Restricted Area

Crash

Jiang Chijing had prepared indoor slippers, toothbrush cup, and other such home essentials for Zheng Mingyi. But besides these, his mind was blank. He was unable to think of what else he needed to prepare.

It wouldn’t do for his mind to stay blank, so he decided to go over to the house across the street to look for inspiration.

After this long, those in the community seemed to have grown used to the existence of this dilapidated building. But when actually entering the yard, an oppressive sense of gloom still billowed into his face.

By now, the tar-black walls revealed no trace of its previous appearance, and the yard was overgrown with weeds.

Jiang Chijing carefully stepped across the police cordon taped over the place and past the door frame that had deformed from the fire.

The previous police investigation only determined the cause of the fire to be man-made arson but wasn’t able to find any further leads.

While the man in black who assaulted Zheng Mingyi was very suspicious, he was released from custody long ago.

He had asserted that he was merely a petty thief and had no relation to this arson case. The police also weren’t able to find any evidence that he committed arson.

After a quick look around the living room, Jiang Chijing noted down a mug. When he went to the kitchen, he decided to prepare several more aprons for Zheng Mingyi.

There wasn’t any further need to check the toiletries in the bathroom, so Jiang Chijing went straight to the second-floor bedroom.

Naturally, clothes and beddings had burnt to a crisp in the fire, and all of Zheng Mingyi’s watches had turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Jiang Chijing roughly estimated the loss. The price of the watches should be even higher than the property value of this building. Logically speaking, the arsonist should have taken money for this job, but not taking all these luxury watches was telling that this person was very experienced, for he knew that branded watches were easily traced in the marketplace.

Jiang Chijing inadvertently recalled the man in black.

He had an athletic build and his movements were clean. It was immediately apparent that he was a professional. He had appeared in Zheng Mingyi’s house twice. The first time, he got thrown down from the second floor by Zheng Mingyi. The second time, he rummaged through the furniture and left before Guan Wei’s arrival.

Both times, including this later arson case, his actions were careful and vigilant. They had a very individualistic flair to them.

But there was no use thinking of these now. Jiang Chijing wasn’t a criminal investigator; if even the police were unable to find evidence to build a case, it was naturally even more impossible for him. Nevertheless, he decided to take a quick look to see if the fire had left anything behind.

There were a lot of miscellaneous items that were rummaged and scattered on the ground by the nightstand. They should have been tossed out of the cabinet during the second time that the man in black dropped by to look for clues.

Apart from the usual remote control, chargers, etc, Jiang Chijing also discovered something that he was very familiar with—the binoculars of a certain high-end brand.

These binoculars were top of the line. If Jiang Chijing’s monocular could see the vein lines on Zheng Mingyi’s arm, these binoculars could even see the eyelashes on Jiang Chijing’s eyelids.

Good gracious. It was even higher-level than the equipment that he, a professional voyeur, used.

Before, Zheng Mingyi had confessed that he’d been observing Jiang Chijing ever since he found out about Jiang Chijing’s monitoring.

At that time, Jiang Chijing didn’t think too much about it and only believed it to be observation in the basic sense of it. But now it appeared that Zheng Mingyi’s definition of ‘observation’ was what his ‘monitoring’ was—merely a more elegant way of putting it. The two of them were harbouring impure designs as they spied on each other.

He wondered if Zheng Mingyi had his own top 3 visuals that lived in his head rent-free.

“Top 3?”

In the morning of a new week, Jiang Chijing brought up the binoculars to Zheng Mingyi as well as the concept of the top 3 visuals. Probably never having made such a mundane ranking before, Zheng Mingyi’s head fogged over with confusion when first asked about it. But once he got the idea, he laughed.

“Let me think,” Zheng Mingyi said. “You go first.”

“I’m asking you,” Jiang Chijing didn’t budge.

“Hm—” Zheng Mingyi fell into a brief spell of thought. “Third place, when you collect your express delivery.”

“When I collect my express delivery?” Jiang Chijing was baffled. “What’s nice to look at about that?”

