Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Let’s go to the real daughter’s house for dinner tonight
For the next period of time, Jiangtan returned to its former tranquility.
The cases handled by the Serious Crime Team are not difficult. They are nothing more than drowning, theft, and provoking disturbances. They are either pure accidents or impulsive actions. The investigation process is quick and simple, and the case can be closed almost on the same day.
Che Zhiwen thinks the office is stuffy and too lazy to sit there all day. Cheng Mo's mother is in the hospital and needs someone to take care of her, while Xiao Wu has a new girlfriend and they are in the honeymoon period of love... Anyway, field workers don't have to work fixed hours, so everyone turns a blind eye.
So apart from Tang Ci who was diligently guarding his post, only Ji Yinhe came to report every day.
The two of them lived in separate corners separated by a partition made of metal cabinets, without disturbing each other.
Ji Yinhe retrieved a lot of old files from the archives, put himself in the scene at that time, analyzed the logic of the case, sorted out the relationships between the characters, speculated on the murderer's motive, and tried to draw a profile.
She also read all the books and manuals written by the great public security experts, and took careful notes in several large leather-bound notebooks.
When my eyes are tired and my hands are sore from writing, I go to Ye Qing in the forensic office next door to discuss clinical identification, or take a walk in the mail room.
The application materials submitted to the provincial department fell into oblivion, and after two or three weeks, there was still no news.
Sometimes Ji Yinhe would recall the conversation his parents had in the master bedroom that night, about things like "rich second generation drug traffickers", "human trafficking case", and "serial dismemberment case".
Unfortunately, their explanation was unclear. She tried to inquire in a roundabout way several times at the police station and the branch office, but couldn't find any relevant clues.
With her extraordinary intelligence, Police Officer Xiao Ji speculated that these cases might not have happened yet. All she could do was to stay vigilant at all times and try to nip these vicious incidents in the bud before they happened.
But how did her dear parents know about it?
She leaned over the desk and scratched her hair in distress.
The hottest time of summer passed quietly in the evening breeze, twilight and the fading sound of cicadas outside the window.
*
On a morning at the end of August, although the dog days of summer had already ended, the heat was still steaming off the road.
Ji Yinhe, who had officially established his foothold in the Serious Crime Team, walked out of the apartment building with brisk steps, carrying Ms. Lian's loving lunch box.
Neighbor Chen Ling was sitting on a small stool by the roadside peeling edamame. When she saw her leave, she immediately stood up.
"Going to work at the police station?"
"Yes, good morning, Aunt Chen!" Ji Yinhe stopped and greeted her with a smile.
"Xiao Yinhe, if you're not busy right now, could you help me check the meter?" Chen Ling picked up the small stool and vegetable bowl. "Something's wrong this month. My family doesn't use a lot of electricity, but the electricity bill is extremely high. I suspect someone has secretly connected to my appliances!"
"...Ah?" Ji Yinhe blinked. "I don't know much about circuits. I'm afraid you'll have to contact the power supply bureau."
"Okay, you take a look first. I'll feel more at ease with the police around!"
Chen Ling pulled her into the corridor without any explanation.
Usually only the meter reader comes to this area. There are spider webs everywhere and dust is flying everywhere. Ji Yinhe opened her red eyes and looked at the room number on the meter box.
"302...Yes! That's it!" Chen Ling looked at the tangled wires on the box in the corner and jumped up and down in anger. "This is really weird! Someone must have stolen my home appliances!"
Ji Yinhe bent down with difficulty and squatted in with his neck shrunk.
"Mrs. Chen, I don't see any problem. The clock isn't ticking fast these days, and electricity thieves usually steal in the middle of the night..."
Before she could finish her words, she suddenly froze in place.
The electric meter boxes for 303 and 302 are right next to each other. Last time, Ms. Lian said that she had modified the circuit specifically to charge the 5-fold. I wonder if she connected the line to Chen Ma's house...
And she started using the five-fold at the beginning of August!
Policeman Xiao Ji took a deep breath and immediately decided to go home and ask Ms. Lian what was going on. If the situation was true, he would have to fix the circuit, apologize, and repay Mrs. Chen for the electricity used.
She was just about to close the electric meter box when suddenly two hoarse "meows" came from deep in the box, and a skinny big orange cat crawled out from underneath, twisting its butt.
