Chapter 45
Captain Yan: “Captain Jiang, he’s so good-looking; she’s the police flower.”
Two traffic police motorcycles led the way with sirens blaring, followed by the S450 speeding along like a Formula 1 car, running more than ten red lights in a row with the momentum of a racing car, attracting countless passersby to take photos along the way.
“Drive slowly!” Jian Ting shouted amidst the countless flashes of light along the route, “Two hundred million ransom; it doesn’t quite seem like a kidnapping, so don’t be so anxious!”
Yan Xie swiftly maneuvered through the bustling downtown, urgently avoiding the intersections cleared for them: “I can’t afford to be slow! What if that idiot really dares to demand two hundred million?!”
The engine roared like a wild beast’s growl, with the radio broadcasting road conditions incessantly through the speakers. Jian Ting leaned forward, shouting into Yan Xie’s ear, every word loud and clear: “They wouldn’t use animal blood to intimidate, it’s impossible!”
With a swift pull, the S450 darted through the slowly opening safety gate of the police station like a blue lightning bolt, coming to a sudden halt in front of the Criminal Investigation Building.
Jian Ting lunged forward, but fortunately, Yan Xie reached out and stopped him before he could be strangled by the seatbelt.
“You can tell it’s animal blood just by looking at the pictures?” Yan Xie stared at him intently.
In the cramped driver’s cabin, the two were almost face-to-face, with Yan Xie’s strong hand still hovering in front of Jiang Ting, but the latter didn’t pay much attention to these details.
“…” Jian Ting finally let out a sigh of relief and said, “It’s just a logical inference of behavior, no concrete evidence for now.”
Yan Xie reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a hat, and put it on Jiang’s head. He then opened a bag of anti-haze masks and placed one over Jiang’s face, securing it behind his ears.
“You, go wait in my office. Snacks and treats are in the bottom drawer on the left side,” Yan Xie warned in a low voice, “Don’t wander around; if anyone sees you, I won’t be able to save you.”
With that, Yan Xie turned and got out of the car, closing the door cleanly behind him.
Bang!
“…” Jian Ting murmured, “Can’t you just let me go back?”
***
“Hi, Captain Yan!” “Brother Yan!”
Yan Xie strode through the corridor, and Ma Xiang came running toward him, his footsteps barely stopping as he rattled off, “The reporting parties are a couple: the man, Shen De, forty-three years old; the woman, Yin Jindie, forty-one years old. The missing person is their only son, Shen Xiaoqi, who is fifteen years old this year. He just graduated from junior high school and went out for an outing with classmates after finishing his exams. Last night was the last time he contacted his parents. At twelve o’clock this morning, the Shen family received an anonymous call from the kidnapper, claiming to have Shen Xiaoqi in his hands and demanding two hundred million in ransom.”
Ma Xiang also rushed to the city bureau temporarily, wearing a graffiti T-shirt and torn jeans, with a few darkened silver skull cross pendants stacked around his neck. Yan Xie couldn’t help but glance at him as he walked and ask, “What are you up to?”
“Although you don’t know what I’m up to, I know exactly what you just did.” Ma Xiang chuckled, “Congratulations on collecting the one hundred and eighth ‘I Only Treat You as My Brother’ card, Brother Yan; tonight you can summon the Shenlong.”
“Don’t joke around!” Yan Xie whispered sharply, “Is the phone number tracked?”
“Forget it, it’s a network dial. Director Huang is personally leading the team to track down the IP location server.”
“Do we have a recording of the kidnapper’s call?”
“According to the missing person’s parents, they thought it was a scam when they received the kidnapper’s call, and afterwards, they almost had a heart attack when they realized what was happening. Who would think of recording it at that moment?”
That’s understandable. Yan Xie’s tone slightly darkened: “—Are you sure it’s not someone playing a prank on the missing person’s parents, or some new scam group?”
“Whether it’s a scam or not, it’s hard to say.” Ma Xiang shook his head with a grimace. “According to Shen De, as soon as he received the ransom call, he immediately called his son, but Shen Xiaoqi’s phone has been off the entire time, and there’s still no news.”
“—Two hundred million.” Yan Xie muttered under his breath, whether to Ma Xiang or to himself: “The kidnapper called, and the missing person’s phone happened to be off.”
“Captain Yan! Captain Yan!” A forensic officer came running from afar, panting heavily. “Director Huang’s results are out. The missing person Shen Xiaoqi’s phone is showing as turned on and in use! He’s on a call!”
Yan Xie stopped in his tracks.
“Huh?” Ma Xiang blurted out, “He’s on a call?”
