The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“Boss has already deployed people to help the police enter and search the mountain.”

Yan Si sat next to the bed peeling an apple, cutting out a slice that looked like an exploded brain. “They called the Baku person from the restaurant to go and dig up that peach tree with the police. Because it’s been quite a while, the item had sunk a bit deeper, but they really did dig out a bag of worn-down money and quite a few gemstones. The gems were confirmed to have been the ones that had gone missing from that robbery case thirty years ago.”

“Zheng Zhong Hui’s parents are the thieves then.” Li Zi Hong took the tablet and slowly read through the progress on the case, as well as some emails that others had sent. “They had planned on waiting for the news to die down before using some means to process those gemstones or change them personally before selling them off and using the cash in batches.”

After Yu Yin had found the calico bag, Yu Xia and the others had split the seams to find an old cassette tape and two small photos inside.

The cassette had been Yang Cai Qian’s recording. Although it had not been that long, it had completely explained everything that had happened that year.

Liu Guo Dong and Wang Qian Ming had both gone silent upon hearing it. Afterwards, Luo Guo Dong had requested for the lawyer to deny everything, even pointing out that the female voice in the tape was not necessarily Yang Cai Qian.

Despite this, the matter of possessing guns could still be pursued first.

Li Zi Hong opened an email attachment. It was a scan of two yellowed photographs. One of was of Zheng Zhong Hui’s entire family of four; the other was of Yang Cai Qian and a twelve or thirteen-year old Zheng Zhong Hui. Yang Cai Qian had a beautiful smile, but her expression carried a faint hint of anguish. The length of her hair was similar to the current Dong Feng, and she had a similar height too.

“Him mistaking you can count as pardonable. At first glance, his brother does look a bit like you when you were small. But if you look more closely, it isn’t similar.” After seeing the photos, Yan Si could only say that his roommate was unlucky to have shared remarkable resemblance to the other person’s little brother for no reason, leading to this whole ordeal despite being completely innocent. “But if you do the math, his younger brother should be a bit older than you if he were still alive.”

“Mn.”

While this case had not been his responsibility, Gu Wen Ying had still sent a copy of a summary to him because of their colleague relationship. With regards to Liu Guo Dong and Wang Qian Ming, the prosecutors would target them mainly under [charges of] inflicting harm and possessing guns as they continued to pursue the case. However, there was not too much hope in maintaining this case for too long. After all, with how many years had passed, there was no longer any evidence. Most of the related people had already passed away as well. The only survivor had been mentally unstable and could not provide a complete assertion. This meant that the matter might end up being left unsettled.

They were currently more focused on the chain of murders that Zheng Zhong Hui had committed in the past several years.

The mental evaluation that the examiners had done on Zheng Zhong Hui confirmed a few matters: He stressed the fact that Liu Guo Dong and Wang Qian Ming were dead, possibly because the blow had been too great that year, causing his memories of those five people to have frozen at their university ages. This was also why he had not been able to recognise the two perpetrators now that they were old, which was the reason he had used their sons as replacement many years later.

“Those two old men keep thinking from beginning to end that the other party was trying to kill them. In the end, they were regarded as complete strangers.” Yan Si chewed on an apple slice as he snorted, “The unluckiest one should be those two sons. They were uninvolved yet were forced to carry their fathers’ sins…What’s wrong?” After speaking a few words, Yan Si finally noticed that the person in the bed did not appear to be listening carefully. Rather, Li Zi Hong was staring hard at the report with a thoughtful expression.

“…I just feel like something isn’t right.” Li ZI Hong read through the report and assessment with the nagging instinct that this was not everything. However, whenever he tried to ponder it carefully, his head would begin to hurt again.

“You should just be good and act like a patient. Your parents made me promise them that by the time they arrive, they’ll see a lively son. Don’t throw me under the bus.” Actually, Yan Si could tell that something was off with a general look too. However, Yan Si was not in the mood to go stir up more work. He was still on vacation at the moment.

“Isn’t Zheng Zhong Hui going to come?” In reality this was not the best, but he had reached a consensus with Yu Xia. He felt that this trip was necessary, so Yu Xia had arranged for the trip and would likely arrive soon. Li ZI Hong glanced at the time and turned off the tablet.