Zheng Mingyi pointed with his index finger to the floor, saying cryptically, “The express delivery parcels are on the ground.”

Jiang Chijing immediately cottoned on. He had to bend over to pick up his express delivery, and at those times, the curvature of his ass would tighten.

Tch. Incredible.

“What about yours?” Zheng Mingyi asked.

“My third place,” Jiang Chijing deliberately slowed his words. “When you wear loose gym shorts.”

“Gym shorts?” Zheng Mingyi said.

“They’d flap around and make it look big.” Jiang Chijing talked dirty in a completely upstanding manner.

Zheng Mingyi burst into uproarious laughter and only managed to calm himself a long time later. He carried on, saying, “My second place, when you watch television on the sofa.”

“Watch television?” Jiang Chijing was, once again, baffled.

“Think about your sitting posture,” Zheng Mingyi hinted.

Jiang Chijing liked to lean sideways against the sofa armrest. He’d have one leg curled in front of him, and the other leg bent, stepping on the sofa. While there was nothing wrong with this posture, the crux of it was that Jiang Chijing was used to wearing loose shorts. So, with his leg up on the sofa, the leg of his shorts would slide down to the root of his thighs. If he were to move again, it was even possible to catch sight of his underwear.

High, really high-tier.

Jiang Chijing had secretly watched Zheng Mingyi for so long yet had never seen him in his underwear. When comparing this second place ranking, Jiang Chijing bowed down in defeat.

“Your turn,” Zheng Mingyi said.

“When you wrap your bandages before you box,” Jiang Chijing said.

This wasn’t anything new. The last time Zheng Mingyi came over to his place when let out of prison, the two of them had already checked off this bandage kink.

Zheng Mingyi nodded, continuing, “My number one, when you wear your tank top.”

Among Jiang Chijing’s home clothes, one set was a tank top and shorts, which he’d wear once every few days. Compared to short sleeves, the tank top does show more skin, but honestly, Jiang Chijing found having this answer ranked first quite dull.

Seeming to read Jiang Chijing’s thoughts, Zheng Mingyi added, “When you wear your tank top, whether you’re collecting your express delivery or watching television, you’d never notice when you expose yourself.”

Expose myself?

Jiang Chijing was able to hear what Zheng Mingyi meant at once. He angled his body away, frowning as he looked at Zheng Mingyi, saying, “You’re so lewd, Zheng Mingyi.”

“You’ve got the nerve to talk about me?” Zheng Mingyi arched his brows. “What’s your number one?”

“Mine…” Jiang Chijing felt a prickle of guilt creep up. He slowly sat back upright, saying, “Mine would be… when you go topless.”

As long as Zheng Mingyi was without clothes, Jiang Chijing liked to look at him. Whether he was boxing, cooking, or watering the yard, it’d be the Top 1 in Jiang Chijing’s heart.

“So who’s the lewd one here?” Zheng Mingyi asked, amused.

“Ahem,” Jiang Chijing cleared his throat. “Pot calling the kettle black.”

Two birds of a feather peeping in on each other; something with a probability so slim had actually happened. Although Jiang Chijing wasn’t religious, he had this feeling that this was God’s gift to him, reforming him, ridding him of his bad habit of voyeurism.

If it must be said, ever since the surveillance in the recreation room was discovered by Zheng Mingyi, the abject shock of being caught in the act scared him out of actively opening that recreation room surveillance again.

And with Zheng Mingyi entering prison, leaving the house across the street vacant, Jiang Chijing had also gone cold turkey for a long time.

Perhaps this little hobby, which had accompanied him for many years, wasn’t as deep-rooted as he thought.

Translated on ninetysevenkoi.wordpress

***

Please do not repost or retranslate.

After Zheng Mingyi left the library, an unexpected person came looking for Jiang Chijing. In the half-year that Jiang Chijing had worked here, this was his first time seeing Xu Sheng appear in the library.

“Are you getting out of prison today?” Jiang Chijing said in surprise.

The court’s verdict came quicker than Guan Wei predicted it would. Xu Sheng’s prison term officially ended yesterday.

