Blazing Armor

Gong Yingxian took a deep breath, his sword-like eyebrows furrowing as he remained silent for a long time.

It turned out that Chen Pei had only heard bits and pieces of information from others, half-truths at best. Gong couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, though it was expected. After all, Chen Pei was just a kid back then and couldn’t have had any direct connection to the case.

Regardless, something was better than nothing. But these clues had been buried for eighteen years, like fossils hidden under layers of dirt. Even if they were carefully uncovered, there was no guarantee they would find anything.

Qiu Yan asked, “Do you have anything else to add? Anything at all, any detail. Think carefully about what Liu Dayong said, or about your conversations with Hong Yan.”

Chen Pei shook his head. “I can’t think of anything else for now.”

Gong Yingxian seemed to remember something. “You just said Liu Dayong went to steal oil with a brother back then. Did he ever mention who this brother was?”

Chen Pei thought for a moment. “No, he didn’t.”

Ren Yi spoke up, “When Liu Dayong told you about this, how did he describe it? Did he think that person was the arsonist?”

Chen Pei let out a mocking laugh. “He barely had an elementary school education, thought he was some kind of detective. What do you think? He believed he’d uncovered some big secret. Who knows if what he said was true, or if he was just embellishing things. I don’t know, anyway.”

Seeing that there wasn’t much more to be gleaned, Qiu Yan closed his notebook. “Chen Pei, the information you’ve provided is still valuable. You’ve been cooperating with us honestly, and you’ve indeed shown signs of helping the case. We’ll keep our word.”

Chen Pei looked at Qiu Yan. “Is there any chance… I won’t be executed?” Despite his efforts to hide it, fear seeped through his expression.

“No one can guarantee that for you, but at least now your lawyer has more to work with in your defense.”

Chen Pei slowly lowered his head.

Ren Yi, watching Chen Pei’s defeated posture, couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. He certainly hoped Chen Pei would receive the death penalty. A murderer of innocent people—only when his own life was at risk could he truly understand the value of life and bring some solace to the victims and their families.

Qiu Yan stood up. “If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to let us know.”

The three of them left the interrogation room.

As soon as the door closed, Gong Yingxian leaned his entire body against the wall. His face was pale, and his eyes were completely vacant.

Ren Yi, seeing his lost expression, felt a deep ache in his heart. During the interrogation, listening to Chen Pei recount the events of the past, every second of it forced Gong to relive the fire that had burned everything down. What kind of agony must that have been?

He patted Gong Yingxian on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. “You did great today. You stayed calm the whole time.”

Gong Yingxian stared at Ren Yi. He wanted to say, “It’s because you were here,” but the words felt too vulnerable. After hesitating for a while, he didn’t say them.

Qiu Yan also spoke up, “Yingxian, I know this process is incredibly painful for you, but compared to the past where we had no leads, this huge progress is something to be glad about.”

Gong nodded. “Yan-jie, I have a strong feeling that if we can take down this entire organization, we’ll be able to find the culprit from back then.”

“I think so too,” Qiu Yan replied, glancing at her phone. “Hong Yan and that guy with the chemistry background, Cai Qiang, are being pursued. I’ve sent others to look into Liu Dayong. The clues he provided will definitely be our breakthrough.”

Ren Yi added, “Also, I’ve pulled all the firefighting reports from back then related to the case. The photos on your end have been restored too, right? We’re ready to redo the fire investigation anytime.”

“Good, that’s great!” Gong Yingxian gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with determination.

Qiu Yan hurried off, and Ren Yi checked his watch. “I’ve got things to do this afternoon. For lunch—”

“Let’s have lunch together,” Gong Yingxian said as he tossed his car keys to Ren Yi, then pointed to a meeting room. “I’ll be waiting for you inside.”

Ren Yi smiled indulgently. “Yes, young master.” He grabbed the keys and headed to the parking lot.

A while later, Ren Yi returned carrying a familiar thermal box. He was very used to this box, having eaten Gong Yingxian’s homemade meals more than once. But today, it felt noticeably heavier than usual.

Entering the meeting room, Ren Yi set the box on the table. “Why is it so heavy today? Didn’t you just prepare lunch and dinner?”

“Open it and see.” Gong Yingxian looked at him with an expression that seemed to be seeking praise.

When Ren Yi opened it, the top container was full of fried pork chops. High in oil and calories, it was definitely not something Gong would usually eat.

“Wow, did you prepare all this for me?” Ren Yi gleefully took out the food box by box.

“Of course,” Gong replied. “I noticed how much you liked my chef’s cooking when you were in the hospital. If you ever get tired of the team’s meals, I can have the driver bring you food every day.”

Ren Yi chuckled, “A little special treatment now and then is fine, but I can’t make it a regular thing.”

“Then…” Gong Yingxian thought for a moment. “I’ll prepare your meals every day and keep them in the car, so you can eat whenever you like.”

Ren Yi felt elated, his voice drifting a little, “You’re treating me so well.”

Gong let out a faint hum, as if embarrassed. “Hurry up and eat.”

While eating, Ren Yi said, “By the way, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Remember how we planned to spend New Year’s together?”

Gong Yingxian lifted his head, staring at Ren Yi without blinking. “Yeah, we made plans.”

