Chapter 39 Bird of Paradise 24
It's another busy day, with various case closing reports and summary documents submitted one by one.
Luo Siwei solved her first case at the Municipal Bureau very efficiently, and the other team members accepted her as the female captain.
It was time to get off work again, and people gradually left. Luo Siwei was the last one to stand up. Just as she was about to turn off the lights and leave, someone knocked on the glass door of the office.
Luo Siwei looked up and saw Chi Li standing at the door.
Luo Siwei walked over, and Chi Li said, "There's a dinner party tonight. Most of the mid-level criminal investigation staff will be there. Do you want to join us?"
Luo Siwei hesitated for a moment.
Chi Li added, "This is a regular dinner that was arranged long ago. There are no big leaders, just some middle-level managers, and everyone pays AA."
Luo Siwei picked up her bag and said, "I have nothing to do tonight, so I'll go with you."
We will all be colleagues in the future, and we will see each other every day. It is better to get to know more people.
For centuries, humans have relied on food to strengthen relationships. We eat on dates, at gatherings with friends, and even at workplaces. We eat at weddings and funerals. It seems that as long as we sit at the same table and pick up our chopsticks, we become closer.
This is especially true for dinner parties, which are simply the fastest way for a group of people to quickly become friends.
This dinner was held in a Cantonese-style hotel opposite the Municipal Bureau. There were quite a few people there, and they booked a large private room with two tables in total.
When Chi Li brought Luo Siwei in, there were already quite a few people sitting in the private room. When they saw Luo Siwei coming in, they all offered their seats. Someone greeted Luo Siwei, "The policewoman is here."
Someone introduced the person next to them: "This is the female captain transferred from the Third Division."
Someone else said, "Captain Luo, you solved the case beautifully."
"I heard that Old Yu is fine this time thanks to you."
Luo Siwei knew that this meant that her colleagues in the Municipal Bureau had finally accepted her.
After she sat down, Chi Li sat next to her and gave her a brief introduction. At their table were some mid-level leaders from the drug and pornography enforcement teams. There was also the forensic doctor Chu from the Material Identification Center who worked with their team. Doctor Chu's full name was Chu Shisui, and they all jokingly called him the Ten-Year-Old Forensic Doctor.
Soon the food arrived and people started chatting.
Luo Siwei, adhering to the principle of speaking less, quietly ate her food and listened to the conversation. Later, when the wine was served, she followed the local custom and poured a glass, placing it in front of her as a token of her appreciation.
Except for a female junior leader from the household registration department, all the people sitting at this table are male.
There were many men, and since there was no duty tonight, many of them drank and soon started to clink glasses.
Luo Siwei didn't reject this kind of environment, but that didn't mean she liked it. When there were a lot of people, it was noisy, especially when there were a lot of men, she would unconsciously think of those dreams and become a little restrained.
Fortunately, Chi Li was also a quiet person. He sat next to Luo Siwei, with a glass of wine in front of him but he didn't touch it. He didn't participate in the conversation of those people and seemed to keep his distance from everyone.
None of them are the type to actively talk to others, which makes this corner particularly quiet.
In the second half of the dinner, Luo Siwei stopped eating with her chopsticks. Chi Li turned his head and asked her, "Is the food not tasty?"
Luo Siwei shook his head: "It's good, I don't eat much."
"If you're tired, you can leave first." Chi Li's voice was gentle, "Don't worry, I will help you explain."
Luo Siwei: "It's okay, sit for a while." It was her first time at a dinner party, and she felt it would be impolite to leave too early.
The topics those people talked about were all within the system, such as what cases happened in which cities, which local leaders were dismissed, and what new gossips were going on in which places. She understood all these topics and didn't find them boring.
After three rounds of drinks, some people drank too much and started to toast and walk around, talking louder. Two people came over and added Luo Siwei on WeChat.
Later, a director named Liu came with a wine glass in his hand and wanted to have a drink with her. Luo Siwei stood up and smiled, clinked glasses with him and took a sip.
The man surnamed Liu tilted his head back and gulped down the whole glass of wine.