“Should be soon.” Yan Si had received this news too, but he was actually very opposed to it. “That guy still stubbornly claims that you’re his little brother. This kind of face-to-face is too dangerous.”

“I think that if the two Officer Yu’s are present, there shouldn’t be any actual risk of danger.” Speaking of danger, Li Zi Hong didn’t think there was any need for concern at all. Yu Xia had stated very clearly that Zheng Zhong Hui had a violent tendency, so he and Yu Tong would be present the entire time. They would also bring the necessary manpower and some prosecutors. In that case, Zheng Zhong Hui would probably in the one in more danger.

And these matters had to be straightened out sooner or later. Continuing like this would not be good.

Yan Si, who was still standing on the opposite side, let out a grunt as he picked up his phone to receive a text.

“Seems like they’re here.”

***

It was Yu Tong and Yu Xia that brought Zheng Zhong Hui over in custody. Xiao Wu and a senior team member were brought along too, and there were also staff positioned outside the door as contingency. In addition, there was a prosecutor delegate sent out with them.

Zheng Zhong Hui appeared to know his place, and even looked a bit happy.

Li ZI Hong truly felt a bit conflicted when he saw the other person. “I’m not your younger brother; you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” He figured that letting Zheng Zhong Hui believe they were brothers would definitely be a significant help to the case, but this method was wrong and had to be corrected sooner or later. “I heard about the matter regarding the leg injury. That wound is from when I went hiking in senior high. My hiking group had a newbie that wasn’t familiar with the path and slid down the slope as a result. When everyone pulled him back up together, I accidentally slipped and ended up getting cut. It’s all a misunderstanding.”

Zheng Zhong Hui stared at him for a while. Then an incomprehensible expression formed on his face as he finally stated after a moment of silence, “I know.”

“Oh? So simple?” Yan Si raised a brow in slight surprise from his seat nearby.

“You just need to know that I will definitely protect you.” Zheng Zhong Hui ignored the stranger off to the side and sincerely stated, “No matter what you do.”

“What…” Li Zi Hong was dumbstruck for a second. Just as he was about to ask what that meant, the other person already went on ahead to talk about something else.

“Our Xu family only has one rule: to protect their own family members forever,” Zheng Zhong Hui earnestly said.

Li Zi Hong pondered this for a few seconds, then somewhat hesitantly replied, “Although we do not share any blood, you can come find me for help whenever you need to or are in trouble once all of this is over.”

Zheng Zhong Hui simply nodded without speaking further.

Li Zi Hong broke the silence as he reached out a hand. “Please promise me that we will have another chance to drink tea together in the future, just like we did a few days ago.”

Yu Xia patted Zheng Zhong Hui’s shoulder.

Zheng Zhong Hui glanced around at everyone present, then stretched his hand out to grab Li Zi Hong’s.

“Ok.”

Afterwards, the investigation continued per procedure.

The various pieces of evidence collected from that alleyway all proved that Liu Guo Dong and Wang Qian Ming had been there. The gun and the bullet completely matched as well. The incident of Li Zi Hong being attacked was pretty much set.

As for Yang Cai Qian’s recording, the two still flatly denied it, even accusing that the recording might have been fabricated – that without any proof o murder, it could not be believed. Liu Guo Dong also claimed that he had secretly dated Yan Cai Qian in university before too, so it was very possible that she had created this fake tape to frame them as part of revenge.

Then once the lawyer showed up, they remained silent to let the lawyer deal with everything and defend them.

The lawyer called Zheng Zhong Hui into question, as there was much room for dispute whether with regards to the suspicion of murder or his mental state. After all, it was suspected that these two people’s sons had been killed by Zheng Zhong Hui. And Zheng Zhong Hui’s criminal record in addition to the attack had really forced them to respond so excessively. If this was the reason for Li Zi Hong to get caught in the wave, it was just an accidental mistake. They focused on the matters related to inflicting harm, saying that they were willing to pay compensation to settle that account, along with [the case of] Yu and Dong Feng too.

The media continued to broadcast this case non-stop, and the buzz persisted.

***

That wasn’t him.

That was…

He remembered. That time, that day, because he had been playing around at a nearby stream in the evening, he had caught a fever after returning home. He had been a bit dizzy, and his parents had lectured him in exasperation while giving him a fever-reducer. They had told him to be good and sleep in bed, that they would bring him down the mountain the next morning to see a doctor.

