Chapter 6

“The footprint comparison results are out?” Lin Jiafan, seated in the passenger seat, remained completely unaffected by the people around him. He kept his head down, fiddling with his phone, and responded flatly.

Pang Guangbuyi immediately deflated a bit and muttered, “Tch, boring… Aren’t you even curious how I realized that guy was suspicious?”

Then he straightened up and continued speaking in a moderately loud voice:
“Didn’t you tell me to canvass the area near the crime scene? Honestly, there aren’t many residents left in that neighborhood. I went through two entire buildings and only managed to get about ten doors to open.”

“I almost didn’t catch that guy either—call it bad luck on his part. When I was canvassing the first floor, a middle-aged woman heard I was with the police and insisted on asking me a favor.”

“She said the apartment above theirs had been vacant for years, but recently they’ve been hearing noises at night, disturbing her and her husband’s sleep. She even said her heart condition had nearly acted up from the stress. Since they hadn’t been able to reach the property owner, she asked if I could try contacting them using my police credentials and find out what was going on.”

At first, Pang Guangbuyi hadn’t paid much attention—after all, the building had thin walls and poor sound insulation, and the noises the elderly couple heard might not have even come from upstairs.

Still, he agreed to pass the information along to the local precinct so they could coordinate with the community office.

But when he went up to the second floor, even knowing the apartment was supposed to be vacant, he still knocked on the reinforced security door.

To his surprise, that knock produced something unexpected—faint footsteps came from behind the rusty metal door, catching Pang Guangbuyi’s attention. He knocked again, this time identifying himself.

In response, he heard more distinct and chaotic shuffling sounds.

Realizing the urgency of the situation—even though it was a bit unorthodox—Pang Guangbuyi hesitated briefly before gritting his teeth and instructing the accompanying officers to force the door open.

The moment they rushed in, a shadowy figure darted into the southernmost bedroom, leaving behind only a mess of chaos in the living room.

Pang Guangbuyi didn’t have time to take a closer look—he immediately gave chase. By then, the man already had half his body out the window. All Pang Guangbuyi could do was let out a roar, but almost at the same time, the man vanished from sight.

What happened next—since Luo Jingyao was directly involved—should’ve been clearest to her.

But the focus clearly wasn’t on the chase or the fight between her and the man. The key lay in the subsequent police search of that supposedly “vacant” apartment. During the search, they collected a set of footprints that didn’t belong to any law enforcement personnel.

Forensics compared those prints on-site with the ones taken from the scene of the crime in the adjacent building—and surprisingly, they matched.

At this point, Pang Guangbuyi couldn’t hide his pride and swayed his head smugly.
“And that’s not all. The two officers who took the suspected perp to the hospital just now also found traces of human blood on the soles of his shoes. The samples have already been sent back to the lab. If they match the victim’s DNA, isn’t that a slam dunk?!”

Unfortunately, no one else in the car shared in his excitement.

Luo Jingyao sat quietly in the backseat, her eyes cast downward in a typical “see no evil, speak no evil” manner. Technically speaking, she was just a contract-based instructor, so some of the things being discussed were a bit beyond her pay grade.

As for Lin Jiafan in the front seat, he showed no signs of excitement despite the major break in the case—his expression remained calm and indifferent.

“Boss, what are you looking at?” Pang Guangbuyi asked while they were stopped at a red light, craning his neck toward the passenger seat.

“Nothing, just watching the video Chief Zhang sent to the group chat this morning,” Lin Jiafan replied casually. He slightly raised his head, and through his glasses, his gaze met Luo Jingyao’s in the rearview mirror—who seemed to be lost in thought.

Although he hadn’t directly said anything, his words were enough to make Luo Jingyao’s eyelid twitch.

Facing Pang Guangbuyi’s curious stare, Lin Jiafan very considerately played the video again. Almost instantly, Huang Guifen’s tearful screaming—mother of Huang Guojun—filled the car, making the previously spacious atmosphere feel uncomfortably cramped.

With the rising gasps of the onlookers in the background, Pang Guangbuyi suddenly turned to look behind and said with admiration, “Barehanded disarmament? Damn, Coach Luo! Just today alone, Tianjin City Public Security Bureau owes you two favors!”

“…We’re all family, no need to be formal,” Luo Jingyao forced a polite reply, racking her brain to come up with something to say.

As the car behind honked impatiently, Pang Guangbuyi stepped on the gas again and circled back to a question he hadn’t received an answer to earlier:
“By the way, Coach Luo, did you come to Hexi District because you got curious after what Huang Guojun’s mom said? I’m telling you, that woman’s got a few screws loose. There was nothing wrong with Huang’s case two years ago—no matter how much she kicks up a fuss, she’s not going to change anything.”

As the young man rambled on, Luo Jingyao could only maintain a somewhat awkward smile.

“Eh—”

It seemed Pang Guangbuyi still had more to say, but Lin Jiafan cut in, “Focus on driving. The bureau said if you get one more violation this month, they’re issuing a formal warning.”

“No way, seriously?!” Pang Guangbuyi’s face fell instantly. “I was just doing my job!”

Fortunately, he didn’t press the issue any further. Luo Jingyao silently let out a sigh of relief—only to glance up and catch Lin Jiafan looking at her again in the rearview mirror.

