Su Xingtong gave a soft “mhm.” “I don’t have his contact information, but Jinghan… he might have a way to find him. I’ll give you Jinghan’s contact info.”
Mo Junyi shook his head. “I’ll just call Lu Hengyu directly.”
Saying this, he took out his phone and dialed Lu Hengyu right in front of Su Xingtong.
Su Xingtong stood by, completely unprepared. As soon as the call connected, he heard Mo Junyi’s first words: “Lu Hengyu, I sent you to my house to fix a showerhead—what kind of nonsense gossip were you spreading to people?”
Su Xingtong suddenly looked up at Mo Junyi, his eyes filled with disbelief. Mo Junyi didn’t look away, instead meeting his gaze unblinkingly.
Coming to his senses, Su Xingtong quickly felt embarrassed. But he was also terrified that Lu Hengyu would blurt out the morning’s conversation; he was stuck between being mortified and curious, not knowing whether to turn away or keep listening.
Fortunately, the “sentence” was passed down quickly. Lu Hengyu, knowing he was in the wrong, recounted the morning’s events to Mo Junyi truthfully. “…It was nothing, just a slip of the tongue. Didn’t I run into a certain someone at your house six months ago…”
Mo Junyi was speechless as he listened, wanting nothing more than to grab Lu Hengyu and give him a beating.
Since they were standing close, Lu Hengyu’s muffled voice leaked out from the phone. Su Xingtong was dying of embarrassment, staring at the office floor wishing he could find a crack to bury himself in.
“That person was the family member of a victim from my case at the time. When are you going to drain the water out of your brain?” Mo Junyi said coldly. “Never mind, I’ll settle the score with you later. …Where is that Young Master Li of yours? Put him on the phone, I have something to say to him.”
Lu Hengyu wanted to ask why he wanted to talk to Li Jinghan, but Mo Junyi replied impatiently, “It’s related to a case.”
Lu Hengyu was startled but obediently handed the phone to Li Jinghan.
“Hello.” Li Jinghan’s voice was very much like his personality—gentle and refined, yet with a hint of coolness. “This is Li Jinghan. Is there something I can help you with?”
Mo Junyi glanced at Su Xingtong beside him and got straight to the point. “Hello, do you have a way to contact Qi Ying?”
The previously well-spoken Li Jinghan suddenly went quiet. If it hadn’t been for Lu Hengyu’s worried voice coming through the other end, Mo Junyi would have thought he had hung up.
“What’s wrong? What did my brother say to you?” Lu Hengyu’s muffled voice came through from the background.
“Just some minor things, I’ll tell you later.” With that, Li Jinghan turned back to Mo Junyi. “Is there a reason you’re looking for him?”
“We suspect he is involved in a murder case,” Mo Junyi stated flatly.
He didn’t provide specific details of the case, but with Li Jinghan’s intelligence, he reacted quickly. “A murder case? Could it be that yesterday’s incident wasn’t… is Xingtong okay?”
Mo Junyi looked at the man beside him. “He is right here with me.”
Su Xingtong looked as if he wanted to say something to Li Jinghan but hesitated.
Li Jinghan was silent for a moment on the other end before providing an address. “I haven’t been in contact with him for a long time either. This is his residence, but I’m not sure if he still lives there. He has several fake identities in private; I’ll organize the information and send it to you.”
“Good, sorry for the trouble,” Mo Junyi replied. “However, I might need to trouble you to personally come to the police station this afternoon.”
Su Xingtong widened his eyes in disbelief, while Li Jinghan on the other end sounded unsurprised. “Alright.”
After hanging up, Li Jinghan quickly sent various pieces of information regarding Qi Ying to Mo Junyi’s phone. Mo Junyi gave it a quick scan and forwarded everything to the National Security Bureau, asking them to help check for anyone matching those identities.
“Do you have plans this afternoon?” After finishing this, Mo Junyi looked up and asked Su Xingtong.
Su Xingtong shook his head. “The director is still inside, and filming has been suspended for now. I should be free.”
Mo Junyi nodded. “Then please stay here for a while. When your friend arrives this afternoon, there might be some questions the team needs to ask both of you.”
