My mentor came home very late; none of us knew where he had been busy. He had handled several major cases and held a distinguished reputation but eventually resigned due to the psychological toll. After resting for a few years, he stepped back into the world. He started at a security company with good pay, but he resigned after two years.
Things continued in this repetitive cycle. Eventually, even Shimu couldn’t clearly explain what my mentor had been doing lately.
We simply assumed he wasn’t adjusting well to retirement and rarely pressed for details.
I think, deep down, my mentor still wanted to be a policeman most of all; otherwise, he wouldn’t have placed so many expectations on Li Yi and me.
However, he always acted nonchalant, heading straight for the kitchen to cook the moment he walked through the door.
When we were all seated at the table looking at the feast before us, he insisted on scrubbing the wok first, saying the grease would be hard to wash once it cooled. My mentor never lets Shimu do housework.
She was a researcher; back then, she had a falling out with her parents in order to marry a criminal investigator.
Shimu didn’t wait for anyone. She picked up her chopsticks, plucked the fish belly meat, and put it in Shanshan’s bowl. She doted on her daughter, and Shanshan naturally held out her bowl to receive it without the slightest bit of bashfulness at all.
The first time Li Yi and I came to the house for dinner, Shimu did the same thing; first picking Shanshan’s favorites, then choosing what she liked for herself. Sitting to the side, I thought Shimu didn’t like me.
Even the usually confident Li Yi became quite awkward, unsure of what Shimu meant.
To our surprise, Shimu frowned and lectured us, “What are you guys doing? Whoever stands on ceremony goes hungry.”
Thinking back on it now, Shimu was treating us as her own.
Later on, Li Yi and I got used to it, eating whatever we wanted. We just knew not to snatch things from Shanshan.
After finishing with the wok, my mentor walked out leisurely. While the rest of us were like a pack of wolves fighting over food, he unhurriedly poured himself some wine, took a sip, and let out a loud, appreciative smack of his lips.
Taking advantage of Shimu’s good mood, I spoke up, “Shimu, when are we going to the hospital for your check-up?”
Shimu’s face instantly turned cold.
She was intentionally trying to intimidate me.
I kept a straight face as well, “You’ve delayed it for too long. You’re always saying your neck and head hurt; these things can’t be put off.”
“If you were my boy,” Shimu said, slowly and methodically picking out fish bones, “I’m certain I would have been scared to death by your poker face the moment you were born.”
“Fine, let Shimu be afraid of me then. Mom, Mommy, when are we doing the check-up?” I pestered her relentlessly.
“Just go if he’s asking you to. We might not have money if a major illness strikes, but I can still afford the cost of a check-up.” My mentor said, his face slightly flushed.
These words felt a bit strange.
My mentor’s family was indeed not well-off. In Hong Kong, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, they had always lived in this small, aging apartment. A family like theirs simply couldn’t withstand the burden of a serious illness.
And yet, in that dream, after Shimu passed away from a serious illness, my mentor actually had enough money left over to purchase a new apartment for himself.
Shanshan let out an “Aiya.”
Her hand slipped, and a meatball rolled across the table, bounced onto the floor, and skittered all the way into the gap beneath the sofa.
Leaving a greasy trail behind, it looked like Shimu was about to lose her temper. I quickly grabbed four tissues and crouched down, wiping along the trail. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I can clean it up.”
“Ah Chao, you have to pick the meatball up too; if you leave it under the sofa, it’ll get moldy,” Shimu called out. “When it starts growing long fur and attracting rats, we’ll see if you’re scared then.”
The second half was directed at Shanshan.
Shanshan stuck out her tongue.
I thought to myself that she certainly wasn’t afraid of rats, there wasn’t anything the tropical rainforest didn’t have.
The whole table was laughing and talking. Li Yi’s joking annoyed Shanshan, and the two were bickering and playing around. I remained crouched, leaning sideways to peer under the sofa. In the dim light, I spotted the meatball already covered in a layer of dust.
I reached in to grab it, but just as I touched it, I noticed something lying deeper inside. I used my finger to hook it out.
It was an ID.
My ID.
Only then did I remember that I had lost my ID once; it went missing shortly after I started the job, and I’d eventually applied for a replacement.
So, the old one had been here all along.
My mentor had always liked doing housework and would inevitably clean under here sooner or later. So my lost, invalidated ID must have ended up in his hands.
Suddenly, I felt as if someone were grabbing me by the hair and dragging me along; my whole body pitched forward and hit the ground with a thud.
The world turned upside down.
My mentor shouted, “What’s wrong? Tripping over yourself while standing still?”
I scrambled up. “My… my leg just went numb.”
“I think you’re the one who needs a hospital check-up. You’re so young, yet you fell over all day.” Shimu waved her hand to usher me back to my seat.
I gave a couple of dry laughs and stood up before brushing myself off. I wrapped the dusty meatball and tossed it in the trash, then wiped the ID clean and placed it on the table.
My mentor glanced at it. “Where did you find that?”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Under the sofa.”
“This kid… always so scatterbrained.”
I smiled, though my feet felt cold under the table.
After dinner, Shimu invited us to stay the night since there was a guest room available. Li Yi seized the chance and agreed without hesitation.
I said my goodbyes. Before leaving, I repeatedly urged Shimu to go to the hospital until she got annoyed and shut the door on me. She was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted; the hallway light outside clicked on at once, lighting my way down the stairs.
I lit a cigarette and smoked as I walked.
In the narrow, dim alley, I kept one hand in my pocket, gripping a folding knife. I was off duty today and hadn’t brought my gun; only this knife for self-defense.
A man with a limp walked toward me. As he passed, he deliberately bumped hard into my shoulder. My hand jolted, and my cigarette fell to the ground.
I turned around and saw the man was also sizing me up.
Suddenly, he spoke, his voice murky and hoarse, “You… won’t survive the year.”
By the faint light, I saw the man’s face clearly.
I had seen him before.
At Keke’s birthday banquet, he had said that Keke was the lucky star of the Zhang family; the very next day, he was dead.
People cannot calculate their own destinies.
I glanced up at the lit window upstairs and turned to leave. “Thanks for the reminder. When I die, I’ll be sure to invite you to preside over the funeral.”
The man shouted behind me, “Then remember to book in advance!”
Exiting the alley, a streetlamp stood at the entrance, casting a pale glow over the surroundings.
I was about to turn left when I caught sight of a familiar silver sports car and changed direction.
But a walking pace is no match for a gliding car.
The car shifted alongside me, trailing me leisurely. The person in the driver’s seat was in a good mood. “What a coincidence, Officer, bumping into you here.”
“Is it a coincidence?” I didn’t look at him. “Or are you stalking me?”
“Officer Yu certainly likes to joke. I live nearby, though I’m moving back home soon,” Zhang Mingsheng replied. “Just here to pack some things.”
I didn’t answer and kept walking.
“…Officer Yu, for some reason, I feel like you really dislike me,” Zhang Mingsheng said. “And I thought we were…”
“We were what?”
“We were, in a way, ordinary friends brought together by chance.”
Friends.
How ridiculous.
“Mr. Zhang, I actually have a question, and I’m very curious to hear your answer.”
Zhang Mingsheng stopped the car. “Ask away, Officer.”
I stopped in my tracks and faced Zhang Mingsheng. Looking into his young eyes, I asked:
“How do you see me?”
Or rather,
“Up until now, have you ever had feelings for me?”
![He Lived Like You [End of the World]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/HLLY.jpg "He Lived Like You [End of the World]")
