Chapter 4: Confusing
Inside the Chao Hi Seafood food stall in Lan Gu City, the lights flickered dimly. Xin Xiao changed into a T-shirt and sat across from Ji Feng, chatting while they ate.
Xin Xiao grumbled in his thick Jiaolang accent, "He's solved a few cases over the years, and he still has the nerve to criticize others? He should take the lead in solving a few major cases and improve the clearance rate. Listening to what he said this afternoon, I really wanted to yell at him."
Ji Feng opened his collar, and the dog bone pendant made of meteorite iron dangled back and forth: "I don't care, it doesn't matter to me. It's my own business."
Xin Xiao said angrily, "He relies on his position as captain, his position, and his high rank to collect a high salary, but in reality, he's just a bureaucrat who's just idling away his time."
Ji Feng shook his head helplessly: "Just take care of yourself."
Xin Xiao sighed and said, "Actually, what Gu Xiaozheng and the other two said is correct. His outdated way of solving cases is just asking for evidence, asking for evidence! It seems like a case can't be solved without evidence. Many cases nowadays are high-IQ crimes. It would be strange if sticking to the same old rigid routines can improve the case-solving rate."
Ji Feng looked at the emotional Xin Xiao, took a sip of beer and said, "When it comes to solving a case, everyone has their own way of doing it. There's no right or wrong. Why are you so angry? Let's talk about the case."
Xin Xiao seemed to be still venting his anger, and continued, "And those guys, ever since they heard you were coming, they've been full of nonsense, saying you're just good at talking, and that coming to Lan Gu to take over this case is overestimating your abilities. They also said that if deduction could solve the case, they'd be willing to resign and just wait to see you make a fool of yourself."
Ji Feng still looked nonchalant and said calmly, "I'm too lazy to explain. Let them talk."
Xin Xiao couldn't suppress his anger, and said angrily, "It's okay if others are unfamiliar with him, but Qin Tian is your student, and he dared to join in the fun. It's simply outrageous and disrespectful to his elders. I think he deserves to be punished!"
"It's really not his fault." Ji Feng cast his gaze towards the dark sea in the distance, his tone lazy, "When I was in the academy, I was on good terms with them, drinking, playing ball and playing games all night long. They had long regarded me as their acquaintance - I didn't care. Over time, they didn't even consider me a teacher at all."
"Isn't it bad to have no sense of boundaries with students?"
"Don't you understand me yet? If I care about these things, would I still be myself? They are all so disrespectful to me, haha." Ji Feng laughed heartlessly.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Xin Xiao turned the topic back to the case: "You saw it all. In this state, it would be strange if the case-solving rate is high."
"Tell me about the case quickly. I signed a gambling agreement."
Xin Xiao nodded: "I know, Hua Ailing has already told me."
Ji Feng crossed his legs, swung his toes, and said with a grin, "This Sichuan girl is so fast-talking, even the Dongfeng-41 can't keep up."
"I just care about you."
After saying this, Xin Xiao was silent for a moment, as if he was gathering his thoughts. After a moment, he spoke, "Jiang Bo has been monitoring this case. I don't know much, so I'll have to ask him for the details. I'll just tell you what I know."
Ji Feng waved his hand. "I've been covering this case for over a decade, and I know the details like never before. Just tell me what you think."
Xin Xiao took a sip of his wine and said slowly, "Did you know? The reason Teacher Lu—oh no, Dean Lu should be called now—insisted on retaining this case in the textbook was because it was full of suspicious points. It's precisely because of this that the provincial department attached great importance to it and asked our municipal bureau to reopen the investigation."
Ji Feng held a toothpick in his mouth and nodded, "I know all this. Tell me, what exactly is the doubt?"
Xin Xiao frowned in thought, "The biggest question mark in this case is that the evidence is so clear and unequivocal. Physical evidence at the scene, surveillance footage, DNA testing, fingerprints and footprints all perfectly match Lin Wantang, making him the prime suspect almost automatic. The entire chain of evidence is intact, and the case was solved and closed with remarkable success. But it's precisely this 'smoothness' that makes people suspicious, as if it were orchestrated. Many veteran detectives who participated in the investigation share a similar feeling."
Ji Feng, playing with his custom-made flute-shaped e-cigarette, continued, "And he died of illness 'just in time,' right?"
