A Psych Case Just Joined the Team Chapter 012

Bloodshed – 12

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Lin Datong's case was nearing its conclusion. It was Saturday, and Xing Zui had asked Xie Xun to book a private room at a hotel they often frequented for group dinners. After work, the group arrived at the venue on time, but Xing Zui was delayed by some matters and showed up half an hour late. Qing Ming, waiting for him, also arrived late. Led by a waiter, he pushed open the door to the private room with one hand and saw a large round table packed with people.

Qing Ming noticed a few unfamiliar faces, and then caught sight of Mu Sen seated beside Fang Lai.

Xie Xun asked, "How come it's just you? Where's Boss?"

Mu Sen said languidly, "Worried Captain Xing might skip out on the bill?"

Qing Ming replied, "Senior went to the washroom."

Qing Ming looked at the two empty seats, one of them was beside a short-haired female colleague, who was chatting with several unfamiliar faces next to her. He was about to sit down when the woman suddenly shot him a sharp look, full of warning. Qing Ming instantly grasped its meaning: "Try sitting here if you dare!"

At that moment, Mu Sen reached out and pulled him over. "Sit by me, don't even think about that one, Tang Xin's saving it for Captain Xing."

Hearing this, the short-haired female colleague blushed. "Senior!"

Mu Sen shrugged, then gestured toward the unfamiliar faces and said, "These are all from the forensics department. Tang Xin's just joined, same as you, not been here long."

A man wearing glasses spoke up. "I'm Feng Gang, just call me Gangzi."

Then the man beside him chimed in, "I'm Gu Hao, I don't mind if you call me the same as everyone else, Haozi."

The woman then introduced herself. "Tang Xin, just call me Tang Xin."

"I'm Qing Ming."

"Captain Xing hasn't given you a nickname?"

Naturally, Qing Ming found names like "Kid" or "Qing Sansui" far too ridiculous to say out loud. He dodged the question. "No..."

Just then, the door to the private room opened.

Xing Zui walked in and took the final empty seat. Not long after, the waiters began serving the dishes one by one, and the atmosphere in the room grew livelier. Those driving refrained from touching alcohol, while Xie Xun and Feng Gang from the forensics department drank to their hearts' content. At every group dinner, it was always these two competing over drinks. With new colleagues joining the table this time, naturally, they wouldn't let them off the hook and tried to rope them in.

Xie Xun said to Qing Ming, "You're not driving, are you? Come on, have a drink with the two of us."

As he spoke, he turned a glass full of baijiu in front of Qing Ming.

"I... I can't drink,"

"What's this? Are you like Fang Lai, also allergic to alcohol?"

"No, not that, it's just..."

Seeing him stammering, Xie Xun grew displeased and picked up the glass. "Just what? If you're not allergic, then drink with us, come on!"

Qing Ming still tried to decline, "I really can't drink..."

At that point, Feng Gang chimed in as well: "Ai, are you even a man? What kind of man doesn't drink?"

Seeing that he couldn't resist any longer, Qing Ming cast a pleading look in Xing Zui's direction. Naturally, Xing Zui pretended not to see it, he contentedly picked up a chopstick of sweet and sour aubergine and chewed it slowly. Clearly pleased with the flavour, he reached for another piece.

"Cut back on the sweet stuff, or diabetes'll come knocking," Qing Ming said through gritted teeth, offering a well-meaning reminder.

"You've got a peculiar way of thinking, who told you diabetes comes from eating sugar?"

Qing Ming thought of someone straight away. "Our biology teacher in middle school."

(The biology teacher strongly denied this slander.)

"That biology teacher of yours was probably just like you, his head's only there to add height."

"......"

"By your logic, cerebral thrombosis comes from eating too much duck's blood, and kidney failure is from drinking too much urine?" As he spoke, Xing Zui popped another piece of aubergine into his mouth, chewing with relish and obvious enjoyment.

Tang Xin covered her mouth beside him, trying not to laugh. Mu Sen couldn't bear it any longer and said, half-joking and half-serious, "Comrade Xiao Ming, your Captain Xing honed that mouth of his under the overpass with the old storytellers. If he hadn't joined the criminal investigation team, with that mouth alone he'd be prime recruitment material for a pyramid scheme... Don't talk to him too much."

Qing Ming had just opened his mouth when Xie Xun cut him off. "Ai, Qing Ming, what are you still dawdling for? Hurry up and drink."

Qing Ming reluctantly raised the glass in front of him and drained it in one go like drinking poison. Seeing how boldly he drank, Xie Xun and Feng Gang of course weren't about to let him off that easily. Just as they were about to refill his glass...

– Bang!

With a single thud, Qing Ming's head crashed onto the table, and he was out cold. The lively atmosphere in the private room froze for several seconds due to his sudden action, and once everyone recovered from the shock, the room erupted into murmurs and exclamations.

Fang Lai said, "Is this the so-called 'one-glass-down'?"

Mu Sen clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk... That's seriously weak." He then looked over at Fang Lai. "Fang Xiaolai, when it comes to drinking, you've finally met someone even more feeble than you."

Xing Zui's face, however, had gone dark... He'd realised he'd unknowingly landed himself in a serious mess.

By the time Qing Ming opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning. He felt bright and refreshed, the sun was shining, birds were singing, and everything was just as harmonious as ever. Humming a cheerful little tune, he cleaned himself up and, as he left the house, he took a deep breath of the fresh morning air tinged with sulphur dioxide, a look of bliss spreading across his face as he savoured it.

Xing Zui had figured it out, this guy had completely forgotten about last night. He had seen his fair share of oddballs, but someone like Qing Ming, who could unknowingly cause chaos while remaining blissfully unaware of the havoc he left in his wake, was a first. So Xing Zui mentally set him as a new baseline for evaluating human character.