In theory, he could leave at midnight today, but he still had to go through procedures such as getting the release certificate, which was why he would appear in the admin block at this time.

“Yes,” Xu Sheng sighed emotionally. “How much longer does Zheng Mingyi have?”

“He’s going to appear in court this Friday,” Jiang Chijing said. “He should be released in court.”

“That’s good,” Xu Sheng nodded. “What about that guy, Wu Peng?”

“On Friday as well, it’s a joint trial. But he should be appealing and wouldn’t come in so soon.”

“Anyway, when he gets locked in, I’ll make sure to have my guys take good care of him,” Xu Sheng said.

The various courthouses had their areas of jurisdiction. If there were no unexpected surprises, Wu Peng would also be incarcerated in Southside Prison.

Actually, even without Xu Sheng’s special care, Jiang Chijing wouldn’t let Wu Peng have a good time either. He shifted the subject and said, “So have you made your plans for what comes next?”

“My brothers have introduced me to a job as a driver. I’ll do that first,” Xu Sheng said. “Save up some money and open a small provision shop. When he comes out, I can directly have him be the lady boss.”

There was no simpler beauty than in the ordinary days. Jiang Chijing asked, “When you get out in a bit, are you going to visit him?”

“Of course,” Xu Sheng said. “I’ll drop by the hospital first to check up on the elderly couple then make my way to the neighbouring city’s prison to look for him.”

“He probably misses you a lot,” Jiang Chijing said.

“I miss him a lot as well,” Xu Sheng chuckled. “By the way, Officer Jiang, I’ll return the two thousand you gave the elderly couple as soon as possible.”

Jiang Chijing wanted to say that it wasn’t necessary, but he knew that Xu Sheng wouldn’t agree, so he said, “No hurry.”

“Then I’ll be off first.” Xu Sheng stood up and said, “See you later.”

“All the best,” said Jiang Chijing.

There was no shortage of inmates in prison. When the old left, the new would always come in. On occasion, Jiang Chijing would sigh ruefully, wishing for lesser inmates in prison, but he knew that this was nothing but a vain hope.

As long as there were still inmates in prison, the prison story would last on. But, for Zheng Mingyi, his prison vacation was nearing its close.

Translated on ninetysevenkoi.wordpress

On Friday morning, Jiang Chijing drove to prison for work as usual.

Before arriving at the prison carpark, he had to pass through a long boulevard. Today, Jiang Chijing’s car had just rounded into the boulevard when he saw a coach pulling out of the carpark in the distance. Jiang Chijing knew that it was the transport arranged to take Zheng Mingyi for his court appearance in the city.

He winded down the window and slowed the car. When the two vehicles brushed past each other, he saw Zheng Mingyi sitting next to the window. Zheng Mingyi had obviously seen him as well, smiling faintly and waving to him.

Although Zheng Mingyi was still wearing his orange prison uniform and had handcuffs around his wrists, the next time they saw each other, he would likely be a free bird.

In a good mood, Jiang Chijing stepped down on the gas pedal, driving straight towards the prison carpark. However, at this time, an engine suddenly roared in his ears.

Jiang Chijing was certain that this noise didn’t come from his car.

As this broad road was in the city outskirts, many youngsters would often come to race cars. However, Jiang Chijing had never seen anyone coming as early as around eight in the morning to race in this area.

He was unwittingly drawn to check his rearview mirror and saw that a black sedan had appeared at the end of the boulevard behind. The front side of the car was cocked up slightly; a single glance was enough to tell that it was accelerating full-speed ahead.

An ominous premonition immediately loomed in Jiang Chijing’s heart. In the next second, the sedan abruptly turned into the opposite lane, coming face to face with the coach without any sign of slowing.

The coach couldn’t brake in time and swerved sharply into the next lane. The sudden change in lanes caused the vehicle to rock a little, but right at this moment, the sedan took the chance to knock directly into it.

It all happened so quickly that by the time Jiang Chijing hastily slammed the brakes, he saw that the bus had made a 180° flip, landing upside down.