Ch64 – Boarding the Cruise

“Young Master, morning~”

Zhou Sheng’s classmate saw them as he walked over from one of the paths within the college. He grinned as he looked at Yu Hao and wanted to say something, but after noticing Zhou Sheng’s expression, he held back and whistled at Yu Hao.

Yu Hao, “??”

“You’re still angry?!” But Zhou Sheng misunderstood Yu Hao’s silence. He draped his arm over Yu Hao’s shoulder and said, “I said I won’t do that again!”

Yet Yu Hao changed the topic, “Your nickname is Young Master?”

Zhou Sheng responded with an “un”, and casually replied, “After my Dad treated them to a meal, they gave me that nickname.”

Yu Hao thought of something else and said, “Then have you heard of any other nickname for me?”

“No.” Zhou Sheng answered very quickly, “No one calls you Eyelash Baby anymore.”

Yu Hao said, “You said you wanted to discuss something with me last time, what is it?”

Zhou Sheng thought about it before he answered, “Another day ba.”

Yu Hao said, “I have something to say too.”

Zhou Sheng looked doubtfully at Yu Hao. Yu Hao came to a stop. The rain was growing heavier and heavier. Zhou Sheng held the umbrella, and the two stood to one side of the college’s path.

“Let’s talk in the canteen.” Zhou Sheng said, “What could it be that you must talk about it here……”

Students passed by one after another, each one eyeballing them as they passed by. Yu Hao’s brows were set in a deep furrow. Just as he was about to speak, his line of sight suddenly passed Zhou Sheng and landed upon a figure below the teacher’s dormitory in the distance.

“Look!!” Yu Hao hastily motioned to Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng turned around, and his brows immediately scrunched up.

Lin Xun was holding a single-person umbrella. He walked down the dormitory building, bypassing the canteen, and walked towards the college’s East gate.

“He’s going to the hospital?” Zhou Sheng wondered, “Notify Kaikai?”

Right now, Yu Hao couldn’t concern himself with the other things weighing on his mind. He took out his phone and dialled Chen Yekai’s number, but he must be busy as no one picked up. After Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao arrived at a tree, Yu Hao nervously asked, “He didn’t pick up. Should we follow him?”

Zhou Sheng asked, “Are you hungry?”

Yu Hao couldn’t cry or laugh, “Why are you asking if I’m hungry at a time like this? This is clearly more important! Can you even be cured anymore?!”

Zhou Sheng, “You lose your temper more easily when you’re hungry, so of course you have to eat first! Why are you scolding me?” As he spoke, he handed the umbrella to Yu Hao, then turned around and ran.

“Where are you going?” Yu Hao shouted. Zhou Sheng braved the rain and ran away. Yu Hao was going crazy. He quickly called Chen Yekai. By all rights, Chen Yekai and Huang Ting should’ve already set up their trap as they waited for Lin Xun in the hospital, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem. However, Yu Hao still had some misgivings.

Yu Hao hid behind the tree and peeked at Lin Xun, who was waiting for a car and looking over his shoulder from time to time. Zhou Sheng sprinted back towards the dormitory building like he was in a 100m race and returned in no time at all. He threw Yu Hao a sports jacket and put on a jacket of his own.

Zhou Sheng said, “Follow him and see what he’s doing!”

They were both wearing slippers as they quickly waded through the water beyond the college path. After they exited the college’s gate, they saw that Lin Xun had booked a cab online that he was hurrying into now. Zhou Sheng merely glanced once and said, “Follow him! He’s not going to the hospital!”

Yu Hao immediately hailed a cab. They got on and Zhou Sheng said to the taxi driver, “Follow the car in front.”

The taxi driver was tactful and followed the car Lin Xun was on without asking many questions. Yu Hao asked, “How did you know that he isn’t going to the hospital?”

“He’s carrying a laptop bag.” Zhou Sheng said, “If he was rushing to the hospital, he wouldn’t carry such a huge bag. How did the news leak out? He’s going on the run!”

Yu Hao immediately gave Chen Yekai a call, but there was still no answer. The taxi driver interjected, “This isn’t the way to the airport.”

The car in front didn’t veer off onto the expressway. Zhou Sheng’s brows furrowed deeply, then he started to call Huang Ting. This time, Huang Ting picked up and Zhou Sheng immediately said, “That guy’s on the run, his destination is unknown. We’re following him now.”

“Send me your location through the phone.” Huang Ting said on the other end and hung up.

“Are you two students?” The taxi driver asked.

