False evidence

Chapter 59 The Republic of China Train (Part 1)

I initially harbored resentment towards Gao He, but upon seeing the contents of the leather bag, my anger vanished instantly, transforming into gratitude.

Inside the brown leather bag was, surprisingly, the graduation certificate I had been dreaming of.

Bai Jing smiled and said, "It's just an ordinary college, which isn't difficult for Gao He. What's rare is that he's willing to 'show favoritism' for you."

"This is nothing. Twenty-one was disfigured while helping them!"

Meng Chao said this, but his tone was somewhat resentful, "Sigh, you're so lucky, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. Poor me, I still have to face those King of Diamonds faces at school for another whole year."

Bai Jing tilted her head and looked at the scar on my lip. "Actually, it's not a big deal for a man to have scars on his face. I don't think it's ugly. I just wonder if the location of this scar will affect his fortune. By the way, I know a friend who knows physiognomy. You can ask him to take a look at your face sometime. But let me tell you, that guy is notorious for offending people with his mouth. If he says something unpleasant, don't blame me."

Meng Chao scoffed, "Tch, what's that? You have no idea, we at Twenty-One are..."

"cough!"

I quickly signaled to him to shut up.

I'm truly impressed by Bai Jing.

A beautiful woman, a lawyer by profession, surprisingly had the habit of drinking early morning alcohol, just like many local old men.

Meng Chao and I couldn't even finish a bowl of noodles, while she almost finished a pound of Shaoxing wine.

I really don't like this habit. I always feel that developing this habit at such a young age is a waste of time.

The key point is that I remember when I first arrived in this city, also at a noodle shop, a middle-aged lazy man sharing a table was drinking a small bowl of vegetarian shredded vegetables with a topping. His face was flushed and red, and he was talking loudly on the phone one minute and chatting and bragging to me the next, spitting everywhere...

At that moment, I wanted to smash the bowl over his head!

Meng Chao couldn't help but say to Bai Jing, "Attorney Bai, are all the disciples of the Huang family such good drinkers? How can you drive after drinking like this?"

"Leave the car here, I'll take a taxi."

Bai Jing said bluntly, turning her gaze to me: "Shouldn't you have many questions for me? Why aren't you asking?"

Is it convenient to talk about it now?

Bai Jing nodded: "I deliberately sought out people with a yin constitution in order to make it easier to control someone, um... let's just assume it's that one person. I just didn't expect that Gu Haitao didn't explain this to you beforehand."

Meng Chao slammed his fist on the table: "That bastard better not mess with me again, or I'll skin him alive!"

"I didn't understand what you meant." I looked at Bai Jing.

She frowned slightly, as if she was thinking about how to say it.

After a moment, he changed the subject and said, "If you have nothing else to do, you can listen to a story first."

I immediately thought of the uncle who spat in my face back then, but even when you're just chatting, you have to choose your audience.

Bai Jing is a beautiful woman, and she cannot be compared to a burly man who picks his feet.

Upon hearing that there was a story to tell, Meng Chao perked up and winked at me, asking if I wanted some Shaoxing wine too.

I shook my head and just looked at Bai Jing, waiting for her to speak.

Bai Jing took a big gulp of wine, pursed her pale red lips, and suddenly asked me and Meng Chao:

Do you believe that the living can go to the underworld?

Meng Chao and I looked at each other, and I waved my hand, "Let's get straight to the point."

Everyone has a sense of curiosity, but I don't think Bai Jing is a good storyteller. I'm really afraid she'll narrate a story in a rigid, straightforward manner, like a court case. And if she keeps throwing in suspense... that would be too awkward.

The fact is—my fears were quickly proven true.

Bai Jing is indeed not good at storytelling, but fortunately, the stories she tells are quite suspenseful, which prevented me from yawning uncontrollably.

Her opening remarks were simple—the story takes place during the Republican era, on a train.

In the old days, it wasn't like what's portrayed in movies and TV shows today, where everyone could ride the train. It's easy to imagine that without a certain level of financial security, it was difficult to use such a high-end mode of transportation back then.

The train was traveling from Hubei to Guangzhou via the early Yuehan Railway. As noon approached, some people began heading to the dining car for lunch.

Anyone who enters the dining car is immediately drawn to two people.

These are two men sitting opposite each other, and judging by their age, they are both around twenty-five or twenty-six.

The reason they attracted so much attention is simply because both of them have such unique appearances.

Both of them were wearing long gowns, one blue and one white.

The man in the blue robe had a square face, large ears, and eyes like copper bells; he was exceptionally tall. Even while seated, he was taller than many of the passersby.

(According to Bai Jing, this man was nearly two meters tall. Although he was Chinese, he had a thick beard and hair, and looked imposing, like a god descended from heaven. Such a person would naturally attract more attention than some blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners.)
The person sitting opposite him was dressed in a moon-white long gown and was about 1.8 meters tall. He wasn't exactly short, but compared to the man in the blue gown, he couldn't be considered tall.

What's striking is not the difference in height between the two people.

On the contrary, it was the man in the 'moon-white long robe' who attracted more attention than the man in the blue robe.

This person not only possessed an extraordinary demeanor, but also had features that were more refined and beautiful than those of an average woman.

(When Bai Jing got to this point, my scalp twitched for no reason, as if I had thought of something, but for a moment I couldn't concentrate on a specific point.)
Back then, even those with some wealth didn't travel by train often.

Some people come to the dining car simply to eat, while a large portion come to broaden their horizons.

So, not long after the meal service started, the food cart was already full of people.

It was under these circumstances that two more people entered the dining car.

The moment these two entered, they instantly drew everyone's attention.

Previously, most people would occasionally glance at the two men in long robes with distinctive appearances, but after the two men entered, more than two-thirds of the people fixed their gazes on them.

These two people are a man and a woman.

The man was around thirty years old and at most 1.75 meters tall.

However, his physique is definitely considered unusual by ordinary people.

He was of medium height, but his body was unusually wide, with shoulders nearly twice the width of an average person.

Although he was wearing a fashionable long gown, at first glance you could tell that this person was not a refined person. Not only did he have an unusual appearance, but he had also practiced martial arts.

The woman beside him was quite different from him.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties, and she wasn't short, probably close to 1.7 meters tall. But compared to her male companion, she looked like a petite bird.

The woman had her hair up in a bun, clearly indicating she was married. This makes it easy to guess that the two were a couple.

Compared to the man beside her, the woman attracted more attention.

That's simply because she's so beautiful.

Although dressed simply, her noble air was undeniable; her features were exquisite, like those sculpted from fine porcelain, and her skin was even more translucent and radiant than the finest white jade.

It was this stunning beauty that amazed many people, and they began to whisper among themselves.

"Who is this woman? Is she a movie actress? I've never seen her before."

"Who is this? Is he a Cantonese opera singer?"

"No way! How could I have such flawless skin if I wore too much makeup?"

……

Amid the murmurs, a voice as loud as thunder suddenly rang out.

"Brother Boqing! Over here!"

Everyone turned to look, and there stood the tall and imposing man in the blue robe, who was waving to the two people who had come from behind with a beaming smile.

(End of this chapter)