Director Liu had drunk so much that his tongue was swollen. He obviously didn't want to let Luo Siwei go. He wiped his chin with his sleeve and said, "Hey, Captain Luo, I've finished it all. How come you still have so much wine left?"
Someone nearby took advantage of the chaos and instigated, "Yes, yes, policewoman, give me some face."
"Just be quick and go one way."
"We'll all be colleagues from now on."
A group of people were noisy as they carried Luo Siwei onto the stage. Someone even asked with a smile, "Does the policewoman have a boyfriend?"
Luo Siwei felt nauseous and smiled as she backed away. She clenched her wine glass tightly and was thinking about how to respond when Chi Li stood up and raised his glass and said, "Director Liu, she's allergic to alcohol. I'll drink this for her."
Without waiting for Luo Siwei to react.
Chi Li raised his head and drank the wine in the glass.
He took the initiative to block the drinking, and someone nearby laughed and joked: "Captain Chi, are you starting to protect him now?"
Someone else asked: "Is this beautiful girl taken?"
Chi Li put down the cup and said in a natural tone: "She is my subordinate."
The young people all knew Chi Li’s temper, so no one joked anymore and the group of people who were making trouble dispersed.
Only Liu's eyes were still fixed on Luo Siwei, clearly with other intentions. He was about to say something, but Chi Li took a step forward and whispered something in his ear.
The entire private room was very noisy, and no one paid attention to this corner except Luo Siwei and a few people next to him.
Then Chi Li took a step back and looked at Director Liu.
After hearing what he said, Director Liu's face changed slightly, as if he had sobered up. He raised his head and looked at Chi Li, with some fear in his eyes.
Chi Li was slightly taller than Director Liu. He looked down at him with his eyes lowered, a polite smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Director Liu finally understood what was going on. He lowered his head, muttered something, turned around dejectedly, and walked away with the cup in his hand. His movements were so clumsy that he almost fell apart.
After solving the problem, Chi Li sat back down.
Luo Siwei thanked Chi Li, then asked curiously, "What did you say to him?"
"He had some omissions in his work, and I reminded him." Chi Li wiped his hands with a tissue and said lightly.
Luo Siwei used a spoon to stir the dessert in front of her. She remembered that the Director Liu that the pink-haired girl mentioned at the bar might be him. Now those people are all locked up. This Director Liu might actually have some connection with them...
After this period of contact, Luo Siwei has realized that although Deputy Captain Chi looks low-key and indifferent, he is actually very strong in doing things. He can talk back to people without using any dirty words, and his work is flawless, but he can make those villains and criminals tremble in fear of him.
This little episode passed quickly. After they finished eating, Chi Li and Luo Siwei scanned the code to pay their respective bills and walked out of the restaurant.
The entire Donglan City was shrouded in darkness.
Chi Li asked Luo Siwei: "It's a bit late, should I call a car to take you home?"
"No thanks." Luo Siwei explained, "I just finished eating and wanted to take a walk. I live nearby, so I can walk there in twenty minutes."
It was night time now, and the area around the Municipal Bureau was bustling even at night. She had nothing to do after dinner, so she could take a leisurely stroll.
Chi Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me take you home. We have something to talk about on the way." In his opinion, some empty streets seemed more suitable for conversation than the city bureau.
The Municipal Bureau is located in the core area of Donglan City. It is just past eight o'clock now, and the businesses on both sides are lighting up various lights.
The two of them walked slowly along the road towards the community where Luo Siwei rented a house.
Chi Li said: "Regarding this case, I saw the closing report you submitted, and marked many suspicious points."
Luo Siwei hummed and explained, "On the surface, the case is closed. Li Muyao confessed to all his crimes, and we have arrested Huang Gan. But I always feel that everything is too coincidental."
She then elaborated, "Li Muyao and He Peihan had a long-standing feud. Then, Li Muyao suddenly received a series of complaints from customers who ordered food, forcing him into a corner. Huang Gan suddenly found Li Muyao and asked him to be his driver, then instigated him to set the fire. Crucially, this case was stuck right before the demolition orders for those buildings were issued. These events raise some questions when you think about them; there are too many coincidences that don't stand up to scrutiny."
