REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 20: Memory Lane

After the rain fell on that full moon night, the temperature gradually decreased until various colored winter jackets appeared all over Hong Kong Island.

“This year, the cold winds came early.” Duan Feng said, tightening his black winter jacket that had “Police” written on the back. Lu Yipeng nodded and blew into the cup of hot tea in his hand, white steam rising immediately. Both were in the middle of conducting a routine inspection in their assigned area and were taking a break in front of a coffee stand.

“It’s so cold, I wish someone was here to cuddle with me.” Duan Feng continued after taking a sip of tea, “Getting into bed alone on a chilly night like this, it feels lonely no matter what, inspector, do you have someone with you or not?”

Lu Yipeng looked at his junior before blinking a few times. Seeing that, Duan

Feng immediately continued, “Oh, don’t tell me your bed is cold now, or someone is already sharing it with you.”

“Oh, no.” Lu Yipeng replied, shaking his head, “I was about to tell the sergeant to boil some hot water and put it in a bottle, it will keep us warm.”

“Wow… the inspector ruins the atmosphere.” Duan Feng moaned, “And in this way, when will I ever see your fiance again? Last time you let that girl go off somewhere.”

Lu Yipeng chuckled, “No woman wants to marry me.”

“That’s a bit cynical, inspector. I’m sorry, if you haven’t found anyone to marry, what chance do I have?” The other person said with a hint of disappointment. Lu Yipeng looked at his companion and smiled again, “It’s not about finding the right person, getting married doesn’t guarantee happiness.”

“It’s true, inspector.” The other person nodded in agreement. Lu Yipeng fell silent for a moment before asking, “But what about the singer from the other day, did your pursuit of her go anywhere?”

“Well… it didn’t really go anywhere.” Duan Feng replied with a troubled expression, “She had to go back to take care of her sick mother in another province. We’ve been apart since then. Maybe now I’ll get to meet a nice woman who has time to take care of me.”

“Why do you want to find a girlfriend?” Lu Yipeng tried to say but couldn’t. Duan Feng turned to look at him and made a big face.

“Oh, inspector, have you given up on the single life already? Don’t you think about it? When we come home tired after work, it’s nice to have someone waiting, a friend sitting down for a late dinner, ready to heat up some hot water for a bath, sleeping warmly next to you on a cold night. It’s good to have someone by your side when you die.”

“Well… I don’t think it’s that simple.” Lu Yipeng said, and a thought came to mind that he hadn’t considered before.

…

Going back almost four years. After escaping from the clutches of Hong Kongque, enduring the shame of his leg wound, along with the vow never to return to that hellish place again. One day in winter, while he was working, his mobile phone rang loudly. Lu Yipeng quickly answered.

“Is this inspector Lu Yipeng?” The voice at the other end was unfamiliar to him. Lu Yipeng furrowed his brow, wondering if he had left his number to be a bother to someone as old as this.

“Yes. I’m Lu Yipeng. What can I do for you?”

“My boss, the Peafowl, wants you to meet at the fortress this evening. Please come as scheduled. You will be provided with dinner.”

Lu Yipeng’s hand trembled as he held the phone before finally answering, “I’m not going.”

That phone call made the young police officer furious and took Lu Yipeng to the point where the wound on his leg hurt almost half a day, but by nightfall it was forgotten. However, when he walked to the car, he saw a big man waiting.

Seeing Lu Yipeng’s face, the man immediately assumed an aggressive stance. If he remembered correctly, this guy was also in the employment of that scoundrel house just like him.

“I’m here on the boss’s orders, please let me take you to meet him.” The man with a wound resembling a surgical scar on the center of his forehead spoke, bowing to him, “Boss said I should ask but be nice, so there won’t be any issues.”

“I’m not going.” Lu Yipeng replied sharply, “If you have a problem, then settle it with me right here.”

The man listened, shaking his head, “My duty is only to inform you.”

“Okay.” The young police officer sighed, “Then you can go back, tell your boss this. If he wants to see me, then he can come.”

“Yes.” The tall man accepted, then quietly walked away. Lu Yipeng let out an angry sigh before opening the car door and starting the engine to drive back home.

What will that scoundrel peacock do next?

…

Angrily, the young police officer stopped by the game center to vent his emotions because the wound on his leg made him have to avoid almost all types of evening outings, afraid that when he got close to a woman and then will have to flee later, he didn’t want to show that embarrassing wound. In the end, the young police officer found his way to relieve stress at this game center.

He played until three in the morning, then drove back home. But as he parked the car and walked to the front door of the house, Lu Yipeng’s steps suddenly hesitated.

He remembered before leaving the house in the morning, he had intentionally locked his door by tilting the keyhole a bit. Why was it now perfectly straight like this?

Surely someone did something with the key.

Lu Yipeng slowly took out a gun from the belt buckle at his waist before inserting the key to unlock the door. Then he pushed it open.

“…”

Inside the house still looked the same as it did in the morning before leaving.

However, Lu Yipeng felt that something was off.

The young police officer cautiously entered his own house, barely able to suppress a smile. He never thought that one day he would have to sneak into his own home.

Inside the house, nothing seemed out of place. There wasn’t even the sound of dripping water. As he entered the kitchen, Lu Yipeng felt like he had walked into a web of threads. In a split second, a knife flew towards him, a knife he was certain had never been in his house before. He dodged it just in time, feeling the sharp edge of the knife pass by his shoulder. As it collided with the wall and fell to the ground, it made a loud clang.

His grip on the gun tightened instantly.

Some psychopath must have snuck into his house and set up traps, Lu Yipeng thought to himself.

The young police officer took slow steps, trying to feel for any strings or anything that could be used to trap him low to the ground. And just like that, the house he thought was small suddenly felt much larger. He reached the stairs to the second floor and found three more traps – both knives and pots ready to fall and impale him at any moment.

The staircase that used to have only a few steps now seemed to stretch on forever. Each step had to be scrutinized. Only when he could see the faint strings tautly in place did he continue climbing. Even before reaching the top step, he spotted another trap waiting just at his neck.

The young police officer wondered if there was a criminal he had caught before who enjoyed setting up traps like these. It could even be a form of revenge.

Lu Yipeng decided he would thoroughly search his house and then call the person at the department. With the potential intruder still lurking, he may have taken advantage of a moment of carelessness to harm him.

The young police officer now stood still in front of the two doors on the second floor. One door led to a storage room, and the other was his own bedroom. After a brief hesitation, he decided to open the door to his bedroom first.

As I reached out to twist the knob, the creaking sound grew louder and the adjacent storage room door swung open, along with a chair that was violently pushed out. Lu Yipeng managed to dodge just in time, but had to widen his eyes when he saw four or five sharp iron bars falling from the ceiling. The young police officer decided to quickly dive into the bedroom. As he raised his head, he saw someone sitting on their bed.

“Inspector-Lu, you are truly amazing. It only took you ten minutes to arrive at this room. It’s truly a wonder you dare to intrude into my territory.” The person clapped admiringly, causing Lu Yipeng to frown as if he was about to come out.

“Hong Kongque.” The young police officer said with a stern tone. His expression, even in death, he would never forget. As he finished speaking, he lunged at the person sitting down. Hong Kongque was taken aback, “Inspector, you are truly impatient.”

Lu Yipeng jabbed his fingers on the neck of the person sitting down, but before he could confront them, he had to lower his head almost to the point of kissing the other person’s feet.

“Ouch!” The young police officer groaned, and only then did he realize there was another trap in the room. Lu Yipeng tried to stand up, but found that his legs were tied together. As he struggled to get up, Hong Kongque walked in, and grabbed both of his arms. Lu Yipeng was still unsteady because his legs were tied together, so he had to lower his head once again. This time, his body half collapsed onto the bed. The young police officer then heard a faint noise.

Click

The black-eyed Lu Yipeng stared blankly before attempting to pull both his hands, which were handcuffed to the headboard, together. The sound of metal clashing together could be clearly heard. Hong Kongque sat down beside him before using his hand to raise his face.

“You’ve been caught again, inspector.”

Lu Yipeng turned to look at the person in front of him before speaking, “Why did you do this? Do you want to get caught?”

The person being asked shook their head before smiling, “What’s the matter, inspector? You called me here yourself, didn’t you? You said if I wanted to see you, I should come to your house. I just followed your instructions, inspector.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at him again before speaking, “I will charge you with invading, attempting to kill a police officer, and you.”

The person was threatened and frightened to the point of trembling, “It’s really scary, you, mister inspector, like to threaten people my age. If I tried to kill you I could do it wherever I want. Just wanted to make you feel a little bit excited, that’s all. Look, you are still in good condition and even a hard on.”

After speaking, he jumped up. Then he bent down to take off Lu Yipeng’s belt buckle.

“What are you going to do!!” The young police officer shouted as Hong Kongque lifted his hand to release the handcuffs and unzip the pants of the other person, “I miss the Red Peafowl on your leg, want to see it again.”

After speaking, he dragged down the other person’s pants and pulled out. Lu

Yipeng shouted, “Hey!!”

“Inspector, you look sexy in underwear.” The other person said as he pulled down the police officer’s underpants and let them go, hearing the sound of a clicking as Lu Yipeng blushed embarrassedly.

“I will file charges of perversion against you.”

“Calm down, just taking off pants doesn’t count as perversion.” The other person said with a relaxed tone before moving his hand down to stroke the soft and scarred part of the police officer’s inner thigh.

“Very beautiful.” Hong Kongque murmured, then wriggled down under the body lying half on the bed, Lu Yipeng was shocked as his underwear was pulled off. That tongue was hot and eagerly circled around his erected shaft, forcefully and moistened by the warm and moist mouth cavity causing the police officer’s moaning voice, Hong Kongque’s technique was so good that it was shocking. After a few minutes, Lu Yipeng felt like he was walking towards the gates of heaven. The waist of the young police officer stiffened, shivering, swaying up and down to fit with the edge of the couple’s lips, while the emotional void was stimulated to its peak. The couple’s lips were then released immediately.

Lu Yipeng then slammed his head against the bed, his waist still shaking slightly, feeling dizzy to the point of dreaming, and then. He heard something being spoken, “Inspector, your thing is spewing really thick stuff. You don’t often release steam, do you?”

The brain that was in a fog suddenly returned to full operation almost instantly, “What are you looking at?!”

“Look at this, inspector.” The other person replied in a calm and nonchalant tone before raising the semi erect thing in his hand to face him, “Tell me, do you have time to play with this?”

Lu Yipeng looked at the hand that was holding the white mucus fluid before speaking, “Let go, before I press additional charges against you.”

The threatened person shut his mouth, “Look again, do you know how scary it is when you threaten me like this? I’m even more afraid, so afraid that I dare not release you semi erect.” After finishing speaking, Hong Kongque clapped his hands on the waist of the tall figure, “Come on, go lie down on the bed first, inspector.”

Lu Yipeng had never been under someone’s control before, especially not as much as today. Apart from clapping his hand, Hong Kongque also used his foot to push him. The young police officer was lifted onto the bed and almost hit the wall on the other side. Luckily, he had a handcuff key locked on, so only the tip of his foot hit the wall. But before he could regain his composure, Hong Kongque jumped up onto the bed as well.

The sound of the bed groan was terrifying, as if it would break at any moment. Lu Yipeng turned to look at the person straddling above him, who was looking down at him with a secretive smile.

“Inspector-Lu, how was it last time when you were tied up and blindfolded?

Good?” Hong Kongque asked, bending his face closer, and then grabbing his chin before using the tongue to lick his lips lightly. Lu Yipeng flinched and tried to escape, but that person squeezed him lightly before inserting their tongue.

Lu Yipeng was reluctant to be kissed, especially by a man, which was never in his thoughts. Worse still, this man had hurt him and threatened him before. The young police officer resisted, but the person holding him was so powerful that he made the young man shed tears. Eventually, Lu Yipeng had to let the other person kiss him before he was let go.

After forcing the kiss, Hong Kongque withdrew his lips and then ran his hands down between his legs, “Inspector, you are easily aroused, huh.”

Lu Yipeng looked at the person above him, trying to move away, but to no avail. Hong Kongque’s hand rested on that part of his body. The young police officer stiffened once more.

“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?” The other person whispered, using their other hand to open the young police officer’s shirt and bent down to kiss his chest, moving down to his abdomen before stopping and teasing the part that was still hard.

“What do you plan to do with me?” Lu Yipeng asked, trying to control his sighs and not let them follow the jerking rhythm. Hong Kongque licked the dark tip until he heard the other person inhale sharply, then answered the question,

“Soon you will find out for yourself. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to press any charges against me.”

Lu Yipeng immediately sighed as he saw Hong Kongque raise his head, his dark eyes gleaming as he stared at him with a mysterious smile. He then stood up, inserting his hand into his pocket and adjusting his stiff posture.

…

“Inspector?”

Lu Yipeng was startled, blinking rapidly as he looked at Duan Feng and blinked a few times, “Inspector, what are you thinking? You look strange.”

“Uh… nothing.” Lu Yipeng replied, feeling embarrassed and not knowing what to say. Why did he have to think of such ridiculous things at a time like this? Maybe it was because it was the first time someone was waiting for him at home other than his father. What if that someone was Hong Kongque? Would he refuse to sleep in the warm bed provided for him? The guy would definitely cause more problems by making him sleep in a better bed.

“Um… I think you are secretly thinking about someone for sure.” Duan Feng observed seriously, his face taking on a stern expression, “Or maybe it’s that senior relative that the inspector likes to talk about.”

Lu Yipeng almost choked on his tea and quickly responded, “Nonsense. A senior relative is just that, a senior relative.”

The person being teased chuckled heartily, “Haha, I was just kidding. You look suspicious, that’s all.”

Lu Yipeng looked at his colleagues before speaking, “I think we should head to District C. Standing here for too long is starting to get cold.”

“Haha, inspector you are shy, but I actually feel cold too. That’s why.” Duan

Feng said, tightening his coat around himself, “There’s a great noodle shop in

District C. Let’s stop by and have something to warm us up.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng nodded in agreement before furrowing his brow in confusion when he saw Duan Feng raising his hand.

“I’ll drive this time, inspector. We agreed on that, remember? District C is just nearby. We can keep driving if you prefer.” Lu Yipeng smiled, “I’ll drive, it’s close by. You can keep driving if you want.”

“No, not now, Inspector. I want the noodles I ate to stay in my stomach and not end up all over my stomach. Inspector you just chased a thief around and now this.”

“Maybe there’s another thief.”

“I can chase him myself, please give me the keys.”

Finally, Lu Yipeng had to give the car keys to Duan Feng. The two police officers walked to the inspection line, Duan Feng pressed the remote to open the car door. Then he frowned.

“Inspector, is the remote not working?”

“No, it’s fine.” Lu Yipeng replied, “It was still working when I was using it for parking.”

The two police officers looked at each other instantly.

Boom!!!

…

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

 

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 18.2: The Banquet

A Police career. In addition to receiving reports and capturing criminals, there is another important aspect that is considered equally essential. That is the protection of important people’s motives in various ceremonies.

…

Lu Yipeng sighed heavily. After sipping his orange juice, a waitress walked over to serve him. Currently, a young inspector was at the dinner organized by the government, with many high-ranking guests present. He was part of the special team sent by the police department to ensure peace and order at the event.

“Well… You look quite dashing, indeed.” Duan Feng said, glancing at Lu Yipeng, who was dressed in a black tuxedo and seemed a bit out of place.

“Have you had too much to drink, Mister Jiang?”

Duan Feng chuckled, “No, I haven’t had anything to drink. Mister Wong. I just happened to run into an interesting lady around the corner earlier.”

“Oh…” Lu Yipeng murmured, looking at the similarly well-dressed couple,

“And why did you come over here then?”

“She happens to be the wife of the Croatian ambassador.” Duan Feng replied, barely able to contain his laughter.

“In that case, it seems like your eyes are wandering a bit too much, my friend.” Lu Yipeng said, chuckling once again, “Let’s focus for now.”

Lu Yipeng shrugged and finally stopped chuckling.

While they were conversing, both inspectors swept their gaze around, looking for any signs of disturbances that may arise at the event.

“Mister Jiang, I believe there are some new arrivals over there. Let me go take a look.” Lu Yipeng said, noticing a group of people just entering through the door. Duan Feng shrugged in response, “Take it easy, be careful not to run into any military attaché’s wives.”

Lu Yipeng chuckled under his breath before walking away.

The new group consisted of about five or six individuals who seemed to be following a predetermined schedule and were most likely consultants for Wen Guangsen, a prominent real estate magnate on the island. Lu Yipeng tried to move closer to observe their characteristics and check for anything suspicious, but the young inspector had to intervene immediately upon seeing the back of the person leading the group. He hurriedly rushed over to meet them.

“Um… Excuse me, are you Li Chengyu, the advisor to Wen Guangsen?” Lu Yipeng asked the man also dressed in a sleek black tuxedo. The man smiled before answering, “Yes, that’s me. Is there a problem, sir?”

Lu Yipeng looked at the man in front of him before speaking, “Can I talk to you privately for a moment, sir?”

The man nodded his head, “Not yet, sir. I have to meet the Portuguese ambassador first. If there is any business, we can discuss it later.” With that, he walked away and Lu Yipeng followed, maintaining a respectful distance before radioing to the central.

“I want some information about Li Chengyu. Does he have any photos?” asked Lu Yipeng.

“There is no public information available about Li Chengyu.” The central officer replied immediately, “His information is classified and even there are no photographs sent.”

“Well, how can we be sure it’s really him then?” Lu Yipeng questioned, to which the reply after a pause came, “He has an identification letter from you, and even your trusted person has been seen with him. They both confirm that he is indeed Li Chengyu.”

Lu Yipeng pondered before turning to look for the man named Li Chengyu once again. However, the problem was that almost all the men here were dressed in black suits, making it difficult to identify anyone walking in any direction.

Despite receiving confirmation from the central department, Lu Yipeng was still concerned about the whereabouts of Li Chengyu. The young police officer tried to find him throughout the event, but no matter how hard he searched, he could not find him. As he was beginning to worry that something might be wrong, the sound of screams increased in panic.

Lu Yipeng rushed in the direction of the sound immediately. When he arrived, he found a group of people staring at something intensely. The young police officer tried to make his way through and discovered in the center a woman in a long white dress convulsing on the floor, with two or three women crying in shock, “Please help. She’s having a seizure!”

Lu Yipeng quickly called for medical assistance before approaching the woman, but he seemed to be slower than someone else who came in taking quick steps.

The individual who approached from another direction knelt down beside the convulsing body and began to apply pressure to different points of the body, calming the convulsions gradually.

“Everyone, please step back. The patient needs air.” The man spoke in a low but powerful voice, and everyone immediately moved away. He then cradled the woman’s head in his lap and gently massaged her temples with his fingers.

When the male nurses arrived, the woman had regained consciousness. She and her followers were thanking the man profusely for his heroic actions.

“If it was not for you, I would be in big trouble for sure.”

“No worries, ma’am.” The man replied. The woman looked at him before turning to the male nurse, “I’m fine now, thanks to this gentleman here.” She gestured towards the man who was smiling.

“It was nothing, really. I’ll take my leave then.”

“Wait a moment, I didn’t even get your name yet.”

“Li Chengyu.” He answered, and walked straight to where Lu Yipeng was standing, “You mentioned you had some business with me. Where do you suggest we talk?”

Lu Yipeng looked at him for a moment before leading him outside to a corner away from other people and shutting off the communication radio. Hong Kongque shrugged, then smiled at him.

“Pengpeng looks good in a tuxedo, wouldn’t you like to dance with me to a song?”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the man in front of him instead of answering,

“Kongque, I’ll ask you straight. Did you impersonate Li Chengyu?”

“Um… High-achieving students always like to accuse others without evidence.” The other person cut in, “I am nothing like Li Chengyu in any way.”

“Except that you are you.” The young police officer intervened, “Confess now what your plan was. Even if you slipped into this party undercover.”

“Alright, Inspector Lu.” Hong Kongque said, making a reluctant face before taking out a letter from his shirt pocket, “Go ahead and open it, and call your boss or anyone else you trust more than me, or you could go confront Wen

Guangshen right now, to find out if I am really Li Chengyu or not.”

Lu Yipeng opened the letter and found it to be an invitation with a correct identification number and a letter of introduction attached to Wen Guangshen.

The young police officer’s face immediately became more serious, “Are you really Li Chengyu or not?”

“If you’re in doubt, you can go ask the Portuguese ambassador.” Hong Kongque said confidently, looking him in the eye. Lu Yipeng asked persistently, “Is your real name Li Qingyu?”

Hong Kongque burst out laughing immediately, “Oh Pengpeng, what are you thinking? Um… I tried using the name Li Qingyu, but it didn’t turn out too bad.”

The young police officer looked more confused than before, “Stop laughing, what is your name for sure?”

“I guess my real name isn’t Li Qingyu after all. Oh… thinking about it makes me laugh, really.”

Lu Yipeng didn’t laugh at all. He stared at Hong Kongque with firm eyes and spoke with a strong voice, “It means you are truly pretending to be Li Qingyu.” The opposing side stared back, his face full of confusion, “Why is a top student like this? Whether I use the name Hong Kongque, use the name Li

Qingyu, in the end it’s all me, or do you think if Weng Guangshen should have a consultant named Hong Kongque, then the government should invite Hong

Kongque to the event?”

Lu Yipeng kept his mouth shut for a long time. Finally, he regained his composure and asked, “Then why did he invite you to this event?”

“I can’t answer that for you, it’s Weng Guangshen’s business secret. Let’s just say I didn’t come to do anything illegal.” Hong Kongque answered, sweeping his gaze from head to toe and then extending his hand.

“Hey, Pengpeng, you are quite handsome dressed like this. Let’s dance to a song together.”

“You must be crazy.” Lu Yipeng exclaimed and dashed out immediately, “I’m here to work. And another thing, Why would two men dance together in this event?”

The person being asked smiled sheepishly, “Well, I allow you to wear a skirt, but don’t make it too long or you’ll trip.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the other person before turning and walking out briskly, but he was grabbed by the wrist.

“Pengpeng, after you finish work, come back with me…”

“…”

“No need for a skirt, let’s go dance together at the court with a song.”

The young inspector pursed his lips before speaking, “My job here will end late at night.”

…

The party was canceled around four in the morning, but by the time Lu

Yipeng had finished submitting his reports to the superiors, it was almost noon.

As he walked towards his car, he noticed someone standing and waiting.

“Aren’t you heading back yet?” asked the young inspector who looked at the figure leaning against his car.

“I’m waiting for the prince to pick me up to take me back to the castle.”

Hong Kongque replied with a smile before stepping out of the car slightly. Lu

Yipeng looked at him and replied, “Really, I thought you were waiting for a brave soul to come and slay a dragon.”

“The dragon is considered a sacred creature of legend.” Hong Kongque said, and he opened the door of the car immediately as Lu Yipeng unlocked it, then he slid in and sat in the front seat.

“Hurry up, inspector.”

It was indeed fortunate that no one had to ride in a car driven by Lu Yipeng, and with Hong Kongque as a passenger. In just ten minutes, they arrived back at the mansion. Most of the servants had retired for the night, leaving only Li Kong and Luo Songzhi waiting in the main hall.

Hong Kongque arrived at the mansion without changing clothes and instead took Lu Yipeng through a maze of complex hallways and several sets of stairs to a particular room. Upon entering, they found it to be a hall with a balcony extending outward. Dim moonlight shone through the only window, reflecting off the bookshelf attached to one wall, with two more walls covered with books, and in one corner of the room, an old record player was laid out. The speakers, shaped like golden trumpet mouths, reflected the light of the moon in the dark shadows of the room. Hong Kongque stepped in, opened the lid of the table below where the record player was placed, and picked out a record.

“Do you know how to waltz, honor student?”

“I do.” Lu Yipeng replied promptly. Hong Kongque turned to him, smiled slightly, and said, “Well… if you can’t waltz, I’ll let you dance the tango.”

“Don’t make me dance the tango.” The other person said, looking flustered, “If it comes to that, you’ll end up dancing a vigorous Irish jig instead of a tango.”

Place the sound disc onto the player, move the needle to place it on the disc before spinning the turntable located on the side of the machine.

The piano sounds with a slow, sweet, gentle rhythm that immediately flows out of the cone speakers. The sound reflects off the walls and out to the balcony outside. Hong Kongque turned back, then smiled at the young police officer.

“Will you dance with me?”

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows and looked at the person in front of him with a surprised expression before bowing and reaching out to hold the hand of the other person reaching out to him.

“Don’t step on my feet.” The young police officer said. Hong Kongque placed his hand on his shoulder before responding, “Watch yourself too, don’t step on my feet as well.”

Lu Yipeng placed his hand on the waist of the other person before stepping to the rhythm of the music, glancing at the face of the person opposite him.

“Kongque, have you danced like this with anyone before?” The young police officer asked. After dancing together for a while.

“Why do you ask?” Hong Kongque asked back. Lu Yipeng looked at him again, then continued, “You seem to be skilled, normally men don’t dance with other men like this.”

“Dancing is the same as playing games, whether it’s between a man and a woman.” The other person replied, causing Lu Yipeng to furrow his brows,

“How can it be the same?”

Hong Kongque smiled at the corners of his mouth. Then Lu Yipeng felt a strong stomp on his foot.

“Ouch, why did you step on my foot, Kongque?!”

“Pengpeng, if you stand in the wrong place, why wouldn’t I step on your foot? If you do it again, I’ll twist your finger until it snaps.” Hong Kongque spoke as he moved his foot closer. Lu Yipeng had to retreat, but Hong Kongque was so skilled at stepping that even retreating wasn’t enough. He had to sidestep and dodge left and right, but the heavy pressure was such that he had to twist and turn to evade the stomps.

“Haha, Pengpeng, you dance beautifully too, just like me.” Hong Kongque said cheerfully. Lu Yipeng gritted his teeth, trying to find the rhythm to avoid stepping on Hong Kongque’s feet. He dodged quickly as before, dancing together for half the song. The young police officer was starting to sweat profusely.