Zhou Sheng responded with an “un”. They passed a traffic light, and the taxi they were following had shaken them off and was now several cars away from them. This junction quickly changed to a red light, creating a jam shortly after. The taxi they were in didn’t cross the intersection, and Lin Xun’s cab had already driven away.

“Crap!” Yu Hao said.

“Don’t worry.” Zhou Sheng said, “We might be able to catch up after we cross the intersection.”

The taxi driver said, “This road should head out to the pier, if my guess isn’t wrong.”

Chen Yekai called. Yu Hao picked up and asked him to immediately notify Huang Ting to dispatch people to the pier. Chen Yekai said, “Strange, how did the news get leaked?”

Huang Ting said, “Look at this.”

“Fuck.” Chen Yekai said, “That guy installed a bug under the bed!”

Huang Ting took the phone, “Think of a way to stall him, we’re relying on you guys now. The traffic’s pretty bad at the moment, so stall him for at least 20 minutes. The first time we called him into the station without any evidence, he retaliated fiercely in front of my superiors. This is the second time now, I’m under pressure from above, and it’s a very thorny situation. We need to wait for the victim to completely regain alertness, and under the premise that she’s proven to have mental capacity and identifies Lin Xun as the one who planned the premeditated murder, then can we begin going through the process.”

Chen Yekai said from beside the phone, “The entire process requires some time. Right now, Liang Laoshi is beginning to recall more details. She’s been unconscious for too long, so there are gaps in her memory, I’ll strive to……speed it up.”

“Okay.” Yu Hao hadn’t expected that it would be so troublesome just to arrest someone.

The taxi driver said, “We’re here, nuo, look, the pier.”

Lin Xun’s cab had already left. Yu Hao quickly took his phone out to pay, Zhou Sheng held the umbrella, and they hurriedly walked down the pier. From higher ground, Yu Hao glimpsed people walking to and fro under the umbrellas of various shapes and colours as they boarded a cruise ship by the river.

“Which one?” Zhou Sheng said, “Do you see him?”

Yu Hao, “That one’s leaving soon, it must be that ship! I saw his umbrella!”

“Smart”! Zhou Sheng praised.

“Learnt it from you.” Yu Hao answered.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The rain didn’t seem to be letting up at all as it whooshed down the steps by the road. Yu Hao slipped on the steps and nearly fell. Zhou Sheng quickly grabbed him, “Careful!”

The road was covered in water and was really too slippery. There was a sign erected by the river with the words “Five Days and Four Nights Cruise” on it; after setting out from Ying City, they could go upstream with beautiful scenery on both shores — this cruise’s itinerary was practically the favourite of the retired elderly. After Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao walked down the big steps, they had to walk down smaller steps too and saw nearly 40 retired elderly moving slowly and arduously.

Yu Hao, “……”

Zhou Sheng, “……”

Their anxiety was unparalleled right now; they only wanted to board as soon as possible to drag Lin Xun back, but the queue in front of them was getting slower and slower. Yu Hao said, “Where’s Huang Ting’s people? They’re not here yet! What do we do after we get on?”

Zhou Sheng, “Start a fight once we meet him and make a scene, then the ship won’t be able to set sail anymore.”

A tour guide was still doing an introduction for the elderly group in front. Zhou Sheng saw a gap, then folded up his umbrella and squeezed in by the side of the tour guide. He turned around, grabbed Yu Hao’s hand, and dragged him over.

At the entrance of the cruise ship, two crew members were checking their tickets. Yu Hao said, “We can’t go any further, what do we do?”

Zhou Sheng thought for a moment, then asked Yu Hao to wait. He went to the pier, and a short moment later, he had returned with two mangoes that he had bought. He threw one to Yu Hao and Yu Hao caught it.

Yu Hao, “??”

“Leave it to me, don’t talk.” Zhou Sheng, along with Yu Hao, casually squeezed to the front of the group before walking straight in. A crew member said, “Hey, you two!”

Zhou Sheng said, “We got off the ship to buy fruits.”

“Where’s your nametag?” The crew member pointed to their chest.

Zhou Sheng casually patted his pocket and said, “Forgot to take it with me.”

There were so many people who were making a clamour, and the crew members had their hands full, so they could only let Zhou Sheng in. In any case, with this kind of large-scale sightseeing cruise ship, those who bought tickets all had rooms. Even if they got in without a ticket, they would have no place to stay, and a lot of people who came here to send people off had boarded as well.

“Wah.” Yu Hao entered the cruise ship, and the interior didn’t look like a ship at all — it was decorated to look just like a hotel! Guests were queuing for their registration in the lobby of the hotel, and there was even tea and biscuits for receiving guests. Zhou Sheng took a few biscuits and got Yu Hao to hold them, “Let’s go look for him.”

