Chapter 21: The Case
When they got to the front door of the apartment by elevator, Li Mu turned around and gave Yu Fan a cold glance.
Yu Fan still had that bright, cheerful smile on his face and said, “Your family doesn’t have any weird rules, right? It’s my first time meeting your parents, so I’m a little nervous.”
The way he said that... If someone overheard, they might think he was meeting his in-laws.
Li Mu shook his head, opened the door, and walked straight inside without even taking off his shoes. Yu Fan followed closely behind, curiously looking around the apartment.
But as soon as he stepped in, Yu Fan realized the place was covered in dust. The furniture, like the couch, was wrapped in dust covers. It looked like no one had lived here for a long time. The whole apartment felt lifeless and cold.
Maybe the building had really good insulation, outside it was probably over 30 degrees, but inside it was only around 20. Judging by how comfortable Li Mu seemed, he was clearly used to it.
The breeze that came in with the door stirred up the dust, sending it flying all over.
Yu Fan started coughing from the dust and looked around. His eyes stopped on three black cloths hanging above the TV wall.
“This is...?”
After putting his suitcase down in a corner, Li Mu looked up and explained, “My family.”
The three family portraits had been permanently covered with black cloth. There weren’t any other photos of his family in the house either.
After all these years, he had almost forgotten what they looked like, and he no longer felt sad about it.
“…Sorry,” Yu Fan scratched his head awkwardly and said, “Earlier, I…”
But Li Mu didn’t care to listen. He just shoved a broom and dustpan into Yu Fan’s hands and said, “Since you’re already here, help me clean.”
Yu Fan stared blankly at Li Mu, then looked at the broom and dustpan in his hands. He had no idea how things suddenly turned into him doing housework.
He asked in confusion, “You invited me up here just for this?”
“What else?” Li Mu copied Yu Fan’s usual sunny smile. “Thanks in advance.”
“……”
It took them a full hour to finish cleaning. By the time the sky was completely dark, the apartment was just barely cleaned up.
And even then, they had only cleaned the furniture and floors. The windows and doors were still dusty.
“You coming back tomorrow? The windows still need cleaning,” Li Mu said as he flopped down onto the sofa and looked at Yu Fan, who now looked completely worn out.
He had shamelessly given all the hard work, like sweeping and mopping, to Yu Fan, while he only wiped the tables and chairs. After all, Yu Fan had messed with him quite a few times recently. He was just collecting a bit of payback.
“Meeting you really is bad luck,” Yu Fan muttered as he sat beside Li Mu, then scooted over a little before continuing to complain. “Because of you, the girls in our class won’t even talk to me anymore. And now I’ve ended up being your cleaner.”
“You lost the wig yourself,” Li Mu turned his head away, not letting Yu Fan blame him. Then, with a look of disgust, he added, “Now hurry up and go. I want to shower and sleep.”
“You’re not even going to offer me dinner?”
“I’m broke,” Li Mu replied confidently.
“Then I’ll treat you,” Yu Fan said, pulling out his phone to order food. As he tapped the screen, he mumbled, “Never met anyone so stingy.”
Li Mu ignored him, picked up the remote, and turned on the TV with a blank expression.
During the seven-day National Day holiday, Li Mu planned to work as a food delivery guy to earn some money. That way, he could also pay back the money Yu Fan had spent on buying women's clothes for him.
While delivering food, he could also ask customers if they knew any well-known fortune tellers or shamans.
He could even take pictures of the women's clothes and makeup to sell online… Back when he was in school, he had to attend classes, so even if someone bought them, he didn’t have time to ship the packages.
“What’s your delivery address?” Yu Fan tossed his phone over. “Fill it in.”
“Mm.”
Li Mu noticed Yu Fan was purposely keeping a bit of distance from him, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.
As he filled in the address, he asked, “I haven’t changed much lately, right?”
From his point of view, he’d just lost a bit of muscle, nothing major. But he wanted to double-check with someone else.
“There is a change. You look paler.”
That was probably because he stayed indoors too much.
Seeing that Li Mu didn’t seem to care, Yu Fan sighed. “Why are you so relaxed? You’re clearly becoming more and more feminine every day, yet you look so calm, like you’re not worried at all. I’m the one worrying for you.”
“Really?” Li Mu wasn’t used to people showing concern for him.
“Overall, you haven’t changed much, but don’t you think your voice has gotten thinner lately?”
Li Mu looked down in silence and kept filling in the address, shaking his head.
When we hear our own voice, it travels through our bones, which makes it sound deeper. But when others hear it, it travels through the air, which can make it sound much higher. A lot of guys think their voice sounds deep and charming, but to others, it might sound sharp and squeaky.
“And… that smell is still there…” Yu Fan added, backing away a bit like he was worried about another awkward situation.
Back on the scooter, the wind made the smell less noticeable.
“Mm.”
“And also…” Yu Fan hesitated, then said, “Your legs.”
Hearing that, Li Mu looked down at his own legs, which were neatly pressed together. “What about them?”
“Is this Lin Xi’s influence?”
“No.”
Li Mu quickly spread his legs apart and looked annoyed.
Yu Fan suddenly realized something. “Oh! I thought maybe your thinking had started to become more feminine like Lin Xi’s.”
So what if I like to sit with my legs together?! Can’t a guy sit like that?! It’s just because the desks at school are small and my deskmate always spreads his legs too wide! I had no space!
He angrily tossed the phone back to Yu Fan after filling in the address, grumbling in his head.
As they were talking, Yu Fan’s phone suddenly buzzed.
He looked down and saw it was a news alert from one of his apps.
“Random late-night serial murders?” Yu Fan mumbled. “This makes three cases in one week, right?”
“What?” Li Mu heard him and got curious.
“Even our little county’s getting more dangerous.” He forwarded the news to Li Mu’s phone.
The article was short. It said that this morning, a dismembered body had been found in Fengcheng County. The victim likely died around 3 a.m. They were a troublemaking youth who left an internet café in the middle of the night to get some food.
The other two victims were also mentioned. One was a middle-aged man who had been drinking heavily last weekend, and the other was a young female staff member leaving work late from a karaoke bar on Wednesday night.
All were brutally killed and cut into pieces.
Honestly, Li Mu found it hard to believe that serial murders could still happen in modern times.
Even in a small county, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Normally, even if a murderer tried to hide, they’d be caught within a few days. This wasn’t decades ago.
After reading the news, Li Mu spoke with worry in his voice.
“I guess I can’t deliver food at night anymore.”