“Alright. I believe now that you dance like you are playing Kungfu.” Lu Yipeng had to quickly pick up the rhythm when Hong Kongque stopped sighing and said this sentence, before being forced to dance with strange moves. Hong Kongque chuckled, pleased, and then finally stopped his feet, “There’s still half a song left, Pengpeng.”

“I ask to dance in a normal way as well.” The young police officer replied, then leaned closer to the other person, “You still haven’t answered me. Have you ever danced with someone before?”

Hong Kongque looked at his face and smiled at the corner of his mouth,

“Why do you want to know?”

“…”

“Jealous?”

“A little bit.”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque drawled. Then he spoke with a smile, “If I tell you that you are the first person who made me want to dance, would you believe me?”

Lu Yipeng stayed quiet for a moment before asking back, “So does that mean you weren’t willing to dance before?”

“No…I’ve never danced with anyone before.”

“?!” The young police officer looked straight at the person in front of him.

The deep black eyes of Hong Kongque at this moment delved deep down, being covered with the long eyelashes. In the midst of the faint light of the halfwaning moon, Lu Yipeng felt like he was looking at a dream image more than reality.

“Kongque, why did you help that woman?”

The deep black eyes turned back to look at him again before the person smiled, “Why not. Can’t I help a woman?”

“Normally, someone as inhumane as you wouldn’t be kind enough to help anyone.” The other person immediately spoke up, “Talking bad about others. Where am I inhumane? You yourself have been helped by me several times.”

“You helped me with the hope of getting rewarded, but what does that woman have to give you in return?” Lu Yipeng asked again. Hong Kongque looked at his face, raised his hand to pat his shoulder, “When did I expect a reward from you?”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips before speaking, “Kongque, are you always kind to others like this?”

“Do you see me as kind already?” Hong Kongque replied, his face clearly showing some inner turmoil.

“I was just curious… Why are you not gentle with me?”

“!!”

“Just forget about it.” said Lu Yipeng, preparing to leave. Just as the song ended, Hong Kongque grabbed his shoulder, “Do you want me to be gentle with you, Pengpeng?”

Lu Yipeng licked his lower lip before speaking cautiously, “If it was anyone they all want to receive gentleness from each other.”

Hong Kongque looked at the young police officer’s face and smiled, “Little Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng flinched slightly when the other person reached out a hand to gently touch his face, “Will you be gentle with me too?”

Lu Yipeng did not answer. He raised his hand to hold the other person’s hand, then leaned in for a soft kiss before turning to look at the opposite side,

“Kongque…”

Hong Kongque smiled softly before the other person leaned in to kiss Lu

Yipeng’s lower lip. They both embraced each other tightly, their arms wrapped around each other, leaning in closely.

The sound system had stopped playing for a while, but within the room with moonlight seeping in, a sigh echoed louder amidst the quiet night atmosphere.

Tongues and lips intertwined, generating a warm breath like the gentle sigh of the warm breeze that seemed to gradually become turbulent. Lu Yipeng caressed the back of the other person’s hand before moving lower to gently touch the tense hips hidden under the long shirt.

Hong Kongque shuddered as the fingers and fingertips that touched lightly sent a thrilling sensation to him. Lu Yipeng raised his face to look at the other person before kissing them again. Then, he raised his hand to pull the bowtie, and unbuttoned his white shirt.

Hong Kongque sighed deeply as the warm lips pressed against his neck. Lu Yipeng unbuttoned his shirt and then slowly leaned down to kiss all the exposed skin. He then pressed himself against the wall, unbuttoning his own shirt as well.

Hong Kongque licked the edge of his lips before leaning down to kiss the exposed chest of the person in front of him unwillingly. He allowed the kiss to linger for a while before Lu Yipeng pushed Hong Kongque against the wall again, this time stripping the clothes of the other person.

As Hong Kongque raised his hand to caress the face of the young police officer, he then lowered his hand to unbutton the shirt of the other person. When he pulled down the trousers and they were removed from the ankles, Lu Yipeng’s trousers fell down to his ankles perfectly.

Amidst the dim light, Lu Yipeng kissed down onto the body leaning against the wall. Hong Kongque’s skin was smooth and taut, and was firm in every aspect. Whether it was his chest or the curves of his abdomen. As the kiss passed his chest, Lu Yipeng couldn’t help but think. He could feel Hong Kongque’s heartbeat pounding inside.

In that beating heart, how would you feel about him?

“My heart is still strong.” Hong Kongque said, as he saw the other person nuzzle against his chest. Lu Yipeng raised his head immediately before nodding,

“Hmm… beating so loud it startled me.”

Hong Kongque said nothing but chuckled softly in Lu Yipeng’s neck before kissing the body again. Lowering down to the slender waist, he kissed onto the back of the hand that held the important part that he had never touched before.

Lu Yipeng had seen this part of Hong Kongque clearly before, and remembered that it was not disgusting or distasteful, but he wasn’t sure why Hong Kongque never allowed him to touch it, or if he was afraid that he might take advantage of this vulnerability.

“Kongque.”

“Hmm?”

“What if I told you that I wanted to use my mouth to pleasure you. Would you let me?”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to force you, Pengpeng.”

“I’m not forcing myself, can I do it?”

Hong Kongque was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh, “I guess I can’t allow it.”

“Do you still not trust me?”

“Um.”

Lu Yipeng sat up immediately, “Kongque, what happened to you earlier?”

Hong Kongque blinked his deep black eyes before smiling, “Pengpeng, knowing won’t help.”

The young police officer pursed his lips, staring at the man, “Kongque, we have different pasts. We are different people.”

“Um… I understand.”

“If you know, I can’t help you even after knowing. Then you shouldn’t think about the past when you’re with me.”

Hong Kongque raised his head to look at him before chuckling, “Pengpeng, you talk too much.” He finished speaking and let out a sigh.

“Pengpeng, some things, even if we don’t want to remember or think about them, we can’t stop them. Even if the mind forgets, the body remembers, or do you disagree?” He reached out his hand to grab Lu Yipeng’s wrist, causing the young police officer to startle. He looked at Hong Kongque’s face before speaking again.

“If that’s the case… in the past… was there anything valuable in your eyes for me?” He finished speaking and clenched his fists, “What am I to you in your eyes?”

“You are the best memory of my life.”

Lu Yipeng looked straight at Hong Kongque before smiling slightly and raising his hand to caress his face, “Be gentle with me tonight… I want to remember your gentleness.”

The young police officer tightened his lips before kissing him on the lips again.

…

Under the soft moonlight, Lu Yipeng kissed all over the body that was still leaning against the wall. Hong Kongque let out a heavy sigh as the young police officer’s tongue playfully danced at the back of his neck.

“Don’t forget to wear a condom.” The other person reminded him as Lu Yipeng shifted his body, lifting the man up before taking Hong Kongque’s hand to guide himself to the designated spot. He then turned to the other person, slowly fulfilling his own desires.

Hong Kongque raised his hand against the wall, letting out a heavy sigh, feeling the warm breath on his neck, and the hands on both sides that reached out to hold his hands tightly. Lips pressed closely against the back of his neck as the insertion continued gradually.

“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng muttered the other person’s name before moving his hand to kiss their face. The touch felt trembling and the kissing lasted for a moment, their hands intertwined as Hong Kongque moaned softly.

The strong arms hugged the wide waist of the young man, while the other person started to move in rhythmic motion, feeling the hot sensation spreading through their body. Lu Yipeng pushed their bodies against the wall, thrusting their hips closer at a faster pace, until the other person moaned softly.

They continued against the wall for a while, then they moved to the balcony. The moonlight reflected their figures as they became flushed with intense heat, the color turning pink due to the passionate heat between them. Hong Kongque gripped the railing while Lu Yipeng held his waist tightly, thrusting repeatedly. He then lifted the other person up and kissed them deeply, lifting one leg high, maintaining the deep rhythm.

Amid the sounds of pleasure, their love continued uninterrupted. From the balcony to the bookshelf, then ending on the leather sofa inside.

At the peak where both parties were intense, Lu Yipeng hugged Hong

Kongque tightly, kissing his face repeatedly before whispering softly in his ear.

“Kongque. I…”

The remaining words were swallowed by Hong Kongque, as he sucked and swallowed every word until the smaller figure rested his face on his shoulder before whispering dryly.

“Pengpeng… Thank you.”

***

I want to say… writing this chapter…felt incomplete… too much missing I don’t know… At first, I planned to write about Hong Kongque between 18.1 and 19 (because those two chapters mainly talk about Lu Yipeng). But when I started writing for real, I forgot how I wanted to talk about Kongque in the first place, and ended up talking about Lu Yipeng again… Then I thought, I want to write a realistic NC of this couple, really intense and serious, in another chapter (after they’ve been together in every chapter as a closed-curtain approach), and… then… I encountered a problem… I couldn’t write NC. I don’t know if it’s due to aging factors (!!!), or because this NC was unintentional from the start (is that even called unintentional???!!).

So, before finishing it, I tried to correct and correct it again… like… as I write, the content will overflow and exceed chapter 19 hahaha Pengpeng softly and gently, like a firefly caught in a flame all at once.

To sum up, the flashback period has been lost (which is something that is really difficult to write, you know).

From now on, it will be chapter by chapter.

P.S. For the readers who can handle it, hinting that this drama is not that serious (really!!!!)

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 18.1: Blind Date

If we were to talk about the hotshot police officer currently in the Hong Kong Police Department, one of the names that must be mentioned is undoubtedly the young inspector called Lu Yipeng.

Lu Yipeng is a police officer who graduated from the Police Academy with honors as number one. After joining the service, he has achieved a lot, until being appointed as an inspector at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. With a well-proportioned, masculine physique and a sharp, handsome face that rivals the celebrities of this era, the name of Lu Yipeng is often picked up in conversations whenever one has to speak of any young police officer.

For all these reasons, the young inspector often draws attention from higherups in various matters, including…

“Look at yourself!” Lu Yipeng burst out, forgetting to maintain etiquette. He was sitting in the private office of Chen Qian, wondering what he must have gotten wrong.

“Um, yes, it does seem like you heard correctly, inspector.” The older man spoke, then continued with a good mood, “Former Director General Tang Cheng came to visit us at the department the other day. Her daughter happened to see you and came to talk to me. Once he learned about your work history, he liked you a lot and even mentioned wanting you to marry her.”

“Um… hold on a second.” Lu Yipeng spoke, with a lingering sense of unease. Just a month ago, he was just entrusted by Hong Kong with feeding birds, and now he was going to be entrusted with marrying someone else again. What kind of karma was this guy playing at?

“I’ve never seen Former Director Tong’s daughter look so happy before.

Suddenly, you come here saying he wants you to marry his daughter. It’s not like that, this is the digital age now, sir.”

“I’m not forcing you to marry her right away, I just wanted you to have a chat with her first.” Chen Qian said, looking at the young police officer’s face, then sighed heavily. Playing around, he teased the young inspector, making him speak up, “What’s wrong, inspector? You seem relieved as if you were afraid of being caught and forced into marriage. Do you want to remain single or what?”

“No, sir.” Lu Yipeng replied, “Um… just coming to say you want to propose is a bit surprising, to say the least.”

Chen Qian did not appear to agree visibly but did not say anything on the matter. After staring at the young police officer’s face for another moment, he continued, “Since you don’t have a night shift tonight and last week’s case has been closed, how about going to have dinner at the place we arranged? Bring

Captain Duan along as well as a companion.”

Finishing his words, he handed a paper to the young police officer, Lu

Yipeng, who accepted it and looked up at him immediately, “This is a famous restaurant around here, I’m going to…”

“Come on, inspector, don’t be too tense. This matter was arranged by the former director. He said he wanted you to meet her once. Also, she wants to talk to you privately.” Stopping for a moment, Chen Qian continued, “I’ll tell you straight. His daughter, Lili, is only twenty-two this year. She just finished her studies in England, beautiful and modern, don’t tell anyone. If you marry her, you’ll get a treasure trove. She’s good at her job, so chances like this don’t come by often, inspector.”

Lu Yipeng remained silent and thoughtful for a while. Eventually, he reluctantly agreed.

…

“Wow, meeting a daughter of a former director is quite lucky, isn’t it,

Inspector? This guy is really lucky.” Duan Feng spoke with surprise after hearing the whole story. Lu Yipeng nodded tiredly.

“Like that, tonight you keep me company a little bit.”

“Um… really, that fancy restaurant. I want to go, no matter what.” Duan Feng said with a troubled expression, “But coincidentally, I already have an appointment tonight, an important one.”

Lu Yipeng looked at his nephew’s face, then smiled slightly, “Another date with a girl, huh?”

“Well… inspector, you already know.” The young police officer chuckled, “It’s the singer whom your inspector helped to catch the thief who stole her purse the other day.”

“Oh.” Lu Yipeng nodded immediately, “That should be an interesting date then.”

“Well… think of it like that, it’s a good start, I have to nourish it fully.” Duan Feng said, smiling slightly and Lu Yipeng nodded again.

“Well, good luck then. I’ll just go alone.”

“Susuna, inspector. I heard the director’s daughter is a good catch. She’s beautiful, you have to accept her as your wife.”

“Um… I’ve never seen her face before. Don’t speak like that yet.” Lu Yipeng said, a little nervous at the thought of the other person.

“Well… have some confidence in yourself, inspector. With this physique and appearance, anyone would be captivated and crazy.”

Lu Yipeng didn’t say anything, just chuckled dryly. Inside…

…

Eventually, the young police officer had to go see the person alone as scheduled. After work, Lu Yipeng returned to his lodge, searching for the most elegant clothes to wear. He chuckled to himself, not realizing how excited he would be to see the person for the first time.

But as the young police officer took off his old clothes to bathe and change into new clothes, the fresh red scar at the base of his thigh revealed itself. Lu Yipeng was so shocked that he forgot to breathe. He looked at the scar on his leg, before finally letting out a sigh.

It was true that he might be lucky to have the opportunity to see the former director’s daughter, his former good friend, but no matter how lucky he was, that scar on his leg would probably erase all that luck. No one would want a son-in-law with a scar like that at the base of his thigh, and no woman would want a husband with someone else’s name carved on his thigh like that.

Lu Yipeng moved his hand to caress the scar on his leg, and then he started to think deeply.

That crazy peacock really is the one who forced him to have this scar on his leg. Why doesn’t he learn to take responsibility for real, sometimes.

The young police officer almost wanted to change his plans. Instead of going to see his daughter, he wanted to go to Hong Kongque’s mansion, but it was just a fleeting thought. His story with Hong Kongque and this scar…

Four years have passed… Four years with the scar that marked his body.

Him and that peacock…

Lu Yipeng didn’t know what Hong Kongque thought, if he was more than just seeing him as a plaything, a source of joy, a source of irritation… a source of company for the bird when he’s not around… Besides that, Hong Kongque saw him as something else…

The young police officer let out a sigh again. He couldn’t figure out that old peacock, he couldn’t guess what emotions were hiding behind that innocent face. He had no idea what the relationship between him and that house sparrow really was.

But then, one night he woke up and saw the sleeping face of the man who seemed like a fairytale character. He couldn’t resist reaching out to touch that face lightly, and then kissing his hair. Sometimes, Hong Kongque felt like a dream…

Yes. It’s not clear on his leg like this!!

Lu Yipeng decided to walk into the bathroom, take a shower and dress up nicely, then he got into the car to go to the restaurant where the appointment was originally set.

That crazy peacock, he wanted him to see something beautiful, to calm his mind a bit.

…

As soon as the ticket was handed over to the hostess at the front of the restaurant, Lu Yipeng was taken to the VIP dining room immediately. The young police officer felt a little nervous. The dining room was quite spacious, elegantly decorated and upscale. There were already two people sitting inside. One was the former director Tang Cheng, who must be about sixty-two this year. Sitting next to him was a young woman in a bright red cheongsam. Her hair was elegantly black and her face was beautifully made up. When she saw his face, she raised the hand covering her mouth, but from her eyes, it was clear that she was smiling at him.

The heart of Lu Yipeng immediately raced.

“Come in first, Inspector. No need to stand so stiffly.” Tang Cheng said. He was in his sixties and quite thin. Lu Yipeng had begun to turn pale, but the former inspector Tang Cheng smiled at the young police officer with an indifferent look, then greeted him, “Sawasdee krab, former Deputy Minister.”

“Here. No need to be so formal. Please sit down.” The older person, Lu

Yipeng, walked into the dining room immediately. The hostess standing there pulled out a chair for him. Once he sat down, Tang Cheng turned to look at the young police officer with a serious expression.

“Inspector, it seems we are in the same situation.” The older man said sternly until Lu Yipeng stiffened, “Why is that, sir?”

“Just look.” Tang Cheng said nonchalantly, “Inspector, you just walked in and not even a minute later, my daughter turns red with embarrassment. This is not just called mischievous, what should I call it then?”

The daughter immediately perked up, “My dad…what nonsense are you talking about? Who’s turning red?”

Although she spoke like that, she still covered her face with a napkin as a grand gesture. Tang Cheng saw and chuckled approvingly.

“You didn’t want to come at first. Can you say thanks now? Well, I am going to go for a walk outside for a bit. You can chat with the inspector first.” The father said, and the daughter perked up.

“Dad!” The daughter called, but the father stood up and turned to speak to the young police officer, “Take care of my little daughter, Inspector.”

Lu Yipeng nodded hesitantly. Before the elderly former police officer walked out of the dining room, leaving the two young men and women together in embarrassment.

“Um… I have to apologize on behalf of my dad. Once he gets older, he likes to do things like this all the time.” The young woman spoke up until Lu Yipeng finally had the chance to get a good look at her. She had an oval face with slightly drooping eyes. When she looked up and smiled a little, she looked even more charming to the young police officer, who almost let out a moan.

“It’s okay. When people reach a certain age, they just do what they want like this. It’s normal.” Lu Yipeng said, feeling a lump in his throat. This beautiful woman… Could she become his bride one day?

“I… I’m Lu Yipeng.” The young police officer decided to introduce himself before following the conversation. The woman looked at him and smiled shyly,

“I’m… Dong Qingqing. You can call me Qingqing.”

“Qingqing.” Lu Yipeng called out, feeling even more shy than before. For years, he had been so broken by Hong Kongque that he didn’t dare to look at women, as it always left him feeling empty inside. But today, Lu Yipeng almost wanted to make Hong Kongque just a dream. This beautiful and lovely woman… He never thought he would have a chance to meet her, and even have someone to support him as a father figure.

He wanted to forget that peacock completely… really.

The waiter brought the first dish. While the two young people were hesitating, Lu Yipeng arranged the food according to the standards of a good gentleman, serving the woman first. Dong Qingqing thanked him shyly, and then they started talking.

“What kind of food do you normally like, Inspector?”

Lu Yipeng paused for a moment, “Snow fish.” He replied, looking at the beautiful woman’s hands as she took the food. He frowned when thinking more about someone else’s hands.

“Pengpeng, have some of this.” Hong Kongque spoke, offering a piece of snow fish on his plate to Lu Yipeng. Lu Yipeng made a confused expression, “I already have a full plate. Can’t you see?”

“I see.” Hong Kongque replied, then continued with a smile, “So, Pengpeng, open your mouth. It’s empty here.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the other person before closing his mouth tightly. Hong

Kongque chuckled, “Hey, it’s not hot anymore. I can blow it for you, or should I feed you first?” He said, making a gesture to spoon-feed him, but Lu Yipeng refused to be fed, “Are you crazy? I’m not a little kid.”

“Then open your mouth, otherwise I’ll have to keep spoon-feeding you or should I have to pull out the fork to feed you.”

Finally, Lu Yipeng had to open his mouth. To swallow that piece of fish.

Hong Kongque looked at his face, then spoke again, “Your mouth is long.”

Before the young police officer could say anything, the other person leaned in and lightly kissed him on the lips.

“Got it.” Hong Kongque said with a small smile at the corner of his mouth. Lu Yipeng quickly raised his hand to push that side away, but it was too slow as usual.

“Inspector?” The call of the young woman startled the young inspector, before he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“What are you thinking about?” Tang Qingqing asked, tilting her head cutely as Lu Yipeng shook his head, “Nothing, just thinking about snow fish.”

“Oh… do you want to add something else? It feels like you didn’t choose from the menu in the first place.”

“It’s okay.” The young inspector quickly replied, then tried to engage the other party in conversation, “What did you study, Qingqing?”

“Law and political science.” The woman replied, “I am about to take the exam to become a prosecutor.”

“Oh…” Lu Yipeng sighed, then blinked and pondered the similarities between a prosecutor and a police officer… it might be better than the mafia and the police…

“Then I wish you success in the exam. I’ll be rooting for you.” The young inspector said, scratching his head.

Tang Qingqing nodded and said, “Thank you. By the way, Inspector, how have you been working since you were a child? I saw my father working hard day and night, and sometimes he didn’t come home for many days.”

“Well… being a police officer is like that.” Lu Yipeng replied, “There is hardly any free time.”

“That’s true.” Tang Qingqing said, then made a sad face, so Lu Yipeng quickly changed the subject, “And you, Qingqing. Do you have any hobbies?”

“Well… I like reading and driving around. I enjoy driving out in the countryside and seeing the peaceful atmosphere, it feels relaxing.”

“Um… maybe I should try it too.” Lu Yipeng said as Tang Qingqing looked at him and smiled, “I heard that you drive very fast, Inspector. I saw it in the news.”

“Oh, uh…” The young inspector immediately felt embarrassed, “I chase criminals, how can I drive slowly?”

“Well, be careful and watch out. If something happens, the person who loves the inspector will be very upset.” Tang Qingqing said as she looked at Lu Yipeng, then thought back to when Hong Kongque was driving the car. Not seeing the crazy peacock getting upset with his driving a bit, and she would have a completely different attitude.

“No one loves me that much.” Lu Yipeng replied, causing the other person to look surprised, “What are you talking about, inspector? At least you still have your father. Your mother must be worried about you, inspector.”

“Oh… my parents passed away a long time ago.”

Tang Qingqing was taken aback for a moment, but didn’t give up easily,

“Even so, at least you have relatives, inspector. They care about you.”

“I don’t have siblings, and my relatives aren’t very close.” Lu Yipeng replied, as Tang Qingqing looked at him with an appropriate amount of astonishment,

“Inspector… um… have you never been in love before?”

“If you mean a girlfriend, then yes, I have had one, but we broke up. I guess my temperament is too difficult to handle.” Lu Yipeng said, before letting out a sigh, “I must be too difficult to deal with.”

Tang Qingqing looked at him and nodded, “Inspector, you are very dedicated to the police profession, isn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And… have you ever loved anyone more than being a police officer?”

Lu Yipeng was silent for a while. He looked at the young woman, his mind wandering back to his time in the police academy, back to the times with his father, back to the moments when he was determined to become a police officer…

“I… I can’t give up being a police officer.” The young inspector finally spoke.

before raising his head to look at the young woman, “This profession is my dream, my dedication, my identity…”

Tang Qingqing looked at him, before letting out a sigh, “That’s what I didn’t want to hear. It’s because you’re a police officer that I can’t be with you.”

“Huh…”

“Father doesn’t really have much time for me anymore. I don’t want a husband who doesn’t have time for me either.”

“Huh…”

“Inspector…” Tang Ching Ching looked at him, pursing her lips, “I have a question for you, inspector… If we try dating and one day, when ready, would you be willing to resign and raise a family?”

Lu Yipeng’s expression was visibly troubled. He pursed his lips several times until finally, the young woman spoke up.

“I may be quick to make decisions sometimes, but if you are sure. It would be better if we got to know each other as friends.”

“Yes. I understand.” Lu Yipeng finally spoke. The two youths looked at each other for a moment, before the young police officer spoke up again.

“Let’s have a meal together, slowly it will help clear things up.”

Tang Qingqing looked at him before smiling, “Yes.”

…

Tang Cheng seemed somewhat indifferent when he realized that this date meeting this time was not very productive. He turned to Lu Yipeng with a look of seriousness, but was stopped by his daughter.

“Inspector Lu hasn’t done anything wrong, but I don’t like the job of a police officer. Father, you already know this.”

Tang Cheng looked at her daughter, “But… I want you to have a good future. A good husband.”

“A good man. Not just Inspector Lu.” Tang Qingqing spoke with a smile, “Please, father. I will have a life partner regardless. I want a person whom I believe is right for me. If I marry Inspector Lu, neither of us may be happy.”

Tang Cheng turned to look at the young police officer, “Lu Yipeng, do you love being a police officer more than my daughter?”

Lu Yipeng looked at her before nodding, “Yes.”

The former police chief looked at him for another moment, then let out a big sigh, “Well, then, go ahead. You will surely be a great police officer.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Lu Yipeng said. After that, he separated himself and walked back to the car, started the engine, and drove off.

A good police officer, huh…?

Lu Yipeng drove along the road that ran alongside the bay, thinking about

Tang Qingqing’s words about driving for leisure, as he often did. He had been driving for a long time, but he never thought to look at the surroundings to relax. He focused on memorizing every corner and alley of the road, in case he needed to escape or chase criminals. His whole life was dedicated to being a true police officer.

Lu Yipeng had hoped to be a police officer since he was a child, and he was confident that he would be an outstanding one. He believed wholeheartedly that he would hold onto the police profession for the rest of his life. He never regretted his choice of career.

Until…

The car, a mix of old and new car parts, stopped in front of the steel gate of the mansion standing by the Hong Kong bay. Lu Yipeng sat quietly in the car for a moment. Eventually, he took out his mobile phone and made a call. After waiting for a moment, he finally spoke to the person he needed to talk to.

“Kongque, are you asleep yet?”

“I was about to get to my pillow when Li Kong said you called me just now.” The voice at the end of the line answered, then continued, “What is it this time?

The case from last week is closed, isn’t it? Or is there a new case coming in?”

“No, it’s not about a case. Lu Yipeng answered, then raised his head to look at the sleek black figure of the figure behind the steel gate under the dark shadows of dusk.

“I’m in front of your gate.”

“?”

“Can I come in?”

“Pengpeng, are you not feeling well?”

“…”

“What is it?”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips before answering, “I miss you.”

“…” Silence hung in the air for a while before the reply came, “It’s not a full moon tonight.”

“Am I supposed to only come to see you during the full moon? Someone else is in your bed now?”

