Chapter 25

Chapter 25 2. Eden Lake-16

Hearing Liu Yi’s words, Qi Shanyu was somewhat surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be a believer in karma?”

“Impossible!”

Liu Yi denied it without a second’s hesitation.

“If we relied entirely on karma, then what use are you? What use am I?”

He lifted his eyelids, the phoenix-shaped eyes curving slightly, giving Qi Shanyu a teasing glance. “Things karma can’t handle, Officer Qi, that’s still your responsibility, right?”

Although they had worked together for a while, and Liu Yi had once been sick and Qi Shanyu had stayed over to take care of him, by ordinary standards they could be considered friends, familiar with each other.

But Qi Shanyu still had trouble adapting to Liu Yi’s half-serious, half-teasing behavior, especially when those smiling eyes stared at him—too beautiful, as if hooked, making his heart skip.

Qi Shanyu felt his ears burn, lowering his eyes under the pretense of peeling crayfish, avoiding Liu Yi’s gaze, and only softly replied, “Mm.”

Just then, the bullfrog hotpot was served. Considering the sensitivity of Su Ruirui’s case, they tacitly paused the conversation and focused on eating.

The bullfrog was richly flavored, the broth spicy and fragrant, and the meat tender and white. Qi Shanyu had planned to appear composed in front of Director Liu, but the dishes were too delicious to resist. He took several servings in a row, and his bowl of white rice quickly emptied.

“By the way, I have a question I forgot to ask before.”

Liu Yi still peeled crayfish at a leisurely pace, preferring the “Thirteen Spices” flavor over the spicy one. Seeing Qi Shanyu eat so earnestly, a mischievous thought crossed his mind.

“Mm?”

Qi Shanyu replied with a single syllable while picking up food.

“You once said I was a ‘pervert,’ didn’t you?”

Liu Yi asked lightly, “Can I ask, what misunderstanding do you have about me?”

Caught off guard, Qi Shanyu almost choked on a bite, turning his head to cough violently.

Liu Yi merely smiled, poured him a cup of tea, and calmly pushed it toward him, eyes flickering, looking directly at him as if daring him to explain.

Qi Shanyu coughed for a full minute before finally catching his breath.

His handsome face was slick with sweat, red from forehead to neck, perhaps from embarrassment or the cough. After hesitating, under Liu Yi’s unwavering gaze, he admitted the incident from the first day of the dismemberment case—when he had seen Liu Yi’s untimely smile.

Liu Yi’s brow arched subtly, remaining silent for a moment, then made a wry smile.

“I had a mask on that day, right? Most of my face was covered. And you could still tell I was smiling?”

Qi Shanyu looked at Liu Yi’s extremely handsome face, thinking, doesn’t he know that when he smiles, his eyes form a noticeable crescent shape? Even with a mask, you can see the smile through his eyes.

“Alright, I guess it really was a misunderstanding.”

Liu Yi shrugged, pouted, “It’s actually pretty absurd, and involves my mom.”

He briefly explained his family background.

He was born into a family of doctors spanning three generations.

His grandfather had been a veteran military doctor for high-ranking officials, receiving a state special allowance until death; his father had worked with UN medical aid, often flying worldwide; his mother was a famous imaging professor, later moving to Britain with his father and serving as a visiting professor at two prestigious universities, specializing in nuclear interventional therapy.

Among their generation, Liu Yi was the youngest. His two older brothers followed the family path into medicine. Now the eldest worked in Britain, the second in the capital, both young key doctors in major hospitals.

But Liu Yi took an unconventional path.

Near the college entrance exam, he didn’t feel the pressure classmates did. While others crammed years of study, he secretly used a tablet to watch American crime shows. After several seasons, he decided being a doctor was too ordinary; a genius like him should solve extraordinary cases as a forensic expert!

When he told his family at the dinner table, his elegant, fifty-plus, still charming mother scoffed coldly:

“You, pampered and unwilling to even wash a bowl, want to be a forensic doctor? One day you’ll pull a rotting limb from a canal and I bet you’ll vomit right there.”

But Liu Yi was determined. To prove he could endure it, he secretly hid a piece of pork in his room to prove he could handle the smell of decay.

Three days later, his mother discovered the stench, gave him a final “bamboo shoot braised pork” meal, and reluctantly allowed him to apply for forensic studies.

“That day, seeing the severed hand in the canal reminded me of my mom’s warning. I thought, after all these years, I really have to pull a rotten hand from a canal, so I laughed a little. Didn’t expect you noticed.”

Liu Yi explained to Qi Shanyu across the table.

“I’m really not a pervert, you can rest assured, right?”

Qi Shanyu lowered his head, not daring to look, nodding vigorously, signaling he understood completely.

Feeling awkward, he forced a clumsy change of subject, “So your parents are all in Britain now?”

He thought, no wonder Liu Yi lived alone in that large empty apartment. His family is abroad.

“Yes, in Birmingham.”

Liu Yi replied, “I visit them every Christmas, and my second brother goes then too.”

Qi Shanyu nodded. Normally not talkative, he didn’t know what to say next, so he kept eating, drinking down most of his beer to hide the awkward silence.

Watching him, Liu Yi found it increasingly amusing.

He had dealt with seasoned detectives before, all smooth and gregarious, like An Pingdong, outgoing and chatty, dining together like long-lost brothers.

Someone like Qi Shanyu, reserved and slightly shy, was refreshing—impossible not to tease a little.

“I’ve already told you everything about my family.”

Liu Yi sipped his beer, noticing Qi Shanyu’s faint nervousness, then smiled, swirling the golden liquid casually: “How about you? What’s your family like?”

Qi Shanyu paused, then slowly replied, “We’re just ordinary working class, nothing special.”

He tried to sound casual, but his forced tone betrayed him, and Liu Yi could detect the tension.

“My father was a detective, but he died during an operation when I was in middle school.”

He paused, then continued: “Afterwards, my mother took care of the family. When I was about to graduate college, she got pancreatic cancer and passed away soon after. Now I live with my younger sister.”

Liu Yi hadn’t expected such a striking and awkward answer.

For an adult who lost both parents, expressing sympathy might feel awkward. Liu Yi thought for a moment, then slid his chair closer, elbowing Qi Shanyu’s shoulder.

“I didn’t expect you’ve had such a hard time.”

He clinked his cup against Qi Shanyu’s. “Here, a toast to you.”

Qi Shanyu nodded, smiled at Liu Yi, and drained his cup in one go.

“You said you live with your sister now?”

Liu Yi poured more beer, “How old is she?”

If not for their mutual understanding of each other’s sexuality, this question might have been misinterpreted as him asking the sister’s age for matchmaking purposes.

But since they had both shared family details, it counted as moving from “casual friends” to “close friends,” so asking further wasn’t inappropriate.

Qi Shanyu answered firmly: “She’s nine years younger than me, still in high school.”

He removed his greasy gloves, pulled out his phone, and showed Liu Yi a photo.

It was a picture of Qi Shanyu with a young girl.

The girl had neat short hair, looked very cute, big eyes, a high nose, thin lips, rosy cheeks. Her features resembled her older brother slightly, but her smile was radiant, clearly lively and cheerful.