Ren Yi sighed with some frustration, “There’s a charity concert at Honglin Stadium on New Year’s Day. It’s a big deal, and they’re assigning double the police and fire units. I won’t be able to take the day off.”

Gong couldn’t hide his disappointment and quietly took a bite of his food.

“But,” Ren Yi hesitated, testing the waters, “do you like concerts?”

“It’s being held at the stadium, right? It’s probably all pop music.” Gong shook his head. “Never really paid attention to that.”

“Yeah, mostly pop singers. There’s Song Juhan—you’ve heard of him, right? He’s really popular. There’ll be about ten other singers too, all pretty good.”

“I think I’ve heard of him.” Gong still didn’t seem too happy.

“How about you come to the concert with me?” Ren Yi suggested. “Our main job will be inspection and prevention. Once the show starts, we usually don’t have much to do. Most of the time, we’ll just be standing around. I’ll be near the stage, so we can just treat it like we’re going to a concert together to ring in the new year. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Gong’s eyes lit up slightly. “Going to a concert together…”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty normal thing friends do, right? And since Song Juhan’s performing, I’ve heard front-row tickets are being resold for 200,000 yuan. We’ll be in the best spot for free. How awesome is that?”

Gong shot Ren Yi a glance. “You like that Song Juhan guy?”

“He’s alright. I’ve listened to quite a few of his songs. The guy’s ridiculously handsome too. A few years ago, I worked security for one of his other concerts, but I didn’t get to see him up close. This time, I’m in charge, so we’ll be able to go backstage.” Ren Yi chuckled. “I’ll ask Feilan if she wants an autograph. Kids her age all love him.”

“She should focus on her studies at her age, not chase after celebrities,” Gong said bluntly.

“Getting an autograph won’t hurt anything.” Ren Yi got up to get more rice. “So, is it settled? We’ll go to the concert together?”

As Ren Yi turned away, Gong quickly grabbed his phone and searched “Song Juhan.” He skimmed through the photos and reports online. The guy was indeed strikingly good-looking, which made Gong even more annoyed.

Ren Yi looked over at Gong. “Hmm? What do you say?”

“Fine,” Gong replied, expressionless.

“Wow, awesome!” Ren Yi beamed. “I’ve never gone to a concert with anyone before. You’ll be the first. Back in school, I wasn’t into this stuff—just liked playing video games.”

That part Gong Yingxian enjoyed hearing, and his expression softened a bit. “Do I need to prepare anything?”

“Just make sure you can get the time off. Oh, and don’t wear this suit. People in suits at concerts are usually the bodyguards. Dress casually.” Ren Yi thought to himself, going to a concert together felt just like a date. Spending New Year’s this way seemed so romantic. It would definitely be a memory he’d treasure for the rest of his life.

“Got it,” Gong Yingxian said, then added, “I need to focus on investigating Liu Dayong over the next couple of days. On Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll take you to that hospital I mentioned. You can bring your father along if you want.”

“Wednesday works. I’ll go by myself though; my dad doesn’t move around very easily.” Ren Yi said sincerely, “Yingxian, thank you.”

Gong felt a deep sense of satisfaction swelling in his chest. “No need to thank me.”

—

After lunch, Ren Yi returned to the squad, gathering a few people to head over to Honglin Stadium.

Honglin Stadium was built around ten years ago, featuring a fairly common hollow egg-shaped structure. Their squad had been involved in perfecting the fire safety design back then, and Ren Yi had also worked security for several large events held there, so he was quite familiar with the stadium.

Typically, for events, they would dispatch two fire trucks on standby at most. But recently, a lot had happened, so the higher-ups were more cautious, requiring double the fire protection for this event.

Since the holiday season is peak time for emergency responses, they already needed to station enough police at the squad. Now, with the stadium pulling away resources, at least three teams would need to coordinate.

While inspecting the site, Sun Dingyi, one of Ren Yi’s teammates, excitedly asked, “Captain Ren, do you think I can sneak my girlfriend in? She’s a huge fan of Song Juhan.”

“Just keep it low-key.”

“Roger that!”

“Wow, this group is coming too? Their songs are so high-energy!” Gao Ge, another teammate, exclaimed while looking at the massive promotional banner hanging from the stadium.

“Yeah, Song Media has a ton of popular singers under its label, and they’ve invited some guest performers as well. The concert’s goal is to raise a billion yuan for charity, and I’m sure they’ll hit it easily.”

Ren Yi’s eyes moved back and forth between the event organizer’s flow chart, the fire safety plan, and the actual stadium layout. “Send up the drone.”

Sun Dingyi deployed the drone, letting it circle around the stadium.

After three hours of thorough inspections, Ren Yi finally said, “Not bad. I didn’t find any major issues.”

Gao Ge breathed a sigh of relief. “When you were in the hospital, Captain Wang and I went over this plan countless times. We were worried you’d come out and find problems.”

Ren Yi chuckled. “It’s not over yet. I’ll come back tonight for another check. Sometimes, things look different at night than during the day.”

“Understood.” Gao Ge grinned. “There’s an old restaurant nearby that serves the best hot pot lamb. Let’s grab some food, and by the time we’re done, it’ll be dark.”

“Let’s go!”