“Mind your own manners. I don’t casually bring anyone to sleep with me.”

“Is the other side of your bed empty?”

“Yes.”

“Can I sleep with you?”

Silence hung in the air again. Before the tall, imposing gate slowly creaked open, the car parked waiting gradually turned in towards the interior of the estate. —

   **Many may be confused about the chapter numbers…

   seek your permission to backtrack a bit, as upon reflection I realize that the content of       THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

 

REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 19 may have jumped ahead too quickly. So I

   decided to write a couple of parts prior to that, but don’t want to move the chapter, as it might become more confusing (or it already is). Therefore, the inserted chapter became 18.1 (but in the overall volume, the numbering will follow the cover).

So… let’s stretch the noodles for a bit longer (running away from the readers)

1. I really want two volumes!!! << It’s taking forever!!!

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 19: Photoshoot

“How do you feel about taking photos for a book, Inspector-Lu?”

Lu Yipeng looked at the questioner with a clearly puzzled expression,

“Lieutenant, are you suggesting that I do something illegal regarding books?”

Chen Qian chuckled before quickly waving his hand, “No, someone contacted me and wants you to take my photos for the book.”

“?!” Lu Yipeng raised his head to look at his superior officer and felt like he heard or misunderstood something. He was summoned to meet the deputy chief of police just because of taking photos for a fashion book?

“What do you mean, lieutenant, by taking photos?” The young police officer asked again, the one being questioned nodded, and then continued, “Liu, the owner of Magazine A, came to talk to me yesterday and said he wants to do a feature on the police in the fashion magazine. Lately, I’ve seen you on TV quite often, he must be impressed. Inspector-Lu’s appearance is quite handsome.”

Lu Yipeng raised an eyebrow unenthusiastically about the compliment,

“When did I go on TV.” The young police officer said, and received an immediate response, “Every time you drive and catch the criminals it is on the news. I heard that you avoided the reporters all the time, but your pictures are always on the screen. Don’t say you don’t watch the news.”

Lu Yipeng’s eyebrows furrowed even more in confusion. He thought about the news photos taken behind him, or sometimes when he walked out of the hospital. Sometimes the photos were not taken and instead they used the picture from his ID card.

“I want to tell them to stop taking pictures of me. This is close to infringing on personal rights.” The young police officer nodded and smiled, then continued.

“Come on now… what about posing for a photo, inspector?”

“What?!” Lu Yipeng immediately exclaimed before shaking his head, “No, I don’t want that. I’m a police officer, not a model. If we’re going to do a setup related to police, then let’s do something more interesting like portraying a police officer who performs duties to the best of his abilities even if he gets injured. That kind of setup might be more intriguing.”

“Well, those kinds of setups do exist and are quite common.” Chen Qian said, raising his head to look at Lu Yipeng earnestly, “I was thinking, if we change the presentation approach, maybe more people, especially teenagers who are choosing their career paths, might become more interested in becoming police officers. Your book, Inspector Lu, will be quite popular among the teenage group. It might work. You go for a photo shoot like this and you might attract more interest in becoming a police officer.”

Lu Yipeng looked visibly troubled, “And if it doesn’t work…”

“If it doesn’t work, then no big deal. Just go for a photo shoot. I’ve already discussed this with the chief and he agreed with it.”

“What?!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed once again. Chen Qian picked up a piece of paper with the Hong Kong Police Department logo on it and handed it over for him to read.

“That’s right, Inspector. No need to worry about wasting official time, as this will be considered public relations work for the department.”

…

In the end, Lu Yipeng had to come to the studio for a photo shoot for another two days, even though he was not entirely willing to do so. On top of that, he had to remember the names and faces of the female celebrity that Duan Feng had asked him to ask for her autograph.

Inspector-Lu and they agreed to meet outside of the city for a while. The area was by the sea, and the building was a single-story structure built in a modern architectural style. There was ample parking when Lu Yipeng got out of the car.

Two young men immediately approached.

“Inspector-Lu, right? Mister Liu is waiting for you this way, sir.”

The young police officer had to follow the two people into the building, which was painted white inside and divided into several large hallways. The rooms were labeled with numbers, and there were slots to indicate which company or individual was using the studio rooms.

While Lu Yipeng was scanning the area looking for the actress that Duan

Feng had recommended for his signature, someone else walked in to greet him.

“Inspector-Lu, right? I was afraid you wouldn’t come.” The man who greeted him was small in stature, around thirty to forty years old. He had combed hair and dressed in flashy fashion, which Lu Yipeng thought he would never understand the beauty of this type throughout his life. The man smiled and raised his hand as if holding a weapon.

“I am Liu Guashi, and I think vice captain Chen must have mentioned my name to the inspector before.”

Lu Yipeng had to shake hands and respond as politely as possible before speaking back, “Yes, he mentioned something about you to me.”

Liu Guashi looked at the young police officer and smiled again, “Inspector, you look even more handsome in person than in your ID card photo, if you agree to appear on the good TV. Not sure if it will take long before you become a celebrity.”

Lu Yipeng did not feel happy to receive the compliment. He remained calm and spoke softly, “I am here to follow my vice’s orders regarding the interview.”

“Oh, okay.” Liu Guashi said, smiling warmly, “Follow me this way, inspector.” As he finished speaking, he led the way, walking ahead of the young police officer to the studio room. When they entered, the young police officer had to stop when several people surrounded him immediately.

“Oh… Is this Inspector Lu Yipeng? He looks even more handsome in person than in his photos.” Someone’s voice rang out loud, before Lu Yipeng felt like someone had touched his chest.

“Wow, fit and firm body, dressed to the nines in this uniform. I’m thrilled to see a man like this.”

Inspector Yipeng decided to push those people away because he started to feel that if he let them hang around for too long, they might get bolder. He heard the whispers of gossip getting louder, “Alright, behave yourselves a bit, or else the inspector will catch you.”

“Oh… Inspector Yipeng is handsome indeed. I consent to being caught all night.” One young man, who walked with swagger, clearly said out loud. The young police officer frowned and then turned to find Liu Guashi.

“Mister Liu, are you going to interview me here?”

“Yes, sir.” Mister Liu said, smiling, “Let’s go straight to the sofa over there. I must apologize to my people.”

The other side continued, holding Liu Yipeng’s hand, leading them to sit on the dark brown leather sofa placed deep inside the room, “Don’t worry, just make yourself comfortable.” Liu said. After pulling Yipeng to sit down, the young police officer hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, “This is no problem at all, sir.” He said before handing the notebook back.

“Let’s start the interview, inspector.” Mister Liu said, smiling, “Ever since Inspector Lu became famous, I’ve been receiving fan mail and emails asking to do interviews about Inspector. I brought some letters for you to read.” After finishing his words, the woman sitting next to him handed Yipeng a letter to read, and he blinked a few times.

“I am a police officer.” The young police officer replied with a fairly serious face. The other person nodded and smiled, “That’s what makes it interesting. Usually, the books I make contain pictures that are not of teenage idols. They are often about famous celebrities, but no one has ever done anything or a photobook regarding government officials before.” He paused for a moment,

“Of course, when we talk about government officials, especially the police, the image we often think of is an old man with a rather stern expression, who comes out to be interviewed when big cases happen. Every time, teenagers, right, where do they want to go party, is it true, sir?”

Lu Yipeng looked at the speaker’s face and answered calmly, “It has to be like that. They work hard and don’t have much time to take care of themselves.”

“Hmm… inspector, you really live up to being a good police officer.” Liu

Guashi said, then continued, “I heard that you graduated at the top of your class as a police cadet with the highest honors. Your name was on the honor roll for all six years of studying. I wonder if you have any secrets about this, do you know?”

“I am dedicated to studying diligently.” Lu Yipeng said, then turned to look at Liu Guashi, “Is this recording my voice?”

The person being asked chuckled, “Yes, but inspector, you don’t need to be nervous. I’ll have the kids rewind the tape. It’s casual to talk like this, to make yourself comfortable. I want the interview to be as natural as possible.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng nodded, trying to imagine that he had known Liu Guashi for many years, but…it was difficult to maintain the same composure.

“The focus of the inspector’s study is reading books, studying textbooks diligently all day, right?”

“No. I allocate my time.” Lu Yipeng replied, “We don’t need to study textbooks all day. Another thing, the police academy focuses more on practical training than theory.”

“Oh… So when you were studying, did you secretly go on trips or anything like that?”

“Yes.” Lu Yipeng answered, starting to remember, “We all need some time to relax. No one can be in a frame all the time. We just need to limit ourselves.” “Oh, okay.” Liu Guashi nodded, “I heard from many of your teachers, including the trainers, that you were mischievous during his study. Is this true?”

“Who did you ask?” Lu Yipeng asked back, making Liu Guashi shake his head, “They told me to keep it a secret, but said inspector, you were both mischievous and brave. When something happened, you would take the lead. Even in food fights at the cafeteria, you were the one in charge.”

“Well… I’m not a troublemaker. I just intervened.”

“The fact that you intervened against seven or eight classmates in the seventh grade, is that just intervening?” The other person asked, Lu Yipeng looked confused, “If you want to intervene against those people. If you don’t want to be beaten up by them. You have to punch them before they do anything.” Lu

Yipeng said, then turned to Liu Guashi again, “Mister Liu, ask something more imaginative.”

The person being asked chuckled approvingly, “Hmm… You are quite imaginative, inspector, you may be mischievous and naughty, but still graduated with honors. And also receiving compliments in all subjects like this shows that the inspector is not ordinary, right?”

“No, I’m just an ordinary person.” Lu Yipeng said, “It depends on how much effort you put into something.”

“Ah, I see.” The man nodded, then asked further, “Did you take the entrance exam to the Police Officer Academy?”

“Not difficult.” Lu Yipeng replied, “But I’ve been preparing to take the exam since I started studying in primary school.”

“I see that you have been inspired to become a police officer by your father, right?”

“Um.” The man nodded, “Not really inspired. My father, who passed away, wanted me to become a police officer. He said it was a profession to be proud of.”

“Okay. From this background, it seems that your mother passed away when you were born and so you lived with only your father until you were fifteen and then your father passed away. Growing up like this one would think you have some family issues like lack of warmth or something similar, right?”

“No.” Lu Yipeng answered, shaking his head, “My father has had chronic lung disease for a long time. He refused to remarry because he loved my mother so much. I feel that my mother must be an amazing woman because of that. I don’t feel unhappy or sad about it.”

“Um, you sound very strong from the way you talk.” Liu Guashi spoke seriously, “We came to an important moment for us two weeks ago. I tried to open a column to ask the fans of the book. If we invite Inspector for an interview, what questions would the fans want to ask Inspector? Do you know that there are fan clubs following you now?”

Lu Yipeng made a strange face, “I don’t want to have any.”

Liu Guashi chuckled heartily, “I’d better start with this question. Normally, police officers are not supposed to have good figures. They are either too fat or too skinny, their looks are mediocre. Why do you, Inspector Lu have such a good appearance and a perfect physique like this?”

“Um… who asked that?” Lu Yipeng asked back. Liu Guashi smiled, “Your fan club.”

The young police officer looked at him with a somewhat incredulous expression but answered the question, “My appearance is just like this. As for my physique, I exercise regularly.”

“So… Do you have any special hobbies or interests? Besides working out and chasing criminals.” Liu Guashi asked.

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows, “Those two are my professions. As for hobbies… planting trees.”

“What kind of trees?” asked the other person.

“Flytrap.”

“Oh…” The person listening widened his eyes, “Trees that eat insects? I never knew you would raise such strange trees. Did you order them online or seize them from somewhere?”

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows again, “My senior gave them to me.”

“Oh…” The other person responded and nodded, “And what about your favorite food?”

The young police officer remained silent for a moment, “I’m not sure. I eat anything. Not too picky. If I had to choose something to eat regularly, it would probably be fried rice with tofu.”

“Very basic.” The other person replied, “And what about drinks?”

“Just water.”

“Normally, when you have free time, what kind of tourist destinations do you think of, inspector?”

“The sea.”

“What month and day were you born?”

“August 25th. Are you going to interrogate me?”

The person being questioned chuckled, “The next question is the most frequently asked by fans. I wonder if such a handsome and talented inspector has a partner or lover.”

“No, I don’t.” Lu Yipeng said, causing the other person to look genuinely surprised, “Oh… I can’t believe it, sir. Is it because you have a connection with

Hong Kongque, or what?”

Lu Yipeng’s face immediately tensed up, “Why do you ask about him?”

“Oh, just a question from fans. If you don’t want to answer, it’s okay.”

“Well, I have nothing to do with him at all.”

“Okay, and do you have a girlfriend or are you too high-profile to find a partner?”

“No, I don’t have one.”

“It’s possible.”

“…” Liu Guashi remained silent for a moment, then asked, “What does the lady in your dream, inspector, look like?”

This time Lu Yipeng was the one to stay silent for a while. After thinking for a moment, the young police officer replied, “She’s probably someone who resembles my mother.”

“Oh, I see.” Liu Guashi nodded, then summarized, “Thank you, inspector, for honoring us with this interview today. Is there anything you would like to say to our readers at home?”

“Well… I think being a police officer is a good profession. Currently, our department is in need of new recruits. If you are interested, you should try applying.”

“If you volunteer to interview each applicant in person, I’m sure many people would apply.”

Lu Yipeng frowned immediately and Liu Guashi quickly said, “That’s enough for the interview.”

The young police officer let out a sigh before standing up, “I’m leaving now.”

“Just a moment, sir.” Liu Guashi said before getting up as well, “We haven’t taken any photos yet. Inspector, please sit over there and have a drink to relax.

Then we can discuss what concept would be best for the photoshoot.”

“What?!” Lu Yipeng looked puzzled before being walked over by two other men with arms linked, dragging him to sit in another chair. Then they brought him a glass of water to drink.

“Uh… now that we’ve seen you, I want to be a police officer too.” one of the two men spoke up. Lu Yipeng looked at him, “How old are you?”

“Eighteen, sir.”

“You can still apply then.” Lu Yipeng said, looking at him and giving a slight smile, “If you get accepted, will I get to see you every day?”

Before Lu Yipeng could respond, the other man raised his hand to touch his arm, “Inspector, you have a great body. Even in a uniform like this. If you take off your shirt, then…”

“You guys, be a little considerate of the inspector.” Liu Guashi, who was walking in, spoke up again. The other two people looked at each other and chuckled, “Mister Liu, you also want to see the inspector shirtless, right? Hmm… A handsome man with a body like this, not easy to come by, right?”

“Go further away.” The person being teased said, chuckling, and the two young men walked away. Lu Yipeng adjusted himself uncomfortably, “Hey,

Mister Liu. I don’t model for adult books, you know.”

“Yes.” Liu Guashi nodded, “I wouldn’t have you model for adult books either, I swear.”

Lu Yipeng looked at Liu Guashi skeptically from the moment he stepped into the studio. He started to feel like he was stepping into forbidden territory. Just as he thought about it, a man approached him every now and then.

If Hong Kongque alone could endure, he probably couldn’t handle this group.

Lu Yipeng looked at Liu Guashi again, thinking that if this doctor or cousin did anything inappropriate or crossed the line sexually, he would report them to the publisher right away.

“Um… I think the inspector looks best in this type of outfit.” Liu Guashi said. After looking at Lu Yipeng for a while, “The angrier the inspector looks, the better it looks. Why don’t you try standing over there for a couple shots? Just two photos will do.” With that, he waved at Lu Yipeng before walking away.

Lu Yipeng was made to stand in front of a black backdrop. Across from him were two spotlight flashes for the photoshoot, and there was another cameraman. Liu Guashi stood behind him.

“Move back a little more, inspector. Try walking back and forth a bit, don’t look at the camera, just walk comfortably. That’s it.”

As soon as the shutter clicked and the flash burst out, Lu Yipeng wondered why these guys were taking pictures of him walking.

“Inspector, is this necktie too tight? I think it looks too cramped. Especially for the photoshoot.” Liu Guashi said as Lu Yipeng looked at him.

“Just loosen it a little, that’s it. Just a little.”

Lu Yipeng raised his hand to loosen the necktie. Liu Guashi quickly spoke up, “That’s it, inspector. I’ll have the kids come in to help with the clothing.”

Lu Yipeng was about to say something when two men suddenly entered, handing him a cloth to wipe his face and helping him loosen his necktie in a grand manner. Lu Yipeng had to push both men away, “You’re making me look untidy.”

The young police officer adjusted the buttons on his shirt, then fixed his necktie before walking out of the scene.

“Just a moment, inspector. We haven’t taken any pictures yet.” Liu Guashi called out. Lu Yipeng turned to look at him, “Aren’t you going to take any photos?”

“Test the lighting and pose, inspector. Sit there straight for a moment.

Powder your face, so it won’t shine too much when the flash goes off.”

Lu Yipeng raised an eyebrow and reluctantly grabbed a powder puff to dab on his face. He heard another person speak, “Inspector, don’t make such a mess with the powder. Your skin will look oily. Just a little is enough to prevent shine.”

The young police officer had to sit quietly, as any gesture he made towards a lady might be inappropriate. The lady applied a bit of powder, while using her hands to guide his face up, and smiled, “You look handsome already. Let me adjust your shirt a bit.”

Since she was a woman, Lu Yipeng did not want to offend her like he did with the two men earlier, so he allowed her to adjust his clothing. As she helped put on his shoulder straps, the young police officer’s mobile phone suddenly rang loudly.

“Pengpeng.” The voice that boomed made Lu Yipeng raise his hand in surprise. He hurried to a corner of the studio and whispered into the phone.

“I’ve just returned from Vietnam, bought some gifts for you. Can you stop by and see me at the mansion?”

“I’m busy right now. Can’t go.”

“What are you busy with?” The voice on the other end demanded sharply. Lu

Yipeng glanced over at the people walking back and forth before responding,

“I’m here for a photoshoot.”

“What’s up with that?!” The voice at the other end of the line immediately asked, “Photoshoot? With who?”

“Liu Guashi.”

“Guashi?” Hong Kongque repeated the name over the phone, “Pengpeng, are you starting to sell yourself through the newspapers now or what?”

“Seems like it.” Lu Yipeng burst into the conversation, “I’m here because of my deputy’s orders.”

“Chen Qian had something crazy in mind to have you do a photoshoot with that faction. Where are you doing the shoot?”

“At Studio T, That’s it” He didn’t finish his sentence as he hung up the phone before Lu Yipeng could respond. He turned to see Liu Guashi walking towards him, “I’ll just ask you to head over to the scene, so we can start shooting right away.”

Lu Yipeng stood silent for a moment. Eventually, he asked, “Mister Liu. Do you know Hong Kongque?”

Liu Guashi looked at him and nodded, “I do, everyone knows him. Knows his name, at least. Even if one is not a policeman, why do you ask?”

“Oh… and are you afraid of him?”

Liu Guashi chuckled, “Inspector, you don’t seem afraid of him at all. Why would I be afraid? I think he’s just an old man who has a kind heart. Doesn’t seem dangerous at all, right? It’s probably just gossip going around.”

Lu Yipeng swallowed his saliva nervously, “I think you should be cautious.”

“I’m not cautious, inspector, you were harsh during the interview. You didn’t want to talk about him at all, why bring him up like that? Let’s head to the scene, we’ll finish late if we keep this up.”

Lu Yipeng had to walk back to the scene, hoping that nothing crazy would happen.

The photoshoot seemed simple and not as scary as Lu Yipeng initially thought. At least he was wearing the outfit neatly, and all he had to do was stand, sit, and walk back and forth for a while. After a while, the young police officer began to feel more relaxed and even found some angles to smile at the camera. Liu Guashi saw this and quickly raised his index finger and instructed the cameraman to capture the moment.

While in the middle of shooting, a man suddenly ran in, “Inspector-Lu.

There’s an older relative here to see you.”

“?” Everyone turned to the one speaking. As they looked behind, they saw a man in a dark red jacket walking in.

“Hey Pengpeng, having fun modeling?”

“!!!” Lu Yipeng almost bit his tongue to stop himself from blurting out the name. Liu Guashi looked at the man walking in and smiled, “Do I know you?”

“I am a senior relative from his grandmother’s side of the family.” The newcomer walked confidently towards the photo shoot scene, not caring about what the people in the scene were doing, before stopping in front of the young policeman.

“Pengpeng, it’s time to go home.”

Lu Yipeng was speechless. While Liu Guashi and the others looked equally stunned.

“Um… Are you really his senior relative? I mean… you look around the same age as him.”

The man in red smiled, “I can assure you I am indeed his senior relative. I was born first, I  am older than him.”

After speaking, he turned to Lu Yipeng, “Pengpeng, will you come back by yourself, or should I drag you back?”

Lu Yipeng swallowed hard before finally speaking, “Um… please remain calm. I just came here for a photoshoot.”

“I do not allow it.” The man spoke sternly before turning to him, “I never agreed to let anyone else see your body again.”

Lu Yipeng was still at a loss for words when the man turned to sweep his gaze over the others, “Who’s in charge of the camera?”

The person behind the camera blinked slowly. The man in red turned to him and spoke calmly, “Are you taking a lot of pictures of him?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll buy both the camera and the memory card inside it.”

“Sure.”

“In that case, I’ll take a lot of shots.”

“Wait!” Liu Guashi, who was standing quietly, looked up with a hint of curiosity, “Who are you? From what I have investigated, Inspector-Lu has no relatives as young as you. Are you a blackmailer or something?”

The accused person turned to look at the speaker before smiling slyly, “If I say yes, what will you do? Write a story about it? The income must be pretty good.”

“Oh, of course. I’ll have someone take a picture of you as well. You’ll get both the news and a charge for violating personal rights.”

“Guashi…” The person called out to him with a hint of sarcasm, “This is an interesting position you are posturing. Does it match your father’s investment plan to borrow money for me to invest in someone like you?”

This time, Liu Guashi seemed slightly hesitant, stammering a bit before speaking, “Who are you? How do you know about borrowing money?”

“Call your father and ask him, but ask nicely. Don’t let him know that you’re bothering me. The consequences could be severe, the kind of blood vessels in the brain bursting, you will be blamed for that.” With that, the other person watched as Liu Guashi looked at him and immediately made a phone call. After a brief conversation, Liu Guashi’s face gradually turned pale. He glanced at the person in the red suit and quickly turned away as he hung up the phone.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Um… it’s okay.” The person standing there replied, then continued, “Alright, I’ll buy that camera with the memory card together. How much are you selling it for?”

“No problem.” Liu Guashi said somewhat shakily, “If you just want a picture of yourself, take the memory card.”

“Um… that’s fine…” The person in the red suit nodded and took the memory card that the camera technician brought over before turning to smile at Liu

Guashi, “This matter today, let’s keep it a secret, especially since Inspector-Lu is involved. I’ll let you go this time. Oh… but if this leaks or becomes news, even just a single word, you’ll know what will happen.”

“Understood.” Liu Guashi replied with a fearful tone. The other person let out a sigh before turning to the young police officer.

“Alright, you can go now.” With that, he waved to Lu Yipeng, leading him outside the studio.

…

When he came out, Lu Yipeng was so surprised that he stumbled, encountering the long limousine with a red peacock emblem in front of Luo Songzhi who was waiting to open the back door. The young police officer was pushed into the car by another person before the door closed.

“Kongque, do you have to make things messy?” The young police officer asked. After the other person had settled in, this was the first time he had the opportunity to ride a limousine together. This bullet Hong Kongque looked at him, then reached out and slapped him loudly.

Lu Yipeng turned his head as he was slapped, both confused and startled. As he raised his head, he was slapped again.

“How dare you come to take pictures of others like this.” Hong Kongque shouted, then pulled up the neck of the young police officer, “Even if it’s Chen Qian’s command or anyone else’s, you have to tell me first. I do not allow you to take pictures with anyone else. You belong to me. Remember that!”

Lu Yipeng looked towards the person in front of him, this was the first time he had seen Hong Kongque this furious. His dark expression turned bright red, his eyes staring at him as if he was furious, and his hand holding the collar of his shirt tightened more and more.

“Kongque. Are you jealous of me?”

Hong Kongque’s eyes lingered before pulling up the collar of Lu Yipeng’s shirt, “With your face, do you dare to talk to me like this?”

Lu Yipeng squirmed once before trying to grab both hands that were holding the collar of his shirt, “You seem jealous of me.”

“Your mouth! Do you think someone like me would..!” Hong Kongque didn’t finish speaking, because Lu Yipeng suddenly moved quickly, pushing him closer to the car seat.

“If you’re not really jealous, why are your hands shaking? Normally your hand is heavy handed and you would be choking me now. You would never let me speak so much nonsense before.”

“Huh!” Hong Kongque just made a sound. Lu Yipeng felt the overwhelming pressure on his neck and immediately raised his hand to hold the hand of the other person, before speaking, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, okay?”

“…”

“I’m serious. I didn’t think you would…” He paused for a moment, the young police officer smiled, “Be jealous of me this much.”

“Disgusting.” The other person said, but before he could exert more force, his hand was pulled out by the young police officer, and pressed down on the car seat.

“Kongque, don’t be so stubborn… Usually you sigh regularly as a sign of giving up. I have never been able to defeat you, but today you seem very agitated, breathing out of rhythm. Am I making you very upset?”

“Well…” Hong Kongque just sighed and looked away, “There’s a crazy kid. I don’t know why he’s always looking at ships nearby, it’s making me nervous that he might let his gaze wander a bit and go charm someone else.”

Lu Yipeng smiled slightly and moved his face closer, “And what about you?

Don’t you usually charm others too?” Yikes!!

Hong Kongque’s hand that was being held suddenly slipped out and slammed into the face of the young police officer with such force that Lu Yipeng saw stars.

“If you don’t see it with your own eyes, don’t accuse me of it!” Hong

Kongque growled, “A fine talker like you is really something.”

“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng stepped forward before stumbling and reaching out, grabbing the other person’s hand and squeezing it again, “I apologize.”

Hong Kongque pursed his lips before turning his gaze elsewhere, “I don’t want to hear your empty apologies, just leave.”

Lu Yipeng looked at the other person with a hesitant and awkward expression, but in the end, he smiled.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I’m happy.”