It was night when he had suddenly woken up.

In their household, any sickness had meant going to see a doctor and getting candy for a few days – having candy while eating bitter medicine. Sometimes, his mom would even slice apples.

He had suddenly felt that it would be good if he could be sick for just a bit longer.

So while there had appeared to be guests in their home, he had grabbed a jacket and secretly crawled out the window, happily running off to sit under the wind in the secret little house that his dad had built for them. That way, he could get a bit sicker and then grab some more candy.

If he got a bit more, he could split it into three: one portion for himself, one portion for his little brother, and one portion to keep in the small house so that they could sneakily eat it when they were hungry.

Then he had fallen asleep. Not much time had passed before he had coughed awake from his runny nose.

It’s too late, I have to hurry back. I can go see the doctor tomorrow.

When he had been standing in front of the tightly shut front door, he had heard screams – from his parents, from many strangers. From the crack in the window next to him, he had watched a stranger tightly clutch his mom’s neck. His mom had struggled, but her hands and feet had been pressed down by the other strangers. Then she had started to shake, and finally, she had stopped, never to move again.

The group of strangers had been on the other side. His dad had been lying there with a scarf tied around his neck. That had been a scarf that his mom had bought from out of the mountain; apparently, it had been brought back from the distant Taipei.

Those strangers had been wearing twisted, demonic faces, both the girls and the boys. They had all looked terrifying, like true demons.

He had only been able to turn and run away. He had wanted to escape to his little brother’s secret base, since he knew that his little brother would be there too.

That place had been a narrow space left behind from after a house had been extended. His dad had originally been using it as a place for the pipelines, but since he had later built a bathroom, that place no longer had any use. However, his dad had been too lazy to tear down the walls again, saying that they would move to a larger house later, so he had casually used some extra windows to cover the ugly parts.

His little brother would love hiding here whenever they played hide-n-seek, since adults could not fit inside. He would always come to this place whenever he got into a fight with their parents.

He had to protect his little brother.

There were demons everywhere that would eat him and his little brother.

When he had crawled into the bathroom, he had caught a whiff of a stench. Without thinking much about it, he had felt around in the dark to turn on the small light bulb hanging down inside. The light bulb had already been nearly burned out and was very dim, making it hard to see anything clearly.

He had wiped his snot away with his sleeve, then carefully pushed the window open. In that instant, he had seen a black head hanging upside down. An arm had extended outwards as crimson eyes had glared at him through the darkness.

He had already forgotten what he had been feeling at that moment.

There had been loud bangs of slamming doors everywhere. He had hugged himself and curled up into the corner, unable to move. That black head had never shifted its gaze away in the dark.

He had not really dared to look.

He had covered his head and heard someone whisper into his ear, separating him from the sound of knocking on the door.

—They should die.

—Remember these people, remember these faces, remember these demons forever.

—I will kill them.

“…No, that’s wrong, my little brother…need to first protect my little brother…”

—Kill them.

“…Must protect my little brother…”

—I will bring you to kill everyone.

“…Must’ve been brought away, have to find him…”

—I will protect you.

“I will protect my little brother.”

Then, the operation had begun.

***

When Zheng Zhong Hui awoke, the room was still pitch-black.

It had already been a long time since he had slept so deeply. Ever since he had started hearing the whispers, it had been basically impossible to sleep well; he had often woken up with a start in the middle of the night from nightmares. Since re-finding his little brother, he had been able to get good sleep for a period of time. However, the whispers had then re-appeared, and his life had returned to how it had been before.

But it will probably stay like this now.

His heart was already calm.

“Want to sleep some more?”

There was someone sitting next to his bed. Probably someone from the hospital? Before he slept, they would always check in. Apparently it was to confirm his condition so that he could be handed back to the police when possible.

“Your little brother is already safe.” The person sitting next to him said in a light tone. “I asked you this question before at the very beginning. Once your little brother was safe, you would have to protect him even more, right?”

Ah, so it’s this person.

He remembered that this person had helped him several times before. Although they weren’t a friend, they weren’t an enemy to people like him either.

When they had been attacked by those two people, this person had also come to save them, driving them away in secret and bringing them to hide and safely avoid those two.

This person was just that way: not an enemy, someone that could benefit mutually.

