Chapter 51: The Scar

Zheng Chuangang made a cheeky remark with a grin, but one look from Huo Yan frightened the rest of his words back down his throat.

The other man had merely looked at him coldly, his face expressionless. As a seasoned troublemaker who had spent plenty of time coming and going through police stations and precincts, Zheng Chuan should have been long accustomed to such looks and paid them no heed.

Yet for some reason, when faced with Huo Yan’s gaze, he felt a chill rising from the depths of his heart. He instinctively reined in his words and behavior.

Seeing that Huo Yan’s one glare had already left him too frightened to continue spouting nonsense, Ning Shuyi spoke to him again. “There are far too many people named Li Wei. You could grab a whole handful at random. Unless you describe your friend’s physical features clearly, we can’t be sure we’ll be able to find him.”

With Huo Yan still watching him, Zheng Chuan no longer dared to be glib with Ning Shuyi. He said sheepishly, “The Li Wei I’m looking for… is about as tall as me. Just an ordinary-looking guy—not dark, not fair. His hair… I couldn’t tell you what style it was. It was short, anyway. He used to have a build about like mine, but he got fat later. Somehow he fell in with a bunch of wastrels, drinking buddies and hanger-ons, and spent all day stuffing himself and drinking with them outside. Before long, he’d developed quite a belly!”

As though to prove that he was telling the truth, Zheng Chuan gestured toward his own stomach. “About this round! I told him several times to lose some weight properly, but he wouldn’t listen!

“Eventually I told him, ‘Fine, then. Go on stuffing yourself and drinking like that! Sooner or later you’ll become heavy and sluggish, all soft fat and no strength, and even walking will exhaust you. You’ll end up ruining yourself!’”

“What, does your line of work have such high standards for one’s physique?” Luo Wei could not resist a mocking remark.

Zheng Chuan immediately waved his hands. “Officer, let’s not joke around carelessly! What line of work? Li Wei and I just happened to undergo rehabilitation together in the past, learning how to become decent people. That’s how we became acquainted! There’s no ‘our line of work’!

“I just think that whatever you do, having a healthy body is essential, right? What decent person eats and drinks like that every day without exercising, getting nothing but a bigger belly? It doesn’t matter what line of work you’re in—that simply won’t do. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“According to you, finding him won’t be easy.” Ning Shuyi put on an expression of helplessness. “I already told you that people named Li Wei are as common as blades of grass. We can’t help you find someone based on a name alone.

“When we asked you to describe Li Wei’s physical and facial features, you talked for ages and told us he wasn’t dark or fair, tall or short, that his hair wasn’t long or short, and that his eyes weren’t large or small!

“With a description like that, you could find at least twenty or thirty people matching it in our station alone.

“We know that your friend Li Wei has a prior conviction for burglary, but do you expect us to search for someone by carrying around his criminal record? Isn’t that right?

“If you never genuinely intended to find him and only came here to amuse yourself—or to test the waters—then you’d better leave while you still haven’t revealed your true intentions.”

“No, no! What do you mean, test the waters? Nothing like that! I really do want to find Li Wei!” Zheng Chuan hurriedly waved his hands. After thinking carefully, he said, “But he really does look that ordinary. There isn’t a single feature that sets him apart from anyone else!

“Still, I gave it some thought. If we’re talking about distinguishing features, I can think of one—and no one else could possibly have the exact same one!

“He has a scar on his body. It’s quite large. There’s no way someone else would coincidentally have an identical scar!”

At those words, Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan exchanged a glance. Neither showed anything on the surface, but both their hearts suddenly tightened.

“What kind of scar? Is it in a conspicuous place?” Ning Shuyi asked.

Zheng Chuan nodded rapidly. “Conspicuous! Extremely conspicuous!”

After saying that, he felt his description was not entirely accurate. “Well, not exactly. If it were summer and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt or had his shirt off, then it would be especially noticeable. But the weather is still cool now, so it’s hard to say whether it would stand out.

“The scar is pretty big—I’m not sure even my whole palm could cover it. As for its location, it’s on his back, a little below the shoulder.”

“Near the shoulder blade?” Ning Shuyi asked.

“Yes! Exactly!” Zheng Chuan nodded repeatedly. “You’re so clever, Officer! How did you manage to describe it so precisely?”

Then he noticed Huo Yan frowning at him and hurriedly gave an ingratiating smile. “You don’t have to glare at me! I didn’t mean anything bad. I was complimenting her!

“I really was complimenting her! I wanted to say ‘shoulder blade’ just now, but I couldn’t remember what that part was called. I racked my brains for ages and could only come up with ‘the shoulder.’”

“Why does Li Wei have such a large scar near his shoulder blade?” Ning Shuyi was already feeling somewhat excited, but she forcefully suppressed it, making herself appear calm and composed.

“Oh, that happened back when the two of us were undergoing rehabilitation together,” Zheng Chuan replied. “One day, we were assigned to iron bed sheets, clothes, and things like that. We were working along just fine, and nothing was wrong.

“Then Li Wei got into a verbal argument with someone else. One thing led to another, and neither of them would back down.

“We tried to persuade Li Wei not to stoop to that person’s level, and Li Wei eventually shut his mouth and stopped arguing. But that other fellow was truly vicious! When Li Wei stopped paying attention to him, and everyone else thought the matter was over and went back to work, he secretly picked up an iron and pressed it straight against Li Wei’s back!

“Think about it. An iron is used to press clothes and sheets. If you stick one onto someone’s bare back, it’s no different from a branding iron!

“There was an immediate sizzling sound! I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. The piece of clothing on Li Wei’s back was pressed right into the flesh. I was standing beside him, and I could actually smell roasting meat!

“Afterward, Li Wei turned around and started fighting him. By the time the guards arrived and figured out what had happened, they probably thought Li Wei had been wronged and that striking back was understandable, so they didn’t punish him. They took him straight to the hospital to have the wound treated.

“I heard that the fabric had fused to his flesh and was extremely difficult to remove. Anyway, after the wound healed, it left behind one enormous scar!”

“Do you remember what shape the scar was?” Ning Shuyi asked.

“Yes! Of course I remember. I remember it perfectly!” Zheng Chuan answered with absolute certainty.

Ning Shuyi turned and nodded at Luo Wei. Luo Wei stood up, fetched a sheet of paper and a pen, and handed them to Zheng Chuan.

“Try to draw what the scar looked like, as best you can.”