Chapter 28
Chapter 28
"That's a tricky one."
Li Mou raised an eyebrow, set down his chopsticks, and pondered for a long moment before he couldn't help asking, "Why would you want to bring up a topic like that?"
"Just testing your professional skills."
Jiang Li's lips curled into a teasing smile as he answered in a light, breezy tone.
When he finished, his gaze locked with Li Mou's. They stared at each other for a solid second and a half.
Li Mou suddenly grinned and tapped the air twice with his index finger, as if to say, You've come to the right person.
"What you really want to know about are illegal residents, right?" Li Mou took a sip of water to clear his throat. "The situation you're describing is rare nowadays, but three or four decades ago it was pretty common.
"Back then, some babies were born under unusual circumstances—abandoned infants, orphans, that sort of thing. Because no birth registration was ever filed, they never got household records and became what we call 'black households.'
"Most of these people grew up in harsh conditions. The usual way to regularize their status was to be adopted and then have their birth registered retroactively."
Jiang Li gave a polite nod and pressed on. "What if the situation's more complicated—say, the person's already an adult?"
"Once they're adults, the paperwork gets heavier. They need solid evidence and a detailed explanation of why the registration was delayed." Li Mou rubbed his chin. "And that's as far as I can go. Any deeper and we're talking forged documents. You know how it is—I can't keep going."
"I get it, Officer Li. I'm just curious, purely hypothetical."
Jiang Li wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Li Mou laughed. "I know you're joking." He stood up and refilled Jiang Li's glass with cola. "But if you ever did try forging papers, that'd be no laughing matter."
Jiang Li lifted his glass and laughed back. "In that case I'll have to ask if you know any friendly prison guards."
Both men cracked smiles and visibly relaxed. Clearly Jiang Li's joke had landed well, and Li Mou treated the whole conversation as nothing more than an interesting topic.
After that mental detour, both of them realized they were still hungry. After all that talking, the meat in the grill should be ready.
Jiang Li raised his chopsticks, scanned the grill, and frowned. Where had all that meat gone?
He looked up; Li Mou wore the exact same expression.
They both turned toward Kakayan.
Kakayan was chewing non-stop, her thin lips now glossy with oil. While Jiang Li and Li Mou had been talking, her mouth had never taken a break.
Noticing their stares, she blinked and tilted her head. "Jiang Li, why are you both looking at me?"
"I was wondering where my grilled meat went." Jiang Li pointed at the empty grill with his chopsticks. "Any idea?"
"I don't know." Kakayan shook her head.
Jiang Li pressed his fingers to his temples. "If you don't know, did the meat just hop into your mouth on its own?"
Li Mou burst out laughing at the sight; these two really acted like siblings.
"No worries, no worries. If we're still hungry, we'll order more." He waved over a server. "I just got paid today—having fun is what matters."
"Big-spender Boss!"
Jiang Li gave him a thumbs-up, then nudged Kakayan.
"Big spender..." Kakayan mimicked Jiang Li's gesture like an echo.
"I'm heading to the restroom."
While the new meat was still on its way, Li Mou excused himself.
"Jiang Li, what were you muttering about just now?"
Kakayan's leather boots brushed Jiang Li's ankle.
...
The question only irritated him further. He and Officer Li had been beating around the bush trying to solve Kakayan's household-registration problem, while she'd polished off every last slice—most of which Jiang Li had grilled for her.
"Could you show a little concern instead of just eating?" Jiang Li hoped she'd at least picked up something from their conversation, maybe a bit about how human society worked.
"Didn't you tell me to shut up and eat?" Kakayan smacked her lips, eyes still hunting the grill for stray pieces.
...Huh?
Come to think of it, maybe it really was Jiang Li's fault. To Kakayan, devouring the meat was simply following orders.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind." She nudged him gently. "Honestly, you don't need to worry about my ID problem."
Jiang Li's eyelid twitched. So she had been listening after all.
"I can live perfectly fine without that kind of paperwork." After wiping the grill clean, Kakayan leaned back in her chair. "Besides, I'm not even human. Why force myself into a human identity? Can't we just explain the situation to whoever's in charge?"
"Explain what?"
Jiang Li stared at her.
"That I'm from another world. The noble Witch of Eternal Night." She lifted her chin proudly.
"And how would you prove that?"
"If they don't believe me, I can show them a little spell."
Jiang Li finally understood what people meant by "ignorance is bliss."
True, the witch still had a faint trace of magic. Most people would probably mistake it for a parlor trick, but any serious investigation would reveal it was real. If she actually went through with it, the fallout would be enormous.
"That won't work." Jiang Li shook his head, dismissing the idea outright. "If you do that, you can kiss a peaceful life goodbye."
Kakayan tilted her head, puzzled.
"At first, people will think you have superpowers. Out of humanitarian concern they won't do anything extreme, but you'll be under surveillance—twenty-four hours a day, someone watching you through a crystal ball. Eating, sleeping, even bathing..."
Kakayan instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, delicate brows drawing together.
"And that's just the beginning. Ten or twenty years from now, when everyone realizes you're not aging, that's when the real trouble starts." Jiang Li paused for a sip of water; talking so much had left him dry.
"Why?"
Kakayan gave him a push, nearly making him choke.
"Cough—cough!"
"Never underestimate humanity's hunger for immortality."