Guests with luggage trailing behind them were everywhere. Yu Hao couldn’t help but look all around. This cruise ship had everything — tea shops, jade shops, handicraft shops……and there was even a buffet dining hall on the first floor.

“Wanna play?” Zhou Sheng asked, “Let’s take one during the summer holidays ba? Let’s find him first, stop looking about. Guess where he’ll be?”

Yu Hao said, “I think he should’ve booked his ticket at the last minute this morning after he heard that Liang Laoshi had awoken through his wiretap.”

Zhou Sheng murmured, “Yes, booked at the last minute, not through a tour group……usually only the most expensive tickets would be left……which means that we should head up. All the high-class rooms are at the top.”

Zhou Sheng ate his mango and entered the elevator with Yu Hao. Yu Hao asked, “How much would this cost per day?”

“4,800.” Zhou Sheng pressed the button for the third floor and answered, “The advertisement outside said so, Five Days and Four Nights Luxury Cruise Tour.”

Yu Hao thought, wages from two months squandered away in four days, the life of the rich really is extravagant.

The elevator reached the third floor with a “ding”. They had to walk up a spiral staircase to reach the top floor. The top floor only had 12 luxury rooms — each guest room was attached to a private balcony on the deck of the ship, and super VIP presidential suites were located at the two ends of the floor. A loud clamour could be heard downstairs, but the top floor was extremely quiet.

“Which room?” Zhou Sheng asked.

Yu Hao, “Knock on them one by one?”

“Dear passengers, this ship will be leaving in 15 minutes. This is the last round of announcements. For those who are sending your relatives and friends off, please leave the ship as soon as possible.”

Yu Hao, “……”

Chen Yekai’s call came, “How’s the situation?”

“The ship’s about to sail! Hurry up!” Yu Hao urged.

“Huang Ting went back to the station to handle the procedure.” Chen Yekai said, “We’ll be there soon, stall him!”

After he hung up, the two of them looked at each other. They haven’t even found the person in question yet, so who were they supposed to stall? Zhou Sheng said, “We can’t knock. If we knock too often and he sees us through his peephole, we’ll get chased off by the crew.”

Yu Hao said, “I’m not even sure if Lin Xun had boarded this cruise now. Is there a registration list in the lobby? Can we check that?”

“Trust your intuition.” Zhou Sheng said, “He must be on this floor, and besides, they won’t let us look at the guest list.”

Zhou Sheng stood in the corridor, facing towards one side of it. After he pondered for a moment, he turned around and faced the other side. Yu Hao thought that Zhou Sheng had some sort of superpower in reality too, but after Zhou Sheng stood for awhile, nothing happened.

“I’ve got an idea, let’s go.” Zhou Sheng said.

The two of them went downstairs again. Zhou Sheng looked at the map that identified the fire escapes, then walked downstairs. He found his way with ease, pushed open a door and entered the corridor.

Where is this place? Yu Hao was utterly baffled. He saw stainless steel shelves and sinks on both sides — this was the kitchen?

Zhou Sheng glanced at the office at the end of the kitchen — a crew member was checking through the number of registrations. After Zhou Sheng motioned for Yu Hao to hide behind a shelf, he said, “There’s a list of names for the rooms on the table. I’ll lure him away, then you go in to steal the namelist.”

Yu Hao thought, that’s so smart!

Zhou Sheng began knocking on the door forcefully. Just one knock on that metal door was deafening, and after the crew member got a shock, he hurried over.

“When does dinner start?!” Zhou Sheng scolded, “Didn’t you say that there would be snacks?”

The crew quickly replied, “Look for the manager, this is the kitchen!”

Zhou Sheng, “Fuck! You don’t even serve breakfast for such an expensive cruise ticket? I’m starving to death!”

Zhou Sheng caused a huge commotion in the style of an overbearing rich second generation and played the role perfectly. The crew member didn’t dare to provoke him and could only try to get him to leave quickly. Yu Hao immediately slipped behind the crew member and into the office to the side of the kitchen. He took the copy of the passenger list, folded it, and slid it underneath his shirt.

The crew member reasoned with Zhou Sheng in every possible way, hoping to chase him away and asked him to wait in the buffet hall. When the crew member turned around and was about to return to the office, someone came over from the other end of the corridor to notify him of a meeting.

Zhou Sheng turned around the corner of the kitchen and met up with Yu Hao.

“V402,” Zhou Sheng said, “Mr. Lin, 1 person. V406, Mr. Lin, 3 people. Two people with the surname Lin, this family of three isn’t him, so it’s definitely 402.”

