When A Snail Loves Chapter 45.1

New chappie out! Apologies for not following the schedule completely; hopefully things will be back to normal next week. Here’s your weekly update!

Xu Xu and Ji Bai are so sweet together even when apart! I have a feeling we should be wary of General Po. *pats myself on the back for the amazing intuition* lol

Chapter 45.1-Xu Xu’s heart jumped uncontrollably, and a sheen of sweat appeared on her back

On the quiet fields, the train sped under the blazing sun. The vague hills in the distance undulate. No end appeared to the jungle.

In the train carriage, Xu Xu was calling Xu Yao: “. . . We’ll reach Lin City tomorrow morning. You don’t need to meet me, I’ll be going to the station first to make a report. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait a minute, are you all right? Did you get hurt? Was the weather there ok?”

Xu Xu said: “We’ll talk more when I get back.” She looked at her watch: “In 10 minutes’ time we’ll be entering the mountainous region where there will be no reception. I’m going to call Ji Bai now.” With that, she hung up decisively.

That rascal! Xu Yao thought: There’s still 10 minutes to go before the reception is lost, and she only spoke with me for 2 minutes!

When she called Ji Bai’s phone, he was with several Interpol officers in a police car eating a packed lunch box. It was afternoon, when the crowded city was as hot as an oven. Since they had been busy the whole morning, sweat rolled on their backs, as they wolfed down their food.

Ji Bai closed his box. Without checking his caller display, he said: “Hello, this is Ji Bai. Go ahead.”

When Xu Xu heard his low, mellow voice, her heart immediately felt at ease. “It’s me.”

The corners of Ji Bai’s mouth unconsciously twitched upwards: “Is there something wrong?”

Xu Xu paused briefly.

The two had only parted in the morning, so there was really no need to call. However, she was idle today, and had unconsciously thought of Ji Bai several times. This was the first time she had ever experienced such feelings for another person.

Thus, she honestly replied: “Nothing’s up. It’s just that I miss you.”

Her words were like a cool spring of water on a hot summer’s day, refreshing to Ji Bai’s soul. He suddenly remembered the previous night in the hotel room. Her pale, delicate body, as their skin touched. The intimacy and passion of their encounter made him temporarily absentminded and and did not speak.

At this moment, the other Interpol officers laid down their lunch boxes and donned their bulletproof vest: “Let’s go, Ji Bai.” The Kachin soldiers seated on the ground also picked up their guns and got up, ready to move out.

Ji Bai said softly: “I miss you too.” After a beat, he leaned closer to the handphone screen, and gently kissed it.

When the other officers saw this, they laughed. This was the first time Ji Bai had ever done something like this, but he was not embarrassed. He put his phone away, smiled cooly, and got out of the car with them.

On her end, Xu Xu looked at her handphone as she sat on the pristine white bed dappled with golden light.

Her face was a little numb, and her heart was racing. She felt as if she had really been kissed……

——

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After a while, Xu Xu walked to the train car nearby to eat with the other three Interpol officers. The criminals had all been confined at the back of the carriage, and the Kachin soldiers would not be coming to this side, where all the officers were. As the officers ate, they began to discuss the case involuntarily.

One officer said: “It’s been so long, and Brother Lu hasn’t been caught yet, damn it!”

Everyone was quiet for a heartbeat, before an experienced officer took a puff of on his cigarette and spoke: “It looks like Brother Lu has a backer in the military.”

Everyone was momentarily taken aback. He continued: “That’s my gut feeling. In Myanmar, what the military says goes. We laid down such a tight dragnet, yet Brother Lu was still able to escape. It can only be that she had help from the military in secret.”

Another officer said: “I agree with your point of view. I specifically ran a check on all of Brother Lu’s bank accounts, and, guess what? Not a cent, and not even any transaction records. Where did the money go? Obviously, it’s with this person. If we can find this person, we can capture Brother Lu.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Xu Xu was slightly sceptical: “Why would Brother Lu trust this person so much?”

