Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
December 23th, the lunar calendar year.
Now, it was less than two days away from Han Kuan’s release date. Zhao Yu closed his eyes and carefully examined his Miracle System in his mind as he sat in the special investigation group office at the Beiqian Police Station.
Unfortunately, today’s hexagram was not a Gen. It was a Xun Li, which was quite a normal one.
Although there had been no progress in the case, the hexagram was still as accurate as ever. Zhao Yu had just yawned, when his mobile phone rang. It was his mother.
Zhao Yu knew that her purpose for calling him was to ask him what day he would return home for the New Year reunion. But, Zhao Yu was not sure about the date yet, and considering the current situation, he was wondering whether he could even go home this year for the Spring Festival. So, he almost didn’t want to answer the phone at all!
At this time, Miao Ying saw Zhao Yu’s hesitation, so she came over to Zhao Yu and asked with concern, “What are you waiting for? The case is important, but family should always come first! Call your mother back now! Don’t let her start to worry about you!”
Zhao Yu pouted his lips and smiled as he asked her in return, “Shouldn’t you call her mother as well? Or mom? By the way, what’s your plan for the New Year?”
“That’s why I asked you to call her back.” Miao Ying blushed slightly. “My parents are on duty this holiday, like always. So, I must find a place to stay.”
Zhao Yu immediately looked elated, and he hugged Miao Ying and said, “Hey, that’s great! Is there anything happier than the thought of bringing my wife home for the New Year? Anyway, fuc* the case! This year, I’ll go home and have a good time with you!”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Miao Ying smiled, then pointed to Zhao Yu’s mobile phone before returning to her desk to work.
Zhao Yu was very happy now. He was going to call his mother back and tell her that no matter how busy he was, he would come home this year with Miao Ying for the New Year!
Just as Zhao Yu was entering the number, Cui Lizhu suddenly showed up. She came up to him and whispered, “Hey, boss, you are all in pairs. What about me? What should I do? I’m homeless! Can I come home with you for the New Year?”
What the heck? After hearing this, Zhao Yu almost fell down in shock, and his hands were trembling so badly that he actually dialed the wrong number!
“Hey, hey, hey… Look at your face!” Cui Lizhu pouted her lips. “Just for the holiday, you must get me a pass and let me see my father! Otherwise, I’ll have to go home with you…”
“Oh… Oh, oh… Tao Xiang, right?” Zhao Yu quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “No problem! If you do a good job here, I will get the pass for you!”
“Great! But… You must promise to keep your word.” Cui Lizhu snapped her fingers, then went to do her own thing.
“Dam* you! You are scaring me!” Zhao Yu swore, then re-opened his address book and looked for his mother’s number.
Suddenly, he saw another person’s number and stopped. The number belonged to Captain Jin, the original owner of the yellow notebook!
Zhao Yu pondered this carefully for a while. Suddenly, he had an impulse to call this old captain.
Captain Jin was one of the previous team’s special investigators. As such, he had participated in the investigation of the Devil Case.
So… Why don’t I ask him if he can help me come up with something that might be helpful in the case? As soon as he thought about this possibility, Zhao Yu immediately called Captain Jin.
Captain Jin’s family must have been preparing dumplings for the New Year, as Zhao Yu could hear them chopping the ingredients for meat stuffing in the background. After Zhao Yu introduced himself, Captain Jin went to a quieter room to talk with Zhao Yu on the phone.
Zhao Yu was asking for help, so he didn’t hide anything from him. He told Captain Jin everything that he knew about the Devil Case.
After Captain Jin had listened to it all, he was quiet for a long time. Then, he suddenly shouted at Zhao Yu in surprise, “Zhao Yu, you are really… It’s really… I don’t know what to say! I was right! I gave the notebook to the perfect reader! If it weren’t for my sickness, I would really like to go with you to investigate the case…”
“Well…” Zhao Yu frowned when he heard this, then asked in a hurry, “Captain Jin, do you think that there is any other way for me to find critical evidence involved with this case?”
“Hmm…” Captain Jin thought for a moment, then said, “Zhao Yu, you’re looking for the right person. If I knew a way, I wouldn’t have written the case in my notebook, would I have?”
Zhao Yu was confused by his words. “Captain, I can’t understand what you are saying. Can you help me or not?”
Captain Jin pause for a while, then laughed. He was clearly embarrassed. “Zhao Yu, I’m old, you see! There’s no logic in what I say. This is just what I was thinking in passing!”
He chuckled, then added, “Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about the case. But, back when we were investigating the case, it was only one year after the case occurred. Now, you are investigating a case that happened more than a decade ago… And you even found a suspect! You are brilliant!”
“Well…” Zhao Yu did not quite know what to say without sounding too prideful, so he simply waited for Captain Jin to continue.
“But… I still want to share something with you…” Captain Jin said with a serious look. “It was indeed a great honor for me to be able to participate in the investigation of those cases as a special investigator.”
At this point, Captain Jin seemed very excited. “At that time, we didn’t make any major progress and were quite short of resources. Although the others looked down on us, I never regretted being part of the investigation team. The sad thing is that we couldn’t solve the case and the murderer might still be doing his evil deeds elsewhere as we speak! But, we did our best!”
Captain Jin paused for a moment, then said in a firm and unyielding tone, “We gave our best efforts, and although we did not get the desired result, we all have clear consciences, with no regrets! You remember, as a criminal detective, don’t put too much pressure on yourself! No matter what, as long as you do your best and have a clear conscience, that’s all that matters!”
Zhao Yu nodded and was deeply touched by his words. Captain Jin represented the older generation of criminal investigators. In those days, they had a poor working environment and outdated technology, which were not conducive conditions to solving cases.
But, even so, they were never discouraged and never relented in the face of such difficulties. Although the investigation results were not always satisfactory, they did work hard, so they never regretted anything! This was what Zhao Yu had learned from them.
“Zhao Yu, there’s no pressure. Your situation is much better than ours was. After all, you’ve cracked the Headless Female Corpses Case. Even though you screwed up the Devil Case, you can still stay in the special investigation group and maintain your leader title. So, what are you afraid of? Just go for it!” As soon as Captain Jin finished speaking, an old lady’s urging voice rang out over the phone, surprising both of the men. It must have been an old lady relative of the Captain’s, seeking to add her opinion!
“Well, that’s it for today!” Captain Jin said in a panicked tone, clearly a bit embarrassed by the surprise interruption. “I have to make dumplings now! Do your best, and I’ll celebrate with you when you come back! And… Don’t forget to tell me about what’s going on. The Devil Case was really exciting to me!” Then, Captain Jin finally hung up the phone.
At this time, Zhao Yu’s eyes were filled with hope as he thought… He is right. I just need to do my best and have no regrets! I’m the head of the special investigation group, after all, and I have cracked the Headless Female Corpses Case! So, why do I have to put myself under so much pressure? I’m just going to go for it!
Zhao Yu immediately rolled up his sleeves and said to Miao Ying loudly, “Team Leader Miao, contact the Beiqian police force immediately! I want to call the largest press conference there’s ever been! We must gather the people and let them know that they must do their best to help us too!”
“A press conference?” Miao Ying stared at him, then asked, “What exactly do you want now?”
“Evil can never prevail over good! I’m going to tell the public the details of the Devil Case!” Zhao Yu said with awe-inspiring righteousness filling his voice. “I will encourage everyone to contribute to finding evidence of Han Kuan’s crime! This time, I would like to see whether the devil is more powerful, or the people!”