Xin Xiao nodded repeatedly: "Yes, this is the second suspicious point."
Ji Feng fell into deep thought. After a moment, he said, "The key point here is whether Lin Wantang knew that he would soon die before the incident."
Xin Xiao said, "Jiang Bo also thought of this. He went to the hospital to check the medical records and confirmed that Lin Wantang was aware of his condition a month before the incident."
Ji Feng stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "A man who knew he was going to die would steal and kill people. This logic doesn't make sense. What was he trying to do? Leave some money for his family? Or was there something else going on?"
Xin Xiao continued, "After investigation, it turns out that Lin Wantang runs an auto parts store in Chaohai District and lives in the Xichengmingjun residential complex in Chaohai District. He has lived alone for many years and has a withdrawn personality. He is the only child in the family. His parents live far away in Yishijiang, and for some reason, they rarely see each other. He has never been married, and although he has had one or two girlfriends, neither of them worked out. I wonder who he stole the ornaments for?"
Ji Feng then asked, "What about the deceased? What connection did he have with Lin Wantang?"
Xin Xiao shook his head. "Chen Zhaoran, the owner of Baoyingli Auction House, comes from a wealthy family and is very involved in the collecting community, but has little contact with other circles. His wife, Lan Ruojin, is a wealthy second-generation and owns a teahouse. Although their family is obsessed with money, there are no rumors of any scandals in their relationships. It seems that they are obsessed with making money. Nothing else matters to them, so a murder of passion is basically ruled out."
Ji Feng pondered for a moment, his eyes brightening as he spoke, "On the surface, this appears to be a murder of passion sparked by a burglary. But the problem is, the two people had no connection, and we've ruled out the possibility of money, revenge, or even a murder of passion. Could it be that Lin Wantang was giving the police a performance before he died?"
Xin Xiao frowned and thought, "Giving the police a performance? Oh, then that means giving Jiang Bo a performance. Have they known each other for a long time?"
"How is that possible?" Ji Feng also found it outrageous.
"Maybe he stole it for someone else and didn't have time to deliver it?" Xin Xiao threw the toothpick away. "Maybe someone promised him a favor and asked him to do something before he died."
"What kind of benefit could make a dying man risk his life?" Ji Feng shook his head. "The only thing I can think of is threatening his family, but he's long since cut off all ties with them."
Ji Feng took a sip of beer, his tone relaxed yet serious. "Let's think about it another way. This case has been under investigation for three years, and so many experts haven't been able to crack it. They must have considered all the ideas we just mentioned. Since they haven't made any breakthroughs, it means the truth can't be explained by conventional thinking. We have to think outside the box and use some unconventional methods."
A trace of admiration flashed in Xin Xiao's eyes, and he said, "As expected of a professor at the academy, you really do have a different perspective on things."
"If this thing is extremely valuable, will things change qualitatively?"
"Well, this possibility cannot be ruled out. Ten years ago, experts estimated its value to be at least 100 million yuan, and now it is estimated to have increased several times." Xin Xiao nodded.
"It looks like a pair of thuja ornaments called 'Little Dragons'?"
"Yes, 'Little Dragons.' This pair of little dragons is no ordinary sight. Pictographic junipers are rare, and one this lifelike is even rarer. And even rarer still is a pair. The expert who appraised them at the time said they had good meaning, were of high quality, and were top-tier spices. He said if someone were willing to pay 100 million yuan for them, there would probably be a huge rush to buy them."
"For a dying person, even the most precious things are meaningless. This is really puzzling."
"Since the Lin Wantang connection is broken, we have to start investigating the people around Shen Zhaoran. Let's go to his auction house tomorrow and turn his social circle upside down. Also, I want to see the latest files. The teaching version is not the same as the real file."
Xin Xiao nodded: "The files are in the archives and can be retrieved at any time."
Ji Feng stood up and stretched. "Then we'll go tomorrow. We'll have to magnify every detail a hundredfold and not miss even the slightest clue."
Outside the window, the night was thick, pressing down like splashed ink. Moonlight filtered through the sparse clouds, casting dappled shadows on the ground like a wet ink painting. The conversations at the food stalls echoed softly in the night breeze, like whispers in the dead of night.
And Jifeng, like a light boat, slowly sailed into the foggy dark sea, quietly moving towards the unknown truth.
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