As Qing Ming walked to the car, a cold voice rang out behind him: "Are you possessed by some evil spirit?" With that, a set of car keys was flung in his direction.

Qing Ming caught the keys and replied, "... A harmonious society does not promote verbal attacks."

Xing Zui climbed into the passenger seat with a sour expression. His eyes were shadowed, and his whole demeanour seemed more unapproachable than usual.

"Hmm... Senior, is that eyeshadow you're wearing, or did you not sleep well last night?"

Xing Zui fixed him with a long stare. "What do you think?"

"You had insomnia?"

Xing Zui didn't feel like answering him. Instead, he simply closed his eyes, leaned back in the passenger seat, and tried to rest. As for the other person, he couldn't keep his mouth shut, and as he drove, he began to chatter away, enthusiastically sharing all kinds of remedies for insomnia.

As soon as they entered the office, Xie Xun greeted him warmly. "Morning, Qing Ming."

"Morning."

Cui Jingfeng waved at him with a document in hand and said, "Morning."

When Qing Ming finally sat down, Fang Lai had just come back from the break room. Usually, he never took the initiative to speak, but this time he even greeted Qing Ming... At that moment, Qing Ming finally noticed that everyone was looking at him a little differently than usual. A nagging suspicion crept into his mind: "Everyone... seems a bit off today. What's going on? Don't tell me... they've realised I've become even more handsome?"

This suspicion didn't linger in Qing Ming's mind for long before being cast aside. After lunch, his phone buzzed in his pocket... Qing Ming took it out and saw a WeChat notification. He tapped it open and found he'd been added to a group chat.

The group name was "Serve the People."

He opened the chat and saw a few messages...

Fengzi (Mr C): Who's got Qing Ming's ID? Drag him in here.

Blindy (I'm Your Male God): On it!

Blindy (I'm Your Male God): @Qing Ming is in.

Brother Sen (Mr Four Trees): Comrade Xiao Ming, please speak. #Smirk

Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind): Which Calabash Brother came up with this group name?... So tacky!

After sending the message, Qing Ming casually changed the group name to "Ultimate Elite Team."

Brother Sen (Mr Four Trees): @Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind) Finally, someone speaking the truth. #ThumbsUp

Fang Lai (White): Uh... just a friendly reminder, the group name was set by Boss...

Fengzi (Mr C): Yeah, Boss chose it. @Daddy Xing

Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind): ......

Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind): Actually, the previous name wasn't bad at all, had a real retro vibe. #Flex #Flex

Blindy (I'm Your Male God): lol, no need to worry, Boss doesn't use WeChat, won't see it. Save the bootlicking for your mirror.

At that moment, a new group notification popped up: Daddy Xing has changed the group name to "Serve the People."

Brother Sen (Mr Four Trees): @Daddy Xing Is the sun getting remarried today? You're actually online!!!

Qing Ming glanced at Xing Zui's profile picture, it was completely black, which rather suited him. But... it did seem... similar to his own blank one...

Fengzi (Mr C): Just realised your profile pics oddly match. @Daddy Xing @Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind) #CryingLaugh

Brother Sen (Mr Four Trees): Couple icons, perhaps...

Brother Sen (Mr Four Trees): Black and white... boy and boy pairing. #Smirk #Smirk

Qing Ming (Detective Little Whirlwind): #Shy

Qing Ming sent a friend request to Xing Zui, but there was no response from the other end for quite some time. Just then, Xie Xun sent over a video that was just over a minute long. Qing Ming tapped it open, and after just a few seconds, his eyes widened in shock.

In the video, there was a man with a solemn expression but a dazed look in his eyes. He stood ramrod straight, holding a stiff and exaggeratedly formal posture, chest out, chin up, eyes wide, and saluted each person at the table one by one.

Then, Mu Sen sent another video. Qing Ming's hand trembled slightly as he tapped it open. In it, the man ended up beside Xing Zui, threw his arms around him, and began wailing like a ghost, sobbing: "Senior... I'll do my best... I promise I'll do my best... Senior, believe me, I swear I'll do my best..."

The man in the video was, of course, Qing Ming himself. Thinking back now to Xing Zui's dark expression that morning and the strange looks from his colleagues, he finally understood what it had all been about. As for what other idiotic things he might have done afterwards... Qing Ming didn't dare dwell on it, and of course, he couldn't remember it at all.

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That evening after work, Xing Zui was the one driving. But instead of heading straight home, he drove to an unfamiliar residential estate. Xing Zui told him to stay in the car and got out on his own. Qing Ming had assumed he was going to visit relatives or friends, but then he saw him emerge from the entrance holding a child by the hand.

"... It can't be an illegitimate kid, right?"

As they drew nearer, under the glow of the streetlamp, Qing Ming finally saw clearly that the child was Lin Qi. Lin Qi kept his head down, not saying a word, carrying a backpack on his back and clutching Xing Zui's finger. The child was still young and, unlike adults, didn't know how to hide his emotions, everything was written plainly on his face. From the look of him, Lin Qi had already come to understand the sordid affairs of the grown-ups. But where should he go from now on...

Xing Zui started the car and drove off into the night. From what Cui Jingfeng had mentioned, after the incident, Lin Qi had been temporarily taken in by his homeroom teacher. He had no idea where Xing Zui was taking him now...

Suddenly, a place came to Qing Ming's mind, and his tone grew noticeably darker.

"You're not thinking of sending Lin Qi to an orphanage, are you?"

‿︵‿︵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: July 4, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 21, 2026 by Angel