Fang Zhenyue knocked and entered Inspector Qiu Sushan’s office, sitting boldly in the chair across her desk.
Qiu Sushan glanced at him, put down the case file she was reading, and extended her hand towards him.
Without a word, Fang Zhenyue handed over the report to her in silent agreement.
“The report on the baby theft case should also be submitted the day after tomorrow,” Fang Zhenyue said, his gaze drifting past Qiu Sushan to the window. “I’m planning to take a week off.”
“Take your leave later. Right now, with the files being uploaded, many unresolved old cases are being sorted out. I’ll select a few and send them to you in a while. Take some time to look into them; solving any could be a great achievement,” Qiu Sushan said as she opened Fang Zhenyue’s report and started reading quietly.
Fang Zhenyue didn’t respond, massaging his temples and thinking to himself that if he couldn’t take leave, he should at least finish work early and catch up on some sleep.
He could plan a good getaway for half a month or a month later.
Being a police officer, one gets more than 100 days of full-pay sick leave per year, a fantastic benefit everyone else seemed to enjoy except him. It felt inhuman.
“I’ve been an inspector for nearly ten years and never encountered a case like the Bi Street murder case, solved within 24 hours,” Qiu Sushan said as she quickly finished the report, looking up to see Fang Zhenyue spacing out and sitting upright behind the desk, her eyes firmly on him, emphasizing, “I’ve never seen anything like it. This is a first.”
Fang Zhenyue remained relaxed, waiting for her conclusion.
“I’ll nominate you for an internal promotion this year. Keep things straight this year,” she said, tapping the desk with her pen, “and let Uncle Ji burn all those fake search warrants.”
“Understood, madam,” Fang Zhenyue chuckled, seemingly amused that she had discovered his little tricks, like a little boy caught doing something naughty but instead of feeling ashamed, he beamed with pride.
Qiu Sushan glared at him, tapping her pen on the desk in resignation, “Shall I assign a female detective to you? Otherwise, the Major Crime Team B office will soon turn into a pigsty. This morning, I went to inspect and found Liu Jiaming asleep on the desk with his socks hanging off the side. It’s disgraceful. Having a female detective might make you guys behave better, and balance the energy in the group. Maybe it’ll even bring some different perspectives to the investigations and double the efficiency—”
“Let’s talk about that later,” Fang Zhenyue waved his hand, seeing she wanted to continue nagging and changed the topic, “About the Bi Street murder case, I still want to discuss it with you.”
“?” Qiu Sushan looked at him suspiciously, clearly not believing he had something serious to say. Her frowning was entirely a reprimand for interrupting her.
“You just said it yourself, we’ve never encountered a case like Bi Street with so few clues, confusing search directions, and random, incidental motives, solved within 24 hours.” Fang Zhenyue easily took control of the conversation.
Qiu Sushan looked annoyed but nodded anyway.
“In this case, there’s a key figure, a new clerical policewoman at the station, Yi Jiayi,” Fang Zhenyue pointed at the report Qiu Sushan had just finished reading, “which I’ve mentioned inside. When Inspector Guo from the Public Relations Department made the announcement, he referred to Yi Jiayi as the police station’s lucky star.”
“…Hmm.” Qiu Sushan cocked her head and glared at him, somewhat dissatisfied with his proud and smug manner when controlling everything.
“So, you think Yi Jiayi is just lucky? How come the murder weapon was there, no one else saw it, but she was just lucky?” Fang Zhenyue looked at Qiu Sushan with a smirk.
“Are you saying…” Qiu Sushan raised her eyebrows incredulously, her previous emotions completely swept away, all her attention returning to what he was saying.
After deliberating his words in his mind, Fang Zhenyue spoke carefully:
“When I was studying in the UK, I encountered someone who had a very strong intuition about criminal cases, a kind of talent that others couldn’t surpass through learning. He could deduce the murderer’s trajectory from some minor details at the crime scene.
“If Yi Jiayi did something others didn’t, then I think I should observe this kid more, to see if she really has something exceptional.
“If she does, even if she hasn’t realized it, we should unearth and promote her talents.
“Madam, after so many years as a police officer, you and I both know that there’s no such thing as ‘luck’ in the police force.”
It’s all about good capabilities and hard effort.
Qiu Sushan understood, of course; her gaze fell back on the report on the desk, “I understand, what do you want to do?”
“Let her participate in our Team B cases, sit in, or rather, learn a bit. I can also observe her during the case investigation. If she really has the capability, I’d like to bring her out from the administrative department and directly transfer her to the major crime unit,” Fang Zhenyue finally smiled at Qiu Sushan, “At that time, I’ll still need to trouble Officer Qiu with the procedures.”
“Hmph, only when you need me, you’re willing to call me ‘officer’ willingly.” Qiu Sushan tucked the report to the side of the desk, “When Yi Jiayi comes to collect the report for filing, let her come directly to my office to get it.”
She stared at Fang Zhenyue, bluntly saying, “I also want to see just how much this young lady weighs.”
“Don’t scare her.” Fang Zhenyue leaned on the desk, ready to rise gracefully with just a little effort.
Speaking as if she was a wicked witch, Qiu Sushan didn’t pick up his banter, instead posing dismissively while shooing him away, “First make sure she really has an irreplaceable intuition.”
Fang Zhenyue chuckled, though tall and strong, his movements were agile and smooth.
He rose from his chair, stepping out in one stride, as if he’s performing the most heroic and fluid dance moves, effortlessly natural and casual, showing the ‘suaveness’ that had long been imprinted in his bones, without pretense, inherently commanding presence.
“Yes, madam.” Fang Zhenyue turned back to smile at her, pulled the door open, and slipped out without a trace.
Qiu Sushan sat behind the office desk, massaging her temples.
This guy had cracked two major cases with alarming efficiency, standing out among the city’s major crime unit, his pride was justified.
She was leading such a highly capable detective, and she wondered if it was fortune or misfortune.
Although she didn’t need to worry about anything, just to summarize the results at harvest time, she often worried about her own lack of advancement while supervising Fang Zhenyue, unconsciously becoming dependent on him.
Once he was promoted internally to inspector, she had to lead a new team. If she showed any sign of weakness or that she was clueless without him, it would reveal her complete ignorance in solving cases…
Qiu Sushan frowned, checked that the office door was securely closed, and then picked up Fang Zhenyue’s report to read it thoroughly.
Even as an inspector, she couldn’t help but secretly learn from him and study his methods of solving cases.
When she saw the name ‘Yi Jiayi’ in his report, Qiu Sushan picked up the phone and asked the personnel department to send her Yi Jiayi’s file.
If she was to transfer this child to Team B, she couldn’t afford to know nothing about her.
Qiu Sushan prepared to thoroughly understand Yi Jiayi, and if necessary, she even thought of making a good connection with this young lady.
To prevent being constantly outdone by Fang Zhenyue…