When the ship horn blared, the entire ship suddenly shook and Yu Hao said, “Crap! It’s about time to go ashore!”

Zhou Sheng, “The hell you scared of? Just wait here, it’s not like they’ll check us……yo, there really is breakfast. This cake’s not bad, Western chefs make it better than Chinese chefs do. Let’s talk after we eat ba.”

Zhou Sheng casually lifted a lid, and a row of Caramel Mousse desserts were neatly arranged inside. He picked one up to eat, then handed one to Yu Hao too.

“It’s too sweet.” Yu Hao really couldn’t stand it. He heard footsteps approaching outside and became nervous, “Let’s hurry and leave ba!”

“Why the heck should we leave now? We haven’t even eaten breakfast yet, let’s look for the steamed snacks.” Zhou Sheng discovered another row of steamers filled with Cantonese dimsum, “Do you like steamed ribs? It looks like it’s been steamed for a little too long, come and have a taste?”

Yu Hao, “……”

“There are chopsticks too.” Yu Hao was both nervous and excited as he began stealing food in the kitchen with Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng opened up a soup pot and scooped out two bowls of winter melon barley oxtail soup. While he drank, he paid attention to their surroundings and said, “Don’t worry, I’m keeping a lookout. They’re in a meeting, no one will come in.”

Yu Hao was apprehensive about being caught, but stopped worrying because Zhou Sheng could always escape from imminent peril.

Zhou Sheng, “Are you full?”

Yu Hao, “I’m full.”

“Then let’s go ba.” Zhou Sheng fed Yu Hao another crab roe shaomai, took a disposable cup to fill it with coffee, and even helped the chef clean up the counter in passing. The two of them walked along the corridor and passed the meeting room. They saw a number of chefs who were either sitting down or standing as they listened to the head chef in the meeting.

“Ai?” Yu Hao saw the dining car in the storage room and said, “I have a plan.”

Zhou Sheng, “Pretend to deliver meals? Don’t, he recognises us. Please don’t let the incident with Shi Liang happen again. Let’s notify Kaikai first to tell him that he’s on this ship.”

The two of them returned to the lobby and were momentarily at their wits’ end. Zhou Sheng motioned to Yu Hao to move over and not stand in the atrium, just in case Lin Xun spots them while out for a stroll, although the possibility of him leaving his room was slim.

Yu Hao gave Chen Yekai a call and informed him of the details. The ship had already set sail, so they wouldn’t be able to return for awhile. Meanwhile, Zhou Sheng kept an eye on the people who were passing through the lobby. After the ship set sail, there were much fewer guests since most of them had returned to their rooms to watch the scenery. A uniformed crew member noticed the two of them, so he walked over and said, “Which room are you two? Do you need me to bring you to your room?”

Yu Hao was talking to Chen Yekai, “We’re on the ship now and can’t go back, what do we do now?”

Chen Yekai said, “Book a room and keep an eye on his movements at all times.”

Huang Ting took the phone, “We’ll reimburse you both, but you can only stay in a standard room. Find a place to stay in first ba, as for your IDs, I’ll send you a number. Get the ship’s crew to call that number, and we’ll resolve the problem for you in the station.”

“We’re just here to look around a little, and we tarried cause we didn’t notice the time.” Zhou Sheng said to the crew, “I’ll just pay for a ticket now.”

Crew, “……”

Yu Hao said into his phone, “We didn’t bring our IDs……Zhou Sheng?”

Crew, “Come with me to the office to explain it clearly ba.”

Zhou Sheng said, “I’ll buy a ticket now, ai! Don’t touch him! What? You wanna fight?”

Liang Jinmin’s voice rang out at the other end of the call, “Nicky, give me the phone.”

The scene descended into chaos. Yu Hao was really afraid that Zhou Sheng would start a brawl, and he quickly signalled to him with his gaze for Zhou Sheng to keep his calm. Zhou Sheng took the earphones, and Liang Jinmin said, “Is this Yu Hao?”

“It’s me, Zhou Sheng.” Zhou Sheng stood in front of Yu Hao in a protective stance and looked at the crew member, “Hello, Liang Laoshi. Do you feel better now?”

Liang Jinmin said, “I woke up, but I still need some time to recall the details. Please stay next door to Lin Laoshi and monitor his every move, I’ll pay for the expenses.”

“Okay lei!” Zhou Sheng’s cheer shocked Yu Hao, “Kaikai, did you hear that? Transfer it through WeChat ba?” As he spoke, he took out his and Yu Hao’s ID cards from his pocket with pinched fingers and handed them to the crew member.

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