RLTT CH 19

Chapter 19: Dating · Canteen · Cheng Jiesen

Thus, Wei Jiaxi and Yun Shaofeng officially began their dating life.
Wei Jiaxi took Yun Shaofeng to all the places where couples could go: eating out, watching movies, shopping, street food, late-night desserts, the beach, the mountaintop, the bustling downtown area in the middle of the night, the docks at sunrise…
Since Yun Shaofeng had admitted that Wei Jiaxi was his boyfriend, and the WPU colleagues also knew about Wei Jiaxi, it became difficult to refuse their requests for a bit of couple time. Although every time they went out, Zhong Zai or Eva would follow them at a distance, the small romantic gestures, like holding hands, felt more natural between them.
Wei Jiaxi felt very happy. Even though he knew there were still many unresolved issues between him and Shaofeng, they both tacitly avoided mentioning them. He just wanted to spend some time with Shaofeng, a time that belonged only to the two of them, before Wei Jiayi’s arrest and before Shaofeng officially faced everything in court.
Yun Shaofeng also acted quite carefree, accompanying Wei Jiaxi to buy comics, watch superhero movies, play games, and wander around the streets trying various random snacks. Even though Yun Shaofeng himself was from the Special Administrative Region, he treated it as if he had hired Wei Jiaxi as his private tour guide, enjoying a leisurely vacation every day. He was enjoying it, and the amount of talking they did in this one month was probably more than an entire year in Canada.
However, Wei Jiaxi was still an officer involved in the hearing. Being too close to Yun Shaofeng wouldn’t be good for his career. But he seemed to be more than willing, hoping that once he returned to work, he could be reassigned to a major case and no longer have to protect Shaofeng. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend every day with Shaofeng, but out of professional ethics, staying together like that would only leave him wanting more.
First, he needed to return to work. But balancing both love and career wasn’t that simple.
Yun Shaofeng received a notification that he needed to give another statement regarding the hearing. Wei Jiaxi originally didn’t want to go with him, thinking he should avoid anything that might be seen as conflict of interest. But then his phone buzzed, and he saw a text from Cheng Jiesen: “Meet at the police canteen.”
…Fine. Inspector Wei automatically joined the WPU vehicle that was picking up Yun Shaofeng and went to the police station.
When he entered the canteen, Cheng Jiesen was standing by the window, talking on the phone.
“Is that so… alright,” Cheng Jiesen glanced at Wei Jiaxi entering and spoke a few more words softly, “We’ll talk next time, okay?”
He hung up and walked toward Wei Jiaxi.
The two found a table to sit at. Since it wasn’t mealtime, there weren’t many people in the canteen.
“How’s the vacation been this past month?” Cheng Jiesen was the first to speak, his tone casual.
Wei Jiaxi shrugged. “Nothing special, really. Since I don’t have to work anymore, I’ve been living off my savings.”
“Really? But I heard you’re dating now, living like a happy immortal every day?” Cheng Jiesen smiled and looked at him.
Wei Jiaxi felt a bit embarrassed, scratching his head and replying, “Hehe… it’s been okay.”
“Actually, the quicker we catch Wei Jiayi, the sooner your boyfriend can move around freely,” Cheng Jiesen said seriously, placing both hands on the table and looking at him intently.
Wei Jiaxi rolled his eyes, knowing there must be an official matter behind this, “Yeah, and then?”
Cheng Jiesen sighed, “I think you haven’t heard any news from the underworld this past month, right?”
“Not really,” Wei Jiaxi felt a bit uneasy, “Is something major about to happen?”
“No major problems yet, but a lot of small ones,” Cheng Jiesen shook his head, “After Li Anna’s death, we spread some rumors, trying to shift the focus onto gang conflicts and avoid drawing attention to the police. But I don’t know what the Xin Qing is doing, it seems like they want to take the whole thing on themselves, constantly provoking Hong Sheng, starting fights every day.”
“No wonder. I’ve been waiting for Wei Jiayi’s people to come for revenge, planning to draw him out,” Wei Jiaxi crossed his arms, his expression becoming more serious, “But nothing’s happened. Turns out, they’ve got the wrong target.”
“You can probably imagine what Hong Sheng is like after Li Anna’s death,” Cheng Jiesen looked very troubled, ” A Club immediately forced Wei Jiayi to avenge her, but if he fails, they’ll probably wash their hands of it. Wei Jiayi himself isn’t that capable, and without his mother’s financial backing, he’ll have a hard time keeping control over those old uncles.”
“He won’t be able to control them,” Wei Jiaxi sneered, “With Li Anna’s foul temper, there were already plenty of people in Hong Sheng who wanted to k!ll her.”
“So now, for revenge, Hong Sheng really…,” Cheng Jieshen shook his head repeatedly, “But the problem is, Wei Jiayi is really good at hiding!”
“In Hong Sheng, there’s a man named Mo Chao. He’s the real one who gets things done,” Wei Jiaxi thought for a moment and said, “If you can handle him, even if Wei Jiayi hides, he won’t have a choice but to come out.”
Cheng Jiesen was stunned, silent for a moment, before shaking his head, “It’s not just Hong Sheng’s issue. Xin Qing clearly wants to stir things up too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now both sides are fighting, but the goods on the street haven’t stopped, and they’re all Hong Sheng’s goods,” Cheng Jiesen lowered his voice, “We’ve been investigating for a long time, but we still can’t figure out where they’re getting the goods and funding to keep operating. And no matter how much Xin Qing wants to take advantage of the situation, they can’t make it seem like the police are involved.”

