Chapter 10 "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night"

　　I browsed through some other web pages, all filled with celebrity gossip. Either some innocent-looking female star was rumored to have had an abortion, or some well-known male star was exposed for drug use. The entire entertainment circle was in such a mess that we outsiders could only be spectators, enjoying the show.

　　It was incredibly boring, so I picked up the office landline to call Ling, but the call wouldn't go through. I figured it was probably due to the poor signal in the mountains. Since the phone didn't work, I took out my cell phone and sent her a text message, telling her I missed her, regardless of whether she'd receive it or not.

　　I then played "Erqi King" for over two hours. My colleague, Zhao Junhua, called me to the cafeteria for lunch, and I said I'd be there soon. In this round, I got a great hand. I bid "75 points," but the player with the nickname "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" went even lower, bidding "65 points." I had two Kings, four Sevens, three Twos, and eleven Hearts in my hand.

　　There were only 42 trump cards in total. If I sat as the dealer and chose Hearts as the trump suit, even without counting the bottom cards, I'd have nearly half of the trumps. I couldn't let this opportunity to be the dealer slip away, so I bid "60 points."

　　I didn't know if "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" had seen through my strategy, but she kept at it and bid "50 points." If I couldn't get good cards from the bottom cards, it would be tough to play with a bid below "50 points." But I really didn't want to miss this chance, so I bid a low "45 points," hoping to get good cards from the bottom. However, "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" wasn't about to let me off the hook and directly bid "20 points."

　　"Damn it!" I cursed unwillingly. "45 points" was already hard for me to handle, and with a bid below "20 points," I had almost no chance of winning.

　　The dealer position went to "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night." When the eight bottom cards were flipped over, I was almost furious. They were all major trumps, including one King, three Sevens, and four Twos.

　　The problem was, these cards were a perfect fit for "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" too.

　　If I had been the dealer, I could have bid "0 points" and still won easily. Now, "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" had beaten me with a "0 points" bid, and I was pretty annoyed.

　　"The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" was a netizen I had met half a year ago. I only knew she was female by instinct; that was about it.

　　She invited me to play another round, and I said, "It's time for lunch. You should eat too."

　　She sent me a joking emoji and said, "I never eat rice."

　　"?" I sent back a big question mark.

　　"I eat meat. I'm starving right now. Why don't you come to my place and let me eat you up?"

　　"Are you hitting on me? Sounds like you're a praying mantis. The female mantis eats the male one during reproduction to get enough nutrition."

　　She sent me an angry emoji, and I ignored her, exiting the game software.

　　Playing cards and chatting with "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night" had always been a joy for me, and I thought she felt the same way.

　　Leaving the office, I went to the cafeteria for lunch.

　　The cafeteria was in our building, and we had hired an elderly auntie to cook. We'd gone through several cooks before, but this one had stayed the longest. She was very thoughtful and could cook a variety of dishes, preventing us, a group of rather picky police officers, from getting tired of the food.

　　As I passed by the Household Registration Section, I glanced inside and saw Fang Yingwen sitting there.

　　"Hey, you're back?" I walked in and said.

　　"Yeah." Fang Yingwen looked up at me, her eyes clearly red and swollen.

　　"What's wrong?" I asked with concern. "Didn't you find your niece?"

　　"I did," Fang Yingwen said, looking at me with a dazed expression, as if she had lost her soul.

　　My heart skipped a beat. Had something terrible happened to her niece? I sat down in front of her and said, "Fang, is your niece okay?"

　　At that moment, a rather nasty thought crossed my mind. I figured Fang Yingwen's niece might have been raped. Rape cases were quite common these days, and with young girls dressing provocatively and exposing themselves, they were easy targets for perverts. A young girl staying away from home for several days had a high chance of being harmed.

　　Fang Yingwen stared blankly for a while before suddenly grabbing my arm and saying, "Jay, do you believe in ghosts?"

　　Even though it was broad daylight, Fang Yingwen's action really scared me. I felt a chill run down my spine, worried that a ghost would suddenly grab my neck.

　　In front of a woman, I always tried to be very manly. So I forced a smile and said, "Fang, it's one thing for others to say that, but you, as a police officer, shouldn't say such things."

　　Fang Yingwen shook her head helplessly and said, "I know you don't believe me, but it's true."