“?!”

“You’re so jealous of me that you’re speechless.”

“!!”

“Kongque…”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“…”

“You and I… should understand each other by now.”

“Understand what?”

“…”

Hong Kongque looked at Lu Yipeng before smiling, “You’re a cop, say something intelligent first.”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips. Finally, he let out a sigh, “Kongque, do you know? Sometimes I don’t want you to be Hong Kongque.”

“You’ve gone a bit too far. I’ve never not wanted you to be Lu Yipeng.”

“?!”

“Surprised, huh?” He asked and continued, “If you weren’t a cop, not so stubborn like this, do you think I would ever meet you? I don’t regret you being a cop. I’m just afraid you would regret it more than I would.”

“I don’t regret it at all.” Lu Yipeng said firmly, “Just regret meeting you.”

“With lips like that should I take back my words about you being stubborn some night?”

Lu Yipeng didn’t answer that question. He lowered his hand, took off his necktie, unfastened his belt and shoulder strap, unzipped his outer suit, then leaned down and whispered in the other person’s ear.

“Do you know that you’re the first person to make me take off my uniform  without ordering or saying anything?”

Hong Kongque just smiled at the corner of his mouth, “Hmm… Is there such a thing or shall I not know?”

Lu Yipeng smiled slightly. Then he took Hong Kongque’s hand, and slowly unbuttoned his own shirt, revealing his toned chest. When his hand touched the warm and firm chest, Hong Kongque let out a deep sigh. As Lu Yipeng’s hand moved inside his shirt, he caressed the part that had been touched and rubbed countless times, believing it was a special day.

“Too cruel.” Hong Kongque gritted his teeth before clapping his hands and pulling the other person closer, “Do you think doing this won’t make you regret later?”

The young police officer pursed his lips, “I don’t know. Have you ever thought about regretting?”

“Never.”

“No matter what happens, or how it ends?”

“Uh-huh.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the other person before letting out a sigh, “You are truly strong.”

“If you can’t fight, just retreat. You might lose all your honor student titles.” The other person said, pushing him away lightly. Lu Yipeng quickly grabbed his hand.

“I failed the exam the first time I met you.” The young police officer said, kissing the hand, “Kongque. I failed the exam because of you. To be honest, I never thought I would pass, but I still…”

“…”

“Am I stupid?”

“Uh-huh…” Hong Kongque nodded, then raised his hand to caress the cheeks that were still red from the other person, “Inspector, you are both stubborn and stupid.”

“Really… Do you like it?”

“…”

“…”

Finally, Hong Kongque let out a sigh, “Do you still need to ask? Do I tolerate anyone acting stupid every day? It’s not like you don’t know, right?”

Lu Yipeng shook his head, “I don’t know. I can’t figure you out, Kongque.

When will you end this?”

“Why do you have to ask me?” The other person retorted. The young police officer stared at him in silence for a while. Finally, the other person spoke up,

“Ask yourself, when do you want to end this?”

“I…” Lu Yipeng bit his lower lip tightly before hugging Hong Kongque tightly, “Kongque, will it have to end one day?”

“Um…”

“When that day comes. Will you forget about me?”

“I won’t forget, will you forget about me.”

“Do you think I will forget?” The other person retorted, echoing Hong Kongque’s words.

“I don’t know. You’re still young, there’s a lot more to learn in life. When you get older, you might forget.”

“I may not live to be old.”

“?!”

“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng called out that name again before turning his face and lightly kissing the cheek of the other person, “It’s a full moon tonight, stay by my side. Just one more night.”

Hong Kongque said nothing, just drew that face closer and gently leaned in.

…

The silver moonlight shone down on the evening sky, reflecting off the small window of a small boat drifting away from the shore.

The silver light painted on the half-face with wrinkles, a result of time, on the forehead of that face, there appeared a triangular scar elongated, the lines at the corners of the deep-seated mouth deepened when the person raised their face and looked at the moon, with only a faint smile.

The silver moon gradually became covered by dark clouds. Before the raindrops rushed down, hitting the boat so loudly it sounded like someone was throwing rocks, a chuckling laughter and shouting of a name could be heard.

“Hong Kongque!!”

***

Finally, we decided to skim through the story of Hong Kongque a bit until (of course… it wasn’t revealed as he had gone away!!!) the plot starts coming out in an unfinished manner, with only chill chapters in mind (and mostly out at sea), making me think. If we don’t get through the main story a little bit, this might turn into a never-ending series of island-hopping adventures for sure (the writer would probably give up first).

Honestly, when I started writing this at first, I didn’t think it would end like this, but as it goes towards the end, I thought it would be okay to include these aspects (and readers will definitely want to strangle us).

Now I secretly like Kongque a lot (of course, I’ve been subtly leaning towards Kongque for a long time), and feel like Pengpeng keeps sneaking in just like a star. Haha, at the beginning of this chapter, it’s like a Pengpeng interview.

Anyway, thank you so much for following and reading (I’m feeling better now… but… work is still piling up…<<I’m definitely going to die)

 

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 18:Bird-Sitter

It is generally known in the mansion circles that Hong Kongque, the great master of the mansion, loves to raise birds as pets. To the extent of buying a deserted island for this purpose. Especially for raising birds, but among all the birds, the favorite bird would not escape the white-breasted parrot named Paechikchik, which seemed like Hong Kongque would not be willing to let it go even for a day.

But…

…

“Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng frowned as he walked into the room and as soon as he heard his name being called. He looked over at the front desk and saw a white parrot perched on it. The servants were lined up in a row, but the dark red leather chair in the middle was empty, with no owner sitting in it.

“What’s going on here?” The young police officer asked, puzzled. After looking around for a few seconds, and being sure that the main cause which made him have to enter the room. Li Kong; Hong Kongque’s butler was walking slowly towards him and handing him the phone.

“Is Pengpeng here yet?” a familiar voice sounded through the phone cheerfully. Lu Yipeng’s eyebrows furrowed even more. He lowered his voice and said,

“Why are you calling me again? I’m already here. Why do you need to call me again?”

It was because Hong Kongque had called him in the evening, with a short sentence that said, “Stop doing your job and hurry to the mansion immediately. Otherwise, you’ll encounter an unexpected situation.”

Not wanting to create more trouble, Lu Yipeng quit his job and rushed to the mansion in his car. The situation he encountered was even more unexpected than he thought.

“Oh… I forgot to tell you. I’m about to board a plane to America.” Hong Kongque said, “This time, I have to take Little Zhi along. I’m afraid Little Paechhikchik’ll be bored with no one to play with, and he might pluck his own feathers again. So I thought I’d bring you to be his playmate for a while.”

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows as he looked at the white parrot, which was tilting its head and looking at him. He almost dropped the phone in shock.

He was about to faint from the shock. He dropped work to come and be a playmate for a parrot!!!

“Hey, Pengpeng, try talking to Little Paechikchik and let me hear.” Hong

Kongque continued. Lu Yipeng’s hand holding the phone was shaking. The young police officer stood in silence for a long time, biting his lip before finally managing to come up with a response.

“This is your bird, the servants are everywhere, take care of it yourself. I’m leaving.” Lu Yipeng said into the phone, feeling a headache coming on. His size alone was enough to create problems and annoyances. He couldn’t believe this bird was in his house.

Before he could finish speaking or hang up the phone and turn around, three men in suits walked over and stood next to him as if to block him. He heard Hong Kongque’s voice through the phone.

“Pengpeng, don’t be cruel. I ask for your help with this little game. Don’t tell me that a top student like you, with a black heart, would abandon one bird and leave it to pluck its own feathers? You won’t play along with this bird.”

Lu Yipeng wanted to say out loud, what does this have to do with him having to play with this bird? But before he could say anything, the bird flapped its wings and said, “Pengpeng, let’s play.”

The person being called opened his mouth to respond, the bird tilted its head towards him and bobbed its head, as if inviting him to join in.

Just as if the owner arrived, but when the owner was absent, he acted as if he was playing the role of the owner instead.

While Lu Yipeng was trying to figure out how to survive this ridiculous situation, Hong Kongque’s voice grew louder, “Oops. I have to go up now, take care of Little Paechikchik and Pengpeng. If I come back and my Little Paechikchik is messy, or if any feathers are missing, I will heat up a hot iron and pierce your fingers one by one. Oh…” He paused as if thinking of something, “And if you dare to teach my Little Paechikchik to say anything weird, I will pierce your tongue, attach a chain, and tie it to a cart wheel, let’s see which one wears out first, your tongue or the chain.”

Lu Yipeng quickly closed his mouth, swallowed nervously, and wondered where Hong Kongque had gotten these ideas to torment them. He heard Hong

Kongque speaking in a calm tone, “But I know that you, Pengpeng, are not cruel. I will return in five days. Take care of my little Paechikchik.”

After finishing speaking, he hung up and left Lu Yipeng standing there, staring at the bird in the room. Li Kong came to take the phone quietly, so Lu Yipeng could not bring himself to ask.

“Butler Li, do I really have to play with this bird?” He finally asked.

“As the bird owner wishes.” Li Kong replied. Lu Yipeng’s face turned pale, swallowing hard. Finally, he asked, “But I have never raised a bird before.”

Li Kong didn’t respond to anything except smiling, then walked away. Lu Yipeng felt like he had been tricked and left stranded. He looked up and saw a white crane named Paechikchik walking back and forth on the balcony, as if waiting for him to come find it for real.

“Pengpeng, come and play with me, come and play with me.”

In the end, Lu Yipeng had to go and find the bird instead of the person he had always been looking at. The young police officer couldn’t help but wonder what was going on after accommodating the bird’s boss’ emotions. He had to come and deal with the bird’s emotions now. What kind of fate was this all about?

As he approached, Lu Yipeng saw another chair placed next to him. The chair was red leather, and Hong Kongque sat on it regularly. Paechikchik flapped its wings excitedly as he walked closer.

“Pengpeng, Pengpeng.” Paechikchik chirped as Hong Kongque used to. It fluttered back and forth on the balcony, seemingly telling him to sit down. Lu Yipeng hesitated for a moment, but eventually sat down.

“Good, good.” The original bird spoke up again and flapped its wings towards Lu Yipeng as if to encourage him to stand up.

“Not good, not good.” Paechikchik spoke and whimpered a little, then flew up to perch on his head and peck lightly at him.

Lu Yipeng had to raise his hand to shoo the bird away, which seemed to work a little. Paechikchik flew back to its original perch on the balcony, then turned its head to look at him again, “Come play with me, come play with me.”

In reality, Lu Yipeng had been brought by Hong Kongque to be the bird feeder at his bird feeding station. For three days he would bring food to different spots and sometimes scatter it for the birds, but he had never had to play with the birds before. The young police officer continued to stare at the white crane, unsure of what to do next.

Paechikchik tilted its head to look at the man in front of it. Then it jumped down from the balcony to the table, heading straight for a closed glass bottle. It pecked at the lid and tried to unscrew it while Lu Yipeng watched in astonishment.

Was the white cockatoo about to open the bottle?

Paechikchik struggled to unscrew the bottle’s lid for a while, but it wouldn’t budge. The bird then raised its head, looked at him, and pecked at the bottle’s lid, “Open it a little, open it a little.”

Lu Yipeng looked at the bird and suddenly thought of something else. If he were to pick up the bottle and open it, he might be considered harming a protected animal while weighing in on whether it was the right thing to do or not. Paechikchik flapped his wings and continued, “Evil man, evil man.”

Lu Yipeng did not know whether he should reach out to pick up the bottle to open it, or reach out to grab the bird and break its neck, but in the end, the young policeman chose to open the bottle, telling himself that he did not want to exchange his life for the life of the swiftlet.

Once the bottle was opened, Paechikchik flapped his wings excitedly before flying to another island far away. Lu Yipeng then remembered seeing Hong Kongque throw a mangosteen seed to feed the bird. The young policeman looked into the bottle and found it really did contain mangosteen seeds.

The cockatoo stretched its neck up and down as if waiting for Lu Yipeng to throw the seed. He cautiously tossed one seed and Paechikchik caught it in its mouth, then repeated the motion with a second seed. This time, Paechikchik changed its direction and managed to catch it again.

In the end, Lu Yipeng realized that feeding the cockatoo mangosteen seeds was quite enjoyable. As he threw all the seeds, the bird chirped and flew to the island in front, tilting its head as if asking for praise. Lu Yipeng gently touched it and said with a smile, “Well done.”

“Well done, well done.” The bird repeated, flapping its wings on the island,

“Love Pengpeng, love Pengpeng.”

After speaking, it leaned its head against his fingers and then lightly pecked him.

Lu Yipeng let the bird peck his finger, then stroked it for a moment before Li Kong walked in. Seeing the elderly Li Kong, Paechikchik quickly flew to the island and looked back at Lu Yipeng.

“Today is enough, today is enough.”

The young policeman lifted his head to look at Li Kong, who smiled at him,

“inspector…you are leaving now, see you tomorrow.”

“Oh… yes.” Lu Yipeng said, nodding in agreement, still a bit perplexed. He agreed to come back one day to play with the bird for a few minutes. The young policeman looked at the white cockatoo once again, and the bird tilted its head, looked at him, and softly spoke, “See you tomorrow, see you tomorrow.”

…

“Inspector, you keep looking at your watch again. Do you have somewhere to go afterwards with a hidden responsibility?” Duan Feng asked, while both of them were having dinner together in a small restaurant near Lu Yipeng’s workplace. Lu Yipeng raised his head to look at his younger brother before chuckling.

“It’s nothing much. Someone asked me to take care of their bird.”

“A bird?” The other person questioned, and the young inspector continued, “Yes. The owner will be away for a few days, so he asked me to look after the bird.”

“Oh…Is the owner a beautiful woman or something?” Duan Feng inquired, “To the point where you have to go and feed the bird. Maybe introduce me to her if you have the chance.”

Lu Yipeng almost choked, “Oh no. It’s not a woman. Just a relative of the elder.”

“Oh…” Duan Feng sighed, “What kind of bird is it?”

“A parrot.” Lu Yipeng replied. Seeing Duan Feng’s puzzled expression, the young inspector tried to explain the appearance of the bird to his younger brother.

“I can’t recall it exactly. I remember a parakeet.” Duan Feng finally spoke, “Let me search for a picture on the internet later. How many hours do you have to feed the bird?”

“Once it finishes eating I leave.” Lu Yipeng said as Duan Feng nodded, “Let me hurry and feed it, the bird might wait for long.”

As the conversation ended, the young inspector chuckled. Lu Yipeng nodded with a smile, then lowered his head to continue eating.

…

Today, Lu Yipeng changed the atmosphere. Instead of playing mango seed toss with Paechikchik in Hong Kongque’s living room, he was now standing and looking at the original parrot in what was called “Little Paechikchik’s room.” Overall, this room seemed wider than Lu Yipeng’s bedroom.

Paechikchik stood perched on a wooden perch hanging down from a large tree planted in one corner of Little Paechikchik’s room. The room’s walls and half of the ceiling were made of glass and metal mesh, allowing for the planting of trees inside. Half of the room was a miniature forest, with intertwined wooden branches connecting around the room. Various features were present between the branches, including small wooden huts for the bird to perch, bicycles hanging on wires, circular swings, and wooden rails leading to clear tubular shapes with wooden sticks inserted around them.

When the police officer saw the young bird, he immediately greeted it,

“Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng just smiled at the bird. Not knowing what to say in response,

Paechikchik stretched its neck up and down, then flew over to perch on Lu

Yipeng’s shoulder. It pecked his cheek gently and played with him, making Lu Yipeng feel a bit surprised.

“Let’s play, let’s play.” The bird chirped, flapping its wings and playfully hitting Lu Yipeng’s ear. After playing with the bird for two days, Lu Yipeng realized that he had something to do.

The young police officer walked to the other side of the room, picked up a jar of plant seeds, and opened it. The bird flapped its wings, chirped loudly, then jumped onto the table, jumped into a small bicycle on a wire, and climbed through round hoops. It reached out and pulled out wooden blocks one by one.

Lu Yipeng watched as the bird managed all the obstacles with determination. Paechikchik removed the wooden blocks until the metal ball rolled to a stop in front of Lu Yipeng. Then it jumped up to perch on the table, leaning its head to receive praise.

“You are very clever.” The young police officer said, and handed the bird some seeds as a reward. Paechikchik took the hard shell seeds, cracked them open with its feet and beak skillfully.

After feeding and playing with the bird until it was satisfied, Lu Yipeng prepared to leave. Paechikchik flew to perch on the table before leaning its head towards him.

“Come play again tomorrow.” The little bird chirped. As Lu Yipeng opened the door to leave, the young police officer turned back and smiled.

“Okay.”

…

It turned out that the sun was rising. Lu Yipeng had to stay at the department because of a major case that had just been sent in. The young police officer had to call Hong Kongque’s butler to let him know that he wouldn’t be able to play with the bird that day. Later on, in the late evening, he was called down from his office to the lower floors.

“Pengpeng.” The white cockatoo with a familiar demeanor perched on a corner of the steel cage, which was intricately crafted and slightly larger than itself, squawked as soon as it saw the young police inspector Lu Yipeng swallowing nervously before turning to face the officer who was standing guard in front.

“Someone left it for you, inspector.” That police officer said, looking at Lu Yipeng for a while, Lu Yipeng was puzzled that the servant at Hong Kongque’s house couldn’t take care of a bird of this size until Paechikchik started flapping his wings and called his name again, causing Lu Yipeng to carry the birdcage up to the office room.

“Oh… inspector, please don’t tell me this bird is that pet?” Duan Feng spoke up as soon as he saw Lu Yipeng return with the birdcage. The young inspector nodded, hearing his subordinate talking again, “Its demeanor looks like something you would appreciate. Did you send someone to go get it from the house, sir?”

Lu Yipeng didn’t know how to answer, so he just nodded, “Yes, that’s how it is.”

“What’s its name, inspector?” Duan Feng asked as Lu Yipeng placed the birdcage on the table. Before Lu Yipeng could answer, the cockatoo chirped,

“Paechikchik, Paechikchik.”

“Oh, so clever.” Duan Feng said, looking closer at the bird, “Is this a cockatoo, so cute.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng nodded thoughtfully, wondering if he would get any work done with this bird around.

Duan Feng seemed particularly interested in the bird as he approached and said, “Paechikchik.”

“Ja.” The cockatoo sweetly replied, tilting its head to look at the unfamiliar person in front, “Who is it? Who is it?”

“Oh… what is my name?” Duan Feng said, then introduced himself.

“Duan Feng, Duan Feng.” The little bird chirped sharply, flapping its wings before Duan Feng looked at it in astonishment and said, “Very clever.”

“So clever, so clever.” Paechikchik said, making Duan Feng amused, so he asked, “Tell me, between me and Inspector-Lu, who’s the more handsome?”

“Pengpeng.” The cockatoo replied immediately, causing everyone to chuckle before turning to the young inspector, “Inspector, you have a nice nickname,

sir.”

“Um…” Lu Yipeng cleared his throat before deciding to speak, afraid that Duan Feng would keep asking questions. The household bird might accidentally reveal Hong Kongque’s name.

“Go to work, captain. I’ll probably be back late.”

“Um… You probably won’t be able to go back tonight.” Duan Feng said, with a sad face, “As your deputy, this is truly cruel. This big case requires us to hurry and work on it again.”

Before Lu Yipeng could respond, Paechikchik spoke up again, “Truly cruel, truly cruel.”

Duan Feng chuckled and looked at the bird, “Paechikchik, you are so cute.

Do you want to come to my house?”

“No, no.” The little bird replied, and then pecked at Lu Yipeng’s cage, causing him to sigh and wave his hand to send his little troublemaker back to work before sitting down on the chair, feeling a headache from the workload. There was already enough work, and now this bird was there to annoy him further.

“Pengpeng.” The little bird wanted to play, so it called out cheerfully and walked back and forth on the cage’s bars. Lu Yipeng tried to focus on the documents in front of him, ignoring the white bird flapping its wings and calling for his attention, but the bird wouldn’t stop, “Pengpeng, Pengpeng, come and play with me.”

Finally, Lu Yipeng couldn’t take it anymore and slammed his documents on the table before telling the bird to be quiet, “Please, be quiet for a moment. I’ll snap your neck if you keep making noise.”

After speaking, he glanced at the bird and then leaned back to look at a young police officer, thinking that the owner of the bird wasn’t at fault. He heard Duan

Feng’s loud voice coming from the nearby work desk, and suggested to the inspector, “He’s truly mischievous. What does this bird want to know? Play with it for a bit.”

“I’m not free for that.” Lu Yipeng said, continuing to focus on the paperwork. The little bird seemed to understand and went quiet, possibly scared of being scolded by Lu Yipeng. Lu Yipeng thought to himself that once he finished the work, he would spend the remaining day with this bird to avoid any further disturbances. It might be for the best if he managed to tame this little troublemaker.

The case file was divided into two witness testimonies for questioning by the inspection team. They found several flaws and requested further investigation.

The young police officer got up to make coffee and ponder over the case file.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he felt someone staring at him.

Startled, the young police officer quickly sat up from his desk, wondering if he had accidentally fallen asleep. As he looked closely, he saw the black-eyed bird staring at him.

The young police officer quickly got up from his desk, thinking that he must have accidentally dozed off or something. As he looked closely, he saw the bird standing on the table. Lu Yipeng raised his hand to rub his eyes, then looked at the cage. He noticed that the cage door was slightly open.

“Do you want out of the cage or not?” The young police officer asked softly. The little bird looked at him and shook its head before slowly moving closer, opening its beak a little at a time. Lu Yipeng chuckled as he came out.

“I’m awake now, thanks.”

The little bird looked at him, then bent down to pick up the document on the table and placed it on Lu Yipeng’s hand. Lu Yipeng couldn’t help but raise his hand to gently stroke its head. The little bird then nudged his head against the officer’s hand playfully.

While Lu Yipeng was happily stroking the bird’s head, the voice of Duan

Feng could be heard nearby, “Inspector, you might get stuck with the pose.”

Lu Yipeng lifted his head to look at his colleague, before chuckling nervously, “I don’t know.”

Duan Feng looked at him and handed over a document, “My part is done, I think we need to do a further interrogation, what do you say Inspector?”

“Um… I think the same, but I haven’t finished reading yet.” Lu Yipeng admitted straightforwardly, looking at the document in front of Duan Feng.

Duan Feng looked at him with a full understanding expression, “I see, your case is a bit tricky, I thought it was trying to wake you up, but seeing that the bird is happy to have its head stroked, I didn’t want to interfere.” He paused for a moment, then the young police officer spoke up, “But the bird is smart, it opens the cage by itself, but refuses to fly away, it seems to be attached to people.”

“Um… Probably attached to people.” Lu Yipeng nodded in agreement before lowering his head to read the case files. With Duan Feng sitting next to him, offering sunflower seeds in a cup to the bird Paechikchik, occasionally asking for opinions on the case, sometimes both the person and the bird helped each other answer. By doing so, they were able to chuckle and relieve stress during the late hours.

Just as the young inspector was about to conclude the case, it was almost three o’clock in the morning. Turning around, both Feng and Paechikchik were fast asleep. The little sparrow walked in and lay down in the cage. As for his subordinate, he fell asleep next to the table.

Duan Feng felt himself as his sense returned as Lu Yipeng picked up the little bird. When he looked up, he saw the other person smiling at him, “Are you going back okay, Captain? Shall I give you a ride?”

Duan Feng, still a little dazed, quickly recalled each time he rode with this young inspector and what happened. He quickly shook his head, “It’s okay, I’ll call a taxi, it’s better.”

At the end, he turned to look at the birdcage. The white bird inside seemed to be waking up as well. It stood perched gracefully in the cage, tilting its head up to gaze at the person standing nearby.

“Inspector, drive safely back. The bird might get startled and shed all its feathers.” Duan Feng said when he saw Lu Yipeng carrying the bird cage. The young police officer nodded in agreement, “Yes, the captain, you should also head home.”

The two nodded at each other as they separated after leaving the elevator. Lu

Yipeng walked towards the car, thinking that he might return the bird to Hong

Kongque’s mansion first, but it was already close to dawn. Moreover, the way to the mansion was far from his residence. Lu Yipeng put the bird cage in the front seat, looked inside, inserted the car key, and then turned to ask the white cockatoo bird in the cage.

“Paechikchik, we are going to my house today.”

The drowsy cockatoo bird immediately seemed to wake up, “Go to

Pengpeng’s house. Go to Pengpeng’s house.” Lu Yipeng smiled at the bird before driving away.

…

Upon returning home, Lu Yipeng placed the bird cage on a chair in the small living room downstairs, preparing to go upstairs to shower and rest. As he saw the young police officer walking away, the bird called out immediately,

“Pengpeng, Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng had to walk back to the bird cage again before asking with a resigned look, “Do you want to sleep with me?”

Paechikchik looked at him and then continued to plead, “Sleep with

Pengpeng. Sleep with Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng sighed and then carried the bird cage upstairs, placing it on a chair next to the bed. After showering, he saw the little bird perched comfortably sleeping. Lu Yipeng gazed at it for a while before laying down on the bed.

…

“Pengpeng, did you miss me during the few days I was away?”

Lu Yipeng glared at the creature in front of him before answering, “You look mischievous and heartless. Left me with a bird for several days.”

Hong Kongque adjusted himself as he sat down on the side of the bed, then raised his hand to stroke his chin, smiling, “Are you sulking, officer? I’m back now. Missed me, didn’t you?”

“Ask your bird.” Lu Yipeng said, then turned his face away. Hong Kongque smiled at the corner of his mouth, and bent his face closer, “Inspector, did you miss me too, or not?”

Lu Yipeng did not answer. He turned his face back again, and saw that sharp face approaching. The young detective then raised his hand to hold that figure close before whispering softly, “Kongque.” Their lips slowly touched, tense!

As far as he could remember, since they started kissing, Hong Kongque’s lips were not as soft as a woman’s, but not this tense. Finally, Lu Yipeng really opened his eyes, and found those deep black eyes staring at him.

“Awake, awake.” The white parakeet had not come out of its cage since then. As soon as it saw him, it squawked loudly before pecking at him lightly. Lu Yipeng raised his hand to touch his own lips.