“He’s safe…he even made a promise with me. I’ll properly cooperate with the police and then properly confess.” Once everything was over, he would definitely be able to meet his brother again. At that point, it would undoubtedly be nothing like now. Although he did not know how serious these alleged crimes would be, and had the vague feeling that being locked in might mean possibly never coming back out, he would still turn his promise into reality.

Even if he could not come back out, his little brother had promised to come see him without fail.

He looked forward to it very much.

He still had many things he wanted to tell his little brother: things about when they were young, things about their parents, where his favourite things were hidden. Plus, that person had said they would bring photos. He really wanted to see photos from when his little brother was growing up.

“But you’re still here.” The person next to him chuckled, interrupting his thoughts. “Those outsiders will definitely attack your little brother again, won’t they? They don’t understand anything; they’ll just say that your brother is covering for you, just like before. They’ll continue to attack on any basis.”

Zheng Zhong Hui stared into the darkness. “Yes…those outsiders will always be like that. Greedy, insatiable.” He had seen those newspapers, those weekly publications, those repulsive attackers’ faces.

“So people like us still need to do things to protect him more.”

Zheng Zhong Hui nodded in comprehension. “Yes, my little brother is doing very well right now. Only one last thing remains to be done.”

Since that moment, he had always been tracking his little brother’s whereabouts, knowing that the latter had grown up with parents and attended a very good university. From looking into the various schools, he had learned more about his brother’s past life. It was the complete opposite from his – an extremely peaceful and amazing life.

Thus, he knew what he had to do next.

The most important thing in his life was to protect his little brother, to let his little brother continue walking down that bright path.

The last thing he could do was to make sure his little brother would not suffer other attacks from these people.

He truly loved his little brother very much, loved his only family.

He longed for his family not to ever return to that world. Living in this place now was the best for his brother.

He was really excited to meet his little brother again. However, he could not be so selfish, could not let those personal wishes cause his little brother to be attacked by those outsiders again.

It was time for it to end.

“You have five minutes’ time.”

The person sitting next to him stood and retreated into the darkness.

He stood up in the dark and heard whispers in the ice-cold air. However, they were no longer as clear as before. It was mostly impossible to discern what the words were; he could only sense the vexation and pleading.

“Don’t worry, I’m about to go and be together with you.”

After this, he would sleep for a very long time. And this time, he would not need to worry about being woken by nightmares.

And then, everything would reach its conclusion.

***

He was half-awake, with the feeling that someone was standing next to his bed.

Then the other person lightly patted his shoulder, murmuring some words as if to comfort him, before turning and vanishing from existence.

He recalled that before sleeping, he had heard Yan Si mention dropping by work or something. It was unlikely he would have returned so quickly.

“Do you like apples or pears more?”

He suddenly jolted awake. Right when he was about to press the alarm bell next to him, the person stopped his movements. A frigid item pressed down on his wrists in the darkness, along with equally cold words. “Fruit knives are used for cutting fruit. Don’t interest me into using it to cut something else.”

“How did you get in?” While all the related suspects for this case had been captured, Yu Xia had still had apprehensions about safety and had left personnel outside to stand guard. Li Zi Hong could already imagine the scene of guards being disciplined.

“As long as one sets their mind to it, nothing is actually as difficult as imagine it to be, no?” The visitor pulled back the knife to sit in the darkness and actually start slicing fruit. The scent of the apple wafted through the cold air. “Motivation driven by dedication to family isn’t weak at all. You’ve already experienced this deeply, haven’t you.”

Li Zi Hong slowly sat up without being stopped midway this time. He could not clearly see the person next to him either. “What exactly is your objective?” During the past few days, the chief prosecutor had dropped by too and given him advance notice about the information of the case, including that finger.

“Hm…actually, some part of it could be said as having the intention to work together a bit with the police and community? With the premise that I might not be a good and honest citizen…This apple’s quality isn’t bad at all. Want a slice?”

Li Zi Hong somewhat speechlessly accepted the passed over fruit. After a moment’s contemplation, Li Zi Hong asked, “Is that finger also from someone you killed?”