The man’s lips slowly curled into a polite smile, and he nodded at her in greeting.

Luo Jingyao blinked in surprise, then gave a slight nod in return.

Thinking it over, this was actually the second time he had stepped in to ease a situation for her. Was he trying to save her from embarrassment?

Captain Lin really is a gentle, kind man, she thought to herself.

The car fell into silence again, and about fifteen minutes later, it pulled smoothly over to the side of the road.

“Thank you, Officer Lin and Officer Pang,” Luo Jingyao said as she got out. Standing awkwardly at the edge of the curb, she gave them a stiff wave.

To be extra polite, she added, “See you tomorrow.”

The moment she said that, Pang Guangbuyi’s wide grin instantly disappeared. Accompanied by the roar of the engine, the police van sped away, leaving only a half-hearted “Goodbye, Coach Luo” behind—scattered with dust stirred up by the tires.

Luo Jingyao stood there for another two minutes before finally lowering her gaze. Her apartment building’s entrance was just behind her, but after a brief hesitation, she turned around and headed toward the subway station across the street.

That night, the neon lights of local shops flickered in a residential district. Reflections of vibrant colors danced on water puddles along the road.

Footsteps echoed in a narrow alley. A second later, Luo Jingyao’s faint reflection appeared in one of the puddles. She turned on her phone flashlight and carefully compared the house numbers on the doors she passed. Eventually, she stopped in front of a large wooden gate.

Knock knock knock!

The sudden noise broke the night’s silence. Somewhere nearby, a dog started barking. The chatter from nearby shops blurred the sounds even more.

“Who is it?” came a rough female voice from inside.

“Excuse me, is this Huang Guifen’s residence?” Luo Jingyao’s fingers tightened around the plastic bag handles as she politely asked.

Creaaak—

The door opened slightly from the inside, and Huang Guifen’s round face appeared.

“What do you want?” she asked bluntly.

Before Luo Jingyao could respond, the woman recognized her instantly. She took a big step back and yelled, full of suspicion, “It’s you?! How did you find out where I live?”

“I came specifically to apologize to you,” Luo Jingyao explained gently. “Things got a bit tense during the day, and I admit I didn’t hold back. The police already gave me a stern warning and educated me about it afterward.”

She lifted the plastic bags in her hands, showing several full bags of fruit.

“As for your address… I pleaded with the police for a long time before they finally told me.”

As if. The only reason she managed to find this place was thanks to the clothes Huang Guifen had worn that morning while making a scene outside the police station.

While Luo Jingyao was restraining her on the ground, she had inadvertently noticed four embroidered characters on the front of the woman’s top: “Da Han Song Gu” (a Korean-style bone therapy spa).

So, Luo Jingyao traced the name back to the woman’s workplace and got her home address from there.

“I’m truly sorry about what happened today. I was just afraid you might accidentally hurt yourself,” she said, seeing that Huang Guifen still looked suspicious. Her tone grew even more sincere. “You really ought to think more about yourself. If something had happened to you—if you’d gotten injured—who would be left to seek justice for your son?”

Perhaps it was because her face was too convincing, but the middle-aged woman’s expression slowly softened under Luo Jingyao’s gentle persistence. Her eyes never left the bags of fruit.

Sensing the shift, Luo Jingyao sensibly pushed the fruit forward a little.

“…Fine then, I won’t hold it against you,” Huang Guifen said quickly, snatching the bags of fruit without hesitation. Her smug satisfaction was written all over her face as she spoke and started to close the courtyard door behind her.

No way she was going to let her get away that easily. With a swift sidestep, Luo Jingyao deftly slipped into the small courtyard, pretending not to notice the other woman’s stunned expression as she enthusiastically flattered her:
“This courtyard looks so clean and cozy! Ma’am, you really keep things in great shape!”

There’s a saying that you don’t hit someone who’s smiling at you. On top of that, Huang Guifen had just accepted fruit from her—she couldn’t very well throw her out now. Her lips twitched, but in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to ask Luo to leave.

“Come in and sit for a while,” she muttered. Seeing Luo Jingyao loitering near the door, she struggled to lift the bags of fruit as she offered the invitation.

Luo Jingyao, of course, didn’t refuse and followed Huang Guifen into the house.

Though a light was on inside, the room wasn’t particularly bright. The space was small—roughly thirty square meters by estimation.

To the right was a bed, a simple cloth zip-up wardrobe, a square wooden table, and two bamboo chairs. Junk was piled high under the bed, nearly overflowing.

To the left, two moldy wooden planks had been set up as a divider. Behind them, a pile of trash sat in the corner. On the windowsill was a gas stove, and beneath it, a bucket full of murky liquid.

Huang Guifen walked into the partitioned area with the fruit and casually called out, “Have a seat.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Luo Jingyao replied, strolling over to the table as her eyes quickly scanned every corner of the room.

Suddenly, her gaze paused near the head of the bed.

She held her breath and listened carefully for any sounds behind the wooden partition, then quietly walked toward the bed.

This is…

“What are you looking at?”
Huang Guifen’s voice rang out abruptly from behind, her tone filled with suspicion.

At the sound, Luo Jingyao’s right hand instinctively tightened around her phone.