On the surface, Li Muyao killed people of his own will.
The tragedy in He Peihan's family was also caused by some of his improper behavior.
But it seemed like someone was controlling all of this. Those people noticed the personal grudge between Li Muyao and He Peihan, and poured fuel on the flames of hatred, igniting this fire.
Luo Siwei possessed sharp insight and accurate intuition, and she offered her own conclusion: "Huang Gan suddenly ordered Li Muyao to set the fire, even going so far as to expose himself before the gambling began. I believe all this may be related to the forces behind the casino."
In other words, the interests involved may exceed the money earned from a single bet.
Chi Li said: "When I went to meet Huang Gan, I wanted to find out who the boss behind Huang Gan was."
Luo Siwei asked: "Any clues?"
Chi Li shook his head: "Huang Gan didn't say anything. He hasn't revealed anything during the current interrogation."
Luo Siwei was silent for a moment. Chi Li should have tried all the investigation methods she could think of.
Chi Li paused for a moment and took the initiative to bring up the case that had been handed over to the Municipal Bureau. "There's another thing. Regarding Yu Wanying's case, the Municipal Bureau took it over because Cha Junxi's situation was somewhat special." He explained in detail, "During the subsequent investigation of Cha Junxi's computer, the Internet police discovered that he had participated in the programming and construction of some apps."
This work was reported directly to the General Administration, so even the criminal police in charge of the case were unaware of it. Only the cyber police responsible for investigating the computer knew the situation.
This was the first time Luo Siwei heard of this: "Then... did you interrogate Cha Junxi?"
Now she thought about it carefully. Cha Junxi was very good at computers. For a student, he had so many mobile phones, installed surveillance cameras everywhere, and even rented a house. He must have a certain source of income, and it must be quite a lot.
In addition, the media releases that whitewashed Cha Junxi may have been produced by someone behind the scenes.
Chi Li took care of Luo Siwei beside him and walked on the outside of the road. He slowed his pace slightly and lowered his voice: "Not long after Cha Junxi was imprisoned, a fight broke out in the First Detention Center. Cha Junxi was seriously injured in the head by a fellow inmate. He is still in a coma."
Luo Siwei was surprised: "Is this like...silencing someone?"
Chi Li said: "The police interrogated the murderer who injured Cha Junxi. The man said that he was also a father of a girl. His daughter was raped and killed many years ago. So when he heard about what Cha Junxi had done, he was furious and attacked him. He also said that everything was his own intention and no one else instructed him."
Luo Siwei was puzzled: "Cha Junxi has only been in prison for a few days. How could someone in the detention center know the details of this case?"
Chi Li said: "The suspect said that he heard this from the new inmates, and some of them saw the video posted by Yu Wanying."
Luo Siwei lowered his head in thought. With Cha Junxi seriously injured and unconscious, the police's clues were cut off. If the person behind the incident was willing to kill Cha Junxi to keep the secret, then this app must have some special features.
"The information about the ap that Cha Junxi helped build is still being deciphered. Based on some image files, we can confirm that one of them has the abbreviation EBDY, and the prompt text above is Whisper in the Ear. This app is a ghost virus software. It will directly invade some people's phones, control the phone, monitor and monitor, and automatically destroy itself, but it will leave some traces." Chi Li said this, opened his phone and pulled up some information for Luo Siwei to see. "Recently, traces of similar software installation were found on Li Muyao's phone."
Luo Siwei recalled the details of the interrogation of Li Muyao: "Li Muyao said that Huang Gan assigned him to set the fire in Helan Community... Could his hatred for the He family be influenced by other factors?"
The two seemingly unrelated cases were now intertwined with each other.
"Police are still investigating the connection between these murders. I suspect that the affected area is not limited to Donglan. However, we can only wait for more clues before continuing the investigation."
