Chapter 247: The Temptation of the Rich & Famous

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“…”

Xiang Wan was speechless by Bai Muchuan’s overprotective behavior.

She was just chatting with Quan Shaoteng.

And this guy had to cut off their conversation and pull her away.

That was an obvious act of jealousy!

After they entered the security check counter and was waiting for the plane, Bai Muchuan made sure they sat really far away from Quan Shaoteng.

Xiang Wan could not help feeling amused. “Why are you behaving like this? All of them are over there.”

Bai Muchuan: “Nothing. We can talk privately.”

“… What do you want to talk about privately?”

“Just talk privately.”

“Umm!”

Xiang Wan was speechless.

Is he a three-year-old?

She looked at Bai Muchuan with a smile “You seem so protective and anxious,” she said softly, “you don’t have confidence in yourself?”

Hurhur! “Do I look like it?” Bai Muchuan replied with a proud look on his face.

Seeing how serious Bai Muchuan was, Xiang Wan giggled a little.”You do look like it. But I feel that it’s strange. Back when I was hanging out around Tang Yuanchu, Huang He, Xie Hui… you’ve never acted this way before?”

“That’s different.”

Bai Muchuan stretched his arms lazily and put his hand around Xiang Wan’s shoulder before taking a peek at Quan Shaoteng.

“That fellow is poisonous.”

“…”

Without a doubt, Quan Shaoteng was also good-looking. Not only he was tall and gorgeous, he also had a bad boy yuppie look, as well as a free and dangerous aura. Women could easily get seduced by him.

Xiang Wan expressed her understanding. She controlled herself not to laugh as she nodded seriously.

“Fine, I’ll listen to you. From now onward, I’ll keep a distance from him or I’ll really get attracted by him instead—”

“Hur!” Bai Muchuan looked at her with displeasure. “He can seduce my woman away? Is he better-looking than me?!”

That is a “life or death” question! Xiang Wan answered very carefully. “He’s not as good looking as you. So, why are you so bothered?”

“Which eye of yours saw that I’m bothered?” Bai Muchuan pinched Xiang Wan by the nose. “Little Xiang Wan, I think you need to be taught a lesson?”

“…”

Self-contradictory and refusing to admit the truth!

Xiang Wan found it funny as well as irritating as she saw Bai Muchuan’s unconcerned look on his face.

However, this was just a joke between the two of them; there was no need to take it seriously.

Xiang Wan looked at the other three people. Besides Quan Shaoteng, the other three were unfamiliar faces.

“Aren’t you just supposed to take over the case for this trip to Xi City? Why do you need to bring so many people along?”

Bai Muchuan pondered for a moment. “We’ll also investigate the case while we’re there.”

Bai Muchuan took the initiative and continued talking before Xiang Wan asked more questions, “Those three are the new members of Serious Crime Division One. They are competent detectives specially picked by me…”

“I see.” As these were related to his work matters, Xiang Wan did not ask any more questions.

“Let’s hope our trip to Xi City this time is smooth sailing.”

…

It was almost noon when they arrived in Xi City.

The group of six found a spot near the airport for lunch.

For convenience, Bai Muchuan specially rented a seven-seater SUV.

The car rental company was very efficient.

The group had just finished their meal when the car rental company drove the SUV over.

Almost at the same time as the arrival of the SUV, there was also a man who arrived with his luggage.

The moment Xiang Wan saw him, she was filled with surprise. “Tang Yuanchu?”

Why is he here?

Bai Muchuan ignored the doubt on her face and threw the car keys over to Tang Yuanchu. Then he gestured for Tang Yuanchu to sit down for his lunch.

Bai Muchuan then proceeded to introduce the rest to Tang Yuanchu.

“Tu Liang, Salimu, Ding Yifan.”

These were the name of three detectives besides Quan Shaoteng.

One of them was an ethnic minority.

Tu Liang appeared to be older than all of them. He had a darker skin tone as well as a pair of sharp but calm eyes. Xiang Wan was able to tell in one look that he was a very experienced detective.