“Oh, I guess you can consider it as such. But you guys should be thanking me for that one. When that woman’s companion broke in for a robbery, I caught them red-handed. Originally, a family of three would have died to go on the society register. Now it should be easier for you to deal with. I’ve tossed the body somewhere; I’ll send you a confirmed location when I’m in a better mood.” The visitor chewed the apple slice in his hand as he lightly said, “I also helped look into things for you guys. That woman ran away from home long ago. Her parents are divorced; her mother cut relations with them after remarrying, and her father is a drug addict. There’s no one caring for her, so don’t worry too much about anyone waiting to ask about her.”

“Do you think you’re an envoy of justice?”

“Not at all. I already said it at the very beginning. I don’t have any particular intention of helping others; it’s just that this woman happened to also be someone I was looking for and coincidentally blocked my path, so I just cleaned things up while I was at it. If you don’t eat soon, it’ll oxidize, which would be a waste of fresh fruit.” The visitor continued his casual banter as he added, “You have to accept others’ goodwill. I can only tell you some other things as you eat.”

Li Zi Hong honestly could not figure out what kind of act the other was trying to pull, so he could only start slowly eating the apple slice.

“I’m searching for several people. While you guys are pursuing me, you might cross some of them…or rather, it would be right if you guys directly faced against them. A few are on your list of names, you’re just not aware of it yet.”

“Is it an organisation?” After a moment’s pause, Li Zi Hong frowned as he recalled the organisation from Ye Huan En’s matter.

“Half are, the other half isn’t your problem but a personal grudge of mine.” The visitor stopped for a few seconds before continuing, “I don’t have any use for this bag of items, so I’ll just gift it to you guys. It was what that little girl delinquent used to rob the residence.”

Li Zi Hong felt something somewhat heavy placed on his legs, as well as some loose objects. He would have to wait until the light was on before inspecting them.

“As an exchange for the present, you should also help keep a bit of a look-out. I’ve promised someone to find a person that’s around the age of that student Yu Yin…their gender is unknown, and in the future, it’s very likely that they will get mixed in with those organisations. Regardless of whether you’re arresting or shooting, don’t make any moves against targets that age. I need the person alive…if they die, I can’t say what I’ll end up doing.”

Hearing the visitor next to him stand up, Li Zi Hong immediately pulled his blanket off to stand as well. However, he was immediately held down. “What kind of person is it? Do they have any special significance?”

The visitor chuckled. “Do you think Zheng Zhong Hui is very pitiful?”

“What?” Li Zi Hong was taken aback as he asked this in confusion.

“Although he’s very pitiful, he is not the only one with that type of bitter experience. There are people everywhere searching for those that they have lost, isn’t that so?”

The hand on his shoulder retreated with the visitor to enter the darkness completely. Li Zi Hong immediately pressed the alarm bell, then heard the other person’s faint voice. “Zheng Zhong Hui’s original name is Xu Zi Guo. His younger brother is called Xu Zi Hong. There was a reason why he repeatedly mistook your identity. You and I both know the ultimate ending this kind of person will have, and you can no longer stop it. This person eventually had to pay the price for what he has done, which is also something that I was entrusted to help with. I’ve now finished what I was supposed to do. You should put his original name on his tombstone to pay tribute to him.”

When the lights lit up, Su Zhang had vanished without a trace.

The officers that entered did not see anything.

Li Zi Hong stood by his bed. His shoulder wound and head both hurt significantly, the pain so intense that he could not hear the officers’ inquiries, nor their calling for support after finding a gun.

With shaking hands, he picked up the phone to call Yu Xia.

He had always known that something might happen to a person like Zheng Zhong Hui. Even if the possibility was miniscule, he still had not wanted to use the other’s misunderstanding to help support the case investigation, so it had been necessary to correct Zheng Zhong Hui’s awareness as quickly as possible.

They had never had an overlap. Everything had been a mere coincidence.

When the line connected, he heard a loud jumble of background noise from the other end.

Yu Xia directly stated the current situation without concealing anything, likely because he knew the purpose of Li Zi Hong calling at this time.

“Prosecutor Li, are you alright? Prosecutor Li?”

Sometimes, it was truly impossible for one to know the night could pass so slowly, yet the day could come so quickly.

—Zheng Zhong Hui had hung himself using the bedsheets.

***

It was early morning when Dong Feng’s doorbell went off like crazy. When he opened the door with a foul face, he saw Yu Yin.

After the case had mostly ended with all the people caught, there had been no need for him to cooperate with Yu Xia and the others anymore. Thus, he had directly packed his things to return to his own home. This time, even the violet-eyed one could not stop him.