"Ouch!" Chen Ling yelled, "Isn't this my Daji? How did it get here? Quick, quick, Yinhe, catch it!"
Daji's fur was covered in dust and his tentacles were slippery. He was frightened and ran very fast. He slipped under the bicycle and then jumped out of the apartment building along the brick wall.
Ji Yinhe already felt a little guilty about the circuit issue, so he chased the orange shadow with extra effort.
After a flurry of activity, Daji was finally picked up in front of the carport and returned to Chen Ma's arms.
"Oh my baby!"
Chen Ling didn't care how dirty the cat was, she hugged it and kissed it again and again.
"Daji has been missing for three months. He used to be as fat as a pig, but now he's just a bag of bones! I thought I'd never find him again!" Mother Chen wiped her eyes, tears of gratitude filling her eyes. "Thank you, Xiaoyinhe, for helping me check the electricity meter and find my cat... I'll bring some wine to your house later!"
"Don't do that! You're too polite. Neighbors should help each other, and this is what we, the police, do!"
Ji Yinhe touched his nose embarrassedly.
"Don't touch it! You'll be in trouble!" Mother Chen laughed while hugging the cat. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. Go back and wash your face and change your clothes before going to work!"
Ji Yinhe looked down at himself and realized that it was not appropriate to go to work in this state.
Besides, the lady hasn't left the house yet, so it's a good opportunity to ask about the electricity meter.
So she said goodbye to Aunt Chen, turned around and went upstairs to go home.
Lian Qiao was already up. She was wearing a floral apron and humming R&B while making breakfast in the kitchen. When she saw Ji Yinhe coming in covered in dust, she couldn't help but gasp.
"Where did you arrest someone so early in the morning?"
"We didn't catch anyone, we caught a cat." Officer Ji slipped into the bathroom and asked while washing his face, "Mom, did you change the electrical wiring a while ago?"
"Yeah, the voltage at home isn't enough for a five-fold fast charger."
"It seems he's been transferred to 302."
Lian Qiao slapped her head in surprise and quickly pulled off her apron. "I went down there with pliers that day, and I don't know how I managed it. It was pitch black, and it was twisting and turning. I thought it was our own... Oh my god, how much electricity did Sister Chen use up? I'll pay it back! And I have to apologize!"
“…”
After changing her clothes, Ji Yinhe came out and saw her careless mother hurried out with her wallet and knocked on the security door opposite.
It was a bit late to go to the Municipal Bureau, so she sat down at the dining table, holding her dishes and watching TV, not worried about the situation at all.
——Ms. Lian is well-known among the neighbors for her carefree and generous personality, and she earns a lot of money from the snack bar, so the Ji family should be able to pay the electricity bill.
Mother Chen must understand that Lian Qiao did not intend to be the electricity thief.
Sure enough, after half an episode of "The Return of the Condor Heroes", Lian Qiao came back with a smile on her face.
Ji Yinhe asked, "Is Aunt Chen not angry?"
"Your mother Chen's beloved cat, Daji, was found today and is in a great mood. She even wanted to thank you," Lian Qiao said with a smile. "I asked her to pay for the electricity, but she refused. She just praised the deliciousness of my stew and asked me to bring her half the next time I braise a goose... I said, of course that's fine. We have food to eat at home anyway, so it's a simple matter!"
"That's good."
Ji Yinhe drank up the porridge, and the pager beside him rang.
Looking down, Tang Ci sent a string of numbers, which was the default code among the police officers, meaning that there was no case today and they didn't need to be on duty.
Lian Qiao sat down beside her and fanned herself with a small silk fan. "Aren't you going to work today?"
"Well, no case."
"Okay, come with me to the Su family in the evening."
Ji Yinhe was a little confused, "Who?"
"It's the Su family, where your father worked as a nanny and cook when I knew him." Lian Qiao paused and explained, "Tonight is his daughter Su Yue's engagement party, and he invited our family to the banquet. Speaking of which, the story of his two daughters is quite complicated..."
Ji Yinhe's curiosity was piqued. "Why is it complicated?"