Sailimu was the youngest among them. He seemed shy, and when Xiang Wan looked at him, he lowered his head and appeared to be blushing.

Ding Yifan was the most ordinary with a medium-sized built and average looks. He was the type that could not leave an impression in people. If one needed to find him in a crowd, one would have trouble seeking him out as one would have difficulty remembering how he looked like…

After Tang Yuanchu wolfed down his meal, all of them got on the SUV and headed straight for their destination.

Tang Yuanchu was still the chauffeur for them.

By then, Xiang Wan got to know that he had specially come here from Jin City.

And his application for secondment was approved just a few days ago,

It could be seen that even if it was only a secondment, he was very excited to be working under Bai Muchuan. He was the one who talked the most during the journey, totally did not seem to be exhausted. He talked about the many colleagues in Hongjiang District who missed Bai Muchuan and also how he was not used to working after Bai Muchuan left for the Capital.

Bai Muchuan would occasionally show a smile as he listened but did not say anything.

Quan Shaoteng, however, chuckled after hearing all that. “Serious Crime Division One consisted of people that come from so many places, it gathered heroes from all over the country.”

“It’s elites!” Bai Muchuan corrected him. “What we wanted are always the most competent police force.”

“Hey, that didn’t sound friendly to me.” Quan Shaoteng glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. “I’m not a part of the police force.”

“I didn’t say you are,” replied Bai Muchuan provokingly, “you’re the one we invited to maintain security and order. Well, you’re similar to the security officers in our office… We need brains to do our work. As for you… you only have able limbs.”

“What?!” Quan Shaoteng argued, “I still have my looks.”

“Oh.” Bai Muchuan smiled. “So you do know as well? That you depended entirely on your looks to survive till now!”

“!” Quan Shaoteng gritted his teeth as he saw the mocking expression on Bai Muchuan’s face. “You’re right!” Quan Shaoteng smirked. “If I don’t depend on this face of mine, you won’t even let me come to Serious Crime Division One.”

He stretched his legs lazily and puffed a sigh. “Little Bai ah, Little Bai, you’ve finally confessed after carrying a torch for me for so many years.”

“…”

Everyone else on the SUV was speechless.

“Mm.” Bai Muchuan had a complicated look on his face. “I’ve never come across such a shameless person!”

“Hurhur!” Quan Shaoteng did not mind that. All of a sudden, he turned to Xiang Wan with a pair of bright eyes, Bai Muchuan in between them. “Little Bai’s girlfriend.” He had a teasing smirk on his face. “You understand everything now?”

Xiang Wan didn’t expect that and was a little dazed. “What?”

Quan Shaoteng got closer to her a little. “He’s interested in… me.”

“Umm,” Xiang Wan nodded her head. “I heard that.”

Quan Shaoteng raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have anything to say?”

“I…” Xiang Wan put on a solemn expression as she looked at him and then at Bai Muchuan before puffing a sad sigh. “I can only wish you both all the best.” She now had a forlorn expression.

Quan Shaoteng: “…”

Xiang Wan continued, “Both of you can go ahead and be together.”

Quan Shaoteng cackled out loud. “Hey, can’t you be more convincing? Shouldn’t you try to keep him by feigning that you’re in pain? Why expose your true thoughts? Little Bai! Your girlfriend must have thought of you as a nuisance since long ago.”

He had not finished talking when he got pulled back by Bai Muchuan. “Sit tight.”

“Why? Feeling bitter…”

At this moment, Tang Yuanchu did a sudden turn which caused Quan Shaoteng to lose his balance.

Quan Shaoteng was holding his mobile phone at that moment. That sudden turn made his body fall toward Bai Muchuan.

Bai Muchuan, on the other hand, was able to catch him nimbly by just by a stretch of an arm.

“…”

That scene was so beautiful that Xiang Wan was unable to describe it.

Quan Shaoteng was slightly astounded for a moment. “What the! You did that on purpose, right, brother!”

He shouted at Tang Yuanchu, but the latter had an innocent expression.

