Li Xingyuan - 3

For a normal, rational person of modern society, it was difficult to comprehend the circumstances before their eyes. Despite her extensive experience cracking down on local criminal syndicates, the man standing before Li Xingyuan was the only one who could confuse her as to his motives. Clearly, there was a crime taking place, and yet the young man, as well as the dignified men and women who had returned to their seats – all had assumed a nonchalant ambient once they had confirmed that she was a member of the law enforcement.

It wasn't an arrogant demeanor relying on class backgrounds or prestige, but rather a civil, calm understanding of innocence.

"Officer Li, you seem to be enjoying the scene. Are you considering in joining?" the man chuckled and scratched at his hair.

"We don't have enough mahjong sets for another, so you might have to wait for a game to conclude."

The gentle laughter suffused through the surroundings was sufficient to drag Li Xingyuan's eyes from the licentious scene before her and fixate onto the man deemed responsible. The policewoman quickly flashed through the sheets of paper in her hands, and steeled her heart.

"Xu Aofeng, you have been cited with three cases of organized gambling, two cases of manufacturing and distribution of illicit substances, and two counts of kidnapping," Li Xingyuan coldly rolled the fingers of her right hand into a fist.

"By the authority granted to Suzhou's investigative department, I, Li Xingyuan, will bring you under arrest. And… we'll add a charge of prostitution and sex trafficking to the list of the heinous crimes you have committed!"

The policewoman forced the bundle of papers into Xi Chen's hands as she reached towards her back pocket to retrieve a pair of handcuffs. And yet, before she could march and detain the main perpetrator of the abnormality before her eyes, Xu Aofeng clapped his hands and shook his head in disdain.

"Officer Li, Officer Li – why is it that you always forget? To be arrested and indicted over charges of gambling in Suzhou, it must be established that a corporate or public entity engaging in gambling has been set up. Is my private home a public entity or private entity?"

"What…?"

"Now, now – I know there are clauses that allow the police to warp the policies and arrest via public charges in private property if the suspect does not fully possess ownership, or has obtained loans from the banks," Xu Aofeng waved his finger, and tossed a wooden slate towards a grinning elderly woman at the corner.

"However, for this Green Jade Villa, I own the title of this property, nor have I applied for loans in the process of obtaining ownership of the plot, construction, or completion of this home. Not even Jian Chengguang, the chief director, would dare make such a mistake – especially not in a upper-residential zone as the Moon Gate District? The young man next to Officer Li – are my words true or false?"

The youth blinked as he was abruptly dragged into the conversation. Xi Chen shrugged and shuffled through the numerous incomplete warrants that lacked either approving signature, description of suspected illegal activity, and several that didn't even state whom the arrest was targeted at. Nonetheless, since neither Xu Aofeng nor the particularly… strange people in this equally moronic and perplexing mansion seemed violent, he left it be and ignored the policewoman's frightening glare boring holes into his liver from the left.

"…is he not an officer?"

"He's a civilian. Enough now, you're still going to come with me," Li Xingyuan snapped, and fiercely shook the handcuffs grasped in her hand.

"Be obedient, and I won't have to get violent. Otherwise, you can't fault me for a few bruises or broken –"

"Ha-Great Winds! Old Xian, you lose again! Hong-er, Old Gu is really looking forwards to this, ah!"

"Huh? – so quickly!? Wait, Senior Gu, it hasn't been more than five minutes – ah, ah, aaahh!"

"Old Gu, you lucky bastard! That's three wins in a row!"

The young girl gasped, and thrashed with greater intensity as the various men and women clapped and cheered. The vigorous and restless movements of the young girl intoxicated with pleasure and lust allowed Xi Chen to obtain a better glance at her beautiful features, and when his mind gradually compared the image before him to an innocent memory, the youth froze. The policewoman quickly recovered after the unexpected interruption, but creased her forehead at the increasingly lewd and obscene moans and cries that suffused into the air.

"How distasteful. This doesn't seem to be sexual exploitation of a young girl to you?"

"Ah, Officer Li – you've got this completely wrong from the start," Xu Aofeng chuckled and beamed with a flashy smile.

"This is no more than the customary mahjong played amongst friends, albeit the wine has been swapped with something more stimulating. The young girl is well over the age limit to express sexual consent, and it wasn't I who forced this upon her – but she was the one who initiated contact over this matter. I, this little Xu, am truly innocent by law, ah?"