Lian Qiao groaned, got up, and went to the kitchen to cut a few slices of watermelon. She shared this gossipy story with her daughter, "Su Yue was switched at birth. Mr. and Mrs. Su adopted Su Yiyun, who was in the next bed, as their own daughter. When she was eight, Xiaoyun fell ill and needed a blood test, but their blood type didn't match. They used connections and requests to find Xiaoyue in a rural orphanage and reunited her... But Xiaoyun didn't know who her biological parents were, and after eight years of living together, Mr. and Mrs. Su couldn't bear to let her go. Since they had plenty of money, they decided to raise her together."
Ji Yinhe reacted after a while: "..."
Why does this story sound familiar?
Isn’t it just that the real daughter was swapped with the fake one?
Could this be the “Green River Era Wen Human Trafficking Case” that Ms. Lian mentioned that night???
Comrade Xiao Ji took a bite of the melon and asked hesitantly, "What happened next? Since they grew up together, Su Yue and Su Yiyun must be as close as sisters. What's so complicated about it?"
Lian Qiao laughed awkwardly, thinking that the author had watered down the writing by a full 1.5 million words, with so many twists and turns and gossip that it would take three days and three nights to finish telling the whole story!
"Well, I don't know the details. Not long after I met your father, he resigned from the Su family. Later, Mr. Su went into business and made a lot of money. But Su Yiyun is an adopted daughter after all, and her relationship with Su Yue, a biological daughter who was found, is very delicate. Xiaoyun almost stole Xiaoyue's boyfriend, didn't get into college, and left Jiangtan a few years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Su can only pretend that they never raised this daughter, which is also a sad thing... Anyway, just eat the engagement party obediently and don't bring it up!"
Ji Yinhe threw the watermelon rind into the trash can and nodded seriously, "Okay!"
She was not so interested in the gossip between the real and fake daughters, but as a professional criminal police officer, if the Su family really encountered human traffickers, she would never let go of any clues!
*
Six o'clock in the evening, in the Su family's small Western-style building.
A red Xiali taxi stopped by the roadside, the door opened, and a pair of brown high-heeled leather shoes popped out and stepped onto the ground.
After standing firmly, Ji Yinhe stretched out her arms and awkwardly pulled at the shirt collar that was tightly around her throat and the pencil skirt that was tight around her hips.
Lian Qiao bought this outfit at the mall in the afternoon.
Ever since Ji Yinhe entered the police academy, he donated those nice-looking but impractical clothes to the girls in Hope Primary School so that he could ride a bike and chase bad guys more conveniently.
Accustomed to wearing comfortable and loose uniforms, she now felt as if she was kidnapped by her skirt and leather shoes, walking crookedly.
However, his original height of 173cm was increased to almost 1.8m, enough to look down over the heads of everyone around him and receive a lot of surprised looks.
...This feels pretty good!
Policeman Xiao Ji breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze passing through the Roman columns with big red wedding characters on them and falling on the center of the western-style building.
Su Yue, dressed more gracefully and brightly than Gong Li, was holding her fiancé's arm and accepting the guests' blessings with a smile.
Lian Qiao took out a red envelope and told her daughter, "Our family is at the second table on the left. Please take a seat first and save a seat for your father. I'll go over and say hello. This will be a good opportunity to repay the favor."
Ji Yinhe agreed and walked straight to the banquet table next to him.
As soon as they sat down, a fashionable girl at the next table turned around and said with a smile: "Hello, my name is Tan Yaxin, I'm Su Yue's good friend, how about you?"
"Hello, Ji Yinhe." Comrade Ji held his breath in the strong smell of perfume and introduced himself. "My mother used to be the nanny of the Su family."
She looked calm and at ease, but Tan Yaxin showed a hint of embarrassment on her face, "Oh, then uncle and aunt are quite nostalgic."
Ji Yinhe laughed indifferently.
Perhaps out of boredom, Tan Yaxin held up her chin and asked, "Are you working? Where do you work?"
"Municipal Public Security Bureau."
"What a coincidence! My boyfriend also works at the Municipal Bureau!" Tan Yaxin raised her eyebrows. "Which department are you in? My boyfriend is a small leader!"
"Oh, I'm in Major Case 1—"
Before he uttered the word "team", the door curtain next to him was suddenly lifted, and a middle-aged woman in a Xiangyunsha cheongsam rushed out, her elegant and delicate face full of panic.
"Where's Aqiao? Lianqiao! Where are you? Come and help! The chef we booked has stood us up!"
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