“No, no, I was avoiding a pedestrian earlier—”

Although that sounded real, there was no way Quan Shaoteng would believe that.

He looked at Bai Muchuan from the corner of his eyes. “You sure seem to be calm?”

Bai Muchuan took a glance at him, his hand still holding his shoulder. When he heard that, he pulled him slowly toward him.

“It’s not the first time you’ve been throwing yourself into my arms. Of course, I’m calm about it.”

Uh…

Xiang Wan felt like laughing when she saw Quan Shaoteng’s ‘euphoric’ expression.

Two seconds later, Quan Shaoteng pushed Bai Muchuan’s shoulders. “Enough cr*p!” He spat, “Get away from me!”

Bai Muchuan chuckled but did not let go of him. His eyes were smiling as he looked at Quan Shaoteng. “There’s no need to struggle anymore! You can’t beat me at this.”

Hur! Quan Shaoteng gave a lazy smile. “Did you think I’m a doormat?”

In less than a second, he rested his head on Bai Muchuan’s shoulder. “Fine then, I’m yours. Just note that I always chalk up a huge amount of monthly expenses. Do as you deem fit.”

As the two of them bantered with each other, the rest of them were laughing all the time.

Xiang Wan laughed so much that she almost went out of breath.

“… Cough, cough, cough! Both of you stop it. If you two continue the act, I have a feeling both of you won’t be straight anymore…”

“Hurhur! Both of us, are no longer straight since a long time ago.” Quan Shaoteng continued to banter shamelessly, “Xiang Wan, ah, you’re too naive!”

“…”

The two of them were comrades-in-arms and longtime friends. They could banter with each other freely without constraints.

It was especially true for Quan Shaoteng. He was not the kind of person who followed the rules. He was like the free wind where he would go to wherever he felt comfortable…

As for Bai Muchuan…

As Xiang Wan looked at the two of them, her brain could not help thinking about Bai Muchuan when he enlisted in the military.

The Bai Muchuan at that point in time, what kind of expression did he have on his youthful face?

…

While she drifted off in her thoughts, the bantering had stopped and everyone else had regained their composure.

“Are all the information ready?”

Bai Muchuan was asking Tu Liang.

He was the detective who looked reliable, calm, and meticulous.

He was the only person in the group carrying a briefcase apart from his own luggage.

He was a man of few words, but he had a pair of keen eyes. Thus, in their first meeting, Xiang Wan had tagged him the label of—Butler.

After Bai Muchuan asked, Butler Tu Liang patted his bag immediately.

“Boss, everything is ready.”

Bai Muchuan nodded his head.

Salimu was looking at the scenery outside and turned around when he heard that. “Are we about to arrive?”

He did not pay too much attention to Bai Muchuan and Quan Shaoteng’s regular bantering and seemed to live in his own world. The purity and friendliness in his eyes reminded Xiang Wan of the characters in comics.

Hence, Xiang Wan tagged him as—Otaku.

Bai Muchuan had told her before that only the great, competent detectives would be able to be a part of Serious Crime Division One. Up till now, Xiang Wan had not yet been able to tell the ability of “Otaku Salimu”. So far, she felt that he seemed to be curious about everything. His eyes were always wide-opened as if he were seeing things for the first time…

Too innocent.

How could someone like him be able to arrest criminals?

Bai Muchuan did not seem to be bothered at all as he replied to him casually.

“Two more streets to go.”

“I see.”

Xiang Wan could not understand Salimu but was in awe of Bai Muchuan’s memory power.

They did not switch on the GPS navigation system. Yet he could still remember the way to the Criminal Investigation Unit in Xi City when he had only been there once…

This guy is really something!

But, at the same time, that made her felt incompetent.

“I’m ashamed!” She laughed in a low tone.

“Mm?” Bai Muchuan actually heard Xiang Wan mumbling to herself, “What are you ashamed of?”

“…” Xiang Wan took three seconds to think of a reply. “I’m ashamed of myself in front of Your Excellency!”

“Hur! I believe you.”

