"The exams are coming up soon, after dinner, the two went back to their rooms to study, they're probably asleep by now."

Wu Yan spoke while noticing the smell of alcohol emanating from him, and couldn't help frowning.

"You've been drinking again? Didn't I tell you not to drink too much? Why don't you listen?"

"I didn't want to drink, but everyone insisted I have a couple of drinks. They're all colleagues, so it was hard to refuse, so I drank a little. Besides, I'm not even drunk."

"Does it have to be until you're passed-out drunk to count as drinking? Drink less next time. Also, your colleagues shouldn't pressure others to drink if they don't want to..."

Wu Yan complained with concern and asked, "Do you want me to make you some hangover soup?"

"No need to trouble yourself. A nap will do the trick... Mom, I'm going to take a bath first."

"Wait a minute, sit down for a while, I have something to ask you."

Upon hearing this, Luo Fei returned to the sofa and sat down, "Mom, what is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing major, really. Do you remember a classmate from high school, someone named... something Qiang?"

"Zhang Qiang?"

"Yes, that's right, Zhang Qiang. Do you know he seems to have killed someone!"

Luo Fei thought she was going to talk about something else, but it turned out to be gossip.

He replied with a bit of exasperation, "There really was something like that, but Mom, where did you hear this?"

This case was just solved less than half a month ago, and she already knows about it, the information travels fast!

"Oh, it was just overheard while chatting in the cafeteria."

As the saying goes, gossiping is a woman's nature, especially when they're older.

And the school cafeteria happens to be full of such women, among whom one happens to be Lin Qi's relative.

Knowing more about the case than others, she shared it as sensational news during their conversations.

They often gathered for gossip, especially since Zhang Qiang's case was so scandalously juicy, the chatter exploded.

Wu Yan heard some basic facts about the man and realized he was Luo Fei's high school classmate. Naturally, she couldn't resist gossiping a bit with him.

Seeing that he was already aware, she curiously asked, "How did you know about this? Was this case handled by your team?"

"Yes, that's why I had to rush back to the police team two weeks ago because of this case."

"No wonder... Luo Fei, tell me, was Zhang Qiang really fooling around with a married woman, which led to him being dumped by the bride?"

Wu Yan's eyes were blazing with gossip fire.

Luo Fei was initially worried she'd gossip about the case details, but her focus was surprisingly on this.

He honestly replied, "Probably, it spread all over our class group, and someone even posted a wedding video..."

Wu Yan was thoroughly engrossed, gasping at the end, "How could he be like this? Almost married and still fooling around... Luo Fei, don't ever learn from him!"

"Pfft... Mom, you're overthinking it, does your son seem like that kind of person?"

"Of course, I believe in your character, just reminding you... Oh, by the way, has he been arrested? I heard someone said he's gone?"

"Yes, he's no longer here."

"What a tragedy too. If he hadn't misbehaved back then, none of this would have happened..."

Wu Yan lamented a few more sentences and then let him go rest.

After taking a shower, Luo Fei lay on his bed and took out his phone.

First, he checked Yang Mei's messages. The last one was sent around 6:30 PM, saying she was going to sleep. He replied with a 'Good night' and she didn't respond.

She was probably asleep, so he didn't message her further to disturb her and just exited the chat.

Then there were complaints from Wang Yong and others about the training being demanding, and inquiries from Zhang Wei and others asking if he made it home.

He replied one by one, then shifted his attention to the system.

"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully solving Zhang Qiang's revenge murder case, reward: three hundred gold coins!"

"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully solving the dismemberment case at the river bottom, reward: five hundred gold coins!"

Upon entering, two system notifications popped up immediately.

Luo Fei checked his gold coin balance: 3500.

Though still far from his goal of five thousand, it brought him a step closer.

Then he read for a while, and at eleven-thirty, he turned off the lights to sleep.

The next morning, with no pressing matters, the family slept in until after seven.

After waking up and seeing Luo Fei, Luo Xiaoxiao bombarded him with questions.

After breakfast, Luo Fei received a call from Yang Mei.

"Luo Fei, are you up?"

"I've been up for a while."

"Ah, then why haven't you called me?" Yang Mei said, a bit displeased.

"Well, you mentioned being really tired yesterday, so I didn't want to disturb your rest."

"Ah, I see, I misunderstood you... Want to go out for a walk?"

"Sure."

"Alright then, let's meet at our usual spot."

After hanging up, Luo Fei quickly informed Wu Yan.

"Mom, I'm going out with Yang Mei to shop, is there anything you need at home? I can pick it up on the way back."

"No, just enjoy yourselves... By the way, are you coming back for lunch? Should I buy more groceries?"

"Let me ask her first, then I'll call you."

"Alright."

...

When he arrived at the plaza where they often met, Yang Mei had already been waiting for a while.

It'd been half a month since they last met, so they embraced from afar as Yang Mei ran towards him.

"Luo Fei."

After a long-awaited reunion, they indulged in each other's company, holding hands while strolling the streets, sharing updates on their lives.

They walked around outside until nearly eleven when planning to return home for lunch.

With Yang Mei's parents out for business again after staying for eight or nine days, she found being home alone rather dull.

So when Luo Fei asked if she wanted to have lunch at his place, she agreed without hesitation.

However, she insisted on stopping by the supermarket to buy something for Wu Yan first. Luo Fei disagreed, and as they were tugging at each other at the supermarket entrance, they encountered three men and a woman approaching.

One of them, upon seeing Luo Fei, was initially puzzled and then tentatively called out, "Luo Fei?"

"Yes, it's me, and you are...?"

Luo Fei was also taken aback and couldn't immediately recall who the person was.

"It really is you, I'm Xu Yang, remember? I sat in front of you during school."

Upon hearing this, Luo Fei finally had some recollection.

Xu Yang, like Zhang Qiang, was also his high school classmate.

But because it was from his past self, and given they didn't have much interaction, Luo Fei wasn't particularly excited, just offered a polite smile, "Haha, sorry, sorry, it's been so many years I almost didn't recognize you."

Xu Yang, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic, patting him on the shoulder like old pals, "That's perfectly normal, I didn't recognize you at first either."

"By the way, I heard from Su Yong that after graduating from university, you passed the civil service exam and became a cop?"

Su Yong was among the few classmates who had a closer relationship with Luo Fei back in the school days. They occasionally kept in touch, so it made sense he knew about Luo Fei's current situation and passed it along to their classmates.

Luo Fei nodded, "Yes."

"Then why didn't I see you last time I went to the Songxin Town police station?"

"I haven't been there for some time, got transferred."

"Where are you now assigned?"

Luo Fei didn't intend to brag, but since the guy kept pressing for details, he obligingly stated, "The city's criminal police team."

As expected, upon hearing this, Xu Yang's expression was not just surprised but tinged with jealousy.

During high school, Luo Fei came from a poor family and held a low profile in class.

Though they didn't bully him because of it, their student competitiveness gave them a sense of superiority over him, with Xu Yang being no exception.

After graduating from college and entering the workforce, they finally comprehended life's challenges.

Apart from a few classmates who thrived, others like Xu Yang, who didn't fit into either high or low status, barely found jobs to make ends meet.

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