"Do you think we're short of money right now?" Xu Xiaolin raised an eyebrow, deliberately raising her voice. Although Xu Xiaolin was speaking to Wang Shen, she also glanced at Lin Su between sentences.

“Two great writers like you certainly aren’t short of money. However, as mystery novelists, you’re destined to spend your entire lives immersed in a virtual world. If there were an opportunity for you to use your mystery writing skills to help solve a real case, wouldn’t you be even a little tempted?” Wang Shen looked at Xu Xiaolin, then turned his gaze to Lin Su a few seconds later. Lin Su was currently staring intently at the agreement in his hand, his slightly furrowed brows giving him a somewhat serious appearance.

"Okay, I'm willing to accept this job." Lin Su answered readily, and immediately signed his name on the agreement. Wang Shen sat to the side, a smile spreading across his face, then glanced at Xu Xiaolin and winked at the agreement. Xu Xiaolin sighed softly, picked up the pen on the table, and signed her name as well.

"I hope our cross-industry collaboration goes smoothly." Wang Shen put away the two agreements and politely shook hands with Lin Su and Xu Xiaolin. "Next, I can tell you some of the clues I've gathered. Xiaolin, I'd like to ask you something first." Wang Shen leaned forward, sat up straighter, and looked at Xu Xiaolin with a serious expression.

Xu Xiaolin had just raised her coffee cup halfway up the table when she glanced at Wang Shen and put it back down. "Why are you suddenly so serious? Go ahead and ask."

"Your novel 'Rebirth' isn't finished yet. What's the meaning of that phone call with the deceased mentioned in the novel?" After hearing Wang Shen's question, Lin Su also turned half of his face towards her. Facing the stares of the two men, Xu Xiaolin smiled slightly, picked up her coffee cup again, and took a sip.

"Do I need to leave?" Lin Su asked as he stood up, seeing that Xu Xiaolin remained silent.

"No need, I'll update tonight anyway, so it doesn't matter if you know a little earlier. What I call the deceased's phone number is very simple, it's a recording of the murderer's food order when Li Xue was alive. After killing Li Xue, the murderer used Li Xue's phone to call the food order hotline and played the recording of Li Xue's previous food order."

"Was the murderer doing this to obfuscate the time of death and create an alibi?" Wang Shen seemed interested in Xu Xiaolin's novel as well, speaking with earnestness and focus. Lin Su sat to the side, sipping his coffee, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"As expected of an excellent criminal investigation captain, he guessed it right away." Xu Xiaolin clapped her hands twice, a smile of appreciation on her lips.

"So who is the murderer?" Wang Shen continued to press.

"What other identity could he have? He's just a man, of course," Xu Xiaolin replied coquettishly. "Was Han Mo's phone call ordering food the same idea as my novel?" Xu Xiaolin said, her eyes widening as if admiring her own creative ability.

"No. What I mean is that it's not certain yet. Okay, now let's talk about Han Mo's case. Let me explain a few things that I find suspicious. First, Han Mo's cause of death: she died from a stab wound to the abdomen. But according to the autopsy results, Han Mo was stabbed twice in the same spot in her abdomen."

"If it's suicide, it's really rare to see someone stab themselves twice," Xu Xiaolin said, puzzled.

“If it was homicide, then it’s easy to explain. The killer might be a novice who, after the first stab, wasn’t satisfied and stabbed the victim a second time. Or the killer and the victim had a deep grudge, and the killer felt that one stab wasn’t enough to vent their anger, so they stabbed the victim a second time.” Lin Su had already taken out his notebook and, after recording the details Wang Shen had just made, shared his opinion.

“Both of these guesses are possible. But what puzzles me isn't the frequency of two stabs, but the direction of the stabs.” Wang Shen frowned after speaking, then immediately returned to his normal expression. “According to the precise autopsy results, the first stab was made from top to bottom. The second stab was made from bottom to top, the exact opposite. Why do you think the same wound could have two completely different puncture techniques?”