…

The hotel they booked was not far away, or rather, it was on the way to the Criminal Investigation Unit of Xi City. Their plan was to check into the hotel first.

Tang Yuanchu parked the SUV there while the rest offloaded the luggage to check-in first.

Prior to arriving in Xi City, they had already made their reservations with the hotel.

After the group moved all their luggage up to their rooms, they headed to the Criminal Investigation Unit of Xi City, leaving Xiang Wan at the hotel to write her story.

…

When Bai Muchuan and his team arrived there, it was one o’clock in the afternoon.

The detectives there had gone for their lunch and were not back yet.

The police officers on duty helped to receive them and served them some tea. About half an hour later, the Captain showed up.

Besides the Captain, there was also the Vice Commissioner of the Municipal Bureau of Xi City as well as a few detectives who were handling the murder case, making it a total of six people.

They met with each other, shook hands, and went inside the meeting room.

They looked through the documents that Bai Muchuan had brought from the Capital. However, ever since the meeting started, the Vice Commissioner had a somewhat reluctant and awkward smile.

“Seriously speaking, Serious Crime Division One has just been established and it is our honor that the team would come to solve the major case in Xi City to relieve our burden. It’s just that…”

When he spoke, he had some hesitation, and his eyes kept looking at Bai Muchuan as well as the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit—Captain Zhang.

“With regards to this case, we’re almost reaching the end of our investigations, and frankly speaking, we would be able to solve the case soon…”

Although he had put it in a nice way, everyone in the meeting room was able to get what he was trying to say.

Simply put, Serious Crime Division One was taking away a case that they were about to solve.

Since they were already about to solve the case, they were hinting that Serious Crime Division One was equivalent to wanting to snatch away their credit.

As Bai Muchuan and team remain silent about it. Captain Zhang decided to pinch in a few words.

“Serious Crime Division One signifies our country’s stance against criminal syndicates and has a tough mission to fulfill. Our unit at Xi City here… shouldn’t take up this many resources.”

Bai Muchuan had dealt with this Captain Zhang before at the airport police station.

“So without further ado, I’ll trouble Captain Zhang to talk about the progress of the case!”

If this was a case of robbing someone of their credit, it would look bad on Serious Crime Division One.

But if their progress was not what it was claimed—that would be a different story.

Captain Zhang contemplated for a while and took a peek at the Vice Commissioner. “The mastermind of the case has been found to be a triad organization called the ‘Dark Clan’…”

In the current society, it was not surprising that there were some triad organizations among the people.

Nevertheless, every year, the country would try to eliminate triad influence. Every district or city expressed peace and tranquility within their jurisdiction, and that triad influence had been eradicated…

“Well…” Captain Zhang dragged his voice a little. “After our investigations, this triad organization just came to Xi City about a month ago.”

I see! I got it, you’re trying to say it’s not a native triad.

Bai Muchuan nodded his head. “And then?”

Captain Zhang’s gaze met his and he pushed a file of documents that he had prepared over to him.

“The four girls who died in Xi City are domestic tourists, as well as Zhang Lu who died a few days ago. All of them are found to be related to an activity that the ‘Dark Clan’ is organizing in Xi City… Captain Bai, here’s some interesting information we’ve got. Take a look.”

Bai Muchuan’s eyes were bright as though it was sparkling.

Captain Zhang proceeded to explain talk about their findings.

“From the belongings of these girls, we found a similar thing… it’s an online novel.”

In the meeting room, it was suddenly quiet.

Bai Muchuan’s eyelid suddenly jumped as he thought of “Murder The Dream Guy”—

However, when he opened the file, the pictures that he saw on the name of the novel was actually called “The Temptation of the Rich & Famous”.

“Prior to the death of these girls, it seemed that they were working on this novel… But sadly, none of them managed to write any content. In their document, they only left a sentence inside. Look, it’s right here—”

He pointed to a sentence.

“‘The Temptation of the Rich & Famous’—Uncover the secrets of the path to being rich & famous. Those who participate in the making of this book will ultimately become the most revered author. An annual income of tens of millions will no longer be a dream…”

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