Mingshen innocently blinked. "I wonder what you are talking about."
Jia smiled. "You have a convenient memory, don’t you? If all the clauses here are in effect, then what about the time you interfered with Danya’s rescue mission? You spooked Hao Rongjun and jeopardized the plan. You broke the very first clause."
"I was the dashing devil in Zhang Luqi’s situation though~"
"That doesn’t negate what you did before. Zhang Luqi is not compensation for Danya’s life," she glared.
He gasped. "How was it interference, Spicy? I was genuinely worried for your safety! I thought it was only prudent that I tag along as well," he sincerely nodded. "Also, my dear assistant was involved~ As a responsible Boss, how could I have left him alone?"
Her brow twitched as her lips lifted into a sneer at his shamelessness.
Huojin then asked, "So what exactly happened when Zhao Wei had shot Jia? Didn’t he break the second clause of non violent altercations?"
Mingshen sneered. "He obviously paid a very hefty monetary compensation to the police bureau. The Mafia King himself breaking the clause was damn serious. But your side toned down when they heard that he took a bullet to save Spicy at the time Jiang Zemin was taken down. So that eased the tension~"
"What about the part of you trapping me in your lab to become an organ donor?" Her eyes narrowed.
"I saved your life."
"Only to kill me again."
"I made sure for your Bureau to only focus on the first part~" he chuckled.
She gritted her teeth.
"It’s still a little hard to believe that the agreement didn’t terminate with what Zhao Wei did," Huojin genuinely gave it a thought.
Mingshen laughed. "Read it again. Even if there are violations, the contract will only halt until the issues are sorted. It won’t get terminated. After all, both sides are enjoying the benefits of this deal. Nobody wants to go back to the time when the Underworld and Bureau were always at each other’s throats. Selfish interests everywhere~"
Jia frowned. "I just feel you got a free pass to do shady things."
His cunning gaze looked at her with mischief. "So naive, Spicy. You don’t understand the ways of the world."
"Which are?"
"Clause 4. Resource and information sharing. Collaboration on specific cases. It sounds very cooperational. But if you read in between the lines then you would find the cute, hidden words beneath them~ Do you know how many times your Bureau itself has approached us to get rid of some unsavory elements that otherwise would be extremely difficult to touch by your favorite law?" He smiled meaningfully.
They said nothing. Mingshen enjoyed their expressions, his eyes twinkling with delight.
"It’s not about free passes. It’s all about selfish interests and gains."
Jia asked, "But what do you gain by not telling us about these She tattoo people?"
He shrugged. "I don’t gain anything. But I don’t see the need to inform you either. Whoever is behind this, created a smart drug supply chain and the Yang family absolutely doesn’t allow this. When that Wang drug guy and his buddies died, the voice warned me to not interfere and challenged me in my own turf. The fake nurses challenged me yet again by replicating my hospital’s ambulance. So clause 3. These people are a threat to the Underworld, therefore we will deal with them. You have no business here."
"We do have business here," her eyes squinted. "They might be a threat to you, but Huojin and I are already involved. They attacked Zhang Luqi and we don’t know why. They died before we learned anything and then Zhang Luqi’s unfortunate accident...So the investigation is not over."
Huojin grimly nodded. "We need to have some answers for Zhang Feiyu."
Mingshen tilted his head.
Jia pointed at the tab. "Clause 4? You are involved and so are we. It only makes sense to go through this together."
Even though it stings greatly...she thought with lament.
Mingshen brightened. "Of course! If Spicy is just finding ways to spend more time with me, then how can I reject your lovely request?"
"Has day dreaming become a habit for you, Mingshen? Are you not sleeping well?" She sneered.
"Well your lovely heart always comes in my dreams. I am sleeping just wonderfully~ The sleep specialist in my lab is very happy with my sleep cycle~" he winked.
"Who?"
"You might meet him soon~"
Huojin rolled his eyes. "We will never get anywhere with your bickering. Yang Mingshen, can we call the tattoo artist back? You came here to learn about the tattoo, right?"
"Not just the tattoo but the artist who is drawing them," he smiled. "Everybody in their profession has their own circle of connections."
Wen Luoyoang promptly returned. He came back cautiously, but it seemed that the air of confrontation had settled down.
Huojin cleared his throat. "Apologies for having a private discussion in your parlor."
"As long as everybody is happy," he shrugged.
Mingshen directly came to the point. "So tell me the name of the artist who is drawing this creativity on people’s necks."
They stared at him, dumbfounded. Jia said, "You have zero interrogation skills. Is that how you ask?"
Mingshen frowned. "I generally don’t ask. My scalpel does all the talking~ Oh, oh! Is that what is needed here? A little encouragement in the right direction?" His eyes sparkled.
Wen Luoyang’s mouth twitched. "...Is he possibly threatening me?"
Jia kicked his leg as she smiled at him. "He jokes a lot. We don’t appreciate it but he doesn’t understand it. Ignore."
"Nobody can just ignore the great Yang Mingshen-"
"What can you tell us about the tattoo?" She cut him off and took charge of the interrogation, a skill which Mingshen apparently lacked.
Wen Luoyang took a look at the tattoo again. "I haven’t come across this tattoo design and neither did I get any request for it. But..."
"But?" Huojin encouraged him.
He looked apprehensive. "I don’t get good vibes from this tattoo. You know, a tattoo is not just a picture you ink on your body. To people who tattoo, it’s an emotion for them. It means something precious to them. Their beliefs, their values and their story. But this She is menacing and more than that it’s just simply...saddening."