Having said that, Chi Li stared at the darkness ahead, his voice a little low: "Maybe someone is secretly manipulating all this behind the scenes."
Luo Siwei looked solemn: "I will pay attention to the relevant information."
Having talked about this topic, there is still half a journey to go.
The two walked forward quietly for a while. When they turned the corner, there were rows of street lights. The orange light and shadow cast down, making the scenery on the roadside look like it was covered with a layer of ambiguous gauze.
Luo Siwei hesitated for a moment and asked the people around her: "Captain Chi, I want to ask, why did you choose me?"
She later learned from the discussions within the city bureau that she wasn't the only candidate for the position. Although she was only a small team leader, there had been a lot of negotiation behind the scenes.
One of the reasons she was able to join the Municipal Bureau was because Chi Li had always supported her. When she was finally called in for an interview, she had basically been selected.
"I hate people who are incompetent and hold us back." Chi Li said simply, "I like to move forward with smart and outstanding people."
Luo Siwei was inspired and said, "Captain Chi, do you know why I want to be a police officer?"
This is a question that almost everyone will be asked during a police officer interview, and the answers are varied and unconventional.
Some have an overflowing sense of justice, some are their parents’ ideals, and some frankly have stable jobs.
When asked this question before, Luo Siwei would just give a safe and reliable answer. This was because she could sense that those people seemed to just be going through the motions and didn't really want to know what she was thinking.
But now, on the night street in Donglan City, in an informal setting, with her direct supervisor standing next to her, Luo Siwei's heart was beating fast, and she wanted to tell him the answer in her heart.
Chi Li cooperated and asked, "Why?" Then he looked at her gently, waiting for her answer.
"I haven't often discussed these things with anyone," Luo Siwei said. "We all learned in textbooks that if we have problems, we should go to the police. We've always been told that all police officers are fair and impartial, and if we have any problems, we can go to them and solve them. When I was little, I would look up to the police officers, with reverence in my heart."
"But when I grew up and actually faced the situation, I found that it wasn't like that. The police aren't omnipotent. They're human too, and there are times when they feel powerless. When dealing with a problem, it also depends on the officer who responds to the call. Different officers will handle the problem with different levels of care and different results."
"When I was in junior high, I went to a comic convention with a classmate. My classmate lost her phone, and I accompanied her, distraught, to the police. She wrote a lengthy statement, but the responding officers thought it was a waste of time to even retrieve the surveillance footage, and they refused to hear the details of how she lost her phone. They kept telling her, 'There's nothing we can do,' 'We'll let you know when we find it,' and 'Many people lose their phones.' They were so eager to get the matter over with, they considered sealing the records as mission accomplished. One officer even told her, 'It's probably gone. If the old one doesn't go, the new one won't come. Buy a new one.'"
"My classmate kept crying because the phone contained photos of her and her mother, who had passed away due to illness. Now that the phone was lost, the photos inside could never be recovered. I thought that a capable police officer would be able to help her find the phone, and even if they couldn't, they could say something to comfort her. But no one asked her what happened, and no one comforted her."
Although she was not the one who lost the phone, that scene seemed to be engraved in Luo Siwei's heart, and she was full of disappointment at that time.
It was also the first time she realized that police officers were ordinary people too...
It turns out that calling the police is not a panacea. There are many things that the police are unwilling to deal with, or they are unable to handle them. They also don’t have that much time to waste on a small mobile phone, even though in the eyes of the parties involved, that mobile phone is extremely important.
"Just when we were feeling extremely disappointed, a young police officer arrived. He asked my classmate about her situation in detail. We had already given up hope, but two days later, he told her to go to the police station to retrieve her phone. My classmate was so excited to get her phone back that she burst into tears and thanked the officer profusely. But the officer just waved his hand and said, 'This is my job.' Even though it was just a small phone, it changed my perspective on the police and the world in general."
Chi Li listened quietly. Fortunately, this story had a good ending.
Luo Siwei lowered her eyelashes and continued, "Later, when I was in high school, something happened. My mother passed away. I called the police at the time. My grandfather took me home and kept comforting me. Then he said to me, 'Let it be fate. We can only hope in the conscience of those people.'"