***
“Just now, it ran out of battery. Why did it run out of battery? Why didn’t you bring the charger?!” You know how worried Mom and Dad were? Do you know how bad people can be these days? Huh?!…”
In the Criminal Investigation Division, the hastily arrived detectives looked at each other in astonishment. Even the closed doors of the conference room couldn’t muffle Father Shen’s hoarse and furious roar.
On the other end of the phone, Shen Xiaoqi’s voice sounded aggrieved: “Why don’t you go ask my classmates? We were all together. When did we get kidnapped? Dad, you actually believed they’d ask for two hundred million. Our family can’t even produce one-twentieth of that amount. Even if they wanted to kidnap me, they couldn’t!”
“You casually turn off your phone and talk back to me?!” Father Shen roared.
Mother Shen was almost in tears of joy, wiping them away as she held Deputy Chief Wei’s hand and explained, “The child said they went on an outing after the exam. We just agreed with him! We’re usually busy with work and don’t know his classmates well. We just wanted to report it quickly…”
“It’s alright, it’s alright. Hey, don’t cry.” Deputy Chief Wei, wearing beach shorts and flip-flops, had his fishing gear piled up around the corner of the meeting room. He was probably internally cursing up a storm, but outwardly, he remained kind and dignified. “The public trusts our people’s police. They thought of reporting to us as soon as possible, which shows their trust in our work! Come, a few of you, take this lady to the office to make a statement, sign it, and everything will be fine…”
Two police officers escorted the still-angry Father Shen and the grateful Mother Shen out. As soon as the door closed, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
“Two hundred million, underage, kidnapping, and murder.” Deputy Chief Wei sighed, shaking his head. “I thought the collective first-class merit for this year was in the bag.”
The atmosphere lightened up, and everyone began to relax and joke around. Only Yan Xie, with his hand on his chin, hadn’t relaxed his furrowed brow since entering the city bureau.
“What’s up with you?” Deputy Director Wei patted his shoulder, obviously in a good mood. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“I still feel something’s off.”
“What’s off?”
“…I can’t quite put my finger on it, but everything feels eerie. Did you see Shen De make that phone call to his son just now?”
Deputy Chief Wei scoffed, “Could that be fake? I’ve been in criminal investigation for so many years, you think I need a brat like you to teach me a lesson?”
Yan Xie’s doubts didn’t seem to diminish, murmuring, “…Two hundred million.”
“I think you look like you’re worth two hundred million!” Deputy Chief Wei didn’t dwell on it, waved to disperse everyone, then went to the office door to pick up his fishing gear. “No case is a good thing, don’t be so paranoid. My wife says the downside of being a detective is that after dealing with cases for so long, you start to overthink everything. You start suspecting everyone, even if it’s just cats and dogs fighting on the street—Oh, by the way, I heard from Lao Fang that last month, on the night of the operation, you went rogue, speeding and driving for dozens of kilometers, and even had a showdown with criminals?”
—Fang Zhenghong, the director of the neighboring Anti-Drug department and Qin Chuan’s immediate superior.
Yan Xie snapped back to reality with a hint of dissatisfaction, “Why does Director Fang keep snitching on me? Is he got something against me or what?”
Deputy Chief Wei didn’t bother explaining much, casually retorting, “With your always primping and preening, spraying perfume even when there’s no occasion, who would find you pleasing to the eye!”
Walking side by side out of the conference room, Yan Xie sniffed at the cuffs of his sleeves, feeling a bit unfairly accused, “I was getting ready for a blind date when the bureau called. Well, now that the chat with the real estate magnate’s daughter was going so well, it’s blown to smithereens. And you’re talking about me spraying perfume. I didn’t even complain when the bureau potentially ruined my chance of getting out of being single…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Deputy Chief Wei kicked him, and Yan Xie spat out blood as he fell to the ground.
“You punk, you think you can outsmart us old folks?” Deputy Chief Wei took out his phone, opened WeChat, and flashed it in front of Yan Xie’s eyes.
Wei Laoyao, who always solves cases: “Little sister, urgent major case at the bureau. I have to call Xiao Yan back.”
Beautiful and elegant Zeng Cuicui: “Call him back! The real estate magnate’s daughter, whom he was supposed to meet today, rejected him again. Useless thing, my husband and I have decided to give this waste back to society!”
Wei Laoyao, who always solves cases: [Like] [Like] [Like]
“——Your mom is really something,” Deputy Chief Wei sighed sincerely, patting his beloved fishing rod and leaving.
***
Today, the detectives on their day off rushed to the city bureau from all directions and just as quickly dispersed like a flock of birds. The tense atmosphere in the corridor, which had just been as if facing a major enemy, quickly dissipated.
