S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 5: Chapter 21

The Doppelganger Killer 21 - Past Events

Perhaps because he had no memories of that time, Bai Jintang's memories were very clean and simple. Very few people entered his life; as for children, there was probably only his younger brother Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

He remembered being released from the sterile room and seeing Bai Yutang for the very first time with vivid clarity. The little guy was only this big back then, impossibly cute, and would cling to him, calling him older brother in a sticky, affectionate way. Naturally, he grew very fond of him. Later on, he discovered that Zhan Zhao from next door always came over too. The two little things were inseparable, calling him older brother together, which made things even more interesting. After he left, the younger brother in his memories was still that roly-poly little creature, but when he came back to take a look a few years later, he found that his younger brother had suddenly grown up a lot.

Bai Jintang's relationship with the Bai family was very poor. To use Bao Zheng's words, it was as if the members of the Bai family were tigers, while Bai Jintang was a wolf—carrying a certain bandit-like aura that the elders of the Bai family deeply tabooed. But Bai Yutang was the sole exception. He would still obediently call him eldest brother, listening to his every word and occasionally acting a little spoiled, which was why Bai Jintang doted on him.

When he was in middle school, Bai Jintang came back to see Bai Yutang and found that he liked practicing combat sports. So, he hired a few experts to teach him. Practicing was always a good thing; not only could he protect himself, but he could also protect the person he liked. Half a year later, Bai Yutang knocked down everyone who had come to teach him and "returned the goods," asking, "Brother, how much money did you spend hiring them? They're so fragile, can I get a refund?"

During high school, Bai Yutang developed a fascination with shooting. When Bai Jintang came back for a visit, he introduced him to a good shooting range and gave him a few guns, simply saying, "Don't let people know. Getting your aim right is always a good thing, and you're going to be a policeman in the future anyway." Once Bai Yutang mastered the use of the firearms, he "returned the goods" again, saying, "Brother, I'm going to live in the dorms. It's not safe to leave these at home, and the old man is definitely going to flip if he finds out."

Around his university years, Bai Jintang came back yet again and bought Bai Yutang his first car, telling him not to just stay cooped up at school when he had free time, but to take Zhan Zhao along and go see places further away. Bai Yutang spent three years driving that car until it was completely totaled, turned around, and said, "Brother, this thing is way too slow. I'm going to go fly airplanes." And so, he went off to become a pilot.

After returning from military service, Bai Yutang went ahead and followed the Bai family's wishes to become a police officer without a single shred of resistance. In his heart, Bai Jintang had always been deeply baffled. This younger brother of his was good at everything—whether it was literary talent or martial prowess, whatever he did he was a phoenix among men. Why on earth did he have to go be a cop? It was dangerous and troublesome. He certainly didn't believe in any of that "upholding justice and eliminating evil" nonsense; he only wanted his one and only younger brother to live happily and joyfully. But Bai Yutang had merely tossed out a casual remark: "Doesn't matter what I do." And so, Bai Jintang bought him the most top-of-the-line sports car—one that could drive like the wind and truly match his younger brother—because he simply couldn't bear to watch him drive those suffocating, cramped police cars. It was only later that he realized Bai Yutang hadn't compromised himself for the sake of the family at all, but rather because of Zhan Zhao.

Ever since they were very young, Bai Jintang knew that Bai Yutang was no ordinary person. The most unusual thing about him was that he had grown up, yet he would never let you know what was truly going on. No one understood what he was actually thinking inside—except for Zhan Zhao, of course.

Lifting his gaze to look at the younger brother standing right across from him—who was now just as tall as he was—Bai Yutang asked in a deep, steady voice, "What do you mean by saying you're also a member of the Leonard family?"

Bai Jintang let out a dry laugh. It was impossible for a person to completely conceal their true nature forever, and Bai Yutang was no exception. The people of the Bai family were all tigers, except that by this generation, both brothers were wolves!

"Cuff him first! Wrestling with this guy is a lot of work!" Bai Jintang glanced down at the bearded man still struggling in his grip.

Bai Yutang stood in place without moving, until Zhan Zhao by his side reached out and gave him a tug. "What are you in such a rush for?"

Turning his gaze to look at Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang deflated a bit, but the piercing, oppressive hostility from just moments before faded away. He reached to his waist, took out a pair of handcuffs, slapped them onto the bearded man, and called Ma Han and Zhao Hu to drive over and haul the guy back.

Watching Bai Yutang calm down in an instant, Bai Jintang said nothing further. He simply lit a cigarette and shifted his gaze, intentionally or otherwise, toward Zhan Zhao on the side. Unsurprisingly, Zhan Zhao was staring right back at him, as if trying to decipher what was truly hidden at the bottom of his heart.

As for Zhan Zhao, Bai Jintang had liked him immensely from the very first moment he laid eyes on him. Aside from his cute appearance and well-behaved nature, the most important thing was that his heart was entirely and completely devoted to Bai Yutang. He doted on Bai's White even more than the elders of the Bai family did, and served as the tranquilizer that kept Bai Yutang consistently composed, calm, and confident.

Bai Jintang had also wondered at times: with Zhan Zhao's intelligence and scholarship, he could easily have had a much better life. Why would he waste his intellect staying in such a small police precinct? He could completely have sought out a much larger stage. When questioned on this, Zhan Zhao's reply was far more playful than Bai Yutang's—the most formidable people don't necessarily need a specific stage; wherever they walk becomes their stage. From that moment on, Bai Jintang looked at this gentle scholar in a completely different light. The trait he shared most with Bai Yutang was that they both chose to expand their own hearts, making the world feel vast in return. They could live and apply their talents anywhere, and the most crucial thing was that they remained brimming with faith and confidence, optimistic enough to find fulfillment just by looking at each other. That was far more practical than the concept of success recognized by worldly eyes.