On hearing her question, another officer jokingly said: “Aren’t you a criminal profiler? I heard you’re the one who captured the Lin City blade criminal? Not bad! If you could draw up a profile of the master criminal behind the scenes, we could immediately arrest him.”

Everyone laughed. Xu Xu shook her head: “There are too few clues. I can’t even draw up a preliminary profile.”

——

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Even having said this, when Xu Xu returned to her compartment, she lay on the bed and stared distractedly at nothing.

These past few days she had been busy with the work in Mai Zha City, her mind had been occupied with the data regarding the dozens of arrested criminals. There had been no time to give any thought to Brother Lu or her backer. However, now that she was free, the Interpol officers’ words kick-started her train of thought.

She took out a pen and a paper, and jotted down some fragmented and random clues that came to her mind. After some moments of deep thought, she still had no idea.

Lifting her head, she saw her handphone on the table. She thought of Ji Bai, and couldn’t control the little smile that came to her lips. Her hand moved in accordance with her thoughts, and she quickly wrote down, several times, ‘Ji Bai’, and ‘Third Brother’.

She gathered her thoughts to continue considering the case. When she saw the line of ‘Ji Bai’ characters written on the paper, she had a flash of inspiration, stunning herself.

Thanks to Ji Bai, she suddenly thought, even though we don’t know anything about this mystery person, he and Brother Lu are intimately connected. We can analyse this person through Brother Lu.

Brother Lu is a very cautious, secretive person with a will of iron. She placed all her benefits in the hands of this person. Within China, she also has her own independent criminal gang.

What kind of person could gain the total cooperation [1] and absolute trust of a ruthless criminal [2] like Brother Lu?

One thought led to many. Several clues exploded in Xu Xu’s mind. She took up her pen and paper, and firstly wrote down “lovers”.

That’s right, where Brother Lu is concerned, only someone with whom she had a really close relationship would be able to gain her absolute trust, to the extent that there was not even a cent in her own account. They were of different nationalities, and the information on Brother Lu’s family did not show any foreign relatives, so it was most likely that they were a couple.

After a while, she wrote down: “30 – 40 years old, single, unmarried, no children.”

This is because, if he were too young, he would not be in an influential position in the military; if he were too old, it would also be unlikely. In addition, the Myanmar people tend to marry young, and also attach great importance to producing a male child to continue the family line. Thus, if he were an older man, with a wife or children, Brother Lu would not be able to trust him fully.

Thirdly, a compliment: “charm”. In the eyes of ordinary people, and especially the fierce and tough Brother Lu, this person was very likely to be someone with a unique character and charm. This was why Brother Lu was so devoted to him.

Having thought up to this point, Xu Xu excitedly walked back and forth in the narrow compartment. After a while, she wrote down two related words: “violence, abuse”.

There are other gangs in northern Myanmar, but only Brother Lu’s group employed such cruel means when committing crimes, and resorted to unnecessary violence.

While investigating previous cases, Xu Xu had come across the following: When kidnapping, they often brutally abused the victims in order to heighten the victims’s fear; when trafficking babies from China, they used sleeping pills, causing many babies to become critically ill. In the Zhou Chengbo case, they planted the explosive in retaliation to losing control of the situation. If he had managed to escape the bomb, he would have been beaten to death by thugs.

The characteristics of a criminal group naturally reflect the style of the leader. However, Brother Lu had never shown such tendencies throughout the history of her group’s dealings in China. Therefore in the network of criminal syndicate leaders, she is probably the one who passed on the messages of the one who [Xu Xu] is currently looking for.

Finally, Xu Xu wrote down an adjective: “conceited”.

Brother Lu’s group had a wide range of criminal methods, an extensive network, and a hand in any means of earning money. Thus, there was a high degree of arrogance. The ability to carry off so many activities would reflect the leader’s tenacity and cunning, and also his ego/ conceit.

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[1] 俯首称臣: This phrase literally means “to bow before”

[2] 枭首: This phrase literally means “behead”

Chapter end