Chapter 35: My Car Has Air Conditioning
After leaving Lin Xi’s house, Yu Fan didn’t care about the dust and sat down right on the stairs.
Even though they didn’t get much useful info from Aunt Cai about Lin Xi, they still learned something.
One thing was certain, it was probably because Lin Xi was still inside Li Mu’s body that he somehow had some of her memories, and even had some of her temperament.
The image of Li Mu came to Yu Fan’s mind.
Lately, he really was starting to seem more and more like a girl.
Otherwise, Aunt Cai wouldn’t have mistaken him for her own daughter.
Yu Fan had thought Li Mu would come out in about ten minutes, but after waiting and waiting, it took a whole hour before Li Mu finally walked out of the house, face tight and serious.
Aunt Cai followed closely behind, still talking non-stop.
“If you have time, come over for a meal. Maybe you can meet Lin Xi’s dad this weekend? The weather will get cold after October, do you need clothes? I’ll buy you a couple of sets.”
“Aunt Cai, really, that’s okay,” Li Mu said as he politely turned her down. “Yu Fan and I will be going now.”
“Come visit often.”
“Okay.”
Li Mu turned to leave, but Aunt Cai’s deep, caring gaze stayed on his back, making him feel more and more uncomfortable. He lowered his head and quickly walked downstairs.
Yu Fan followed closely behind. After going down a few floors, he finally asked, “What did you talk about? Why did it take an hour?”
“We talked about Lin Xi’s childhood and growing up,” Li Mu said with a helpless look.
“She didn’t make you her goddaughter or something, did she?”
“No,” Li Mu said with a blank expression, walking fast ahead. “Let’s go to Lin Xi’s best friend’s house now. Lin Xi didn’t come home for the last half-month before she died, so she probably ran into the ghost at school or when she was out on the weekend.”
Yu Fan noticed that Li Mu seemed even more eager than before to find out the truth behind Lin Xi’s death.
Before, Li Mu had just been panicking because of changes happening to his own body. That’s why he wanted to investigate Lin Xi. But now, it seemed like seeing Aunt Cai’s pain after losing her daughter gave him even more drive.
Maybe that’s what people call empathy?
His grandpa once said, ‘People with empathy, no matter what their personality is like, are never truly bad.’
“She lives nearby. They’ve been classmates since elementary school. She’s kind of like a little gangster,” Li Mu explained about Lin Xi’s best friend. “Her name is Li Mingjuan. Her family runs a butchery. In middle school, she led Lin Xi down a bad path for a while. That’s why they only got into a vocational school. Later, they suddenly got serious and decided to try getting into college together.”
Though it was more likely that Li Mingjuan just didn’t want to start working so early.
The typically quiet Li Mu was now offering extensive details about Li Mingjuan.
“I think she likes you too. She met you during a school club event.”
Even though vocational school clubs weren’t as fancy as university ones, students still had free time and managed to organize activities.
Yu Fan nodded as if he suddenly remembered something. “Now that you mention it, I do kind of remember her.”
A little over ten minutes later, the two of them arrived at Li Mingjuan’s home.
She lived on the same street as Lin Xi, in a similar old apartment building.
Yu Fan was already quite interested in this kind of thing. Plus, he once promised Lin Xi he’d help find out the truth. So now, he was full of energy.
They knocked on Li Mingjuan’s door. A moment later, a girl with short, choppy hair opened it.
A strong smell of perfume filled the air as soon as the door opened, so strong that both Li Mu and Yu Fan took a step back.
“Yu Fan?!”
The girl with dyed yellow hair and a slightly edgy style looked very surprised.
Yu Fan quickly gave her his signature friendly smile, while Li Mu stood quietly by his side.
“Come in,” Li Mingjuan said. Her surprise faded quickly, and she looked a little gloomy as she took two pairs of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them on the floor.
Once Li Mu and Yu Fan stepped inside, they noticed a middle-aged man in a business suit already sitting in the room.
That man stood up, nodded at Li Mingjuan, and said, “We understand the situation. If there’s any new update, I’ll let you know.”
Li Mingjuan quickly ran to the door, acting extremely polite, she even gave him a respectful bow.
Li Mu and Yu Fan glanced at each other. This girl seemed a bit different from what they had heard.
Wasn’t she supposed to be a tough, rebellious girl?
Aside from her clothes and hairstyle, she was acting more polite than some people in Japan!
After the middle-aged man left, Li Mingjuan stood up straight, closed the door, and looked at the two people in her living room with curiosity.
“Yu Fan…” Her expression toward Yu Fan was hard to read, but her eyes kept drifting toward Li Mu. “And you are?”
“Li Mu,” he answered coldly. “Yu Fan’s classmate.”
Li Mingjuan nodded, then quietly muttered, “You really remind me of Lin Xi.”
“We’re actually here to talk about Lin Xi…”
Yu Fan smiled and was about to continue, but Li Mingjuan suddenly asked in confusion, “You’re here for Lin Xi too?”
“Too?”
“You mean that man earlier was also here for Lin Xi?”
The two looked at each other and suddenly realized, they might have just run into someone from a department that handles ghosts.
Yu Fan jumped off the sofa and ran out the door, with Li Mu hurrying after him.
They couldn’t miss this chance again.
Plus, it seemed that everything Li Mingjuan knew, that man probably knew as well. Maybe he was also investigating how Lin Xi really died.
…………………………
But when Yu Fan got downstairs, he couldn’t see the man anywhere.
A moment later, Li Mu arrived too, panting and holding his waist in pain.
If it were before, he wouldn’t be this tired from just a short run.
“Where is he?” he asked while trying to catch his breath.
“I don’t know. Just a moment ago, I saw him lighting a cigarette near the stairway window.” Yu Fan frowned and looked around. “Don’t tell me he can fly?”
“Of course not,” said a voice, as a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
Yu Fan jumped in shock and turned his head, only to see that it was the man they were looking for.
He had appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost himself.
Li Mu had caught his breath and now turned to look at the man who had somehow ended up behind them without them noticing.
Even though it was summer, this man was wearing a full business suit without a drop of sweat on his forehead. He just smiled kindly at them.
“Uncle Chen?”
As soon as Li Mu saw his face clearly, he realized he actually knew this man.
Chen Yi smiled and nodded at Li Mu, then turned to Yu Fan.
“You’re the eldest grandson of the Yu family from Huayang Village, right? What do you need from me?”
They had found the right person!
Yu Fan didn’t bother asking how Li Mu knew this man. He quickly explained, “It’s about Lin Xi. We think she might have died because of a ghost—”
But before he could finish, Chen Yi raised his hand to stop him, smiling and making a friendly suggestion.
“There’s air conditioning in my car. Let’s talk there, okay?”