They drove all the way back to Ning City. On the way back to the police station, Ji Xun suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Yesterday at noon, did we leave Wen Yangyang at the noodle shop?” Ji Xun asked with some uncertainty.
“…” Huo Ranyin suddenly remembered. Yesterday, when he went to buy takoyaki for Ji Xun, he saw the lingerie store and realized a very important clue, so he rushed into the noodle shop and dragged Ji Xun away… completely forgetting about Wen Yangyang.
“Did you contact her later?” Ji Xun asked again.
“…” Of course not. Why would he contact his subordinate while on a business trip?
“Alright, pull over here,” Ji Xun tapped on the car window. There was a dessert shop right ahead. He got out and bought two small cakes, one for himself and one to leave in the car. “I’ll bring this to Wen Yangyang later. It’s not nice to leave her behind without a word.”
“How thoughtful,” Huo Ranyin said faintly.
“I’m mainly just trying to contribute to the harmony and friendship in your office.” Ji Xun glanced at Huo Ranyin, feeling that he was being a bit sarcastic. “What, jealous?”
Huo Ranyin said speechlessly, “Ji Xun, aren’t you gay? Use your brain. Why would I be jealous of a woman?”
He had a good point. Ji Xun couldn’t refute it.
“Want to see me jealous?” Huo Ranyin said with a half-smile. “Then you’ll have to try harder.”
Then, without waiting for Ji Xun’s reply, he stepped on the gas and the car sped away.
But in the end, the two did not return to the police station. On the way, Huo Ranyin received a message that most of the police officers had gone to the Liuchu Street river section to drain the water and search for the murder weapon.
They were naturally searching for the murder weapon in the 2.11 Huayi Villa annihilation case—the Zhuo Cangying and Gao Shuang case.
For the past two days, the police at the station had not been idle. They had found footage of Duan Hongwen and Wei Zhenzhu entering and exiting their residential complex on the 11th from the surveillance cameras at the entrance.
The surveillance showed that at 5:32 PM on the 11th, Duan Hongwen left the complex through the main entrance. At 6:40 PM, Wei Zhenzhu left the complex. At 8:10 PM, the two returned home together through the back door, with Duan Hongwen even furtively glancing at the surveillance camera.
This contradicted their previous testimony of being “at home all night on the 11th.”
Having identified the suspicious behavior of these two, the police station did not act rashly. Yuan Yue, who had finally returned to work on the eighth day of the lunar new year, made an analysis in Huo Ranyin’s absence:
The surveillance footage showed that Duan Hongwen and Wei Zhenzhu’s hands were empty when they returned home. The bronze horse would be difficult to destroy. If they were the killers, they must have found a place to bury or discard the murder weapon on their way back. Duan Hongwen’s home was not far from Zhuo Cangying’s home, and the route was through a bustling area. The time was also limited to the one hour between 7:12 PM (when Zhuo Cangying’s car entered the Huayi complex) and 8:10 PM (when Duan Hongwen returned to the Yuejing complex). There were not many suitable places to dispose of it.
Looking at the surrounding map, coming out of the hidden green path from the Zhuo family’s house, one would reach Liuchu Street, with an artificial landscape river next to it.
This artificial river was the top-priority search area identified by Yuan Yue.
When Huo Ranyin drove to the scene with Ji Xun, the police officers were wearing protective gear and had been scooping up trash from the mud for several hours. The river channel had been almost completely plowed from end to end, with bags and bags of cans and glass bottles being pulled up.
Tan Mingjiu’s bald head was covered in a layer of mud. This was all because he couldn’t control his hands. Every time he broke a sweat from scooping things up, he would wipe his forehead with his hand. In addition to being dirty, it looked as if his hair had grown back. He was extremely envious of the late-arriving, well-dressed Ji Xun. He put the four more Nongfu Spring plastic bottles he had just picked up into the classified garbage bag and sighed:
“If we sell these scraps, will we have money for dinner tonight? It’s a good thing the ‘Five Waters Governance’ was proposed two years ago. The water in the artificial river is not as outrageously dirty.”
“After a whole day of scooping up trash, you’re still in the mood for dinner? Are you possessed by the god of eating?” Ji Xun, who didn’t have to work, was very skilled at making sarcastic remarks. He had a sharp eye and directed Tan Mingjiu, “At your 11 o’clock, there’s a yuan. Quick, pick it up.”
“…Ji Xun, you just wait!” Tan Mingjiu threatened verbally, but his body was very honest. He quickly picked up the one yuan, wiped it clean on his protective suit, and threw it into a box.
Ji Xun was trying hard to hold back his laughter when his hands suddenly felt heavy. He looked down and saw that Huo Ranyin had taken off his coat and stuffed it into his arms. Underneath Huo Ranyin’s coat was a wine-red sweater. He was now wearing a plumber’s dark blue protective suit.
“Ji Xun, help me with the buttons on the back.”
Originally, there was nothing wrong with Huo Ranyin wearing a wine-red sweater. His skin was fair, and the wine-red complemented his skin tone, making his face look like fine snow on a winter branch—so cold yet it made one want to reach out and touch.
But now, paired with the dark blue plumber’s suit, Huo Ranyin’s clothes suddenly transformed into the well-known uniform of a legendary plumber—Mario.
Ji Xun clicked his tongue.
How cute!
He did as Huo Ranyin said, buttoned him up, and then, with lightning speed, took Huo Ranyin’s phone, pointed the camera at the man, snapped a photo, set the photo as Huo Ranyin’s phone wallpaper, and then turned the phone around, showing the screen to Huo Ranyin. “Cute, right? My photography skills are good, right?”