Su Xingtong had no objections and agreed quietly.
Having settled these matters, Mo Junyi finally had the chance to focus on the lunch box in his arms. Liu Minghua, who had been listening to the whole process, couldn’t help but urge him, “Open it up, quickly.”
Prompted by her, Mo Junyi also felt a sliver of curiosity. Seeing their focus, Su Xingtong felt a bit embarrassed. “It’s nothing special, just a normal working lunch…”
Before his words could land, Mo Junyi lifted the lid. Inside, two steaks were neatly arranged, the sauce on top still steaming. Beside them, a small compartment held baked lobster with cheese; the rich aroma of cheese mixed with the sweet scent of lobster drifted out. The investigators discussing the case nearby went silent instantly.
Liu Minghua’s eyes widened in shock. Mo Junyi, ignoring the surrounding stares, lifted the top layer only to find more hidden underneath—the middle two layers contained rice and various fruits and vegetables, while the bottom layer was a stew of fish maw and soft-shell turtle.
“Wow,” Liu Minghua voiced the internal thoughts of everyone present dryly. “Team Mo, I’ve heard that turtle soup is quite… nourishing.”
Unlike what one might expect, because criminal investigators deal with high-intensity work, their private banter is often much more “colorful” than that of regular officers. The people around immediately caught the implication, but since they didn’t have Liu Minghua’s guts to joke to Mo Junyi’s face, they merely coughed and looked away—at most exchanging knowing glances with colleagues.
Su Xingtong stood there for a moment before realizing what they meant, and his face turned bright red instantly. Mo Junyi gave Liu Minghua a pointed look; she immediately stood straight, saluted, and slipped away with her own food.
Even though it was winter, Su Xingtong felt incredibly hot. He didn’t know whether to stay or leave. He stood with his gaze lowered for a moment before finally finding a topic: “The food is going to get cold.”
Mo Junyi felt, for no apparent reason, that the person before him was like a cat. When he first met him, the man’s attitude—while not exactly arrogant—was exceptionally cold and glamorous. Combined with that face, he had an aura of being the most stunning flower even in the entertainment industry.
But now that they were familiar, Su Xingtong was like a domestic cat whose fur had been smoothed. He was reluctantly trying to be nice to Mo Junyi but was unwilling to show it overtly, only showing some affection with dignified restraint as a sign of recognizing their friendship.
The more Mo Junyi thought about it, the more appropriate the comparison seemed, and his gaze toward Su Xingtong softened.
“Mhm, I’ll eat right now.”
The steak was tender and juicy—not quite at the level of a professional restaurant, but not far off either. The cheese was savory and the lobster sweet; the hot, rich texture stimulated the taste buds, providing a sensory experience on par with some Japanese restaurants. The fish maw and turtle soup were even better—the fish maw was stewed to a soft, flavorful perfection, and there was plenty of turtle meat, especially the high-quality calipash. The springy texture of the collagen paired with the rich broth left a lingering fragrance with every sip.
Usually, to get back to work quickly, Mo Junyi ate very fast. But today, he couldn’t help but slow down.
Su Xingtong watched him from the side. Mo Junyi was eating while holding the lunch box; ordinarily, this posture wouldn’t be considered elegant, but with that meal in his hands, it somehow looked sophisticated.
Thinking of his cousin Lu Hengyu’s family background, Su Xingtong lowered his gaze, feeling an inexplicable sense of the gap between them. Mo Junyi caught Su Xingtong’s dampened spirit out of the corner of his eye and found a topic. “Your company’s benefits are quite good.”
Su Xingtong snapped out of it and nodded. “This is the only thing worth looking at.”
In reality, he had paid for this lunch and asked the kitchen to make it specifically. After all, having lived and eaten at Mo Junyi’s house for free for so many days, it felt wrong not to show some appreciation.
Mo Junyi didn’t know the story behind the meal. Hearing this, his eyes flickered. “Is the company not good to you?”
Su Xingtong hadn’t expected the question. He froze for a moment before saying with a hint of bitterness, “It’s just ‘like that.’ Between an entertainment company and an artist, how ‘good’ can it really be?”