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!!)
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