Since coming home, he had not even gotten the chance to get some proper rest before this guy had appeared again to disturb him.

“Zheng Zhong Hui’s dead.” When Yu Yin had seen the news flash earlier this morning, he had only felt his mind go blank. Because he hadn’t wanted Yu, his dad, or his uncle to worry, he had pretended to rush out the door for school. Not knowing who to find to talk about this matter, he had aimlessly wandered around and unconsciously driven over to this area.

“…” Dong Feng moved aside to let Yu Yin in, then quietly walked to the kitchen to rinse the water kettle that had not been used for a long time. He placed it on the stove to boil water.

Recently, these meddlesome people had bought quite a few things to stuff into his home, so he opened the cabinet and found some cans of instant drinks. After some thought, he took down some cocoa and opened the package.

“Zheng Zhong Hui’s little brother said that I caused his death.” Although Zheng Zhong Hui had not yet died at the time, Yu Yin now knew that even if the little brother had already deformed into that kind of thing, it had undoubtedly been protecting Zheng Zhong Hui. If it were not for Yu Yin chasing it away, Zheng Zhong Hui might have still been alive and well now.

If I hadn’t strengthened Zheng Zhong Hui’s misunderstanding, that person probably would not have committed suicide.

When he had stepped outside his house earlier, Yu Yin had spotted the black body standing right in front of him. The small and weak darkness had roared at him, screamed at him, crimson tears pouring down from crimson eyes.

It was from that moment that the black figure had already transformed into something else, a warped darkness that would truly never revert to its original form.

Even if Zheng Zhong Hui had been standing there, he would not have been able to tell what it was.

He had not had any idea what it was.

“It was all my fault.” Yu Yin forcefully rubbed his eyes, feeling deep regret. If he had known things would turn out like this, he would have rather not said anything back then, not driven it away.

“It has nothing to do with you.” Dong Feng placed the steaming cup on the table and indifferently stated, “In reality, the one that steered this direction was me. You don’t need to think too much about it. For the sake of making the investigation easier, I had directed his perception towards this from the beginning. I had already personally assessed the risks and knew that his chances of committing suicide might have increased as a result. However, I still gave him that notebook. You were just accidentally caught in the middle; you didn’t influence very much.”

“But I…”

“The dead bodies that the police will find will be much more than they had estimated.” Dong Feng picked up his own cup and blankly began to drink it slowly. “From the start, that story was a combination of multiple stories. I realised immediately back then that it was highly probable for there to be more than five deceased. This process has completely confirmed this. He might have killed at least ten people. The mascara and the sandals covered in accessories in the story are all descriptions of more recent products. The victims couldn’t have possibly put make-up on the killers—aside from Yang Cai Qian. Therefore, the greatest likelihood is that the people in the story are not the same group of people as the actual killers, but rather many different groups. There might have also been some groups of two that were killed. In the past dozen or so years, he’s probably used various methods to approach quite a few people around the same age.”

Yu Yin was dumbstruck as he blankly stared at his friend that seemed to be describing a meaningless story.

“The ‘It wasn’t me, it was that person’ in the story indicates that it was no longer the first time for him to be certain it was ‘that person’. The guilt and the pleading to be saved couldn’t have been directed at the very first killers, which means he knew they weren’t the same batch of people…These past years, Zheng Zhong Hui has always been trapped deep in his disordered memories, constantly…killing similar people to fill in for that twistedness. However, he actually knew from the bottom of his heart that some were innocent, which is why they pleaded for mercy in the story. The reason he told the person at the restaurant about this so many years later is likely because he had hoped the other would discover this matter to do something. Unfortunately, nothing happened.” Dong Feng turned his face away and slowly walked over to the nearby window as he coldly continued, “Because of everything I just mentioned, I determined that it was necessary to use the most effective method to quickly resolve this related matter as quickly as possible. The most effective solution was to mistakenly lead him into acknowledging and deepening his feelings towards my senior. That way, he would start to cooperate and stop attacking. Moreover, it’s undeniable that he needed to take responsibility for those people’s deaths. Although this kind of conclusion is slightly regretful, I do not think there is any need to carry a guilty conscience about using this means.”

Yu Yin felt his body turn cold as he stared at the other person’s back. “…Are you serious when you say these things?”