“…”
Huo Ranyin’s gaze moved from the phone screen to Ji Xun’s face.
The corner of his mouth seemed to twitch, his eyes silently saying: My phone screen has a picture of myself. Isn’t that narcissistic?
Ji Xun’s eyes responded: Don’t be so self-conscious. If your phone screen doesn’t have a picture of yourself, whose picture do you want it to have?
Huo Ranyin couldn’t be bothered to play this game of exchanging flirtatious glances with Ji Xun. Since his clothes were buttoned, he took a step and was about to walk into the river. But before he did, another thing was placed on his head.
It was a police cap.
Ji Xun grabbed the police cap and put it on Huo Ranyin’s head. Then he reached out and tucked all the stray hairs that were sticking out under the brim of the cap. His movements were quick, and it didn’t take more than two minutes, not delaying Huo Ranyin’s proactive work at all. He just gave a very thoughtful instruction:
“Learn from Tan Mingjiu’s lesson. Don’t get yourself looking like a mud monkey.”
Huo Ranyin had just felt a hint of surprise when he heard Ji Xun mutter again:
“You’re the beautiful scenery of the police station. You can’t be tarnished by mud.”
“…Ji Xun,” Huo Ranyin said, his voice low.
Really, he’s angry again.
The description of a sarcastic, generous yet petty person is a perfect portrayal of Huo Ranyin. Ji Xun thought to himself, but he wasn’t afraid of Huo Ranyin’s temper. It was more like a little bit of fun. He met Huo Ranyin’s eyes and was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a flicker in the other’s eyes. His gaze turned cold inch by inch, as if covered in a layer of solid ice.
What on earth did I just say to make him so angry?
Ji Xun couldn’t help but reflect for a moment, and then he realized that Huo Ranyin wasn’t looking at him.
He was looking over his shoulder, at what was behind him.
Behind him…
Since he hadn’t returned the phone to Huo Ranyin, Ji Xun took it out, pretending to take a picture. In reality, he turned the camera around, towards his back, capturing the entire crowd of onlookers behind him, and among the crowd, Duan Hongwen.
Duan Hongwen was on his tiptoes, craning his neck like a rooster stretching its neck, peering into the river from the crowd.
Ji Xun then noticed another person.
Wei Zhenzhu.
Duan Hongwen was focused on the scene, while Wei Zhenzhu was focused on Duan Hongwen. Then, as if she had sensed something, Wei Zhenzhu looked at Ji Xun through the screen.
A woman’s intuition is always astonishing.
Ji Xun’s wrist trembled slightly as he considered his next move. But to his surprise, Wei Zhenzhu, who had clearly seen him holding up his phone, made no move. She just indifferently looked away and continued to watch Duan Hongwen.
As luck would have it, a police officer in the middle of the river parted the mud and dug out a bright blue light from the river. He shouted, his voice filled with surprise that even his thick protective suit couldn’t hide.
The bright blue bronze horse!
The murder weapon in the Zhuo Cangying and Gao Shuang case had been found!
In an instant, the surrounding police officers, as well as the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion due to the loud pumping of water, all turned their attention to the bright blue bronze horse.
Only Ji Xun was still looking at his phone screen. He gently pressed the shutter button.
Click.
The phone screen froze on Duan Hongwen’s face, twisted in fear as he looked at the river amidst the chaos. It also froze on Wei Zhenzhu’s face, twisted in malice as she looked at Duan Hongwen amidst the chaos.
This couple… was the person really killed by Duan Hongwen?
What happened next was not surprising. As the photo shrank to the bottom left corner of the phone, the camera once again showed Duan Hongwen in real time. Duan Hongwen turned around, his body leaning forward, his arms swinging, looking like he was about to run and escape.
“He’s about to run,” Ji Xun said.
Without his reminder, Huo Ranyin had already shot past him like a gust of wind, rushing towards Duan Hongwen’s position!
Ji Xun spun around halfway, not putting down his phone, and even switched from photo mode to video mode.
He guessed it would only take Huo Ranyin 30 seconds to take down Duan Hongwen, so he leisurely started the video function—if it took more than 30 seconds, he would definitely mock Huo Ranyin for being incompetent tonight.
He started to count down silently:
30, 29, 28, 27…
Huo Ranyin rushed into the crowd. The crowd did not become an obstacle for him. He was a gust of wind, all-pervasive, and also like a swimming fish, as if entering water.
In an instant, Huo Ranyin passed through the crowd and began to approach Duan Hongwen. There were no more obstacles between them.
Ji Xun suddenly realized that the 30 seconds he had given was a gross underestimation of Huo Ranyin.
He made a bold move, cutting off 22 seconds and starting the countdown from 5.
5s.
Duan Hongwen ran to the street bollard.
4s.
Duan Hongwen clumsily squeezed past the bollard.
3s.
Huo Ranyin grabbed Duan Hongwen’s arm.
2s.
Wei Zhenzhu, standing two steps away, watched everything coldly.
1s.
Huo Ranyin swiftly and decisively twisted Duan Hongwen and pinned him to the ground!
The video ended.
Ji Xun sent the video to his own account, and then, with a flick of his hand, he updated his social media, which he updated sporadically, and accidentally posted the video of Huo-Mario-Ranyin catching the man.
He thought about it, didn’t delete it, and with the mentality of sharing a good video with everyone, he added a comment under the post. In the comment were two emojis, which could also be considered a secret footnote to the video.
[Cat Cool][Cat Cute]