Or is it… Did I just kiss the bird?!!

The young detective immediately got up, and the bird flew to the chair backrest, which was made of metal, before tilting its head to look and spoke again, “It’s late, it’s late.”

Lu Yipeng raised his head to look at the clock, and found that it was past ten o’clock. From last night’s incident, he should be able to finish work today, but… this white bird.

“Going home, going home.” Paechikchik chirped, flapping its wings gently,

“Find Kongque, find Kongque.”

…

Lu Yipeng drove Paechikchik to Hong Kongque’s residence. When he opened the door to enter, the young detective had to blink again when he saw Hong Kongque sitting on the same chair.

“You said five days, didn’t you?” The young detective couldn’t help but ask immediately. After making sure that the person sitting there was indeed the parakeet, Hong Kongque looked at him and smiled, “I missed Paechikchik, so I hurried back. Didn’t think you’d bring Paechikchik here to stay with you, did you.”

“That bird of yours, here it is.” Lu Yipeng said as Paechikchik in the cage got excited when he saw his own master, flapping his wings and shouting loudly,

“Kongque, Kongque.”

Before Lu Yipeng could respond or do anything, the little bird used his beak to unlock the cage door and flew clumsily over to Hong Kongque’s work table before calling out, “I’m back, I’m back.”

“You are back indeed.” Hong Kongque said, raising his hand to stroke the bird gently. Lu Yipeng stood watching for a moment before saying, “Then I’ll go back.”

“Wait, are you going to leave just like that?” another person intervened, gently suggesting, “You should spend time with your beloved bird to the fullest.

I’ll go back to sleep peacefully.”

A mysterious smile appeared on Hong Kongque’s lips, “Pengpeng, are you sulking of Kongque?”

“No.” Lu Yipeng replied, thinking about quickly going back to sleep when he heard Hong Kongque speak again, “Then you miss me, right?”

“I don’t really miss you.” The young police officer said, though in his heart, he recalled the crazy dream he had in the morning. He dreamed wildly, how could that happen? Who would miss this crazy house bird?

“You really don’t miss me,  do you?” Hong Kongque asked. When the young police officer didn’t respond, he continued, “But I do miss you, Pengpeng.”

Lu Yipeng raised his head to look at Hong Kongque immediately before feeling a warm flush rising on his face.

“Come here.” The young police officer didn’t know what sparked the urge to step forward at the call from Hong Kongque. Hong Kongque raised his hand to gently stroke his face, “Don’t you miss me even a bit?”

Lu Yipeng remained silent for a while before finally speaking out, “Your bird annoys me a lot.”

Hong Kongque looked at Lu Yipeng for a moment before chuckling, “I thought you had fallen in love with Paechikchik and lost your mind again, but it’s okay. I don’t want anyone to steal Paechikchik’s love, “ After speaking, he turned back to the little cheeky bird.

Lu Yipeng looked at the back of Hong Kongque and felt a flutter in his chest, something he couldn’t quite describe. He saw Hong Kongque raise his hand to stroke a bird perched on a tree branch, then asked softly, “Pengpeng, has he been kind-hearted to you?”

Paechikchik looked at Lu Yipeng before shouting sharply, “Break his neck! Break his neck.”

Lu Yipeng was shocked and was about to jump away as soon as Hong Kongque turned back, but he was stopped by another person who quickly intervened, holding his hand up, “What does ‘break his neck’ mean, InspectorLu.”

Lu Yipeng thought about actually breaking Paechikchik’s neck, but with Hong Kongque holding his hand, the young police officer could only put on a guilty face and try to explain, “I was just joking.”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque sighed before turning to ask the bird again, “Was it fun with Pengpeng?”

“Fun, fun.” The little bird replied, shifting back and forth, “Pengpeng handsome, Pengpeng handsome.”

Lu Yipeng didn’t know how to react. When he saw Hong Kongque turn back again, he quickly spoke up, “I didn’t teach it to talk like that.”

“Um… I understand.” Hong Kongque said, raising his hand to touch his own face again, “It’s naughty to this extent. No need to teach it.”

Lu Yipeng swallowed nervously, looking at the person in front of Hong

Kongque looking at him with a smile, “Pengpeng, don’t go back to sleep at home. I just came back and haven’t slept yet. The bed over here is wide and cold, too.”

The hand that was holding his face slid down to caress the young man’s shirt, “Sleep with me for a while, keep me company. I want to confess to you.”

…

Luo Songzhi took Paechikchik back to the room, and now Lu Yipeng was alone with Hong Kongque in the bedroom, facing each other. The young police officer was standing watching as the other person changed. Hong Kongque was changing his clothes, removing his sleeping shirt. Only then did he see that underneath was a silk shirt, probably prepared to sleep in beforehand, but had to go out to meet him first.

Once the outer shirt was hung up, he walked closer and lowered his face to his.

“Do you really not think about me, Pengpeng?”

Lu Yipeng did not respond. He lifted the face of Hong Kongque and leaned in to kiss him. The warmth and softness of the lips of other-person pleasure immediately seeped in. They kissed for a while before both lying down on the bed.

“Pengpeng.” Hong Kongque called out as the young police officer nuzzled his neck before lifting his head up, “Relax today. I’ve been flying for hours and

I’m tired.”

Lu Yipeng looked at him, then leaned down to kiss him again. Hong

Kongque allowed the kiss to linger for a while before speaking again, “I already know how much you missed me.”

The young police officer pursed his lips before embracing him, “Kongque.”

Hong Kongque nodded before diving down onto that broad chest, “Was Little

Paechikchiki a good kid?”

“Um…”

“Do you like it?”

“Um…”

“Don’t fall in love too easily.”

“I’m a person. I don’t fall in love easily.”

“Oh…”

“Kongque.”

“Yes.”

“Do you love people or birds more?”

Hong Kongque raised his head to look at him before smiling and answering,

“Relax. I’m sleepy now.”

After saying that, he kissed his chest again. Lu Yipeng remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Kongque. If I were to love, I would love a person.”

“Um… I know…”

“Kongque…”

“If I can do it. I also want to love someone.”

“?!” Lu Yipeng bowed his head and looked, then saw that the other side had closed their eyes. He looked at those long, slender eyelashes for a moment before pulling that figure closer.

He heard the sound of his own heart beating wildly.

Hong Kongque…

…

**Spam filter 90 seconds** I suffer when I post it all at once (Is it the writer’s fate for writing long-winded stories?)

 

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 17: Night Out

The driving reputation of Lu Yipeng has spread throughout the Hong Kong Police Department, especially the person who co-rides the car of this young inspector most often cannot escape; Duan Feng, his subordinate.

“Captain Duan, are you off duty and free now?”

Duan Feng, who was about to walk out to get some documents, turned to look at the person asking, “Free? Inspector Lu, what is it about?”

“Oh, then it’s good. I thought of inviting you to have a meal at Tian Man Lao for a bit, the cost you drove to pick me up last week.” Lu Yipeng said and Duan Feng nodded, “Sure, let’s go. I don’t miss out on free meals, especially there, the beautiful singer, inspector, really understands the invitation.”

Lu Yipeng chuckled, “Hmm, I want to go relax and listen to some music.”

“Of course, then we finish work and meet at Tian Man Lao.”

…

Tian man Lao, is an old restaurant with delicious food and not too expensive. The low ranking two police officers can find happiness there. The singer here is decently beautiful, but the star of the restaurant is the older singer whose appearance may not be outstanding anymore, but her sweet, heart-wrenching voice almost brings tears to the eyes every time.

Duan Feng knew that Lu Yipeng was probably hoping to go listen to music, but he himself hoped to go on a date with the  beautiful singer. Ever since his heart was broken by his ex-girlfriend two months ago, the young man who worked for the government definitely didn’t have much free time. That’s just the way love is.

The young police officer stood examining himself in the mirror in the bathroom, basking in the dim, fluorescent light. The light that shone above his head from the old, dusty light fixture and the fluorescent tube that had been installed who knows how many years ago reached his face sharply. Inspector-

Lu’s car had been repaired yesterday. When he went to pick it up, he heard that the owner of the garage complained because this inspector had brought his car for repair four or five times in the past three months, and each time there were different kinds of damages. A door dented. A bumper dented. A cracked windshield. It was fortunate that the department reimbursed the damages, as it was considered that these accidents happened as part of his duties, but when he thought of reckless driving to catch criminals by Lu Yipeng, he preferred to drive himself. He’d rather risk getting shot at than be a passenger in the car driven by Lu Yipeng.

The problem was, when the time came, Lu Yipeng often preferred to drive himself.

Duan Feng dressed neatly and walked cheerfully to the car. Although Tien

Man Lao wasn’t far from the department, it was good that Lu Yipeng didn’t say he would drive him there because he would definitely have to hurriedly decline.

The young police officer opened the door to the Honda Civic he had inherited from his older brother during high school. He then turned the ignition, thinking that today he might be lucky enough to meet a cute girl to chat with.

“…”

Duan Feng blinked, then tried to start the car again. The engine roared loudly, then died again. Tried two more times. It was still the same. The good mood that had just started disappeared instantly.

The young police officer pushed the button to open the car’s hood before going to lift it up. The battery seemed to have a problem – it was fine yesterday. He turned left and right looking for someone to help with the battery for a few minutes before Lu Yipeng walked into the parking lot.

“Oh, Captain Duan Feng, is there something wrong with the car?” The young inspector asked as soon as he saw his subordinate standing with sweat dripping down his face in front of the car hood.

“Inspector, you came at a perfect time. Can I borrow a battery jump from you? My battery is about to die.”

“Sure.” Lu Yipeng said, and went to the car. After rummaging for something under one of the car seats, the young inspector stood up and looked confused,

“Mister Chen at the garage took off my battery jump cables and never returned them. Do you have any by any chance?”

Duan Feng blinked his eyes, then shook his head. Two police officers looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Lu Yipeng spoke up, “Then come with me, I will drive and you can call the garage tomorrow to take care of it.”

Duan Feng blinked his eyes. Eventually, he nodded.

…

It was fortunate that the police radio did not report anything while they were driving to the Tian Man Lao restaurant. So Duan Feng arrived at the restaurant safely. Sometimes luck is on their side, as they were able to sit in the car with Lu Yipeng without any incidents. No collisions, no sudden stops, which rarely happens for them when riding with this young inspector.

Tian Man Lao is an old restaurant, the decoration still the same as it was twenty years ago. It survives because of its regular customers and the low-wage earners who want to have a slightly more luxurious meal.

When Lu Yipeng arrived at the restaurant, he immediately reserved their favorite table to the left of the stage, which he said had the best view of the singers. Duan Feng had no problem, as this spot also provided a clear view of the singers, and there was no microphone stand blocking the way.

The two men ordered their food, and the dinner began with staring at a beautiful, slim singer that they dared not mention how her voice was, but with just a slightly tight dress could make customers more than half happy with this meal.

“Oh, breasts and waist, even more perfect than a statue.” Duan Feng exclaimed while staring at the beautiful singer. Lu Yipeng looked at his younger brother and said, “I wonder if they are real.”

“Well… the inspector… nowadays it’s hard to tell if they’re real.” Duan Feng replied, “But as long as they look good, it’s fine.”

Lu Yipeng blinked his eyes, “But artificial ones can’t be squeezed, Captain. I can’t stand it; it’s like something is wrong with a doll.”

“Oh, inspector, don’t let any woman hear that. You might get slapped in the face.” Duan Feng teased, Lu Yipeng nodded awkwardly, “I… had an exgirlfriend.”

The younger brother hesitated before nodding, “Oh… Inspector, you seem to look at food. Does it mean that you’ve made a girlfriend and she easily lets you fondle her?”

“It’s true.” said Lu Yipeng, lifting his leg up, “Oh… this person isn’t bad,

Captain. Sincere attitude.”

Duan Feng turned to look before nodding, “Smaller than a cricket’s thing, but still pretty cool.” Then he turned to look at the others at the table, “But how do you know if it’s real?”

“You don’t see it jiggle or anything when they walk.” Lu Yipeng said, making Duan Feng raise an eyebrow, “Oh… inspector, are you an expert in this field? Whoever heard must think you are definitely knowledgeable.”

“This is a normal thing for men in general, aren’t you?” Lu Yipeng asked Duan Feng who shook his head, “No. Even though I have a perverted eye, I’m not expert enough to determine whether it’s real or not like you, inspector. I want to try and prove both.”

“There is double the bill for that.” Lu Yipeng chuckled, before adding,

“Before talking about money, I think you best find someone first.”

Then the two boys turned to sing along, enjoying their meal more than the famous singer who had been performing all night. Lu Yipeng listened to the song until it ended. He called the waiter to calculate the bill. Then he walked out of the restaurant.

“I’ll take a taxi back.” Duan Feng said as soon as he walked out, and Lu Yipeng, about to say something, stopped himself. He quickly responded, “It’s getting late, the inspector Lu you should go rest. No need to send it to me, it’s a waste of time.”

Lu Yipeng blinked before nodding, “Um.. alright then.”

Duan Feng smiled, and told himself not to smile too broadly, as it might be disrespectful. As he walked out to call a taxi, he bumped into someone approaching.

“Inspector Lu… I’m sorry.” The man who bumped into him apologized to the person behind him. Though he felt like he almost knocked someone down, Duan Feng raised his hand to touch his face, and felt relieved that his nose was still intact before raising his head to look at the big man in front of him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” The man replied. He was about six feet tall, but looked bulky and even had a scar in the middle of his face, looking quite intimidating. The man then turned to Lu Yipeng again.

“Inspector Lu, please wait for a moment.”

Lu Yipeng looked at the man and had a face as if he was being threatened to kill. Seeing this, Duan Feng felt sorry for leaving his colleague alone and didn’t want to let him deal with it alone, so he stood waiting there. After a while, he saw a young man about twenty-four or twenty-five, neatly combed hair, wearing a suit that fit him perfectly, walking out of the restaurant. When the man saw Lu Yipeng’s face, he walked straight towards him immediately.

“We haven’t seen each other for a long time, Inspector-Lu.” He finished speaking and patted the shoulder of the young police officer in a friendly manner, but Lu Yipeng still had a face like a dragon shrimp that had not been peeled.

“I think it’s better if we don’t meet at all, so why are you here?” The person being asked looked more puzzled than necessary, “I came to listen to the music, Hua Lan sings so well and is ranked number one. I wanted to hire her to sing at home, but she said she wanted to sing here more and wants more people to listen, look at a singer like this. I can’t miss it.”

Lu Yipeng looked patient and restrained, “I know she sings well, so I’ll leave now. It’s late, I need to rest.”

“Hmph.” The person being evaluated made a disappointed sound, “Not seeing each other for a few days, why are you so cold?”

“I’ve always been like this.” The young police officer replied, “You have nothing to do, so go home and rest, or your face will get wrinkled like this all the time.”

“You really talk too much, don’t you? One day I’ll have to drag your tongue out to see if you dare to speak like this again.” The other person spoke as Duan Feng stood listening for a long time, wanting to ask but never finding the opportunity.

As he stood hesitating, the big man half walked, half ran back in, “Mister Zi, the car won’t start. I tried to jumpstart it, but it didn’t work. Looks like it’s an engine problem. I’ll call Butler Li to send someone to pick up the car.”

“Oh…” Mister Zi sighed before nodding, “The engine is old like this. It’s fine. I’ll have the mechanic change it to a better Japanese engine. Oh, tell Li not to come pick me up, I’ll just go back with Inspector-Lu.”

Lu Yipeng opened his mouth as if to speak but then jerked up, “My car is busy.”

“What?!” Mister Zi exclaimed, looking like he didn’t hear clearly, “What’s going on, Inspector? Did you put a corpse in the back seat, that’s why it’s busy?

This is terrible, why would a top student do something like this?”

“I didn’t put a corpse.” Lu Yipeng said, his face showing a desire to kill someone right then and there. The person listened to the garden immediately,

“Then I don’t see why it’s not available. Add two more people to us. Your coworker probably won’t complain, I’ll sit in the front seat, let Little Zhi sit in the back.”

Before the young police officer could say anything in response, the person turned to Duan Feng with a smile, “Where is the car? Let’s go, it’s going to be late.”

In the end, Duan Feng had to sit inside Lu Yipeng’s car. Sitting with a big man on the back seat while another man sat on the front seat, with suspicion.

Finally, the young police officer mustered up the courage to ask,

“Excuse me. I’m not sure… are you…”

“Oh, yes. I forgot to introduce myself to you, officer. I am an elder cousin of

Lu Yipeng’s family on his father’s side. My name is Zi Liu.”

“Oh.. alright.” Duan Feng nodded. Although still a bit confused about the relative positions mentioned by the other person, Lu Yipeng seemed agitated as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t say it. So Zi Liu spoke up again,

“Let’s drop off this officer first, because it wouldn’t be good if it’s late you might stay at my house.”

“I won’t overstay my welcome at your house.” Lu Yipeng said, turning up the volume of the radio in the car, as if wanting to drown out the voice of the person sitting next to him.

Duan Feng felt a bit relieved, at least the radio sound that was loud might cover up the communication radio that Lu Yipeng had opened. He wanted to go back home without having to risk his life sitting in the car.

When Lu Yipeng turned the car into a dark alley, which was a shortcut to

Duan Feng’s house, suddenly a man ran in front of the car, causing the young police officer to slam on the brakes in panic. Before he could calm down, another woman ran after them, “Thief! Thief! Help!”

Duan Feng was speechless, before being pushed into the seat, as Lu Yipeng stepped on the gas pedal. He chased after the robber who had just climbed a fence into another alley.

“I will circle around, that alley has only one exit. We need to get there before he runs out of the alley. Hold on tight.” Lu Yipeng said before stepping on the gas pedal until the car passed through a narrow alley, and then made a scary turn that made the tires screech on the road, then rushed out onto another street.

“Wow!! Pengpeng you are amazing.” Zi Liu exclaimed, while the two people sitting in the back of the car were frozen in fear like stone statues.

“Inspector, watch out for the car!!” Duan Feng exclaimed as he saw another yellow sports car speeding towards them at high speed. Lu Yipeng swerved, and then heard the sound of someone’s head hitting the window.

The big man raised his hand to pat his head, not yet fully sitting up. The faces of the two men in the front seat almost touched the backrest.

“Just bump into it, what is there for you to be afraid of.” The man sitting next to him, Lu Yipeng, replied, “Cats are living things too.”

“Cats have nine lives, bumping into one won’t kill it.” The man being yelled at replied. The young police officer said nothing more, the car suddenly leapt forward again, this time finally seeing the target alley.

“Captain Duan!”

Duan Feng nodded. When they arrived at the alley, he took advantage of the moment Lu Yipeng slowed the car down a bit, opened the door and jumped out. Just then the robber ran out, the two rolled sideways, hit the wall due to the force from the car, before slamming into the wall, Duan Feng dodged, then kicked one of the robbers before grabbing his hand and handcuffing him.

“You’re caught.”

The robber struggled but because the other person held his knees, he couldn’t get up. After a while, he heard footsteps approaching.

“Really cool. Officer.” Zi Liu praised as Lu Yipeng walked closer and pushed the robber’s head up, “Oh… it’s Kong Yili, we meet again. I heard you got out of jail just a few months ago.”

“You again!” Kong Yili scoffed and Lu Yipeng smiled, “Huh… caught red handed like you, you’ll definitely get sent to jail again.” He said, and dragged the robber up.

“Alright, Mister Zi. I have to take this guy to the station. You can call your own car to go back on your own.”

“Well… I don’t really mind him. Let’s go like this. Make him sit between that police officer and Little Zhi, they’ll make sure he doesn’t escape anywhere.”

In the end, Kong Yili had to sit uncomfortably between Duan Feng and Luo Songzhi. Mister Zi continued to sit calmly in the front seat next to the driver as before.

After turning a corner, Duan Feng spoke up, “I have to return the bag to the woman.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng made a noise in his throat and parked the car. Duan Feng jumped down and walked over to the woman who looked excited when she saw him and the bag in his hand.

“Here’s your bag, ma’am.” Duanfeng said, handing the bag over to the young woman. She thanked him graciously, only just realizing that she was the same woman singer that Lu Yipeng had commented on earlier.

“Walking alone at night like this is dangerous, ma’am.” Duan Feng said. The young woman nodded, “Yes…”

“Let me take you…”

“Officer Duan, have her go file a report.” Lu Yipeng shouted from his car, rolling down the window. Duan Feng nodded hesitantly, then turned to the young woman who looked perplexed, “Ma’am, I am a police officer.” He said, showing his badge, “I will have to take you to the station to file a report.”

“Oh, okay…” The young woman said. Duan Feng turned to look at Lu Yipeng’s car again, then shouted back, “Inspector, you can go to the station first. I’ll call a taxi to come pick me up. Your car is already crowded enough as it is.”

“Alright, see you there.” Lu Yipeng shouted back. And then he drove off. Duan Feng helped the still shaken young woman to the side of the road and went to hail a taxi.

…

After depositing Kong Yili safely in custody and completing his daily report, Lu Yipeng drove back home. Of course, Duan Feng did not come with him. The young police officer seemed to have some luck in love tonight with the young singing lady whose purse had been stolen, but he still had a long way to go. On the rider’s side, there was a peacock sitting calmly and content, without a care in the world.

“It’s late already, Pengpeng, stay at my place tonight.” Hong Kongque said, reaching out his hand to pat the driver’s thigh. Lu Yipeng even had to push the hand holding the steering wheel to the side, which was a bit unexpected.

“Hey, be a bit more subtle. If I’m embarrassed, you’re embarrassed too.”

“It’s okay, Little Zhi doesn’t mind the embarrassment. He doesn’t dare to look anyway.” Hong Kongque said, causing Lu Yipeng to turn his face slightly to give him a quick glance before focusing on the road again.

“You’re really shameless, aren’t you.”

“Well… at my age, what else is there to be ashamed of? I am not like you Pengpeng here. Even if you are embarrassed all the time, you just say it.” With that said, he raised his hand to pinch the blushing cheek of the young police officer, Lu Yipeng, who stepped on the accelerator and sped off in a slightly frightened manner.

He probably had to hurry to send that crazy house bird back to its cage before it got too crazy

…

Luo Songzhi was almost weak at the knees. As soon as he got out of the car, he had to stretch himself out to make sure he was alive. While Hong Kongque walked down in a normal posture, this person was really calm, very impressive indeed.

“Hey… we have arrived, so get out of the car first, don’t sit there for too long.” Hong Kongque said, and walked towards the driver’s door, “You are going to stay here?”

“No, I have to go to work tomorrow.” Lu Yipeng replied, and nodded before reaching out to touch the young man’s face, then kissed him lightly.

“Good afternoon, inspector, drive back safely.” Hong Kongque smiled before leaving. Lu Yipeng looked at the rear window, walked into the mansion, unlocked the car keys, and drove out of the big gate.

…

**Surprised that I can still write another part (and extend it further <<slapped), I was originally going to write about going with Luo Songzhi and also about Lu Yipeng driving, but then I thought that I wanted Hong Kongque to go with them, because I would know that Hong Kongque is really unnerving (seriously, I have already done the motorbike driving, so I have to do normal car driving!!) In the end, I arrived at Duan Feng, who suddenly became a character that appeared unexpectedly in many episodes haha

This chapter ends now, I have to take a break for a week, going to another province.

Happy Mother’s Day, and thank you for following and reading.

P.S. For the Frozen Butterfly story, I’ll chill it for now, probably will have chapter 6 next month… This is a difficult story to write, with lots of issues, and the character’s personality is very tricky hahaha however… stay calm, guys, for now<< slapped

P.S.2 The butterfly did not land in the trap. You don’t have to follow it to read it haha (afraid of being sued!!)

 

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 16: Master and Disciple

Back when he was in school. Besides Lu Yipeng’s ability to score high in theoretical exams, he ranked at the top of the class. Even in practical subjects like shooting or even self-defense against gangsters, this young police officer also scored well, until he became admired by the teachers and even the head of the martial arts instructors at the school, who commended him as the most skillful student they had ever taught.

So Lu Yipeng always took pride in his self-defense skills.

Until he met Hong Kongque…

…

“You can drop me off here, Captain.” Lu Yipeng told Duan Feng, who was driving. The subordinate then drove the car into the school’s parking lot, before

Duan Feng asked back, “Not going home yet?”

“Just going to see Master Wu for a bit.” Lu Yipeng replied, as he took out his own car, which had just come out of the repair shop not long ago, and accidentally crashed into a car belonging to a drug dealer. At that moment, while driving back home, the vehicle coincidentally witnessed a morning incident, so his car had to be taken back to the repair shop again. After delivering his final words, Duan Feng immediately drove the department’s vehicle out to escort him.

“Master Wu.” Duan Feng repeated his words, “Oh, back in school. I was often bullied by you back then. Anyway, please say hello to him, Inspector. I probably won’t be able to drop by because I have to go back on duty.”

“Um. It’s okay. I will tell him later.” said Lu Yipeng, and opened the car door, “Thanks for the ride.”

“Call a car back home, inspector.” Duan Feng replied, and drove off. Lu Yipeng then walked into the imposing building.

After submitting his card and stating his purpose of visit, Lu Yipeng went to wait to meet the teacher in the general certification room.

Wu Fan was the head trainer of kungfu here. Lu Yipeng had a suspicion that Duan Feng came to seek advice from the teacher. Perhaps to learn some techniques to use against Hong Kongque. Otherwise, he would have been handled in a few seconds like this.

After a while, Wu Fan walked in. He was not very tall, with neatly cut hair.

He should be in his forties this year. Seeing the teacher’s face, Lu Yipeng greeted immediately, “Good morning, sir. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah.” Wu Fan said, lightly patting his shoulder, “It’s been a while, you look bigger. How’s work going? You look quite busy this holiday, scratched car and all. What’s the matter?”

Lu Yipeng chuckled sheepishly. It’s true that he frequently crashed his car this holiday.

“I caught a criminal.” The student said, and continued, “Sir, are you free? I would like to get some more instruction.”

Wu Fan raised an eyebrow, “Don’t tell me you came here just for this. Did you get beaten by someone?”