“…take the blame for everything.”
“You mean, both sides are just putting on a show?” Wei Jiaxi thought for a moment, “But what reason would they have to act like this?”
“This is what I can’t figure out,” Cheng Jiesen sighed, “But the reality is, every time there’s a conflict between the two factions, we need a large amount of police force to mediate and handle it. The ones we catch are just small fry, but each of them has to be brought to the station for questioning, detention, record-keeping… the workload is really overwhelming. If this continues, we’ll all end up exhausted by these small frictions, like blind flies.”
Wei Jiaxi rubbed his chin and muttered, “Maybe that’s their goal?”
“…That’s possible.” Cheng Jiesen glanced at him, deep in thought.
Wei Jiaxi tapped his fingers lightly on the table. “So, what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t think I’m in a position to tell you what to do,” Cheng Jiesen hesitated, “I just really hope that the situation between Xin Qing and Hong Sheng can calm down soon. I just want to get Wei Jiayi out of this. Do you have any ideas on what you’re willing to do?”
“Xin Qing and Hong Sheng…” Wei Jiaxi furrowed his brow, “One day, it will all reach a tipping point. I think I can try to force Wei Jiayi out.”
“You’re going to do it yourself?” Cheng Jiesen was somewhat doubtful.
“I… I don’t want to, I really don’t want to unless absolutely necessary,” Wei Jiaxi hesitated, “But we can’t keep things the way they are—us being in the open while they’re in the shadows. Let me think about it for a bit.”

---

In the evening, after Yun Shaofeng finished his meeting with the hearing team, he left the station, only to find Wei Jiaxi standing alone in front of the car. He looked around and saw Zhong Zai climbing into another vehicle nearby. Yun Shaofeng recognized it as another WPU intelligence vehicle, with surveillance equipment and support staff inside.

Wei Jiaxi leaned against the car, twirling the car keys in his hand.

“What’s up?” Yun Shaofeng walked over, smiling at him.

Wei Jiaxi didn’t speak, simply opening the car door in a gesture of invitation.

Yun Shaofeng was a bit confused but got in. Wei Jiaxi immediately drove off the road. Through the rearview mirror, Yun Shaofeng saw the WPU vehicle following them.

“Where are we going?” Yun Shaofeng asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Wei Jiaxi answered with a smile, looking a little mysteriously pleased with himself.

---

Soon, the car stopped in front of a hotel that looked very stylish.

Yun Shaofeng saw Zhong Zai and another WPU officer get out of the car and head into the hotel. He was about to unbuckle his seatbelt when Wei Jiaxi said, “Wait a minute.” So, he stayed in the car, waiting for about ten minutes before seeing another two or three WPU officers entering the hotel, with Zhong Zai walking out.

Wei Jiaxi got out of the car and exchanged a few words with Zhong Zai, then smiled and returned to open the car door for Yun Shaofeng. “Let’s go, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Yun Shaofeng was even more curious now, but still followed him into the hotel. They went into a suite, passing familiar WPU faces along the way.