Yan Xie, filled with anger toward socialism, was about to confide in someone when he pushed open the office door and froze: “Wow!”
Jiang Ting was sitting in the swivel chair behind the large desk, which was piled high with various snacks. Yan Xie had sent someone downstairs to buy backup snacks such as biscuits, preserved plums, cupcakes, and puffed snacks, but unfortunately, most of the packages were unopened. There was only a half-eaten pack of strawberry-filled Oreos, and the rest was left untouched.
“Are you here to have afternoon tea with me?” Yan Xie stuffed the remaining half of the strawberry cookie into his mouth and mumbled indistinctly, “Are you too picky? It seems like even the top-notch service at the Jingning City Public Security Bureau’s convenience store can’t satisfy you, tut tut.”
Jiang Ting was engrossed in his phone, not even bothering to look up, “What about the kidnapping case?”
“Damn it, I have no idea which idiot is playing tricks there.” Yan Xie briefly recounted the situation and grumbled, “The case has been sent back to the sub-bureau. They’ve tasked the sub-bureau’s technical investigation unit with continuing to trace the IP of the ransom call and the source of the bloodied clothing images. See if they can catch that bastard. It’ll give everyone some closure in a couple of months.”
Jiang Ting’s fingers paused for a moment, then he suddenly said, “This whole thing seems a bit strange.”
Yan Xie stood behind the desk, watching Jiang Ting’s dark hair crown with a faint glint of curiosity in his eyes. “…Tell me, what seems strange to you?”
“If it’s a scam, firstly, the ransom is too large, and secondly, Shen Xiaoqi quickly reconnected with his family. The scam would be too easily exposed. But if it’s just a prank, it feels overly intricate.”
Jiang Ting finally placed his phone on the desk and leaned back in his chair. “Even if you were kidnapped, the ransom would be at most two million. Anything more would be difficult to take away initially, and the family would definitely report it. For a family like Shen Xiaoqi’s, which runs their own business, extorting two million is a relatively easy-to-obtain figure. As long as the safety of the hostage is ensured, the possibility of his parents choosing to pay the ransom instead of reporting it is almost one hundred percent.”
Yan Xie crossed his arms. “So, what’s your feeling?”
Jiang Ting lightly tapped his fingertips together rhythmically, taking a long time before slowly saying, “Two hundred million… it’s almost like deliberately attracting the attention of the police.”
Yan Xie had already gone through similar analyses in his mind, but he didn’t want to show his agreement to Jiang Ting, so he only chuckled in response. However, the last sentence did catch him off guard. “Attracting the attention of the police? Why?”
“Just a psychological speculation; I’m not the kidnapper.” Jiang Ting said lazily, picking up his phone from the desk.
Yan Xie: “…”
Suddenly, Yan Yao’s falcon-like vision caught something, and he grabbed Jiang Ting’s wrist: “Wait a minute! What are you browsing?”
Jiang Ting’s lips, which had always naturally drooped, suddenly broke free from gravity and revealed a subtle, almost imperceptible upward curve. “Weibo.”
“But this clearly…”
“Congratulations!” Jiang Ting turned his phone screen toward him, “You’re trending.”
Real-time trending topic: Explosive! Traffic police in Jianning clear the way for luxury car, speeding through the city, and running over a dozen red lights in a row!
Top comments: “Neither military nor government, Jianning’s wealthy are impressive.” “Who’s this rich kid? He drives faster than a fire truck, huh?” “With money like this, why drive a Mercedes? Get a Bugatti Veyron and drive circles around the provincial government!” “Maybe the owner is from the provincial government?”
Yan Xie: “…………”
“Ignore them. Your car isn’t trash,” Jiang Ting comforted him, calmly taking back his phone and opening an online game of Go he often played in his spare time. Then, he suddenly remembered something:
“You don’t really have a Bugatti, do you?”
“…” Yan Xie responded woodenly, “Do you want one? I can get it for you as part of the betrothal gift.”
Jiang Ting chuckled, focusing on his game. “Save the money to remove the trending topic.”
***
“Hey, hey, okay, okay, I’ll find someone to remove it for you. You’re such a big deal now, yet you act so recklessly, not considering your own safety. It’s better to have given birth to a piece of barbecued pork…”
Yan Xie’s mother, the beautiful and elegant Zeng Cuicui, hung up the phone and quickly sought help from connections. After being busy for a while, she finally sighed deeply, feeling a myriad of emotions welling up from the bottom of her heart:
“Really better off as a piece of barbecued pork. At least barbecued pork can be sliced and eaten, or served with eggs to make sweet and sour pork!”