Once Wang Chao and Ma Han hauled the bearded man away in a prisoner transport vehicle that looked like an armored car, the three of them finally shifted their attention back to one another.

Bai Yutang stared at Bai Jintang with a fair amount of tension, as if afraid he might drop some earth-shattering revelation. Bai Jintang was genuinely amused because he could see that Bai Yutang's eyes held only worry rather than suspicion or displeasure—just like how he and Zhan Zhao would always jokingly call themselves the Mafia, yet never truly suspected him of having committed actual evil deeds.

"What do you want me to say?" Bai Jintang stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, deciding to tease Bai Yutang a little. "Do we not need to step into an interrogation room? If you question me like this, I have the right to remain silent."

Sure enough, a trace of anxiety flickered across Bai Yutang's face. Before he could open his mouth, he heard Zhan Zhao chime in from beside him, "Why is Big Brother being so formal? White didn't mean it like that at all! If Big Brother refuses to talk, there's nothing he can do about it anyway, right?"

Bai Jintang shook his head. If Bai Yutang was a rigid saber, then Zhan Zhao was a soft blade. From certain perspectives, Zhan Zhao's sense of justice was far weaker than Bai Yutang's. Zhan Zhao had his own theories, way of thinking, and personal code of justice. Rather than upholding justice, his work was more about seeing through human nature and protecting Bai Yutang to the absolute maximum extent possible. The displeasure on Zhan Zhao's face wasn't because he suspected Bai Jintang might be a bad guy, but rather because Bai Jintang might have kept secrets from Bai Yutang.

"It's not as complicated as you two are imagining." Bai Jintang wanted to light another cigarette, but Bai Yutang snatched it away from him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Bai Jintang rubbed the bridge of his nose and slowly began, "I joined the Leonard family under circumstances where I had no idea what was going on."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang startled, exchanged a glance, and turned back to look at Bai Jintang, waiting for him to continue.

"This matter goes back to the period right after I first arrived in Italy." Bai Jintang leaned against the car and said, "Around that time... probably when I was eighteen or nineteen, I came home a bit late from work and saw two factions fighting at a street corner. A whole group was ganging up on a single young man... and that person was Leonard, whom you just saw."

"So Big Brother went to help?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Jintang raised an eyebrow. "Leonard was very young back then, and he looked quite scholarly. Plus, from a distance, he had black hair and looked somewhat Chinese. Seeing a crowd bullying someone outnumbered, I went over and lent a hand."

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang—you definitely take after him on that; whenever you see a fight, you always help the underdog.

Bai Yutang sighed and asked Bai Jintang, "Then what happened next?"

"I didn't think much of it at the time and thought Leonard was just a student. After chatting, we hit it off and became friends." Bai Jintang habitually pulled out a lighter and twirled it around in his hand. It was a gift the company had sent him recently, and he liked it very much. After falling silent for a moment, he continued, "After that, our group always hung out together, along with the twins. We started doing business, and Leonard was right there among us. But none of us ever knew his true identity."

"Later on, as the business grew larger, Leonard's father suddenly wanted to meet me one day." Bai Jintang shook his head as he spoke. "At the time, I thought his father was just some ordinary white-collar worker... because we met in a cafe. They told me their family was an ancient lineage, and they wanted to induct me into their family, make me blood brothers with Leonard, and even add his surname—Leonard—to my foreign name."

"You agreed?" Bai Yutang's eyes widened.

"No." Bai Jintang shook his head. "I declined. At first, I didn't suspect anything and just chalked it up to well-intentioned hospitality, but later on, things started getting a bit strange."

"Strange?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao asked in unison.

"My company ran into some inexplicable resistance, and business became very rough. Then I discovered that someone was deliberately and maliciously obstructing us. And the most troublesome part was that the twins got dragged into it, and all my buddies were implicated as well." Bai Jintang said flatly, "When Leonard came to find me a second time, I realized it probably wasn't that simple anymore. But by then, there was no other way out—if I wanted to keep my brothers safe, I had no choice but to enter his family."

Having reached this point, Bai Jintang stopped talking and looked up at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

The two of them clearly felt the explanation wasn't quite satisfying enough. After waiting for a long while, Bai Yutang asked, "Is that it? It's just over?"

Bai Jintang nodded. "Over."

"Then... what about your career in Italy, and your business with their family..." Bai Yutang seemed somewhat incredulous.

Bai Jintang gave a bitter smile. "What I do is legitimate business. That place is practically a retirement home for the Leonard family."

"What do you mean?" The two of them spoke in sync once more.

"People grow sick of the underworld after lingering in it for too long. But unlike ordinary professions, this line of work has no benefits and no pensions. When you're tired, you can't just rest—you can only wait to die... Therefore, the people working for me are all former members of various gangs."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were left somewhat speechless. The people his eldest brother hired were really... No wonder international police officers like Ouyang Chun had to look out for him; he was practically working for the welfare of people worldwide.

"As you know, a snake with its fangs pulled is still a snake." Bai Jintang said with a hint of helplessness. "Coming from the underworld, it's inevitable that they still carry a certain aura, so I did indeed borrow some of the Leonard family's influence to keep them managed."

"Then what about what he said earlier... what is it that you also want to find out?" Bai Yutang still had plenty of questions.

"Leonard and I have been brothers for a decade or so, and back then I used to black out inexplicably from time to time." Bai Jintang said, "I roughly told them about my past, and he grew very interested, always wanting to unearth the truth."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang came to an understanding. No wonder Bai Jintang had said earlier that Leonard was just using him as a cover; clearly, the Leonard family was definitely curious as to how Bai Jintang had managed to become so "extraordinary."