“I did.” Lu Yipeng said. He didn’t feel like explaining his situation with Hong Kongque. Wufan looked at him for a moment, then nodded, “Let’s go to the practice room then.”

…

The practice room was a wide hall. There were mats covering the floor all over the room. When Lu Yipeng walked in, there were students practicing together. When they saw him with the teacher, they stopped their practice and walked towards them.

“This is Inspector Lu, this is your senior.” Wu Fan introduced his students. The students all made big eyes and started talking at once.

“Wow, I’ve heard your name for a long time, sir. Heard you survived Hong

Kongque as well. What kind of person is he, really? A human or not?”

Lu Yipeng blinked his eyes rapidly and quickly raised his hand to stop the children before asking anything scarier than this, “Is Hong Kongque a celebrity or something?”

“He’s just a person like you and me.”

“But someone said he’s not aging. I heard he’s still young and vibrant. Is that true?”

Lu Yipeng hesitated, “Um… maybe, but he must have a way to take care of his health.”

“Oh, my father also wants to know about his methods a lot.”

“And my mother too.”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips and remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond to these children, what to say to Hong Kongque, it would be good if Inspector-Lu could help.

“Stop asking meaningless questions and go practice. Inspector-Lu is here to practice too.”

“Wow.” The children were still interested in him. Questions kept coming, “Then come practice together with us. I heard from the teacher that you are good.”

Lu Yipeng turned to look at Professor Fann for his opinion. The teacher, after a moment’s thought, nodded, “Let’s do it together.”

The young inspector took off his jacket before walking into the training ground, “Alright, you all come in together.”

MAster Fan, standing as a referee, raised an eyebrow, “Quite a few years indeed. This one here.”

“Well, then we won’t hold back.” The children said, putting on their gear right away. Lu Yipeng blinked rapidly. He had been dealing with Hong Kongque for a while. Seeing these kids, he felt really weak.

Three minutes passed, and the children finally gave in, “You’re really good, big brother.”

Lu Yipeng didn’t know whether to take the compliment well, as he couldn’t even use one out of three techniques correctly. Master Fan came over to pat his shoulder, “You’ve improved here, have you got a special teacher or something?” “No, sir.” The young police officer quickly denied, “Maybe it’s from work experience.”

“Oh…” Master Fan nodded and changed his posture, “Well, it’s time for my turn.”

Ten minutes passed as Lu Yipeng faced off with his own teacher, sweat soaking his brow, while the other person seemed to be on the verge of giving up, but neither could find a way to defeat the other. They continued to spar for a while before finally stopping, “That’s enough.” said the teacher.

Lu Yipeng paused mid-air before letting out a sigh. The teacher took a deep breath and continued, “Your skills have improved so much that it’s impressive. Just a bit more tweaking and your technique will be flawless. In truth, your only flaw is that your breaths are a bit short. Your chest position could also use some work.”

“Can you help me with that, sir?” Lu Yipeng asked, his teacher nodding immediately, “I’m not that skilled yet.” After a moment of silence, he spoke up again, “Here’s the thing, do you know the ‘Sichuan Abandoned Ships Port?’“

“Excuse me?”

“Go there and draw a bird on a container shelf in the left corner, and come back another day. If the drawing is gone, then shout ‘Little Bird, Little Bird,’ and a special teacher will come to help you.”

“What?!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed. If it wasn’t for the fact that Master Fan was a teacher, he would’ve thought he was being made fun of. The teacher looked serious, “You thought I was making a joke, but when he told me to do this, I thought it was funny. But this person is actually quite good. If you want to find someone to help you further, I think you should meet him.”

“Who is he?” Lu Yipeng asked, puzzled. The teacher shook his head, “I don’t know either. I met him by chance. We talked about martial arts, and he volunteered to be my sparring partner. In fact, I’ve already called him my teacher because he’s so skilled. But lately, things have been busy, so I haven’t been able to go practice with him. You should give it a try; it might help.”

…

In the end, Lu Yipeng left the school and hailed a taxi. Despite how unbelievable the story that the teacher had told him seemed, he couldn’t imagine that this teacher would lie about something like that. Consequently, Lu Yipeng decided to go to the Sichuan port spot to see for himself.

When Lu Yipeng arrived at the Bird Throwing Pose spot, the sky was dark and the atmosphere was eerie. The only light came from some nearby lamps, providing some assistance, and he used his hand as a flashlight. So, Lu Yipeng found the container shelf not too difficult.

Container cabinets are really crowded. I don’t know if the last time Lu Yipeng came, it would be this crowded. Lu Yipeng chalked lines on the dusty walls of the container cabinet and the red chalk fell down. His drawing skills were decent enough, at least able to sketch a rough image to look for clues. So, drawing a bird like this is not a problem.

Lu Yipeng frowned while drawing because he felt that the birds he drew looked like doves every time. So the young detective stopped drawing, then walked back out and hailed a passing taxi.

No work tomorrow, so I’ll come by to take a look again.

…

In the evening, Lu Yipeng called a taxi to the dock again. The drawing he made yesterday disappeared, there was no rain last night and during the day. As he got closer to look, he could see some erased marks, but he wasn’t sure if it was the work of a person or maybe a monkey.

He walked back and forth for a while and then Lu Yipeng burst out, “Little bird, little bird.”

“I am here.”

The answering voice made Lu Yipeng startle, his hair stood on end immediately. Then someone jumped down from another container cabinet.

“Kongque!!!” Lu Yipeng shouted, then made a gesture as if he had seen a demon from hell rise up on earth. Hong Kongque wore a short-sleeved t-shirt and baggy training pants. He tilted his head and looked at him, with a puzzled expression that seemed intriguing.

“Wow, Pengpeng, how did you find me here? Went to look for Wu Fan and he said to come here.”

“Well…” Lu Yipeng dragged his voice and stared at the person in front of him, “Don’t tell me you’re the mysterious person the master talked about.”

“Correct as always, Inspector-Lu.” Hong Kongque said, then continued, “Incidentally, I ran into him at the bar that day when he was troubled about his own company’s bankruptcy issue. Strange, right? People in bars talking about bankruptcies.”

Lu Yipeng found this doctor even more strange. He went to the bar to listen to people complain, or what?

“I ended up talking to him. We hit it off, so I volunteered to be his practice partner. Of course, he has no idea who I am.”

“I think it’s a good thing he doesn’t know. His admiration towards you is obvious.” He finished speaking with a sheepish look on his face, “Why am I in such bad luck like this?”

“Hey… what is this bad luck? I’m a teacher after all, you should be calling me ‘master’ instead. And you’re not even calling me that yet.” Hong Kongque said as he stared at Lu Yipeng for a moment before continuing, “Maybe it’s better that I leave.” He made a move as if to walk away, but Hong Kongque stepped in front of him and blocked his path, “Here, you drew such a good picture of a peacock. You focused and put your mind to it then succeeded. Why feel embarrassed now?”

“I’m not embarrassed. I didn’t draw a peacock.” Lu Yipeng retorted. Hong Kongque seemed unwilling to give up and continued, “It’s clear as day that it’s a peacock.”

“That’s a paradise flycatcher.” The young police officer argued, still trying to find a point. Hong Kongque leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear.

Then he patted him on the back, saying, “Paradise flycatcher or peacock, they’re practically the same.”

“How can they be the same!!?” Lu Yipeng exclaimed in exasperation, “You stop teasing me and go back to your room. You’re like a jester, and I’ve had enough.”

“Hey, you have a good mouth on you, breathe deeply.” Hong Kongque said. Just as the young police officer was about to breathe, Hong Kongque forcefully inserted his finger into his epigastric region. Lu Yipeng staggered out, bumping into a shipping container before exclaiming loudly.

“What are you doing!!?” The young police officer recoiled and brushed off the metal shards from his body. Hong Kongque smiled and said, “I just pushed a nerve, that’s all. You have to find the right moment. Do you feel easy breathing?”

Lu Yipeng hesitated, looking at Hong Kongque for a moment before attempting to sigh. He blinked rapidly and said, “Um.. I think I’m starting to feel better.”

“Good then.” Hong Kongque said before suddenly lunging forward without saying another word. Lu Yipeng’s eyes widened, and he quickly jumped back to avoid the attack.

“Take this!!” Lu Yipeng yelled, but before he could finish his sentence, the kick came. This time, the young police officer had to muster all his strength to block the attack. He knew he couldn’t fight back, and he was about to be hit again. He really didn’t understand this peacock.

Hong Kongque’s hands and feet were fast, passing by in just a few seconds Lu Yipeng was hit both with his feet and fists. Normally, Hong Kongque would let him start out “easy” from the first five seconds, but today for some reason the opponent’s kicks were not heavy, punches not strong, or maybe they had another plan.

“Step to the left.” Hong Kongque said as he chased after Lu Yipeng who could only dodge. The young police officer didn’t have time to step, his legs were kicked by the other person until he fell flat. Once he fell to the ground, the tips of his toes followed in. If he couldn’t dodge in time, Lu Yipeng was sure to lay down counting stars.

Dodging behind the fence twice, that damn peacock chased after him again.

Lu Yipeng wonders if Hong Kongque getting tired of him or not.

“Pengpeng, if you don’t fight anymore. I will take off your shirt.” Hong

Kongque said. Lu Yipeng wanted to shout out that much. Even if he didn’t fight, he was getting his shirt taken off.

As they chased each other for a while, Lu Yipeng felt like he had been pinned down by a needle since who knows when. Another moment and he was already in the hands of Hong Kongque, who smiled a bit at the corner of his mouth, and then used different needles to continue poking at him.

That damn bird!!

With just his bare hands, Lu Yipeng could hardly dodge. And now there were more needles added. What a bad day it was for him today.

“Do you want your shirt taken off or not?” Hong Kongque said, and then started using the needles to poke the young police officer funnily. Then Lu Yipeng felt his pants tearing.

That old man will pay for this!!

Lu Yipeng was so angry that his face turned red and black. He stopped jumping and instead kicked Hong Kongque for the first time. Of course, the kick wasn’t effective, and he ended up getting poked in the butt with the needles.

“Stretch your legs longer than this.” Hong Kongque said, and then kicked his leg to twist Lu Yipeng’s leg again. Lu Yipeng’s face hit the concrete, but as he tried to stand up, he stumbled and fell, then turned around and jumped to kick Hong Kongque again.

“That’s what they call kicking where I come from.” Hong Kongque said.

Then he tilted his body slightly, dodging Lu Yipeng’s punches and kicking him in the middle of the body, causing the young police officer to stagger back a few steps. When he managed to stand up, he saw his foot floating.

“Hey, try kicking me, and you’ll see what kind of kick it is.” Hong Kongque continued. After dodging a kick from him, Lu Yipeng, the young police officer wanted to curse, but he held back. There was hope that if he wasn’t kicked, he would definitely be punched.

The fight continued in the format where Lu Yipeng was losing at every turn, but at least Hong Kongque had stopped stripping his clothes off and now if only Lu Yipeng could make the guy stop hitting him.

Lu Yipeng decided to take his belt buckle first, to plug loose hooks, so the target after dodging Hong Kongque’s kicks was that belt buckle.

He had bought that belt buckle with his own money, but it was now being used by that annoying bird to play around instead. Not only that, but he also hit him with it. It seemed like it was really worth it, so don’t let him catch you, he might hit him in the butt, even the crack.

Before knowing, Lu Yipeng snatched his belt buckle back from Hong

Kongque’s hand like a cat catching a chicken feather that its owner used to lure it. No matter how many times he tried to snatch it, he didn’t succeed. The young police officer was frustrated.

When he couldn’t snatch the belt buckle in his hand anymore, Lu Yipeng jumped back, using an old container near him as a base to send himself off. He lunged forward to Hong Kongque, blocking his hands on both sides. He looked into his eyes, seemingly about to lunge forward and hug Hong Kongque like that.

Hong Kongque found this sudden lunge. To the point where he had to quickly jump back, both of Lu Yipeng’s hands gathered strength and he pushed the man down on the floor before using both hands to press his body up, spinning a screwdriver in the air on one side, and then lunging at Hong Kongque again.

It was the first time Lu Yipeng had seen Hong Kongque’s eyes widened with surprise.

Now, I want revenge!!

He thought this time the lunge must hit Hong Kongque for sure. If not, revenge must be taken. The price for ordering revenge had been brewing for many years.

But suddenly Lu Yipeng lost his balance in mid-air and then realized that

Hong Kongque had tied the belt buckle around his arm securely. Then Lu Yipeng felt a tremendous force pulling him, and his body floated and flew away several meters before rolling and almost hitting another container.

In such a situation, no matter how determined Lu Yipeng was, there was no way he could stand up in five seconds for sure. So when the young police officer raised his head, Hong Kongque came and stood smiling in front of him.

“I am proud of you, disciple Pengpeng.” He said, reaching out to grab his chin, but Lu Yipeng avoided with a clear look on his face, “Since when did you become a disciple of yours.”

“Huh…” Hong Kongque moaned, “Pengpeng, you really don’t know how to be grateful at all. How did you manage to graduate with honors like this? Just used the moves I taught him and now you dare to say you are not my disciple.”

Lu Yipeng wanted to argue, but the move he used to avoid was a move secretly learned from Hong Kongque when they went to the sea together.

“You can’t argue, just confess that you’ve wanted to be my disciple for a long time.” Hong Kongque said to Lu Yipeng with a stern look, “There is no way even if you become the last kungfu master in the world. I will never agree to be your disciple.”

Hong Kongque shook his head, “It’s a pity, it’s a pity. By chance I am not the last kungfu master, but Pengpeng, you have become my disciple without even realizing it.”

“Don’t let your mind wander around. I’ve never bowed down to you as my master.” The young police officer nodded, “It’s true, but you are my disciple’s master, so according to tradition, I am your master’s master.”

Lu Yipeng tried to argue, “How long have you been my master’s master?”

“Oh.” Hong Kongque looked puzzled, “Wu Fan didn’t tell you that I am your master. What did he say to you?”

Lu Yipeng looked stunned. Finally, he said, “All right. I don’t accept it.”

“Why don’t you think I am a good master, disciple.” Hong Kongque said, sitting down and leaning towards the young police officer, “Or do you want something else?”

“I don’t want anything to do with you.” Lu Yipeng said as Hong Kongque looked at him and spoke nervously, “But really…”

The young police officer remained silent, then blushed, “I’m going back now.

It’s getting late.” Lu Yipeng said, trying to push Hong Kongque away. The other person then continued speaking.

“Well… where are you rushing off to? The car is still in the garage… Want to have dinner with me? Today we have snow fish grilled with your favorite soy sauce.”

Lu Yipeng looked at the person inviting him with a gaze that did not fully trust, “I’m not going. You’ll just make me do something else.”

“There’s lotus roots boiled in ginseng.” Hong Kongque continued speaking with a calm expression, “There’s also freshly picked oolong tea.”

“…”

“Are you going or not?”

“…”

“Don’t be so hesitant. You have no car, and don’t have good fish soup. You don’t really get to eat well anyway, right? Or do I have to carry you there?”

“I’ll go by myself.” Lu Yipeng quickly spoke before looking at Hong

Kongque again, “What did you bring along?”

“Nothing. I didn’t bring a car, I brought a jet ski.”

“What?!” The young police officer exclaimed, staring at the man in front of him as if he had seen something strange. Hong Kongque returned his gaze and spoke again, “What. I can’t ride a jet ski? It’s near a bay area here. Going by land will waste time.”

Lu Yipeng stared as if trying to figure things out before speaking up, “You’re going in this outfit.”

“Of course. Is there a problem?” Hong Kongque almost raised his hand to scratch his head. This guy is wearing this outfit to ride a jet ski. Believe it…

In the end, Lu Yipeng had to ride behind Hong Kongque on the jet ski because the oolong tea and snow fish soup were the real reasons for the invitation.

“I’ll drive better.” The young police officer said as Hong Kongque shook his head, “No, I’ll do it. Pengpeng,, you will cruise and hit a boat then things will get messy. I’ll be the rider here. You hold onto me tightly, so you won’t fall off.

Or should I tie your feet and drag you down, just for fun.”

“Alright. I’ll ride behind you then.” Lu Yipeng quickly said. Then he moved to sit behind Hong Kongque and hugged him tightly.

Hug tightly like this, that house my birds won’t slip off the bay for sure.

…

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 15: Memory Lane

Four years ago, Lu Yipeng had just joined the police force, having been appointed for just over a year. He was assigned to investigate the disappearance of Zhang Jiang, the former secretary of the Ministry of Public Security of mainland China, who had resigned before disappearing mysteriously, amidst allegations of budget corruption in the procurement of military equipment during the time the official held the position. The Chinese government at that time coordinated with the Hong Kong police force to help investigate the case. It was rumored that Zhang Jiang’s disappearance might be related to an old triad group with a long history of almost thirty years, who called themselves Red Peafowl.

The police officer previously assigned to this case disappeared without a trace for almost a week. He was found again in a public park. With his limbs and feet cut off and after recovering, he kept repeating the words “Red Peafowl” all the time.

As the top-ranking student with the highest overall scores in his graduating class, Lu Yipeng was determined to fully investigate this case. Starting with tracing the companies holding shares in the name of Red Peafowl, and following the trail of Hong Kongque’s private car registration number, he succeeded in stealthily entering the man’s residence. However, he faced the trap set up to catch intruders and the skilled servants who were proficient in martial arts, until the bodyguards of Hong Kongque, who were skilled in martial arts, were able to catch him.

Lu Yipeng had planned to let himself be caught. In order to directly encounter the Red Peafowl boss, if he could handle the boss, the younger ones wouldn’t dare to do anything, but things went terribly wrong. He encountered Red Peafowl for the first time, tied up like a prisoner, unable to even touch the man, not even with a fingernail. To preserve his life and complete the mission assigned to him, Lu Yipeng bravely wrote the letters “Hong Kongque” on his left calf using hot iron that glowed red. The intense pain from the heat almost made the young police officer lose consciousness several times while writing those letters, but with determination, Lu Yipeng completed all the letters before passing out, still holding the hot iron.

…

The young police officer didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but when he woke up, he felt a heavy headache. The dimly lit ceiling, the faint light from a nearby lamp, he tried to move and found himself tied up with something.

After regaining consciousness, Lu Yipeng realized that he was lying on a narrow bed in a small, dimly lit room, with an ancient lamp placed beside him, and it was turned on. He wasn’t wearing clothes, just covered with a white linen sheet, giving the feeling of being buried like a corpse.

Was he still in the darkness under Hong Kongque’s control, or was this something else happening to him?

Lu Yipeng pondered for a moment while lying there. Then he heard the sound of a door opening. The young police officer looked up immediately and met a tall man with scars all over his face, starting from the roots of his hair down to his nose. When confronted with that intimidating light, he felt as if he were facing some kind of ghostly apparition. Behind the man, there were two more men following him. Lu Yipeng’s vision was still blurry, but the doctor didn’t say a word and went straight to remove his linen sheet, lifting his left leg. Then, the other man held a bandage while the third one poured saltwater onto his wounds.

Earlier, when he woke up, Lu Yipeng felt pain in his left calf, but being doused with saltwater like this, the taste was indescribable. The young police officer clenched his teeth, sweat pouring down his face.

After the tall man finished pouring saltwater on his wounds, he took the white cloth from the tray and dabbed his wounds. It wasn’t heavy nor light, but when applied on top of the stinging salt, it made the young police officer’s face even paler before opening the ointment bottle to apply to his wounds. Then he poured it on again.

Lu Yipeng’s eyes were so swollen that the man applied medicine to his wound and then covered him up with a blanket before walking out. The young police officer was in so much pain that he could barely think straight. Before long, he passed out again.

Lu Yipeng regained consciousness, accompanied by the smell of food. It seemed to be the smell of porridge. When he tried to move, he realized that his hands and feet were still tied up like before. He looked towards the narrow window with curtains. It seemed to be late at night. The young police officer tried to move his hands and feet, only to discover that they were chained to the bedpost with iron handcuffs.

The stomachache made the young police officer almost lose control. The porridge bowl seemed to unsettle him more than the pain from his leg wound.

Just when he was about to vomit, someone opened the door.

Lu Yipeng couldn’t quite make out who the person was. Whether it was a man or a woman. The primal desire for food overshadowed everything he had been taught. He forgot to be cautious that the food might be drugged or poisoned. The person dragged a chair over and sat down. Then they picked up the porridge bowl and blew on it before feeding the young police officer.

The porridge was somewhat hotter than ideal, but Lu Yipeng didn’t notice that the person holding the bowl was not using any utensils. There were signs that it might be too hot, but the young police officer ate eagerly, almost oblivious to the taste. Apart from swallowing it down to calm the turmoil in his stomach.

The porridge bowl was big enough for two people. Lu Yipeng finished it within a few minutes. When his stomach was full, he finally looked at the person who fed him. The man had a stern look. Despite the full stomach, Lu Yipeng vaguely remembered who this man was.

“Hong Kongque!!” exclaimed the young police officer, trying to sit up. Hong Kongque smiled before picking up the tea cup on the table, “Would you like some tea, officer?”

Lu Yipeng looked at the man in front of him and the teacup in his hand. The scent of tea was invigorating, making his mouth water. The young police officer hesitated before speaking, “How can I drink if you tied me up like this?”

The man smiled slightly, picked up the tea cup to take a sip. Then he lowered his face closer to the cup.

The scent of tea leaves wafted up his nose until Lu Yipeng, who had never drunk tea in this way. He was a police officer who almost did not know the taste of tea, but only heard it all through. Both surprised and confused as to why he had to be kissed by a man. This is crazy.

“What are you doing, you lunatic?” That was the first sentence Lu Yipeng stuttered after Hong Kongque had pulled his mouth away. The person being scolded made a face, before responding, “You have a bad mouth indeed. Even though someone kindly served you tea, you still complain. Then just drink it as it is.” Finished speaking, he lifted the teacup towards Lu Yipeng’s face. The warm tea rushed into his mouth and nostrils, scalding the young police officer’s face.

Lu Yipeng coughed slightly and his face turned extremely red. Hong Kongque poured out the tea and placed the cup on the table. Then he stood up and looked at the young police officer as if he wanted to kill him.

“Go to sleep for a while, officer.” Then he reached his hand straight to the back of Lu Yipeng’s head and gently pressed a spot. The image in front of the young police officer slowly faded away…

This time, Lu Yipeng felt himself in the darkness. Not because it was dark, or someone turned off the lights in the room, but because his eyes were closed with a long piece of cloth tied over them. His wrists and ankles were still tied the same way. The wound on his leg no longer hurt, but his small belly suddenly became unbearably hot for no apparent reason. Then he felt that someone was lying on top of him. The young police officer’s back immediately went cold.

!!!

The young police officer tried to speak but could only make a moaning sound as his mouth was covered with another cloth. The person lying on top of him slipped his hand down on his chest. Then he pressed tightly until the owner of the body was shocked with pain. He massaged his chest for a while, then his hand moved down, touching his slightly bulging belly, sliding down to his groin bones, and down to his thighs.

The young police officer shuddered again when the hand touched the wound on his leg. By now it wouldn’t hurt, but the feeling seemed to linger on the raised scars.

The person then massaged him all over. Then he came back to press firmly on his chest once more, and pinched both sides of his chest until the young police officer shuddered again before sliding his hand to the crucial part that was erect between his legs.

Lu Yipeng resisted strongly. It’s not like he hadn’t been grabbed by someone there before, his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him when he entered his new government job has done this to him, but when that male hand clamped down, a sudden wave of heat seemed to pass through and rush straight to his back. Hot flashes entered his belly, arousing his emotions instantly.

Being fondled for a while, the young police officer began to moan. If he wasn’t being restrained by handcuffs and ankle restraints, he would have jumped up and subdued the person on top.

As he bit his lip with restrained desire, the other person stopped their hand. Then they shifted, and Lu Yipeng could feel the wetness of their mouth, and the hot tongue and lips tightly around his vital area. His body shivered again.

Lu Yipeng clenched his fists, feeling as if his wrists and ankles were being twisted until they hurt. Just focusing on the pleasure between his legs made him forget about the pain and discomfort. The tongue and mouth of the other person moved deftly, almost making him release multiple times, but when he touched his hip, they stopped, seeming to want to tease him more than anything else. Encountering this, Lu Yipeng wanted to escape from the intense activity even more, to be able to wrestle away through that way.

He got teased there with Hong Kongque mouth for a while. Then the other party pulled their mouth away. Then their hand moved down to his hip. This time, Lu Yipeng shivered.

Damn… It can’t be…!!

The sound of breathing grew louder, as the other party slapped his buttocks hard. Then something like a condom was put on, and something tight and full was pressed into the tip of him. Lu Yipeng only just realized that the person mounting him couldn’t be a woman.

If that’s the case…

That tight, narrow passage slowly sucked in his cock him little by little, making him moan involuntarily. His shaft length was compressed tightly until it disappeared inside Hong Kongque. He only could make it halfway through. He was almost near ejaculating. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

As he pushed all the way in until the end, Lu Yipeng couldn’t help but thrust his hips against that person, and heard them moan. Then the two bodies moved in a frenzy, colliding with each other fiercely. The fingertips that were tightly gripping his legs, and the tingling squeezing that made his senses tingle, made

Lu Yipeng’s mind go blank. He only perceived the immense pleasure that was happening, and wished it would continue forever.

He didn’t know how many times he thrusted to that point. All Lu Yipeng could remember was feeling like he was close to death because of the overwhelming pleasure that was consuming him. The passage stretched and squeezed his pleasure like crazy. He didn’t want to stop moving for even a second, as if he wanted to suck the life force out of him through that passage. He wouldn’t stop, as if he wanted to keep going tirelessly, wanting the bliss to continue endlessly. The feeling was like on the verge of death from pleasure. That passage stretched and squeezed the pleasure into him insanely, not stopping for a moment. It felt like sucking the life force out of him, incomparable. It was both tormenting and feeling good to the point of losing one’s mind.

If I have to die with this much happiness, sometimes it might not be worth holding a grudge.

…

Feeling light, almost floating, Lu Yipeng opened his eyes to find the sky bright. Blindfold and gag removed, his hands and feet were free.

