"I haven't done anything! Hang on, I'll be right down."
"Boss, maybe you should just turn yourself in. I feel like this has already blown up."
"Turn yourself in, my ass! Wait for me downstairs." He hung up, hastily threw on a jacket, wiped his face, and ran to the haunted house entrance.
He lifted the opaque curtain and shoved aside the safety railing.
Sunlight fell across his body. The moment Chen Ge appeared, the clamoring crowd gradually fell quiet.
The tourists on the outer edges all looked at Chen Ge, their gazes laced with curiosity—and a faint trace of disappointment. This man whom the police had been staking out so closely turned out to be remarkably ordinary-looking.
It was Chen Ge's first time being stared at by so many people. The atmosphere was awkward, and he felt he should say something. "Could I ask what exactly brings everyone here?"
"That's you, Chen Ge?" The lead officer was holding a box. He was slightly stocky, with sharp eyes and a mature bearing, but because he had a baby face, the overall effect was inexplicably comical.
"Yes."
"Could I see your ID?"
Chen Ge rummaged through his pockets for a while and produced his ID card. While handing it over, he also stole a few glances at the officer in front of him. This man's uniform was different from Captain Li's and the others'.
"All right, identity confirmed." The stocky officer broke into a smile. He waved over a nearby reporter, opened the box in his hands, and spoke in a very official tone: "In the Peace Apartment massacre case, Comrade Chen Ge provided critical leads. In accordance with
This entire speech left Chen Ge completely dazed. Things had turned around far too quickly. He accepted the box, his drowsiness still not entirely gone, and stared at the medal inside. Only one thought ran through his mind—*Where's the cash reward?*
The stocky officer stood beside Chen Ge and praised him lavishly in front of the reporters snapping photos. The whole proceedings dragged on for fifteen minutes before they finally ended.
After the crowd dispersed and the reporters left, Chen Ge quietly tracked down the portly officer. "Hey, brother—what should I call you?"
"My surname is Yan. You can call me Captain Yan. Old Li from the Xicheng Police Station and I are classmates. He's mentioned you to me." Captain Yan seemed very genial, and his gaze toward Chen Ge carried a hint of admiration. "Your handling of the Peace Apartment massacre was spot-on. And during the subsequent pursuit by the suspect, your reactions and powers of observation really surprised both Old Li and me."
Being praised like that by Captain Yan, Chen Ge felt too embarrassed to bring up the reward money. "I'd call that nothing more than a bit of quick thinking on my part. Without you all, I probably never would have made it out of the Peace Apartment alive. 'The people's police serve the people'—that saying couldn't be more true."
After a round of awkward mutual flattery, Captain Yan noticed that Chen Ge was still lingering by the patrol car and cracked a knowing smile. "Young Chen, the massacre case reward and the Third-Class Public Security Honor Medal bonus both require you to bring proper identification and collect them in person at the Municipal Bureau. Because the case spanned such a long period, there was a delay. I hope you understand."
"No problem, no problem." Once he learned he could go collect the reward, the weight that had been sitting on Chen Ge's chest finally dropped back into place.
"I came here early today purely to express my personal gratitude. Every cold case is a stone weighing on a police officer's heart. Case files pass from master to apprentice, carried on indefinitely. I was involved in this case four years ago as well—consider it a knot in my heart." Captain Yan's smile was genuine. "Oh, and the old gentleman from the Peace Apartment wants to see you as well. The old man is paralyzed in a wheelchair, his lower body can't move, and he can't speak, but his mind is still sharp. Once he learned it was you who saved him and who also solved a years-old case, he wanted to thank you in person."
"Mm."
To Chen Ge, the massacre case was just a task from the Black Phone, but to the victims' families, it meant everything.
"You should go see him as soon as possible. He's in the hospital. Whether it's because of extreme emotional upheaval or because the obsession that had been sustaining him has finally dissipated—either way, his condition isn't too good right now." After saying this, Captain Yan climbed into the car.
"Sure, I'll go today if I have time." Chen Ge eyed the somewhat unusual uniform on the man and couldn't shake the feeling that Captain Yan's identity was anything but ordinary.
After the patrol car pulled away,
"Boss, are you going to be on TV again?!"
"Nice, and you got a medal too."
After brushing them off with a few casual words, Chen Ge spotted Uncle Xu in the crowd and dragged him off to a corner.
"Uncle, what about the underground parking lot rental we discussed? The funds are coming through any day now!"
The moment he heard Chen Ge wanted to rent the underground parking lot, Uncle Xu's brow furrowed. "This isn't a funding issue. I can't just watch you jump into a pit of fire. The park's overall visitor numbers are declining right now—everyone is looking for an exit strategy. Can't you be a little more rational?"
"I am being rational. I know exactly what I'm doing." Chen Ge's tone was resolute. The haunted house might hold critical clues to his parents' disappearance. Only by continuing to develop it would he have the standing—and the means—to reach that level of things.
"You really won't listen to reason." Uncle Xu talked for a long time, but Chen Ge didn't waver an inch. With no other choice, he finally nodded. "Come with me. Because of the fugitive incident at the park, Mr. Luo has come as well. You can speak to him directly."
"
"What did you think? The Municipal Branch's Criminal Investigation Division set up a perimeter around the park, so naturally the management was notified and told to cooperate fully. Director Luo has been staying at the park these past few days." Uncle Xu led Chen Ge to the northernmost office building in the park—the tallest structure besides the Ferris wheel. "When you meet Mr. Luo, don't say anything careless. The less you say, the fewer mistakes. Say nothing, make no mistakes. Understood?"
Chen Ge followed Uncle Xu into the elevator and rode it to the top floor of the office building, where they stopped in front of a particular office door.
It wasn't locked. Uncle Xu knocked on the door panel, and soon a man in his fifties emerged from the inner room.
He wasn't tall. His hair was streaked with black and white, his features appeared gentle, and the suit he wore wasn't designer, but it was clean and pressed without a single crease at the edges.
"So this is Mr. Luo? He doesn't really look like the photos." In Chen Ge's eyes, the man in front of him looked more like a high-school teacher about to retire.