Chapter 128: Ma Yishou

“Master, it’s been many days since we last met. Your complexion keeps getting better and better.”

Cheng Qianfan “habitually” picked up the thermos flask and prepared to refill Ma Yishou’s teacup.

“Yes. I’m an old man now. Half my body is already in the grave. I ought to know my place.”

Ma Yishou set his teacup on the table and let out a cold snort.

“And who has upset you this time?”

Cheng Qianfan picked up the cup and added hot water.

Ma Yishou did not stop him, nor did he answer, merely snorting again.

Seeing Ma Yishou’s behaviour, Cheng Qianfan immediately felt reassured.

He now had a clear understanding of Ma Yishou’s attitude and intentions.

Old Ma was angry, and dissatisfied, but he was not stupid.

Perhaps Ma Yishou still had not seen through Xiu Gongshen’s scheme.

Influenced by anger, he might still believe that Xiu Gongshen intended to forcibly secure the position of Third Patrol Chief Inspector for Cheng Qianfan.

However, Ma Yishou had no intention of completely falling out with Cheng Qianfan.

The man was greedy for money, afraid of death, and always calculating.

Such people could never accomplish great things, but neither would they become completely muddle-headed.

Cheng Qianfan was capable and well-connected.

A young man like that could not be suppressed forever.

Sooner or later he would climb higher.

No matter what, Little Cheng was his disciple.

Ma Yishou believed he had treated Cheng Qianfan fairly well over the years.

Since he could not stop him, he could only rely on that master-disciple relationship for future security.

At present, he merely felt resentful.

At the same time, he understood that he could not truly turn hostile.

Besides, putting on a sour face was partly for outsiders to see.

Otherwise, if his disciple simply climbed over his head and he accepted it like a lump of dough without showing any temper, who would still take Old Ma seriously in the future?

Therefore, despite Ma Yishou’s frightening expression and sarcastic remarks, he had not stopped Cheng Qianfan from refilling his tea.

That was leaving room for manoeuvre.

It was a signal.

And Cheng Qianfan had received it.

“Master, there were all sorts of matters to deal with during this trip to Hangzhou, so I had no time for sightseeing.”

As he spoke, Cheng Qianfan took a wooden box from his briefcase.

“I happened to pass by a shop. This is something your disciple brought back for Tian-ge.”

Tian-ge was Ma Yishou’s son, whose formal name was Ma Juntian.

He was six years old by traditional Chinese reckoning.

Ma Yishou hesitated.

If this were a gift for himself, he would refuse it immediately.

However, this was a gift from a disciple to his son.

That made it difficult to reject.

If he did refuse, the master-disciple relationship would essentially end there.

Cheng Qianfan opened the jewellery box directly.

Inside was a longevity lock made entirely of gold.

Ma Yishou picked it up in surprise and examined it.

When he saw the Lin Ji hallmark on the gold ornament, he looked up at Cheng Qianfan.

This was certainly not something Little Cheng had casually picked up while passing a shop.

He had clearly gone to Lin Ji specifically to have it made.

“After hearing you mention it last time, Master, I kept it in mind.”

Cheng Qianfan smiled.

Ma Yishou’s son had originally possessed a Lin Ji longevity lock.

The family elders had specially commissioned it in Hangzhou and then invited a senior monk from Lingyin Temple to bless it.

Unfortunately, it had recently been lost through a family member’s carelessness.

Strangely enough, after the blessed longevity lock was lost, Ma Juntian fell seriously ill.

Although he eventually recovered, the entire Ma family remained deeply unsettled by the incident.

Once, while chatting with Cheng Qianfan, Ma Yishou had wondered whether the illness had been caused by the loss of the longevity lock.

He had been planning to find time to travel to Hangzhou, commission an identical replacement, and have it blessed by a senior monk from Lingyin Temple.

“This and Tian-ge’s original one...”

When it came to his precious son, Ma Yishou could no longer maintain his reserve and hurriedly asked.