The young police officer closed his eyes again, still not recovered from the bliss of his previous moment of forgetfulness, but managed to fall asleep for a while. His consciousness could eventually return.

Lu Yipeng’s memory suddenly surfaced, realizing he had just endured a clear sexual assault, and most importantly, he might still be in the clutches of that mysterious mafia. If so, the assault might have been recorded for blackmail.

Thinking this, the young police officer regretted his lack of awareness, but also considered that in such a state of being, who could actually maintain consciousness? Furthermore, that guy must have put something in his tea or porridge. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hard and sexually aroused to such an extent.

While contemplating the potential future events, the door swung open, and a man in his twenties to thirties, with side-swept hair and a dark red shirt, walked in.

“Good morning, police officer. How do you feel?”

Lu Yipeng lunged at the man, hoping to suffocate him and make him fall silent, then grabbed him. He heard him respond, “Really?”

Lu Yipeng then saw the man’s footwear in front of him, and his face forcefully hit the ground, causing a sharp pain. That person pressed his foot on

Lu Yipeng’s shoulder and asked, “Do you come here to arrest me for real, or what? Where’s the arrest warrant?”

Lu Yipeng tried to lift himself up, despite being stepped on only on his shoulders, but it seemed like an iron barrier was holding him down. Eventually, he had to speak helplessly while still lying face down.

“I’m here to ask about Zhang Jiang.”

“Oh… The one with the glasses, huh?” Lu Yipeng felt embarrassed about having to ask questions or speak while being stepped on like this. This bastard!!.

“Do you know about him?”

“Who told you that I know? Do you know who I am?”

“Hong Kongque.” Lu Yipeng said, continuing, “Our sources report that you are the only one who might know where Zhang Jiang has gone, because he has a connection with you.”

“Oh… you are indeed a diligent investigator.” Hong Kongque said, then lifting his foot up, he pushed Lu Yipeng and toppled him down again. “Don’t stand up too quickly. I’m just tired and want to switch sides with my feet.” Hong Kongque said, as he raised himself up to stand but hadn’t fully stood yet. He was kicked down again.

“Lift your head your head up.”

The young police officer insisted, and then managed to stand up a little before raising his head to look. He saw the corner of his mouth twitch, “Just tell me your name again.”

“I’m Lu Yipeng.”

“Lu Yipeng.” He repeated, smiling, “About Zhang Jiang’s whereabouts. I can’t tell you, but if it’s about the incriminating information about him, I can give it to you. How about that?”

“Why can’t you tell me his whereabouts?” Lu Yipeng asked, still close to the ground.

 “Oh… because it’s not safe to tell officers like you. Besides not having the intelligence to protect your life, you would also lead enemies to silence you.

Don’t think there aren’t government agents in the police force. I’ll give you a choice, to go back with solid evidence or empty-handed.”

Lu Yipeng remained silent for a while before responding, “Do you have those documents for me to see?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why should I tell you.” Hong Kongque said, “The evidence is complete with a certified document that can be used as testimony in court. Do you want it or not?”

“Let me see it first.” The young police officer said.

“Alright, but let me say first. If you think of jumping on me after I lift my foot, I will kick you down until you are knocked out and then hang you on the rooftop to make sun dried meat out of you.”

“Umm.” Lu Yipeng agreed. Then Hong Kongque lifted his foot, and the young police officer stood up, “Where are the documents?”

Hong Kongque tapped a brown envelope on the bare back of the young police officer, “Hey… you really are firm. Your lower parts also look so tantalizing. Do you want a rematch from last night?”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the person speaking before grabbing the envelope and walking slowly to the bed, wrapping the blanket around his lower body,

“Hmm… What are you being embarrassed about? I have seen everything, holding it now won’t help anything.”

“That’s on me.” Lu Yipeng said, opening the envelope to look at the documents inside for a moment before responding, “I have to send these documents for inspection first.”

“Take your time.” Hong Kongque said, “If you’re not satisfied, you can come back here or come to that door. Otherwise, give me a call first.”

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows in surprise as Hong Kongque walked in and clapped his hands on his thighs, “You have a pass already. Don’t go around talking about it, or I’ll kill you.”

Before the person being held could react and raise their hands to brush off the gesture, Hong Kongque quickly moved away. Then, raising his hand under the person’s chin to make Lu Yipeng look up, and said, “Go shower and change your shirt. I will give you the phone number, remember, do not write it down or save it in your phone. I will only tell you once, if you forget and come screaming for it, someone will hear you scream for about three hours.”

Lu Yipeng tried to brush his face and escape, “Understood. Let me go.”

Hong Kongque chuckled, then pulled in to kiss Lu Yipeng suddenly. Before he could react, his tongue was already inside. This kind of unexpected kiss had never made him feel so dark and confused before.

Meeting lips for a while, Hong Kongque smiled softly, “I want you to stop by more often. When you leave, don’t forget about me.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the other party before abruptly stepping out, “I promise not to step foot here again.”

“Uh… I’ll wait and see.” Hong Kongque said, standing and staring at the young police officer with piercing eyes, until the person being looked at hurriedly walked into the adjacent bathroom.

…

“Why are you smiling like that?” Lu Yipeng asked, looking up to see the person sitting at the table smiling faintly, a smile that had been there since minutes ago when Hong Kongque looked at Lu Yipeng’s hands scooping porridge and smiled, “I was just thinking about the first time we met, you were eating porridge like a garbage disposal.”

Lu Yipeng glanced at the person speaking immediately, “Oh… That’s something I really don’t want to think about at all.”

“Why are you blushing, Pengpeng?” Hong Kongque said, then playfully tapped the young man’s nose with his spoon.

“My nose is not a boiled crab.” Lu Yipeng replied, brushing the spoon away, which didn’t quite work as expected, “And I’m not embarrassed. I just can’t stomach such vile talk.”

“True.” Hong Kongque chuckled, giving Lu Yipeng another look before setting down his bowl of congee, “I’m done eating.”

“Oh… what’s this? Despite being all grown up, you still want me to feed you?” Hong Kongque said, feigning disappointment, looking at Lu Yipeng with a pout, “Your words make me lose my appetite altogether.”

“Well… I wasn’t talking about anything as revolting as a worm or a centipede, Pengpeng. If you want me to feed you, just say so. I’ll have Li Kong bring a fresh, piping hot bowl of congee for you. It’ll be fun. Interested? If not, just finish your meal. Wasting food isn’t good.”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips before picking up his spoon to continue eating until it was all gone. The young police officer then stood up, ready to leave.

“Leaving so soon? Aren’t you going to stay and chat with this old man a bit longer?” Hong Kongque asked, but Lu Yipeng raised a hand to adjust his shirt and turned to respond, “I have to leave, it’s because of you that I’ve been up all night… and I have to work today.”

“Well… complaining won’t make you old. You’re not that old yet.” Hong Kongque said, as he patted the firm buttocks of the young police officer under the table with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, stop feigning old age for a moment.” Lu Yipeng said as Hong Kongque chuckled, “Where do you see me feigning, Pengpeng? You think too much.”

Lu Yipeng shot him another look before speaking again, “I’m off.”

“Hmm… will you come this evening?”

“Not coming. I have to water the plants. The water I’ve prepared will dry out.

I have to go to work today.”

“Well… are you sure you don’t want to come?” Hong Kongque nodded,

“Fine, bring the plant for me to see.”

“Hmm… sure. You must be persistent.” Lu Yipeng said, then walked out.

“And don’t send me anything strange again, pity the forensic team a bit.” Officer Lu Yipeng continued, withdrawing a sigh, “I didn’t send anything strange this time Pengpeng, you were suspicious yourself, as always.”

Lu Yipeng closed the door with a loud bang.

…

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 14: Detox Week and Paechikchik Flirting

Hong Kongque’s age has always been a mystery, even evolving into a legend that he is immortal and a blood-sucking vampire. However, in reality, Hong Kongque is just an ordinary human with a unique way of taking care of his physical health that sets him apart from the rest.

Aside from consuming Chinese herbal medicine to nourish his body and practicing Muay Thai in the mornings, every three months, Hong Kongque fasts for a week. During this time, he only drinks special herbal concoctions prepared for him, in order to recalibrate his body and prevent regeneration of cells.

In that week, Hong Kongque will avoid meeting people outside, avoid going out to sleep in places, just sitting and lying in the courtyard, soaking in warm water, getting a massage, alternating with answering the phone. During this one week, Hong Kongque will also reject calls, calling it a full week of rest.

Today is the third day that Hong Kongque has been fasting. He is lying down for a massage on a special bed in a room. The masseur is a blind massage therapist that Hong Kongque has trusted and been massaging for many years.

While dozing off comfortably, Li Kong slowly opens the door and speaks softly, “Kongque, a phone call from Inspector-Lu.”

“Um…” Hong Kongque replied disapprovingly, “I already told him that no calls this week.”

“Yes, but Inspector-Lu said there’s an important matter he needs to discuss with you.”

Hong Kongque opened one eye and replied, “Then ask him. If I can’t talk to him today, will someone die?”

Li Kong walks out of the room briefly, then returns, “He said no one will die, but there’s a matter concerning Paechikchik.”

Hong Kongque raises both eyebrows in surprise, “Then get the phone.”

Li Kong hands over the phone and stands quietly as Hong Kongque answers,

“Is there anything else, Inspector-Lu? You know you’re not supposed to call. If there’s no good news, just speak.”

Lu Yipeng’s voice comes through the phone, “Um. I know I am not supposed to call, but the case is urgent. Do you know about the A32 gang?”

“Um…” Hong Kongque sighed before responding, “What does that have to do with Little Paechikchik?”

“Oh, actually. It’s got nothing to do with anything like that.” Lu Yipeng says before rushing to continue, “But regarding your cockatoo. Can you answer my questions first?”

“Let’s get to the point.” Hong Kongque says, moaning once again, “I’m aware. Just speak quickly. I’m busy.”

“Um.” at the end of the phone line, and then proceeded to tell him in detail about the case. Hong Kongque listened intently. As the conversation came to an end, he was shocked.

“Oh, um… I will send Little Zi to help too.” Hong Kongque said and heard a voice at the other end of the line replying, “I didn’t call to ask for help. I just want your opinion. What do you think?”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque dragged his voice, then spoke, “Sorry, Pengpeng. I’m not feeling well and not really familiar with the situation. Could you tell me again?”

Lu Yipeng was silent for a while. Hong Kongque heard what sounded like someone yelling, “What are you doing?”

“Oh. I’m driving to chase after the A32 gang thugs. They kidnapped Mister Cheng’s son and hope to ransom him. I’m chasing them now, Captain Duan fasten your seat belt.”

“You’re driving and talking on the phone at the same time.” Hong Kongque moaned, “Mister Cheng’s son, oh, Cheng Yin, um… You don’t need to chase after them. Radio your department and say that they’re heading towards the old Pengkong warehouse. They’re probably trying to head someone there, then you, the police, can handle it.”

“Oh, thank you.” Lu Yipeng said. Then there was a loud bang followed by an “ouch” as the car swerved and hit the front window.

“Well… that’s it. I wish you a safe journey back.” Hong Kongque said, then hung up the phone. He let out a sigh.

…

After finishing the massage, Hong Kongque went to soak in a warm bath to relax his muscles. Then he lay down to enjoy the balcony breeze, sipping a special herbal drink and listening to classical music, feeling content. Just as he was relaxing, Li Kong walked up and whispered in his ear, “Kongque, we’ve caught the intruder at the left wing corridor.”

Hong Kongque frowned but didn’t forget to raise his eyebrows, “Gouge his eyes and throw him in the bay. If he survives, let him go. If not, so be it.”

“He’s the second son of the Tian family. They want to negotiate business directly with you.” Li Kong continued. This time, Hong Kongque raised his eyebrows, “Oh… wants to compete with his brother, huh…”

Speaking, he sat up straight. Then he leaned back down, “Um… I still don’t want to go underground right now. Tell him to write the same letter on his skin with a hot poker. If he can write it, wait another four days. I will talk to him. Um… in four days, the wound should heal just right, but if not… contact Mister Tian and ask how he wants his son to be sent back in thirty-two different ways without a sound, or should I just leave something here, and send him two things.”

“Alright.”

Hong Kongque sighed again. After Li Kong walked out

…

Waking up on the fourth day, Hong Kongque’s physical condition was getting closer to being sick again. His body was still trying to expel waste that had been stuck since three months ago. When he woke up in the morning, his nose was running, his stomach was upset, and he had a fever. He had to lie in bed until noon before getting up to take a warm bath, and then continue with herbal medicine. Then he went to the sitting room to relax and watch videos to relax muscles, brain, and nerves. Fell asleep again, woke up to the sound of a masseuse, who this time focused on massaging his face, which usually took extra time. After the massage was finished, he had to do acupuncture and then leave the herbal medicine for another two hours.

After the massage and acupuncture were done and he was about to leave the herbal medicine, Li Kong walked in with the phone.

“Little Zi said that Inspector Lu had crashed into a gangster’s car during a gold shop robbery case that was on the news a moment ago. He is now in the hospital. Kongque is going to…”

Hong Kongque tried not to frown or show any emotions on his face. Then he spoke out, “Call him.”

After waiting for a while, Lu Yipeng answered the phone.

“You are not dead, right?” Hong Kongque lowered his voice while the herbalist gently pressed his forehead. He heard Lu Yipeng responding back,

“No, just a slight head injury. Are you not feeling well yet? I have never seen you sick in hundreds of years.”

“It’s my quarterly sickness time now.” Hong Kongque said, and then sighed, “When will the police department take away your driver’s license so you won’t endanger others on the road anymore?”

Lu Yipeng groaned and hung up the phone, “I caught the thief, not racing. What about you? Do you have a driver’s license or not? I’ll check later. I’m going in.”

“Oh… alright then, you should consider moving to the traffic department.” Hong Kongque said before continuing, “That’s all for now. I have to hurry to my appointments.”

“Hmm…” Lu Yipeng responded, wondering what this peacock was up to. One day he had a fever, another day he had errands to run. At first he said he was busy, but something seemed to be happening this week.

…

Hong Kongque put on a face mask and fell asleep and woke up feeling a bit confused. He opened his eyes and went to wash his face. After that, he took a warm bath again and prepared to go to bed. Li Kong walked in again.

“Kongque, Tie Bai came to see you yesterday. He said he really wanted to meet you. He didn’t want to wait for four days.”

“Oh. Has he written a letter already?” Hong Kongque asked surprisingly, and the other person replied, “Yes, but it’s not as beautiful as Inspector-Lu’s.”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque sighed, “Tell him to wait then. If he can’t wait, he can go home first. If he complains, sprinkle some salt water on him again.

Otherwise, smash it and tell him to choose for himself which option he prefers.”

“Okay.” Li Kong received the instructions and left, leaving Hong Kongque sighing.

What will happen this week?

…

On the fifth day, Hong Kongque stayed in bed all day, alternating between going to the bathroom and getting acupuncture. He expelling out old things from three months ago and refused everything and everyone who called or wanted to visit him, but there were still things to be done.

“Kongque.” This time, the person who opened the door was Luo Songzhi,

“The leader of the Golden Dragon gang has sent an invitation for a challenge.”

Hong Kongque was sipping herbal water and had acupuncture on his feet by

Li Kong. When he heard that, he raised his eyebrows and spoke calmly, “Tell him that this is the era of iPhones now. He should go buy one and use it, then come challenge me. Keep the challenge book for the kids to play with, it’s all the same.”

“Okay.” Luo Songzhi accepted the instruction and left. Then Hong Kongque fell asleep again, waking up in the afternoon feeling old. He opened his eyes and saw Li Kong and Luo Songzhi standing there. Seeing his boss wake up, Luo Songzhi spoke up.

“Liang Shuo sent a message through the iPhone, want to see it?”

Hong Kongque nodded in surprise, then handed the phone over. When it was opened, a video of a man in his fifties standing and chuckling appeared.

“Hey Hong Kongque, is this all that you can do, you are a homo? You can’t find a wife or a child, huh? Alright. I challenge you. Meet me next Wednesday at the bamboo garden near Cemetery A. If you’re a man, accept my challenge.”

Hong Kongque listened until the end and then raised his foot. He took a picture of his foot with the phone before dialing a number, “You just said I am a homo so you want to meet face to face next time. Oh, no need to show me your ugly face, because someone like you only needs to see my foot to feel blessed. In the future, take pictures of someone else. No need to show me your wrinkled face, it’s nauseating.”

After speaking, he sent a message and returned the phone to the surprised man before asking, “Anything else?”

“No, sir.” The surprised man replied before walking away.

…

On the sixth day, Hong Kongque looked much younger after bathing and massaging his face in the morning. He went outside to do some Tai Chi under the sun. Then, he came back to drink some herbal tea.

Today, Hong Kongque was feeling fresh when he saw Paechikchik, a white feathered sparrow, fly in and land on his shoulder in the room. Flapping its wings, it called out, “Kongque Kongque.”

It then fluttered over to cuddle Hong Kongque’s cheeks lovingly. Hong Kongque extended his finger to play with it for a while before remembering to call Li Kong, “Get Inspector-Lu on the phone for me.”

Lu Yipeng was busy interrogating a suspect in a case of kidnapping that had been caught two days ago. When Hong Kongque called, he said, “Kongque, I’ll call you back later. I’m in the middle of interrogating a suspect.”

After finishing the call, Hong Kongque blinked a few times before turning to

Paechikchik, “Look, the younger generation nowadays, they don’t take matters seriously. When they have a problem, they call and expect an instant solution.

But when it’s our turn to call, they delay and don’t pick up the phone. These kids these days don’t have any respect.”

Paechikchik looked at its own reflection before gently rubbing its head against Hong Kongque’s cheek again. The phone rang louder.

“What is up with you?” Lu Yipeng’s voice cut in, “I’ll excuse myself first.” “Oh…” Hong Kongque sighed and smiled, “I wanted to ask about Little

Paechikchik you mentioned yesterday.”

Lu Yipeng fell silent for a moment before speaking up, “Ah, yes. I’ll tell you, birds like yours may not want to have offspring because they don’t like their mate. I mean, it might like you instead. Some birds refuse to have a partner because they only love their human caregiver.”

“What?!” Hong Kongque exclaimed, then turned to Paechikchik. He then continued the conversation over the phone, “How come, did Paechikchik say so?”

“You can try giving it pretty ornaments to see if it picks them up. If it brings them to you, it means it likes you.” Lu Yipeng said, continuing, “Some male birds may like to pick up pretty things for their female companions. Who knows, it might think you’re a female.”

“Ridiculous, Pengpeng.” Hong Kongque replied, “Where do you get all this from?”

“From the internet.” Lu Yipeng said, then continued, “Your venus flytrap plant is looking nice. I brought it to the office. It had a big audience admiring it.

I’ll send you photos later.”

“Well, save the praise until I actually see it. Take the pictures and send them to me later.” Hong Kongque said, hearing Lu Yipeng chuckled. Then he spoke quickly, “Is there anything else, my boss is starting to look green.”

“Oh. That’s all, go back to work.” Hong Kongque said, then hung up the phone. The bird turned to him, looked at him, and spoke again, “Pengpeng,

Pengpeng. I miss you.”

“Ha ha.” Hong Kongque patted the bird’s head like patting a child in the womb, “I’ll bring him to see you in the evening tomorrow.”

Paechikchik nodded hesitantly, then gently kissed Hong Kongque’s hair,

“Love Kongque, love Kongque.”

…

Finally, after a week passed, today Hong Kongque took a shower and dressed up early in the morning. He was going to meet Tie Bai, who seemed stubborn and wouldn’t go anywhere unless he gets to meet him. As he stepped into the underground dim toilet, sat on the chair, ready, Tie Bai was brought in. He looked to be about thirty years old, in the prime of his life. Hong Kongque stared at the young man’s face for a while, then asked about the scar on his leg. Tie Bai spread his trousers to show it. Hmm… it was a small scar, but it was fully healed. Nothing was missing, and the appearance was acceptable. If he tried opening that part… it’s not certain that he might not have a good heart, but…

Hong Kongque sighed deeply, thinking that this guy was just another businessman hoping to use his power for personal gain. Sleeping beside him was not comfortable. Another thing… Lu Yipeng was more muscular, good looks and his demeanor… so-so. Even though he was not easy to sleep next to, he wasn’t as irritating and stubborn as this guy. He also knew how to quietly endure. And another thing, the Red Peafowl name on Lu Yipeng was the most beautifully written. As he thought about the young police officer’s face when he had just been scarred, Hong Kongque couldn’t help but smile. He pondered about Lu Yipeng for a long time until his mouth twisted up.

“What are you smiling about?”

Hong Kongque raised his hand to touch his face before smiling again, “I’m just happy. Tell me, what do you want?”

…

After concluding his business negotiations, Tie Bai left and Hong Kongque walked back up to the pavilion before sitting down to read the morning newspaper at his desk. Li Kong walked in, “Inspector-Lu wants to see you, sir.”

“Um… let him in. And tell Little Zi to bring Little Paechikchik out as well. Little Paechikchik wants to see Inspector-Lu.” Hong Kongque nodded.

“Of course.”

Lu Yipeng walked in with a large bouquet of red roses. Hong Kongque greeted him immediately, “Pengpeng, are you starting a flower business?”

“Not at all.” Lu Yipeng said before continuing, “I saw the Second Young Master of the Tia family driving out just now. He’s been missing for three or four days now. Did you keep him?”

“Just like the first time you  came to me.” Hong Kongque replied. Lu Yipeng pursed his lips, “So he has a Red Peafowl on his legs too.”

“Um…”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“?”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips, “He looks better than me by far. I guess I don’t need to come anymore.”

“Pengpeng.” Hong Kongque spoke with a strong voice, “If you speak like that again, I’ll pull your tongue out and use it to prop incense sticks, because I think you’re belittling me.”

“?!” Lu Yipeng raised his face to look at Hong Kongque who responded annoyingly, “I’m not favoring anyone or anything like that.”

For some reason, Lu Yipeng almost smiled, the young man trying to keep a grumpy face for a while. Then Hong Kongque asked Lu Yipeng, “Why do you have a rose with you?”

“I brought it to visit you, see that you’re not feeling well.” Lu Yipeng replied, then quickly added, “I wasn’t planning to buy a rose, but the other types of flowers at the store were sold out.”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque dragged his voice and smiled at the corner of his mouth, making Lu Yipeng seem to be more tense, “You don’t like roses?”

“No. If you want to give it to me should I have to come get it, will you catch it? Would you like me to try being a bride and catch a thrown bouquet?”

Lu Yipeng cast a sideways glance at Hong Kongque before walking away to find someone else.

“You look better now. You don’t look like you’ve just recovered from illness.” Lu Yipeng greeted as he handed the bouquet of flowers to Hong

Kongque, smiling, “Want to see the whole picture?”

Lu Yipeng looked at him, then shook his head, “Not really… I’m afraid of being sexually harassed.”

“You really talk nicely. Don’t let anyone know how excited you are when you’re in bed.”

Lu Yipeng blushed and glared at Hong Kongque again, but before he could respond, a voice interrupted, “Pengpeng.”

Paechikchik flew over from Luo Songzhi’s shoulder to perch on Hong

Kongque’s shoulder. He then turned to look at Lu Yipeng and called out again,

“Pengpeng.”

Once again, Lu Yipeng had to force a smile at the bird. Then he spoke up,

“Seriously. Have you tried what I suggested, like putting up beautiful decorations for the bird to admire?”

“Not yet.” Hong Kongque heard Paechikchik’s voice again, “Miss you, miss you.” Then he flew down to grab the golden pen on Hong Kongque’s work desk before flying to Lu Yipeng’s shoulder, attempting to offer the pen to him.

Hong Kongque blinked rapidly, then exclaimed, “Oh no, Pengpeng…my

Little Paechikchik has fallen in love with you.” He then made a regretful face as if a father sending his daughter off to marry.

Lu Yipeng looked at Hong Kongque’s face, then took the pen from the bird and spoke gently, “Can you not decide everything on your own, it might just be a playful gesture.”

“Who was it that said the bird would give its belongings to the one it likes?” Hong Kongque retorted immediately. Seeing that the other person could not come up with a response, Hong Kongque continued, “Exactly, Pengpeng…you must take responsibility. Give me a grandson after sleeping with Little

Paechikchik.”

“You’re crazy!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed immediately, “I’m a person, how can I have children with a bird.”

“But Little Paechikchik loves you.” Hong Kongque said seriously, as he caught Lu Yipeng secretly wrestling his own daughter to his house. A young policeman had his eyes fixed on him for a long time, Paechikchik lightly tapped his cheek before flicking the silver button on Lu Yipeng’s shirt.

“Oh!” Lu Yipeng was surprised by this action and reached out to grab the bird, but it was too late as Paechikchik flew back to Hong Kongque, offering a button to him. Hong Kongque blinked again, “Like, like.” The bird chirped and flapped its wings lightly. It then bobbed up and down excitedly on Hong

Kongque’s shoulder, while both Hong Kongque and Lu Yipeng looked at what was in each other’s hands. Then Paechikchik flew to the button on the concept table, jumping around and chirping again, “Like Pengpeng, like Kongque, love Pengpeng, love Kongque.”

Hong Kongque was silent for a while before raising his hand to scratch his head, then turned to the bird, “Oh… Pechikchik, why did you just confess like this… in this case, I have to send Ma’am Chik back home.” Maam Chik was the name of the female bird that Hong Kongque bought months ago. Lu Yipeng, who was standing and watching, had to speak up, “I also thought it must be attached to you so much that it refuses to have children or a mate. You have pampered it too much.”

“Um, then it’s okay.” Hong Kongque said, “Paechikchik will stay with me until we grow old, staying single together until we die.”

Well, now he forces himself to have children with a bird and stays alone indefinitely. When he realizes what’s going on, he’ll come around for sure.

Lu Yipeng looked at Hong Kongque with great concern, “Don’t drag the bird into your troubles. Let it be with someone else, it might find a mate someday.” “If I am not here. Little Paechikchik will pluck his own feathers. It’s pitiful.”

Hong Kongque said, with a sad and despondent expression, “It’s true. We love each other here. Whenever Inspector-Lu catches me, he will catch Shi Qik too.