At the dinner table of the Yan family, the atmosphere was unusually solemn. Father Yan closed the small report in front of him with satisfaction but also a hint of dissatisfaction. “The one who runs the KTV…”
Mother Yan said coldly, “Given your son’s previous taste, with someone’s cheeks as slim as a snake’s, he could still insist with his eyes closed that they haven’t had plastic surgery. If someone’s legs were Photoshopped to be two meters long, he’d still claim it’s just genetics. His aesthetic taste is inherently low. Who’s to blame, you or me? Besides, what’s wrong with owning a KTV? She’s a professional career woman! Look at her dressing style. The next generation’s genetic improvement depends on the daughter-in-law!”
Father Yan couldn’t redeem his son’s reputation, weakly defending, “The restaurant manager said this girl is already taken…”
“Even if the flower has an owner, I can still loosen the soil a bit.” Mother Yan reached for the small report, looking at the secretly taken photo of Yang Mei, her eyes filled with affection. “Just look at this girl; she clearly hasn’t had her cheekbones resuced, her breasts injected, or her nose filled. This daughter-in-law is truly satisfying. If my son decides to loosen the soil, I’ll support him with a 24K gold-plated shovel!”
“I still think the girl from the real estate group he met today was better, knowing her background…” Father Yan’s voice trailed off under his wife’s stern gaze.
“Lao Yan,” Mother Yan said icily.
Father Yan raised his hands in surrender. “Alright.”
“When our son was eighteen, I thought he was more than worthy of a princess. At twenty-five, I thought it was time for him to settle down with a girl from a good family. By the time he was thirty, my pitiful expectations had dropped to just any woman who’s alive and younger than me.”
Mother Yan took out a white book from her bag and slammed it heavily in front of Father Yan. “And now? I’ve already started studying ‘Legal Issues in Same-Sex Marriage’! What more can I ask for? Besides supporting him with a gold-plated shovel, what else can I do?!”
Father Yan said: “Well said!” and then applauded his wife.
Mother Yan snorted disdainfully, then picked up the white book and headed to the kitchen. As she was about to throw it into the trash, she suddenly stopped, recalling her son’s past heroic deeds in the battlefield of blind dates, like a heroic saga of storming Normandy.
“…Most likely, it will still come in handy in the future,” Mother Yan muttered to herself.
Then she returned to the study and carefully placed the “Legal Issues in Same-Sex Marriage” book on the bookshelf.
***
“One bowl of sweet porridge and two custard buns, here you go—Hey, isn’t this Captain Yan? Coming in person today?”
As the sun set at the entrance of the municipal bureau, Yan Xie took the steaming plastic bag from the owner of the bun shop, chuckling a couple of times in return.
“Isn’t your usual routine four meat buns and two side dishes? Why the change in taste today? Or are you carrying it for someone else?”
“…Carrying it for someone else.”
“Oh!” The bun shop owner sniffed out the scent of gossip and leaned in eagerly. “Who would trouble Captain Yan to do that? Is it a woman?”
Yan Xie dryly replied, “Something like that.”
“Is she pretty?”
The owner wore an expression as if saying, ‘Just spill a little gossip, and I’ll give you the buns for free.’ But before he could ask further, Yan Xie slapped a banknote on his chest with a half-smile, half-frown expression. “Ex-tre-me-ly pretty. The Police Flower.”
The owner’s mouth formed a perfect ‘Oh—,’ but before he could continue probing, Yan Xie had already turned and walked away.
Why am I being sent to buy food when it’s clearly Jiang Ting who has a crush on me?
Vice-Captain Yan, who had visited the bun shop no more than ten times in the past few years, entered the municipal bureau’s gate with a bag of non-sticky sweet porridge and two unassuming custard buns. As he was about to step onto the stairs, he heard urgent calls from behind, “Comrade police officer, comrade police officer!”
Yan Xie turned around to see a couple standing at the entrance, unmistakably Mr. and Mrs. Shen, whom he had met at noon, with Mr. Shen holding a small cardboard box.
Yan Xie wondered if they were bringing food. Was it not fashionable these days to give police officers commendation plaques? Maybe they were bringing snacks from Taobao? He thought that this trend was worth promoting to the public. With this in mind, he waved to signal the guard not to stop them and approached them with a casual lift of his chin. “What can I do for you two?”
“Comrade police officer,” for some reason, Mr. Shen’s face was an unusual shade of pale green as he handed the cardboard box to Yan Xie, his voice trembling. “This is–this is something that was left at the door of our company. We don’t know… Could you… Could you take a look?”
Yan Xie looked at the couple suspiciously and opened the partially open lid of the cardboard box. A strong smell of blood hit him.
Inside the box was a T-shirt soaked in blood.