At this point, Luo Siwei took a deep breath and looked forward. "At that time, I suddenly understood something. When dealing with things, we can't control many situations ourselves. We can only rely on the 'conscience' of others."
“Many times, living in this world, we need to place our hopes on the consciences of teachers, doctors, police, prosecutors, and judges…”
“Sometimes, we don’t even know what kind of person the other person is. We may have never met each other in our lives, but at certain moments, those people can decide another person’s life, even life or death.”
Chi Li asked her: "What happened next? Is your problem solved?"
Luo Si smiled slightly, the night breeze ruffling her hair. "I don't know if I'm lucky or not. I've encountered many things, but I've always been able to escape danger safely. Many benefactors have appeared in my life. After all my efforts, the police finally accepted the case and gave a fair and just verdict."
Chi Li nodded and said, "I believe there are still many good people in this world."
Luo Siwei said, "I once asked someone who helped me what he wanted in return, and he said that as long as I could help more people, that would be enough. I have also met some outstanding people and regard them as my role models. So when I was filling out my college entrance examination application, I thought, I want to be a conscientious police officer, a person worthy of others' trust."
This was the first time Luo Siwei said this to others. It felt like he was peeling off his heart layer by layer.
She told Chi Li more about her experiences.
After becoming a criminal police officer, the first case she handled was a home invasion robbery. The perpetrator was a repeat offender who had just been released from prison. The victim had a daughter at home who had witnessed her mother's death. She remembered that after she reached out her hand to the girl, she hugged her and broke down crying.
At that moment, they were strangers, but as a police officer, she became her support.
She felt that her choice was not wrong.
Someone planted a seed in her heart. After being exposed to sunlight and watered by rain and dew, the seed took root, sprouted, and blossomed into a beautiful flower.
Luo Siwei said, "I feel that conscience, justice, and truth are such important things in the world. Someone has to protect them at all costs."
Chi Li was silent for a moment and said, "If everyone can think this way, it can change the fate of many people."
By this point, Luo Siwei could already see the residential complex not far ahead. She expressed her loyalty: "Captain Chi, I will work hard to do a good job."
Chi Li hummed, and he looked at her with gentle eyes: "I believe you."
Late at night in the hospital, the corridor gradually became quiet.
The patient in the next bed was discharged this afternoon, and the new patient had not yet come in. He Jin was finally able to temporarily move from the bedside chair to the hospital bed to sleep for a night.
Her mother was already asleep, so she pulled the curtain next to the bed and lay on the bed, browsing her phone.
Suddenly, a small game interface popped up on her phone. He Jin thought she had accidentally touched an advertisement and wanted to exit quickly.
Before I could find the exit button, a dialog box popped up. An animated figure emerged from the bottom of the screen, and a line of words appeared in the dialog box: "Did you receive our gift?"
He Jin was stunned. She couldn't exit and thought her phone was broken. She pressed the turn-off button and then turned it on again, but the same screen appeared.
He Jin touched it, and a keyboard popped up below. She tried to reply: "What gift?"
The animated figure on the screen shook its head, and a line of words continued to appear: "Eighteenth birthday present."
He Jin's frown deepened.
The other party continued: "You posted the tree hole. Didn't you hope that your family members would die? Now they are all dead."
The other party said the next sentence: "You already knew about the box of shampoo, right? Or maybe you did it."
Shampoo...
He Jin's hand shook and the phone almost fell and hit his face.
That case of shampoo...that happened a year ago.
It was a weekend, and Mom and Dad were loading and unloading goods. As usual, she took her younger siblings to play near the company. Then her younger brother suddenly suggested making a robot out of a cardboard box. Her younger sister immediately agreed, and the two of them clamored for a cardboard box.
She was a sophomore in high school at the time, and had tons of homework and exams to do every day. She was irritated by the request. She looked up and said impatiently, "Where are the used cardboard boxes? We have plenty of good ones in the warehouse."
