he was asking him in a deep voice, "What do you mean you are also a member of the Leonard family?"

Bai Jintang smiled, one could never hide their true nature completely, and Bai Yutang was no exception; the Bai family were all tigers, it was just that in this generation, both brothers were wolves!

"Cuff him first, it's a lot of work to hold him!" Bai Jintang looked at the bearded man who was still struggling in his hands.

Bai Yutang stood still and didn't move, Zhan Zhao beside him reached out and tugged at him, “What are you in a hurry for?"

Turning his face to look at Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang was a little deflated, but the hostile aura that he had just felt was collected. He reached out and took the handcuffs from his waist and handcuffed the bearded man, calling Ma Han and Zhao Hu to come and drive him back.

Bai Jintang watched Bai Yutang calm down instantly, and did not say anything, he just lit a cigarette, and seemingly unintentionally turned his eyes to Zhan Zhao at the side. Unsurprisingly, Zhan Zhao was staring at him, as if he was trying to see what was going on in his mind.

For Zhan Zhao, Bai Jintang liked him from the first moment he saw him. Apart from his cute looks and good manners, the most important thing was that his heart was completely devoted to Bai Yutang, he doted on him more than the elders of the Bai family, and was the calming agent that kept Bai Yutang so calm and confident all the time.

Bai Jintang also wondered, with Zhan Zhao's intelligence and knowledge, he could have had a better life, so why waste his talents in such a small police station? He definitely could have found a bigger stage. In response to this query, Zhan Zhao's answer was much more playful than Bai Yutang's – the most powerful people do not necessarily need a specific stage, but rather everywhere they go is a stage. After this, Bai Jintang looked at the meek scholar differently for the first time. The most similar thing about he and Bai Yutang was that they both chose to enlarge their hearts so that the world would become smaller. It is possible to live and display their talents the same anywhere, and most importantly they have always been confident and self-assured, and optimistic enough to be content by seeing each other, which is far more rewarding than success in the eyes of the world.

It was only after Wang Chao and Ma Han had got the bearded man out of the way in an armoured car-like escort vehicle that the three men moved their eyes back to each other.

Bai Yutang stared at Bai Jintang rather nervously, as if he was afraid he might say something serious. Bai Jintang was really happy because he saw that Bai Yutang only had worry in his eyes, not suspicion or displeasure, as if he and Zhan Zhao would always joke about him being in the mafia, but never suspected that he had actually done something bad.

"What should I say?" Bai Jintang put out the cigarette in his hand and decided to tease Bai Yutang, "No need to go into the interrogation room? I have the right not to answer when asked like this."

Sure enough, a trace of anxiety flashed across Bai Yutang's face. Before he could say anything, he heard Zhan Zhao beside him say, "Why is Brother so formal? If Brother doesn't want to talk about it, there's nothing we can do, right?"

Bai Jintang shook his head. If Bai Yutang was a hard knife, Zhan Zhao was a soft knife, and in some ways, his view of justice was much weaker than Bai Yutang's. Zhan Zhao had his own theories and way of thinking, as well as his own justice. His job was not so much to serve justice as it was to see through human nature and to defend Bai Yutang to the maximum extent possible. Zhan Zhao's expression was not good, not because he might be the bad guy, but because he might have lied to Bai Yutang.

"It's not as complicated as you guys think." Bai Jintang tried to light his cigarette again, but it was snatched away by Bai Yutang.

Shrugging his shoulders, Bai Jintang rubbed his eyebrows and spoke slowly, "I joined the Leonard family without knowing it."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were startled and looked at each other, then looked at Bai Jintang, waiting for him to continue.

"It started back during the time when I first arrived in Italy." Bai Jintang leaned to the side of the car and said, "That time... when I was about eighteen or nineteen, I came home from my part-time job that day and saw two parties fighting at the street corner, where a group of people were attacking a young man... who was the Leonard you saw just now."

"Then Brother, you went to help?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Jintang raised his eyebrows, "Leonard was still very young, and looked svelte. Looking at his black hair from afar, he looked Chinese. I saw that there were a lot of people bullying a few, so I went to help."

Zhan Zhao gave Bai Yutang a look – you are just like him on that point, when you see a fight, you will definitely help the side with less people.

Bai Yutang sighed and asked Bai Jintang, "So, what happened afterwards?"

"I didn't think much of it at the time, I thought Leonard was a student, and after talking to him, I thought he was quite likeable and we became friends." Bai Jintang habitually fished out his lighter and played with it in his hand, it was given to him by a former subsidiary and he liked it very much. After a moment of silence, he continued, "Then a bunch of us stayed together, along with the twins, and started doing business. Leonard was among us, and we never knew who he was."

"Then the business got bigger, and suddenly one day Leonard said his father wanted to see me." Bai Jintang shook his head as he spoke, "I thought at the time that his dad was just a regular clerk or something... because it was a meeting at a cafe. He said their family was an old one, and that he wanted to take me into their family and make me a blood brother to Leonard. He also said that he would add his surname to my foreign name – Leonard."

"You agreed?" Bai Yutang's eyes widened.

"No." Bai Jintang shook his head, "I declined, not suspecting at first, just taking it as someone's kindness, but then things got a little strange."

"Strange?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao asked at the same time.

"My company was met with some inexplicable resistance and business was very bad, then I found out that someone was maliciously obstructing it. The most troublesome thing was that the twins were involved and a group of my brothers were also implicated." Bai Jintang said lightly, "It was only when Leonard came to me again that I realised it might not be that simple, but there was nothing left to do. To save my brothers, I had to join his family."

At this point, Bai Jintang stopped talking and looked up at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

The two obviously didn't enjoy hearing it, and after waiting for half a day, Bai Yutang asked, "Is that the end of it?"

Bai Jintang nodded, "That's it."

"Then, what about your business in Italy and your affair with their family..." Bai Yutang seemed to be a little unconvinced.

Bai Jintang smiled bitterly, "I'm doing legitimate business, it's practically a retirement home for the Leonard family."

"What do you mean?" The two men were in sync again.

"Anyone who has been in the underworld for a long time will get sick of it, but this occupation is not like ordinary work, there are no benefits or pensions, and you can't take a break when you're tired, you can only wait to die... so the people who work for me are all ex-members of the underworld."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were somewhat speechless, these people employed by Brother are really... No wonder Interpol officers like Ouyang Chun have to take care of him, it is simply for the benefit of people all over the world.

"As you know, a snake with its teeth pulled out is still a snake." Bai Jintang said with a bit of helplessness, "If you come from the underworld, you inevitably have a bit of an aura around you, so I do borrow some of the Leonard family's power to govern them."

"Then what he just said.... what do you also want to know?" Bai Yutang still had a lot of questions.

"Leonard and I have been brothers for about ten years, and I used to pass out inexplicably." Bai Jintang said, "I gave them a general account of what happened in the past, and then he became very interested and always said he wanted to find out the truth."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang understood, no wonder Bai Jintang had just said that Leonard was using him as a front, obviously, the Leonard family was definitely interested in the fact that Bai Jintang would become so ‘outstanding'.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Translated: January 21, 2023 by Angel

Edited: February 9, 2023 by Angel