Wei Jiaxi, the perfect gentleman, held the elevator door, cleared the way, and when they reached the suite, he knocked on the door. Eva answered, handing him a room key and giving Yun Shaofeng a meaningful look. She softly said, “Enjoy,” before leaving.

Yun Shaofeng was completely puzzled but followed Wei Jiaxi into the room, only to be taken aback by what he saw.

The lights in the living room were off, but on the small dining table by the window, two tiny scented candles flickered softly. There were two full bowls placed on the table. The room was filled with romantic vibes—there was a small bouquet of roses on the sofa, a soft bathrobe hanging on the door, and several heart-shaped drawings on the vanity mirror.

Wei Jiaxi gently wrapped his arms around Yun Shaofeng’s waist from behind, pressing his cheek to his. “Is this a surprise enough?”

Yun Shaofeng almost burst out laughing as he held Wei Jiaxi’s arm. “What’s going on here?”

“This is a world just for the two of us.” Wei Jiaxi kissed his cheek. “Usually, we arrange for witnesses to stay in hotels, but because your case is more complicated and has dragged on for so long, we opted for a safe house instead.”

“So, everyone else is off duty now?” Yun Shaofeng asked, looking around with curiosity.

“No, they’re in the next room.” Wei Jiaxi, still holding his waist, led him to the center of the living room. “There are surveillance cameras in the living room, so they can all see what’s happening here. We also did a thorough site check earlier.”

Yun Shaofeng sat at the table, raising his head to look at him. “Site check?”

“Yeah, we did clean up the site to make sure everything is safe today. We couldn’t just let you check in otherwise,” Wei Jiaxi sat opposite him. “So we started preparing a few days ago.”

“So this room, you planned it out for a long time?” Yun Shaofeng asked, smiling.

“Yeah, had to check with the WPU first, then book the hotel, and prepare everything,” Wei Jiaxi shook his head, looking a bit smug. “There’s a Zhong Zai doing the ‘lightbulb’ job (third wheel) at the safe house. Going out would be too public, so I had to book a room to find a way to be alone with you.”

“Does the police force really offer these kinds of benefits to you?” Yun Shaofeng couldn’t help but laugh.

“…Actually, no.” Wei Jiaxi scratched his head. “I had to pay for it myself because it added extra work for the WPU. But luckily, they don’t mind, so I just paid for the room.”

Yun Shaofeng was a bit surprised, his eyes widening. “Isn’t it expensive?”

“Hmm… it’s fine…” Wei Jiaxi grinned, looking a bit awkward. “I still have some savings. And… I really wanted to spend some quality time with you.” He reached out and held Yun Shaofeng’s hand.

Yun Shaofeng’s heart warmed, and he grasped Wei Jiaxi’s hand in return. “Thank you, I really like this.”

Wei Jiaxi lifted his hand and kissed it. Then he urged, “Let’s eat. You must be hungry.”

Yun Shaofeng then noticed the two bowls on the table, which were filled with porridge.

“Fish porridge, eat while it’s hot,” Wei Jiaxi handed him a spoon. “It’s not that I didn’t want to prepare a fancy steak dinner for you, but you said you had too much western food in Canada, so I figured it’d be better to prepare something more homey.”

Yun Shaofeng was touched that he remembered what he had said earlier, and he felt even happier. The salty porridge with pepper tasted sweet to him.

After the meal, Wei Jiaxi pulled Yun Shaofeng into the bathroom, saying he wanted to shower with him. Yun Shaofeng stared at him blankly, asking, “Aren’t they next door?”

Wei Jiaxi rolled his eyes. “The bathroom and bedroom obviously don’t have cameras, otherwise, what’s the difference between here and at home?” He pushed Yun Shaofeng into the bathroom.

The hotel suite’s bathroom was luxuriously large, with a bathtub that could fit about three people. There were bath salts and aromatherapy nearby, and the glass-enclosed shower had a rainforest showerhead. When Yun Shaofeng entered, he immediately noticed the lubricant placed by the sink.

Wei Jiaxi made no attempt to hide his intentions, quickly undressing Yun Shaofeng and pushing him against the wall to kiss him hard.

Of course, this was to be expected. After their confession, aside from kissing, there hadn’t been many intimate actions because their daily lives were under WPU surveillance, and Wei Jiaxi couldn’t protect Yun Shaofeng alone. The two young men, in the midst of their passionate love, had managed to hold back this long, which was truly a miracle.

To be continued…