After hearing this, the younger sister happily pulled her younger brother up and said, "Let's go get the boxes from the warehouse."
After hearing this, she sneered: "You dare to go to the warehouse to get it? My parents never let us go into the warehouse."
The two children laughed when they heard this: "Mom and Dad will never say anything to us."
Then they went into the warehouse through the back door hand in hand.
He Jin rolled his eyes and continued to do his homework. After a while, his brother and sister found a large cardboard box from somewhere, found a pen and started to draw. After less than two hours, his brother said, "It's not fun."
My sister also thought it was boring: "Then throw it away."
The cardboard box that I had worked so hard to find was thrown casually into a trash can on the side of the road and was picked up by an old man a short while later.
It was this tiny thing that she hadn't thought would trigger such a chain reaction. When her parents started looking for the box of shampoo, the two children were terrified.
Her brother threatened her: "Don't tell Mom and Dad. If you tell them, I will tell my sister that you asked us to take it."
She didn't want to make trouble. It was just a broken box, a box of shampoo.
Later, the shampoo that was taken out was found in the corner at the back of the warehouse, and the matter was over.
The naive children didn't know that the matter was not really over.
Now, He Jin was lying on the cold hospital bed, his body trembling slightly.
For a moment, a feeling of self-blame crept into her heart.
After all, she was the older sister. If she had stopped the two children, would this tragedy have been avoided? If she had told her parents the truth, would they have survived?
Thinking of these possibilities, He Jin's teeth were chattering. Even if she hated those people, they were still her family after all...
Her mind kept thinking about these things, as if a demon was whispering in her ear.
The words on the screen continued to appear.
"You've wanted them dead for a long time, right? Once they're dead, you'll be truly free!"
In He Jin's heart, good and evil were constantly fighting. A voice said, "Yes, that's it. Good for you to die! If they don't die, you will die. You will be bullied by them forever and will never have peace."
Another voice said that your younger siblings are still young, and many of their behaviors are unintentional. Mom and Dad work hard to support the family and take care of three children, so they have to neglect you a little. After all, they are your family.
The villain shook his head: "Don't you hate your mother? She will drag you down for the rest of your life."
He Jin's head began to hurt. She had a thought: her mother was right next to her. The person who once looked so tall and scary was now curled up in one place, thin and ugly. If she just picked up the pillow and covered her face with it, she would soon stop breathing.
Another thought was, no, that’s my mother after all, she’s my only relative now!
"You can't go back. We are the same kind." The villain put on a smiling expression.
How could the people on the other side know all this? He Jin became alert. Was her phone being monitored? Or maybe those people had even seen some of the content on her phone.
He Jin closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to calm down. She thought of the female police officer who sent her back a few days ago.
A surge of courage surged from the bottom of her heart, helping her struggle out of the mud.
He Jin's heart was pounding as he kept typing on the screen.
"I'm not perfect, maybe I've done a lot of wrong things, but I haven't done anything to hurt others!"
"As for those remarks, I was just venting!"
She pressed the screenshot button and then threatened the other party: "Who are you? I will send these screenshots to the police!"
As soon as I typed this line of words, the phone screen went black. When I opened it after a while, nothing was there.
He Jin looked at her phone in surprise. She checked it again and again but could not find any trace of the software. It was as if those conversations were all a dream of hers.
Then she opened the gallery, and fortunately, the screenshot was still there.
He Jin breathed a sigh of relief. She had left evidence in time, otherwise, others would think she was lying.
She thought about it and tapped Officer Luo in her WeChat list.
"Hello... I received something strange tonight..."
Then she sent the picture and briefly explained what had just happened.
Officer Luo was as gentle and rational as usual: "You did the right thing, thank you for providing the information. The police will investigate later. I will report this matter..."
In Donglan City, in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window, a woman closed the computer in front of her.
"It failed? It's so rare to find such a good embryo." She said with some regret.
The man beside him looked out the window at the night and said with a smile, "It's okay. Maybe the next one will be better behaved."
The author has something to say:
The two chapters are combined into one, and a new volume will start tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