Li Xingyuan stared at the young girl immersed in a blissful state beyond her control, and twitched her lips with great helplessness. Given her experience stamping out various crime organizations, she could easily spot the modifications onto the mahjong playing sets. Although her righteous mind screamed to tackle Xu Aofeng along with everyone involved in the mansion, the policewoman grit her teeth and slowly returned the handcuffs to her pocket.

The mahjong played before her eyes wasn't a traditional carpet or mat, but a wooden table inlaid with complex internal wiring. Utilizing a certain algorithm beyond her knowledge, the discards, management of points, progress of building a hand, and sweeping the round transmitted a unique impulse through the cables protruding from the sides. Then, a dense web of insulated wires splayed across the massive table and wrapping around the young girl's body and disseminated through conductive pads marked the culmination of the act.

A conclusion of any of the three simultaneous games resulted in the young girl to spiral into ecstasy, and when Li Xingyuan scanned the visage of the participants, she found neither discomfort nor malice, but instead a warm affection as they saw the girl nicknamed 'Hong-er' squeal and moan.

"…Xia Hong?"

"What a strange combination… ah? You, what did you say?"

Xi Chen's suppressed mutter was firmly captured by Li Xingyuan's ears, and she quickly rounded upon the youth as she attempted to wrestle for information. Xu Aofeng seemed intrigued by the unusual reaction and pressed alongside of the policewoman, but the youth offered nothing past his lips. He gazed at the woman indulging in pleasure with a complex expression, a combination of melancholy and bewilderment.

Xia Hong… wasn't she their neighbor back home?

His mother would always praise her when she was a child for a rare diligence and unwavering enthusiasm for her age, and regarded the girl as an additional daughter. As young children, there were many memories shared, but he hadn't expected for the brilliant and cheery child to eventually turn out like this…

Did this also happen in his previous life?

"Hm. Xi Chen! Do you know anything about this young woman? Special background? Criminal history? Girlfriend?"

"…was that why she never contacted me – huh? No, we were just neighbors in the past."

Xi Chen quickly deflected Li Xingyuan's questioning and forced the warrant back into the latter's hands. The youth took a final glance at the thrashing and contorting Xia Hong, and strode outside of the mansion with quick, unfaltering steps. The policewoman blinked in surprise, but immediately bristled when Xu Aofeng gently bowed and gestured towards the door with his hand.

"Don't think I will simply leave at your request!" Li Xingyuan barked, and crossed her arms.

"You just wait, Xu Aofeng – you better hope I don't find any evidence!"

"No, ah – Officer Li, should I pursue compensation for the broken door? Its design is rather unique, and was rather expensive to have it crafted and fitted –"

"No need! You pay for that door yourself!"

She couldn't leave yet – her superior had specially demanded for her to report everything that she witnessed before leaving!

The police department of Suzhou would want for nothing more than to eliminate the nuisance that was Xu Aofeng, even if it were to fabricate charges against a civilian. That was right – a nuisance, and not a threat. Xu Aofeng's antics were hardly unnoticed by the police, yet since he didn't skirt past the law in any of his activities nor did he actively preyed on poor civilians similar to how the Young Masters enjoyed their lives, the man was both a prime target of disgust and respect within law enforcement.

"This is why I hate those people who rely on bureaucratic powers – damn the whole lot of them!"

They had investigated for years before she herself was assigned to the case, and not a shred of evidence that proved either organized gambling, prostitution, trafficking, or sexual assault had been found. She was expected to force an arrest and potentially lose her career from the backlash of a nuisance - something unethical and uncouth, but neither disruptive nor illegal. Seated in the corner, playing with a delicately carved ivory tile – wasn't that the Bureau Chief Guan Ximeng?

And the elderly woman who had just miserably tossed her advantage and lost, with her exquisite hairpin crafted from the purest of jade – this was the mother of Suzhou's current provincial official of financial affairs, no?

How was she supposed to contest that?

"So frustrating…"

Li Xingyuan fought back her gag reflex as she witnessed Xia Hong's eyes roll back as all three games conclude simultaneously, and the 'special feature' of Xu Aofeng's modifed mahjong manifested. The policewoman sighed as she retrieved her phone and placed it by her ear after dialing a certain number, and retreated to a distance that minimized the obscene noises. With her tensed expression, she didn't notice Xu Aofeng silently stepping past her vision with both hands behind his back.

The man easily navigated through the complex maze of scintillating wooden doors and passageways, until he breathed in the cool nighttime air. With a nimble spring in his step, Xu Aofeng stepped down the steps and strode towards Xi Chen, who stared at the clouded stars with a blank gaze.

"What an unsightly expression. So that young girl – she was a sore spot in your heart, wasn't she?"