Shi Qik will be my friend in jail.”

Lu Yipeng began to think that Hong Kongque was really old this time, “You should stop acting like an old man. You haven’t been caught yet.”

“I am old now. Pengpeng, you want to jail me. How many years can an old man like me survive in jail? Let me die with the bird I love, Inspector.”

The parrot walked back and forth, calling out loudly, “Kongque, Kongque, go be with Kongque, love Kongque.”

Lu Yipeng looked at both the bird and the parrot, then blinked a few times.

He sighed and said, “Let’s save this conversation for when you are really caught. Anyway, I’m here to thank you on behalf of the department for the information on the A32 gang.”

“Oh…I thought you might come to visit Paechikchik. Little Paechikchik, do you see how heartless Pengepeng is? Do you still love him?” Hong Kongque wondered.

Lu Yipeng silently pondered. If his own grandfather was still alive, would he be annoying like this peacock in the house?

The parrot flapped its wings and hopped back and forth on the perch, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

The theory that the owner is like the bird seemed to be proven with Hong

Kongque and this chatty parrot. Lu Yipeng sighed patiently and finally spoke, “I came here to personally thank you.”

Hong Kongque turned quickly, but didn’t get a chance to say anything. The parrot chirped again, “Love Pengpeng, Love Pengpeng.”

Suddenly, Lu Yipeng’s face turned red. He spoke hesitantly, “Kongque, does he really speak according to his owner?”

Hong Kongque looked at Lu Yipeng with clear eyes, “Paechikchik is smarter than that. He doesn’t need to speak like anyone else.”

“Ah…” The young policeman hesitated before speaking, “Let’s clear this up…”

Hong Kongque looked at the young police officer standing there twisting and turning on one foot. He asked, “Is there anything else you need to do?”

“Um…” Lu Yipeng cleared his throat, “I have tomorrow off.”

“And?”

“…”

“Do you want to stay overnight?”

“Um.”

Hong Kongque looked at the person in front of him, who was blushing slightly before smiling, “If you want to examine my body to that extent, you better  move closer.”

Lu Yipeng moved closer. As soon as he had the chance, Hong Kongque slapped him on the neck. The young police officer hurriedly dodged, but the plan was already in place. In the end, his neck was locked in a leather collar.

“Kongque!!! Are you still playing crazy like this?” Lu Yipeng said with no patience. Hong Kongque chuckled mischievously, “Well… you don’t have to pay for the accommodation yet, and you even get free advice. I’m willing to provide counseling outside of working hours, just a little like this Inspector-Lu will be embarrassed.” He finished speaking and pulled the chain on Lu Yipeng’s neck, “Today, we have the candles, handcuffs, and whips, Pengpeng. I think we’ll have a good time tonight.”

Lu Yipeng tried to remain calm, then his face became tense, “Kongque. I just remembered, there’s another case I need to summarize tonight.”

“No problem, stay and play with me for a couple of hours. I promise not to hit you too hard, just on the back, on the legs. That’s enough. When you put on a shirt, other people won’t be able to see it. Let’s go, I want to spank you until you can hardly stand it.”

Lu Yipeng wanted to scream out in frustration. 

What kind of punishment is this!!!

…

Actually, at first, I intended to write only about Hong Kongque and

Pengpeng. However, as I write up to this point, I want to say that it’s close to being a full-fledged story, but I want it to be able to be combined into two volumes << for business reasons, of course! (got nudged)

In the laid-back chapters that were originally planned but not yet written, there might be a chapter where Hong Kongque meets Pengpeng for the first time (Wait, does Hong Kongque fucks Pengpeng?!) and a chapter where

Pengpeng goes with Luo Songzhi (which may have less of Hong Kongque’s role, but could show the cunningness of the peacock quite well). And then there could be a chapter where Hong Kongque visits Pengpeng’s house for the first time (I haven’t thought about what could happen yet, but should we write about it?) In summary, there are only past chapters. Who knows what will emerge anew. And a scene where someone goes to ask Pengpeng for a photoshoot…

(Maybe we’ll see the jealousy of Kongque << really jealous?) After all this, we should get to the main point that everyone holds the label of “Don’t want drama, prepare for our full commitment… (Stand by to face the challenge!!)

So, before getting into the main content, if there are any scenes you’d like to see written, feel free to suggest them and let’s see if they will fall into place (for the sake of the readers who are slipping… I might get into drama for real!! <<

Keep reading and you’ll know it for yourself)

Thank you for following and reading, dear readers.^^

 

      THE RED PEAFOWL CHAPTERS HOME

   REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 13: The Plant Gift

The illegal organ trafficking case ended well, with the person receiving the most praise likely being Lu Yipeng, who himself is not particularly pleased with this outcome. Being deceived alone, the whole plan doesn’t seem very pleasing to him!

“Inspector Lu.” Duan Feng greeted immediately upon seeing Lu Yipeng walking into the office. After being called to make a report in order to be considered for a salary increase. As soon as he saw Duan Feng about to speak,

Lu Yipeng hurriedly interjected, “If it’s about the Li case, there’s no need to say anything.”

Duan Feng, caught off guard, stammered before shaking his head, “No, I was just going to say that someone brought a plant for you.” He pointed towards Lu

Yipeng’s desk, where a young police officer turned to see a potted plant placed there.

“Who sent it?” Lu Yipeng immediately asked, and the person asked shook their head, “There’s a card attached, but I’m too scared to open and read it.”

Lu Yipeng walked over. There was indeed a white card stabbed into the plant. Inside was a short and simple message.

“To Pengpeng.”

Without needing to be told, the sender was clear from the card. There was nothing else specified. Lu Yipeng wanted to throw the plant in the trash for real, but it was just a plant. It didn’t do anything wrong at all. Besides, its green pot with red patterns looked pretty and quirky. Round, cute, not bad at all. So… might as well keep it for now.

And so the young inspector reluctantly took the pot of rice and curry plant to stack it with evidence.

“What is it now, Inspector?” Chief Inspector Wen asked immediately upon seeing Lu Yipeng walk in with the plant before raising an eyebrow, “What’s this, is it the plant eating bugs from Southeast Asia now? Are you turning into a gardener?”

“No. Someone brought it to me. Can you please check if there’s anything suspicious about it?”

“Hmm… Hong Kongque’s stuff again.” The station staff said as Lu Yipeng raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Um, yeah. How did you know?”

The person who asked smiled, “It’s the stuff you bring in for inspection. Mostly stuff from Hong Kongque all this time. He seems to like you, he keeps sending you stuff often.”

Lu Yipeng’s face turned into stone before speaking in a calm voice, “Just go ahead and inspect it. He always has ulterior motives.”

The station staff chuckled, “Alright, alright… but I don’t see anything suspicious at all. You’re just overthinking it. I think.” After speaking, he used a stick to take some soil out of the pot, mixed it with water in a test tube. Then he separated it into two test tubes, and added some substance in each.

“There is no poison in the soil, the leaves are not coated with anything. Looks strong and sturdy, no need to talk about explosives, as there are detectors below.

The way the plants are nurtured is impressive.”

Lu Yipeng nodded. He didn’t want to mention how Hong Kongque fed insects to these plants as if feeding rice to children. It’s not surprising that they look beautiful and strong like this.

…

The young police officer brought the plant back to the table, with nothing else written on the card. The care instructions were not written either. Lu Yipeng looked at it for a while, and it didn’t surprise him that they looked so beautiful and sturdy.

Duan Feng shook his head, “I don’t know, sir. I’ve never planted something like this before. You can try searching on the internet, but… the pot looks cute, like a fake product.” He then bent down to take a closer look, “Can you hold it for me?”

“Let me try.” Lu Yipeng said, then gently touched the small, round pot at the tips of the leaves, “Oh, there is some water in here. No wonder it looks heavy.”

“Do you have to put water in it?” Lu Yipeng asked, puzzled. Duan Feng shook his head again, “I don’t know, sir. You can try finding a way on your own. I have to go, I just came to bring the Qin Mei case file to your office.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng nodded and picked up the case file on the table to take a look. He looked at the plant in the cute little pot, but couldn’t understand what Hong Kongque had in mind when he sent it to him. Maybe he wanted to distract him or something… But there was nothing written on the card about that. Did someone like that guy ever plan to distract him?

He sat reading the case file, alternating with glancing at the plant, pondering about this and that until it was time for lunch break. Lu Yipeng stopped by to buy some bread and tea, then walked to the computer department to borrow a computer for internet access to learn how to care for the fly trap plant.

Upon opening it, Lu Yipeng learned that these plants had different strains, some exotic strains. He had seen them in Hong Kongque’s greenhouse before. The one Hong Kongque gave him seemed to be a mix of N. Viking x

Ampullaria, which was unique to Thailand. This made Lu Yipeng wonder if Hong Kongque was involved in any illegal activities, but he hoped that these plants were not imported illegally.

Finally, Lu Yipeng has found a way to raise the pot of curry monkey paw. It looks quite complicated, requiring watering at the same time every day and placing it in a sunny location. It seems like placing it on the work desk is not a viable option. Throughout the afternoon, the young police officer was busy thinking about where to place the plant.

In the end, Lu Yipeng brought the plant back home and decided to place it on the bedroom balcony, as it would be easy to see and remember to water it. The method of nurturing did not mention the need to feed insects, so he would not have to spend time hunting for insects to feed these plants.

The pot of curry monkey paw plant was proudly placed outside the window, looking fresh and vibrant, as if it were the owner. Lu Yipeng continued to study the care method until late at night before going to bed, determined to show off to Hong Kongque someday if it looked more beautiful.

I don’t need to feed it insects, it can grow just fine.

…

“Take a break, go back early.” Duan Feng greeted as he saw Lu Yipeng getting up from the work desk at dusk, smiling shyly.

“Going back to check on the plant?” The subordinate asked as Lu Yipeng hesitated. He nodded and said, “Yeah… it’s difficult to care for.”

Duan Feng looked relieved, “It’s good that the girl I’m pursuing doesn’t like anything like that. Otherwise, it would be really difficult.”

Lu Yipeng just chuckled lightly and left the department.

At the age of twenty-seven, Lu Yipeng never thought he would become obsessed with plants, like a child at this moment. Perhaps he wanted to prove to

Hong Kongque that he didn’t have to resort to aggressive behavior like catching insects to feed the plants. The plants can grow on their own for sure.

Lu Yipeng decided to water the plant in the morning because sometimes he couldn’t return on time in the evening. Today, he came back, turned on the light on the balcony, and noticed something dark inside one of the pots. Upon inspection, he saw a fly floating in the water inside. It must have flown in by mistake. Lu Yipeng was slightly surprised. Flies that usually can’t be caught ended up getting stuck on a quiet plant like this. Our world also has simple things like this.

After that, every time he came back, the young police officer would check to see if anything had fallen into the pot that day. In addition to flies today, there were ants added in the next two days.

Well, there’s no need to bother going out to catch anything to feed it, it can also find its own food just fine.

After seeing it standing alone for several days, Lu Yipeng thought about finding another tree to plant as a companion. However, after looking up the prices of these trees on the internet, he had to cancel his plan because they were too expensive. He decided to let Hong Kongque take care of the garden instead.

But then, he started to wonder if this guy was raising these trees for sale.

A few days later, Lu Yipeng had to stay at the police station for several days to close a robbery case. When he returned home, he saw that the tree was completely withered, and his heart sank. He had been so preoccupied with the case that he had forgotten about the tree. Seeing the leaves and the tree dry up like this made him feel sad. He tried to water it more, but after a few days, it did not look any better. Finally, Lu Yipeng decided to call Hong Kongque one evening.

“Hey, Pengpeng, what’s the matter this time? Is the robbery case closed?” Hong Kongque asked over the phone after making Lu Yipeng wait for a while.

The young officer on the phone replied, “No. It’s not the case. It’s just that…” He paused for a moment, because he thought that Hong Kongque seemed to love the trees like his own children. If he said that the tree he gave to him had died, would he be subjected to some other cruel act or not?!

“Hey… What’s wrong?” Hong Kongque urged when he noticed that the other person was silent. Lu Yipeng swallowed and made a decision – he had come this far, and he just wanted to know if there was a chance for it to revive. He didn’t want to hope in vain, but he also didn’t want to let it die without doing anything.

“I had to stay at the police station for several days, so I couldn’t water the tree you gave me… but I came back to water it now… will it revive?”

After hearing Hong Kongque sigh, he replied shortly, “I’ll come and see.” Then he hung up. Lu Yipeng stood still for a moment. He thought about whether Hong Kongque would come to settle the matter about the tree with him.

The young police officer pondered various plans in his mind on how to deal with different situations. He wondered how he would survive if Hong Kongque really came to settle the matter. Then, the sound of a motorcycle engine getting louder could be heard in front of the house, followed by the sound of Lu Yipeng opening the door and asking curiously, “Did you come by motorcycle?”

Hong Kongque nodded. Today he wore a jacket over his shirt. He looked like a real gangster. Lu Yipeng wanted to ask if he needed any help or if he looked awkward, but he had his own issues to deal with, so he didn’t want to disturb Hong Kongque at the moment. He might be even more annoyed than before. “Where’s the plant?” That side asked Lu Yipeng, so he had to take him to the bedroom to see that plant. When Hong Kongque saw it, he let out a sigh.

“Poor thing.” He then gently put his hand on the withered leaves. Lu Yipeng bit his bottom lip nervously and asked, “Is it going to die?”

Hong Kongque paused, then called for him to sit down beside him.

“There are still green leaves. If we water it properly, it won’t die. It just needs to be taken care of.” He said, pointing to the fresh leaves. Lu Yipeng smiled immediately upon hearing Hong Kongque speak again, “But these withered leaves need to be pruned. It won’t look good if we keep them. Do you have scissors or a knife?”

A young police officer walked in and handed a pair of scissors. Then he sat and looked at Hong Kongque taking the wilted leaves out of the pot.

“Yesterday there were some flying insects stuck to it.” Lu Yipeng explained. Hong Kongque nodded and then turned to smile, “You got attached to it.”

The young police officer shook his head quickly, “I don’t like anything cruel like you. It just feels strange, that’s all, rest assured I won’t harm it. I don’t need to feed it anything to make it happy.”

“I like my things.” Hong Kongque said so, so Lu Yipeng decided it would be best to keep quiet. Hong Kongque finished pruning the leaves and stood up,

“All done. Take good care of it from now on. If not, return it to me.”

Lu Yipeng hesitated for a moment, “I can take care of it. I’ll bring it to the department in the future.”

Hong Kongque smiled at him, “Then I’ll leave.” He said and walked into the bedroom. Lu Yipeng immediately spoke up, “Are you leaving already?” “Um…” He nodded, “Don’t you want me to stay at your house?”

The young police officer hesitated for a moment before asking, “Did you come just for the plant?”

Hong Kongque turned back, let out another sigh, “It’s been four years, are you still asking me that?”

Hong Kongque went silent for a moment before speaking, “I am a police officer.”

“Um… I know.” The other person replied shortly.

“You want to arrest me and take me to jail.” Hong Kongque said.

“Um.”

“I don’t want to go to jail.” Hong Kongque said, then raised his hand to touch the face of the young man, “But if it’s you, I might consider it.”

Lu Yipeng held the hand of the other side and said, “My work hours are over.”

The dark eyes of Hong Kongque widened before being enveloped by the other person’s embrace, “Stay with me tonight.”

Hong Kongque remained silent for a moment before chuckling, “Planning something already?”

Lu Yipeng didn’t respond immediately but lifted his face to kiss, “It’s a full moon tonight. You don’t like being alone tonight, do you?”

Hong Kongque remained silent for a while before sighing, “I have to call Li

Kong now, he’ll worry.”

Lu Yipeng unwrapped his arms waiting for Hong Kongque to finish the phone call to his butler. Then he spoke again, “Let’s take a shower.”

…

The bathroom at Lu Yipeng’s house was narrower than the one at Hong Kongque’s mansion, mentioning the Jacuzzi. The bathtub didn’t need to be discussed. The water didn’t leak or seep out, it was considered good fortune.

Hong Kongque stripped off his shirt and walked under the shower. With Lu Yipeng following behind.

“Don’t be afraid of being molested in the bathroom by me.” Hong Kongque said, shaking his finger to flick the chest of Lu Yipeng.

“If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have been here for four years.” Lu Yipeng replied shortly.

The chest panel was pushed firmly again with a sharp, jumpy sound.

“Are you like this every full moon night or not?” The other person asked as they opened the lotus flower, with a stream of cool water flowing gently, almost ready to mingle with the arms embracing.

“I don’t know.” Lu Yipeng answered, and continued asking, “Why are you afraid of full moon nights?”

“It’s lonely.” Hong Kongque replied, raising his hand to touch his face, “I prefer the darkness more.”

“You’re strange. I’ve only heard of people afraid of the dark.” Lu Yipeng said as Hong Kongque turned to him with a smile, “I’m afraid of the light, afraid of seeing things I don’t want to see.”

Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows, “What do you fear seeing?”

“The truth.” Hong Kongque said, turning to face him, “Pengpeng, sometimes the hardest thing to accept in this world is the truth.”

“Um.” Lu Yipeng swallowed the words, and continued, “But if you don’t accept the truth, isn’t it more tormenting?”

Hong Kongque nodded before raising his hand to touch his face, “But sometimes I like this torment, if I accept the truth, my identity may collapse. I need to exist, I need to have a life. Even if it means using deceitful illusions and lies.”

“Kongque…” Lu Yipeng called, “I don’t understand what is your true self.”

“The truth is always in the lies.” Hong Kongque answered, “One day you will understand, and see for yourself, just like I do now. You also lie to preserve your identity, don’t you?”

Lu Yipeng pursed his lips. Then he took the hand of the other person to kiss it, “Is the person in front of me now the truth or not?”

Hong Kongque smiled, then replied briefly, “Are you the truth or not?”

Lu Yipeng didn’t answer. He pulled that face in for another kiss. Then he hugged that figure tightly, while the water from the lotus flower continued to flow over both of them. Finally, Hong Kongque spoke, “I’m cold, can we go to bed?”

Lu Yipeng looked at that face for a moment before reaching out to close the lotus flower. Then he lifted Hong Kongque up.

“Um… Hmm.” The person being hugged, with hands held and neck embraced, chuckled before pulling away. Then, they leaned down to kiss the still damp chest.

…

Lu Yipeng’s bed was neither narrow nor wide, comfortable for one person to sleep in. If two men were to sleep together, they might be a bit cramped. This was the first time Hong Kongque’s back touched the bedsheet.

“Kongque, tonight let me be on top.” Lu Yipeng said, shifting his body towards the person lying down, grabbing both legs to lift them up. Hong

Kongque looked at him and responded with a smile, “Turn off the lights first. I don’t like it bright.”

The young police officer walked to turn off the light switch. When he turned back around, he saw Hong Kongque wrapping himself in a blanket and about to ask something, but Lu Yipeng beat him to it, “I’m cold.”

Lu Yipeng smiled, “I think you’re just shy.”

Hong Kongque didn’t respond, but shifted away as Lu Yipeng approached to hold him, then leaned down to kiss the corner of the person’s mouth.

They kissed for a moment. The blanket slipped off Hong Kongque during this time. In the darkness, with only the moonlight shining through the window,

Hong Kongque’s face seemed to turn red as Lu Yipeng kissed him, from the tip of his nose to the corner of his mouth, neck, shoulders, down to the waist. When they reached a certain point, Hong Kongque covered it with his hand, “No touching here, Pengpeng.”

For four years, Lu Yipeng had sex with Hong Kongque countless times, but had never touched this area before. This time was different.

“Do you not trust me?” The young police officer asked, and the soft kiss on the leg felt the other person’s acceptance, “Um.”

“But tonight, can you trust me to be on top?”

“It remains to be seen how much you trust me.” The other person replied. Lu Yipeng moved closer, and their lips met once again.

“Both you and I must be dreaming.”

Hong Kongque chuckled, pushing that face away, “In dreams, you still need to wear a condom.”

Lu Yipeng reached out to grab the packet of condoms placed on the bedside table. He then tore it open, “Do you want to put it on me?”

Hong Kongque raised his hand to lightly slap his face, “You are really shameless.”

The young man pulled the other person’s hand closer and kissed it, then gently nibbled on their finger before putting on a condom for himself.

“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng whispered the name again before they both passionately embraced and heard Hong Kongque’s voice, “Pengpeng, calm down. It’s okay. Why rush into it in a dream.”

Lu Yipeng kissed the corner of that person’s lips again before speaking, “I can’t hold back anymore.”

The dark, piercing gaze caused Hong Kongque to shiver. Then Lu Yipeng raised his hand and caressed the body, both kissing and nibbling gently. The heavy sighs from the other side made Hong Kongque’s heart beat faster.

“Pengpeng.”

Their lips were pressed together again, both passionately embracing until they were hot and bothered. Then both of Hong Kongque’s legs were separated.

The warmth crept slowly in as Lu Yipeng let out a heavy sigh, not looking down. Even though the lights were not on, the moonlight shone in, reflecting on the full and trembling body below that was contorting with the emotions. Hong Kongque’s eyebrows furrowed, their lips barely touching, as if both were trying to endure it. Lu Yipeng couldn’t resist kissing that body again.

“Kongque.”

The response was a gasp followed by a stunned look, as the tip of the warmth sneakily entered Lu Yipeng’s mouth with tingling sensations. He looked down and saw Hong Kongque staring at him with those glossy black eyes shining in the darkness. It was uncertain what they were thinking.

Lu Yipeng pondered about what this man’s thoughts might be, facing Hong Kongque. He seemed like a person caught in a continuous loop of deception. As for Hong Kongque, he might be like a toy to play with, but…

The young man leaned down to kiss the lips of the figure below once more. If in the eyes of Hong Kongque, he was just a toy, then what did that make Kongque in his eyes?

The villain had to find evidence to catch or…

“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng whispered dryly, still moving his hips in harmony with the desires of the body. Hong Kongque turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly, “Hm?”

“What are we to each other…”

Hong Kongque did not answer, just letting out a moan. Lu Yipeng exhaled heavily in his throat, unable to ask anymore, as the lower part was pulled tight and harnessed.

“Kongque, be ready tonight.” Lu Yipeng whispered, reaching out to touch the hand of Hong Kongque holding that part. Then he started moving, the strong impact from below made the body of Hong Kongque tremble entirely. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Yipeng quickly used his mouth to cover it.

Soon he began to be afraid of the words coming out of Hong Kongque’s mouth.

He was not good enough to distinguish the truth from the lies of this man.

Or maybe… he didn’t want to know the truth from this man’s mouth…

!!

The moans and heavy sighs got louder almost at the same time. Lu Yipeng buried his face in the damp neck corner of the trembling body below, moving his shaky hand to caress that body gently before planting a kiss on that neck corner, and then hugging tightly.

…

Lu Yipeng woke up in the morning feeling dizzy and confused, like a hungover person. As he regained some sense, he shook himself off and found nothing but sheets and pillows beside him. The young police officer tried to call back his consciousness before looking around the room.

No one was on the bed. No one was in the room…

When he looked at himself, he was still dressed neatly. So, what happened last night… Was it just a dream?

Lu Yipeng got up from bed, still feeling a bit dizzy, but when he looked out the window, he saw the rice cooker and saucepan tree with nothing but young leaves left. The young man smiled.

“Kongque, phone call from Inspector Lu.”

Hong Kongque was drinking herbal tea on the bed when Lai brought him the phone. He picked up and answered, “What else, Inspector-Lu?”

“Oh, nothing.” Lu Yipeng heard Hong Kongque’s response, “Why call, are you thinking of imitating the behavior of mental patients who like to make prank calls?”

“No.” The young officer replied, then chuckled, “Last night I dreamt of you.”

“Oh…” Hong Kongque dragged his voice as Lai walked out and closed the door gently, “Last night, I also dreamt of Inspector-Lu.”

“Oh!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed excitedly, “What did you dream about?”

“Not a very good dream.” Hong Kongque said, and lowered to drink tea again, “Dreamt of Little Pengpeng turning into a big-mouthed kid, asking questions left and right until it got chaotic. Woke up feeling hot, and had to get Li to make more tea, because Little Pengpeng’s disturbance in the dream really rattled my nerves.”

Lu Yipeng chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry. Just been too preoccupied with thoughts.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “But I had a good dream last night.”

“Oh… congratulations.” Hong Kongque said, pausing to drink tea again, then continued, “Inspection on trees. If you’re not home for many days, you can soak water for it so it won’t wither.”

“Oh, okay.” Lu Yipeng replied, then spoke up after a while, “What are you doing?”

“Drinking tea.” Hong Kongque replied, then asked back, “Are you not going to work yet, or are you still off work that you called me to chat?”

“Oh, I’m about to go.” Lu Yipeng replied, then fell silent for a moment, “I think one day I’ll catch you for sure.”

Hong Kongque chuckled silently, “Hope so, Inspector. I’ll raise my hand and wait for you to catch me, just afraid that when it’s time for you to catch me, you won’t come down.”

“Why don’t I just catch you?” Other-person quizzically asked as Hong

Kongque chuckled once again in response, “Because you’re starting to fall for my charm.”

Other-person let out a snort, “It’s time for work. I have to go. Prepare yourself to surrender someday. I will catch you.”

“I have to catch you during office hours. You know, being a police officer.” Hong Kongque teased Lu Yipeng with a smirk and immediately hung up the phone.

…

 

In the previous chapter, only Pengpeng seemed to have any sympathy for

Hong Kongque, who is actually infatuated with him to the point of obsession.

That’s why no one seems to notice (or care) that Kongque is actually falling for Pengpeng. As Hong Kongque is our older teacher in this story (no need to cut off my fingers, Kongque!!). We agreed to give the devious Kongque a break (even though we secretly wish for Hong Kongque to finally catch Pengpeng in the end).

Pengpeng has the reader’s support now (secretly feeling sorry for the socially awkward Kongque?). In this chapter, it seems to be getting a bit dramatic (Oh… this novel is an SM story, after all). (Fleeing from the readers now)

It’s like a sneakily dramatic moment (Oops… this novel is SM after all). Thank you for following and reading it.

 

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