Fog City Detective

Chapter 2: John

A shutter sound echoed as Liang Xi, dressed in a graduation gown and wearing a doctoral cap, was captured in a photo on a mobile phone. Liang Xi leaned in to pick up the phone and examined the photo, sighing at the blonde girl who took the picture, "Every time I look at my photos, I'm afraid of falling in love with myself. How can someone look so handsome even in graduation photos?" Liang Xi, a former restaurant thief over a decade ago, had now completed his university studies and graduated successfully.

The blonde girl, Lucy, was speechless. "Your self-love has reached a new height."

Liang Xi responded with a smile.

Lucy looked at Liang Xi and whispered, "Hey! My family is not at home tonight."

Liang Xi, still looking at the photo, asked nonchalantly, "What? Want to invite classmates to a party?"

Lucy kicked Liang Xi and was about to say something when Liang Xi's phone rang. Liang Xi signaled to wait and answered the call, "Mary... Okay, I'll come over and sort him out."

Liang Xi hung up the phone and looked at Lucy, "Lucy, I have to go. Stay in touch, and congratulations on your graduation."

"Liang Xi!" Lucy called out, seeing that Liang Xi didn't hear, and said helplessly, "I mean, I can drive you."

Liang Xi swiftly returned to Lucy's side like the wind, pulled a wildflower with his left hand, and handed it to Lucy, "You are the most beautiful in the world."

...

Liang Xi got out of the car, closed the door, patted the window edge at the driver's seat, bid farewell to Lucy, and turned to enter a house by the roadside. In the front yard, an elderly woman who had been pruning dead branches and leaves set down her gardening tools. She approached Liang Xi and embraced him, "Liang Xi, I'm so happy to see you."

Liang Xi let go of the old woman and reminded her, "Mary, we had dinner together just last weekend. This will make John jealous."

Mary laughed heartily and patted Liang Xi on the shoulder. She was an outgoing person.

Liang Xi looked towards the living room, where old John sat on the sofa with a cup of tea and a newspaper, idling away his time. Mary looked at the living room with some helplessness. Liang Xi said, "The older a man gets, the more he resembles a child. Leave it to me. Oh, by the way, get me a clean nail puller."

Liang Xi entered the living room, saying, "Hi, John."

John didn't lift his head, "Hmm."

Liang Xi poured water, tore off a piece of notebook, folded it diagonally to create a crease, and then opened a cabinet with several medicine bottles on the counter. He poured out some capsules and pills onto the notebook. Holding the notebook in his left hand and water in his right hand, he handed the notepaper over, "Take your medicine."

John looked at the newspaper without moving, "This medicine makes me drowsy, unable to concentrate on thinking."

Liang Xi placed the pills and water and sat across from John, "John, we need to discuss the issue of taking medicine."

John put down the newspaper and took off his glasses, "How do we discuss it?"

Liang Xi asked, "You think taking medicine is not good?"

John replied, "Yes."

Liang Xi questioned, "Why?"

John said, "It makes it difficult for me to think."

Liang Xi said, "You're already 68 years old, and your mind is getting confused. Taking medicine is beneficial for your thinking."

John insisted, "No, my mind is clear, I'm very alert now."

Liang Xi said, "Okay! You understand Chinese."

John replied, "My major in college was Chinese."

Liang Xi continued, "To prove that your mind is clear, I'll give you a simple math question in Chinese. If you can answer it, I think that your mind is clear. If you can't, it means you need to take medicine."

John became interested, "Go ahead."

Mary placed tea and snacks in front of Liang Xi on the coffee table, leaning on the side table and watching the two.

Liang Xi said, "To accommodate your rusty brain, I'll speak slowly. The question is: If I, Xiao Hua, and Xiao Ming each have two apples, how many apples do we have in total?"

John, uninterested, picked up his glasses, ready to continue reading the newspaper, "Six."

Liang Xi said, "Wrong."

John was surprised, "Why?"

Liang Xi counted on his fingers, "Jia has two, I have two, Xiao Hua has two, Xiao Ming has two, a total of eight."

John asked, "If it's people?"

Liang Xi said, "Jia Ru, two apples. Jia, from Jia Baoyu in Dream of the Red Chamber, you know."

John immediately shook his head, "Language trap doesn't count, doesn't count."

Liang Xi was dissatisfied, "You're this old, you have some shame."

John still wouldn't yield, "Rephrase it, in English. There are too many traps in China."

Liang Xi nodded, "Okay, with Mary as a witness. The next question: There is a watermelon knife and three watermelons of exactly the same size in front of me, Xiao Hua, Xiao Ming, and Xiao Huang. How do you use one knife to evenly cut the watermelons?"

John was cautious, "Four people share three watermelons."

Liang Xi nodded, "Correct."

John said, "The knife can't turn, it must adhere to the principles of physics."

Liang Xi nodded again, "Correct."

John thought for a moment, "I need two knives." One knife for six pieces, two knives for twelve pieces, which could be evenly distributed among four people.

Liang Xi shook his head, "No, you only have one chance with one knife."

John asked, "Why not?"

Liang Xi said, "One knife to kill Xiao Huang."

John spat out blood, pointing to the door, "Get out."

Liang Xi was not satisfied, "Even your temper has become irritable, John. How about this? I'll give you one last question."

John said, "You give the question first."

Liang Xi said, "I read about this test in a science magazine. The mind controls a person's emotions and physical nerves. You said your mind is fine, so let's conduct a test. Learn from me, open your mouth, breathe through your mouth, keep your tongue still, and keep your hands apart at shoulder width. The key is: to lift your two thumbs vertically in this position. Stop! If you can hold it for 30 seconds without moving, I'll consider that you don't need to take medicine."

John was cautious, "You're not allowed to touch me."

Liang Xi nodded, "Of course not."

John turned to look at Mary, "Mary, you're not allowed to touch me either."

Liang Xi nodded again, "Of course not."

John said, "Good."

Liang Xi reminded, "No more nonsense."

John firmly declared, "I'm betting my Detective Rose's reputation."

Liang Xi took out his phone to prepare for timing, "When you're ready, say start."

John arranged his posture, "Start."

Liang Xi clicked on the phone to start the timer, reached out to remove a capsule, poured out the powder, took the nail puller handed over by Mary, and smashed the powder. Taking the folded note from Mary, he accurately sent the powdered medicine into John's mouth. John wanted to resist, but resistance would prove that he couldn't maintain the posture. Liang Xi was only smashing the medicine, dismantling the capsule, and did not touch John.

However, not resisting meant the medicine powder would be poured into the mouth. What to do? If he moved, he had to take the medicine; if he didn't move, he had to take the medicine.

In John's internal struggle, Liang Xi's index finger swiped across the folded part of the note, and the powdered medicine in the fold flew accurately into John's mouth. Since John couldn't move his tongue, it caused a lot of saliva to accumulate in his mouth, and when the medicine powder met the saliva, it instantly stuck and melted. A bitter taste spread from the root of the tongue to the brain. John wanted to spit out the medicine powder, but Liang Xi, with sharp eyes and quick hands, sealed his mouth with one hand and held up water with the other. John gave up resistance, took the water, and gulped down two sips, finally alleviating the strange taste of the powdered capsule.

The powdered capsule could only cause severe coughing but not suffocation.