Chapter 134 The Fat Bird Detective truly deserves the title of Magpie Detective! ...
Spring is here, flowers are in bloom, and it's the season for magpies to breed.
Since getting in touch with Qiu Xiaoman, Xique Lele has been living a life of luxury, and several of her friends have also come over to freeload off her.
Everyone has only one goal: to eat more, accumulate energy, and lay more eggs and hatch more chicks when the time is right.
In this way, the population can grow stronger, and the rats and pests jumping around in the city will have natural enemies.
Birds are beneficial birds, so they have to make some contribution to humans, right?
Hearing the human whistling, Lele instinctively turned her head and looked back. Ha! It was her!
Lele immediately flapped its wings and landed in Qiu Xiaoman's palm. It shook its glossy feathers, tilted its head, and asked, "You haven't been here for a while, and you finally remembered me?"
"I've been a bit busy, it wasn't on purpose that I didn't come." Qiu Xiaoman smiled and glanced at Wu Shirong, then suddenly realized something was wrong. Wait a minute, only Captain Zou in the Criminal Investigation Department should know about Lele's existence, so how come Wu Shirong didn't...?
It's alright though. Wu Shirong seems like a very honest person. I guess Captain Zou was too busy and asked him to help feed them.
She turned back to Lele and continued to discuss their grand plan.
Are you planning to lay eggs and hatch babies recently?
"Yes, I just found a male magpie I like. Look, he's building his nest over there."
Qiu Xiaoman leaned out of the window and glanced at the big tree outside the door. Sure enough, there were several more bird nests. She just didn't know which one Lele's nest was. Never mind, let's get down to business first.
She asked seriously, "So, do you have time to keep watch for me lately?"
“If it’s not too long, that’s fine. Magpies don’t lay all their eggs at once. They usually lay one every other day until they have seven or eight eggs before they stop and incubate them all at once. I can keep an eye on them for you during this time. You can just come back and lay one egg every other day.”
"That sounds like a lot of work. How about you recommend a bird that isn't planning to lay eggs anytime soon?"
"No way! To tell you the truth, I want to keep eating and drinking for free until the baby can find food on his own before I go out to find food."
"Okay, I'm just worried that you're working too hard and it will affect egg production."
"No, we still need to go out to find food, and flying around isn't convenient. You've already saved me a lot of trouble by solving my food problem."
That's true. Magpies are omnivorous, generally feeding on insects and small rodents, and occasionally scavenging. So, magpies in the city are frequent visitors to garbage cans.
Magpies will only choose grains when all other food options are unavailable.
However, Lele herself loves to eat grains, so she is willing to work for rewards, making her a rather independent and self-reliant chubby bird.
Qiu Xiaoman respected her wishes and said, "Then go wait for me on the telephone pole. After I get on the bus, follow me."
"Okay, then I'll go back and tell the male bird." Lele cooperated perfectly and immediately flapped its wings and flew away.
Qiu Xiaoman followed her figure and finally pinpointed her new nest. Well done, very clever. She chose the thickest and strongest tree. She's a smart little bird who likes big villas.
Just then, she heard the sound of a cabinet door closing behind her. She instinctively turned around and saw Wu Shirong carrying a woven bag, the opening of which was clamped shut with a metal clip. She smiled and asked, "Did you prepare this? To feed the birds?"
"Hmm." Wu Shirong hadn't expected Lele to leave so quickly, so he asked, "Do you want to call her back?"
"No need, just scatter some on the windowsill. She'll come when she's hungry," Qiu Xiaoman said, getting down to business. "How did you know about this bird?"
“Team Leader Zou was busy those few days, and I didn’t go out on many field missions, so he handed the task of feeding the animals over to me.” Wu Shirong, carrying a bag of grains, sprinkled some out the window and asked curiously, “You have another case?”
"Don't ask." Qiu Xiaoman reached into his pocket, pulled out two hundred-yuan bills and gave them to him. "One hundred is for buying grain, and one hundred is for your hard work."
"Oh, it's nothing, it's too much trouble to offer money. You didn't ask for money when you treated Mimi, did you?" Wu Shirong immediately pushed the money back, accidentally touching Qiu Xiaoman's fingers, and quickly pulled his hand back.
So the two banknotes just floated and fell to the ground.
Qiu Xiaoman raised an eyebrow: "You're really inconsiderate. You just take it because I'm busy these days and can't come over. You'll have to continue feeding me for two more months."
"I—" Wu Shirong wanted to say something more.
But Qiu Xiaoman bent down, picked up two banknotes, and patted them on his chest: "If you're a true buddy, take them. Don't leave me worried about you out here."
"This is not appropriate," Wu Shirong insisted.
Qiu Xiaoman rolled her eyes: "Why are you being so long-winded, you're a grown man. Just take it when I tell you to."
"You're so fierce." Wu Shirong had no choice but to back down. He didn't know why, even though this little Qiu was not as tall as him, when he got angry it was like a fierce tiger rising up behind him, which was quite frightening.
Qiu Xiaoman, who had succeeded, patted him on the shoulder: "How can we get things done if we don't scare people, right? I'm off to work now, thanks."
Wu Shirong didn't say anything. After the person left, the door closed, and other magpies flew in through the window to freeload and chatter about something, he finally came to his senses, subconsciously touched his shoulder, and a smile inexplicably appeared on his lips.
Hey buddy, that's good.
*
Qiu Xiaoman took off her uniform, put on a woolen overcoat, and found Duan Jiahao's house at the address Director Wen had given her earlier. It was behind the Wu family's house, separated by only two rows of villas.