“I was worried about that at first as well. Fortunately, Lin Ji keeps records of most items they’ve sold. I asked the master craftsman to check the records. This one is identical to Tian-ge’s original.”

Cheng Qianfan spoke happily.

“And Lingyin Temple?”

Ma Yishou asked anxiously.

“Master, don’t you trust me to handle things properly?”

Cheng Qianfan patted his chest.

“I had a senior monk from Lingyin Temple bless it.”

“Good, good, good.”

Ma Yishou picked up the longevity lock and examined it carefully before cautiously placing it back into the wooden box.

When he looked at Cheng Qianfan again, his expression had already softened considerably.

No matter what rumours were circulating outside, Cheng Qianfan had specially obtained this longevity lock for Tian-ge.

That restored Ma Yishou’s dignity.

Moreover, his son was his life’s treasure.

Since Little Cheng had shown such thoughtfulness, Old Ma had to appreciate it.

Forget it.

Forget it.

There was no point competing any longer.

He could not win anyway.

He might as well let the youngster have it.

“Qianfan, you’ve put your heart into this.”

Ma Yishou spoke while considering how to phrase his next words so that his “surrender” would appear more dignified.

“Master.”

Cheng Qianfan smiled and clasped his hands.

“Allow me to congratulate you in advance. With you as the new Chief Inspector of the Third Patrol, and Deputy Chief Inspector Jin as our old superior, we subordinates will have even more reason to look forward to the future.”

Ma Yishou, who had been preparing a suitably dignified speech of submission, blinked several times.

What had he just heard?

More than ten minutes later, the other officers who had gone into the corridor to smoke and chat returned.

What they saw left them utterly dumbfounded.

Little Cheng and Ma Tou were sitting together, one drinking tea and the other smoking.

The two were chatting cheerfully.

Judging from Old Ma’s delighted expression, he seemed almost as happy as he had been on the day his son was born.

Everyone was astonished and confused.

Curiosity clawed at their hearts like a cat scratching.

They desperately wanted to know what had happened.

Of course, seeing Little Cheng and Old Ma restore their former relationship, no, in fact seeming even closer than before, the officers also breathed a sigh of relief.

At least they no longer needed to worry about choosing sides.

From the officers’ conversations, Cheng Qianfan finally learned exactly why suspicion had fallen upon He Guan in the Miyamoto Saburo case.

A rickshaw puller suffering from diarrhoea had been squatting in the grass near the crime scene.

At that point Miyamoto had already been killed.

The man saw someone in a panic throw a knife into a cesspit.

Because of the angle, he had not seen the murderer’s face clearly.

However, while he might not recognize many things, a rickshaw puller certainly remembered the appearances of police officers.

“The build looked like Officer He.”

And thus He Guan entered the police station’s field of suspicion.

Combined with He Guan’s attitude regarding Miyamoto Saburo’s acquittal and release, the suspicion surrounding him only grew stronger.

“It probably wasn’t He Guan.”

Cheng Qianfan shook his head.

“A little after two o’clock, He Guan was at my house.”

The officers looked over.

Each pair of eyes carried a different meaning.

Cheng Qianfan understood exactly what those looks meant.

He smiled bitterly and waved his hand.

“A Japanese man died. That’s not a trivial matter. I wouldn’t dare lie.”

“Besides, it was Lieutenant Pete from the Political Department who personally questioned me. If Lieutenant Pete hadn’t told me afterward, I wouldn’t even have known that a Japanese man had died.”

He accepted a cigarette handed over by Big-Head Lu.

“When He Guan left my house, a neighbour happened to be standing outside. My cat nearly knocked over the grandfather clock. I remember it was a little after a quarter to three in the afternoon.”

After hearing Cheng Qianfan’s explanation, the officers believed him.

Little Cheng had only returned yesterday.

He probably had not even heard the name Miyamoto Saburo before then.

There was no way he could be connected to the case.

Furthermore, a neighbour could verify when He Guan had visited Cheng Qianfan’s house.

Little Cheng would not commit perjury for He Guan.

Whether others believed it or not, they accepted the explanation.