Qiu Xiaoman felt that if he had time, he should investigate the wealthy people in this area to make it easier to solve cases in the future.
However, she's not a local police officer and probably doesn't have the authority to collect information through official channels, so she can only rely on cats, dogs, and birds flying in the sky.
She stopped briefly in front of the Duan family's house, got out of the car, lifted the engine hood, and pretended to check for malfunctions.
Lele immediately understood, flew to the yard of the villa next door and circled around. When it came back, it chirped a few times on the nearby telephone pole.
It says, "There was a boy arguing with an old man."
Qiu Xiaoman put down the hood, got back into the car, and asked Liu Kun, "How many people from the Duan family were there when you came yesterday?"
“Two. Duan Jiahao’s mother remarried. His uncles and aunts don’t live here anymore. His aunt married the eldest son of the Wu family. You know that, right?” Liu Kun had already noticed the magpie and couldn’t help but sigh. Officer Qiu was indeed incredibly resourceful; even birds could cooperate with her. He wondered if the bird was reporting a clue.
Qiu Xiaoman understood the situation and drove away. She stopped on the street outside and waited for Lele to come over.
Soon, a round ball flapped its wings and landed on Qiu Xiaoman's left rearview mirror. Qiu Xiaoman chirped and chattered with the magpie in bird language—
How old is that boy?
"Looking about seventeen or eighteen years old."
How do you magpies determine their age?
"Two- or three-year-olds are innocent and mischievous, and love to explore; four- or five-year-olds are naughty and like to cause trouble; six- or seven-year-olds start school, some become more sensible, and some become even worse; eight- or nine-year-olds are even more obvious, the precocious ones already know to keep their distance from bad kids, and the fools tend to cluster together, it is the peak period for naughty kids; between ten and thirteen or fourteen years old, look at height and demeanor, the relaxed age is mostly a bit younger, the heavy age may be a bit older, and the schoolbag is also heavier; from fourteen years old onwards, look at height and behavior, those who don't go to school and go out into society are more immature, those who continue to go to school and love learning are more well-behaved, regardless of which one, they all start to be impatient with their elders; seventeen or eighteen years old is the peak, boys will often talk back and quarrel with their elders, and girls start to dress up and become pretty."
Qiu Xiaoman was very shocked: "Wow, Lele, you're very observant! You truly deserve the title of 'Magpie Detective'!"
"Hehe, after all, we birds are from the city. When we see those naughty kids, we should know how to avoid danger in an emergency." Lele proudly puffed out his chubby chest.
Qiu Xiaoman praised Lele highly, then checked the time and, seeing it was getting late, instructed, "I've already paid the famous painter who's been feeding you. Eat as much as you want, there's plenty."
"Okay, chirp!"
"Alright, go keep watch. I'm going on a business trip somewhere else recently and won't be back for long. If anything happens, contact that painter. I'll have him call me. Just tell me directly over the phone."
"The telephone? Is it that ringing thing?"
"Yes, you can hear my voice when you get closer."
"Okay, chirp! I'm off!" Although Lele is chubby, she doesn't seem clumsy when she takes off; she's a nimble chubby chirp.
Qiu Xiaoman was relieved. It was already 10:30 in the morning. She planned to go back to check on the calico cat and then go to Uncle Zhou's place to keep Xiao Shandian company. So she turned around and drove back.
Liu Kun was quite surprised and asked, "Aren't you going to handle the case?"
"I'm working on it. Let me check on my cats and dogs. They've just had lunch. Let's continue." Qiu Xiaoman hadn't opened the file folder yet; she needed to find a safe place.
So, without a doubt, accommodation is the first priority, even though she has only stayed one night so far.
When she got upstairs, she discovered that new residents had moved in next door. Qiu Xiaoman didn't want to think too much about it, but the man carrying the cardboard box gave her a couple of extra glances. She didn't say anything, opened the door, went inside, and only asked Liu Kun after closing the door, "Do you know the guy next door? Did he just move in today?"
"No, didn't you stay here for one night? The next day, the neighbors moved in, probably because they had a lot of stuff—" At this point, Liu Kun realized what was going on and whispered, "Could it be that the Wu family sent them to spy on you?"
Qiu Xiaoman also looked towards the entrance hall and lowered her voice, saying, "The problem is, how did they know I live here?"
Liu Kun subconsciously took a step towards the entrance: "This house is registered in your name, right?"
“Of course.” Qiu Xiaoman already knew the answer. “The Wu family has connections in the housing management bureau.”
Liu Kun nodded, staring seriously at the doorknob. After thinking for a while, he deliberately said loudly, "What? You left your lipstick in the car? Give me the keys, I'll go get it for you."
As he spoke, he pulled out the front door key from his pocket and pretended to open the front door.
The person eavesdropping at the door had no time to react and unexpectedly fell face-first into the mud.
Liu Kun didn't hesitate for a second before exclaiming, "I can't go, my wound has reopened. Why don't you go?"
Qiu Xiaoman immediately grabbed a rag from the coffee table, stepped forward, pinned the man's arms behind his back, stuffed the rag into his mouth, and said loudly, "I'm not going. It's just a lipstick. I can just put it on at work."
She then dragged the man into the living room and closed the door.
Without hesitation, she immediately dialed Shen Qinghuai's number: "President Shen, I'm back. I'm with Liu Kun. Please come over right away; it's a matter of great importance."
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