Chapter 13

Lin Shang was apprehended at his grandmother’s house, confessing to the entire criminal process. His account of the events aligned almost perfectly with Song Wen’s deductions.

In his enraged state, Lin Shang had plunged a knife into his father’s heart, causing Lin Zhenghua to quickly succumb. Due to the knife lodged in the wound, there wasn’t excessive bleeding. Lin Shang, terrified at the time, but Zhong Qing remained remarkably composed. Before rigor mortis set in, Zhong Qing and Lin Shang together stuffed the body into a large suitcase and transported it to the rented house.

The mother and son then went to the cram school, pretending nothing had happened, but Lin Shang didn’t absorb any of the lessons.

The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly fine. Although Zhong Qing had sacrificed herself, willing to take the blame for him, in the end, Lin Shang couldn’t escape legal consequences.

Song Wen went through the entire case again, and most of the previously unanswered questions now had explanations, with most of the loopholes filled.

As Lin Shang was underage, he might face juvenile detention for his education. Ma Minghui and Guo Zai could be sentenced for extortion. Zhong Qing would likely face charges of harboring a criminal and desecrating a corpse.

After three days, 72 hours, the case of dismemberment was solved. All four criminals were in custody.

After the case was closed, several days of busy work followed for the finishing touches. The members of Team One finally enjoyed a rare weekend. On Sunday afternoon, Song Wen habitually took out his sketchbook to start drawing.

He drew faces—one of Zhong Qing, one of Lin Zhenghua, one of Lin Shang. He continued until various faces filled the entire sheet, then closed the sketchbook.

Song Wen then opened his phone. His fingers slid across the screen, suddenly recalling something. He flipped through the photo album, finding a picture. It was a photo he had discovered in the evidence from Cheng Xiaobing. It wasn’t supposed to be taken, but the girl couldn’t bear to delete it. After finding this photo, Song Wen kept it in his phone without mentioning it to anyone.

In the photo, Lu Siyu lowered his head, looking at the trunk of the victim’s car, his delicate face filled with concentration.

Some things, like beads, seemed unrelated at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they had signs and connections. Song Wen remembered Zhou Yining’s words and the previous investigation results. He suddenly stood up, grabbed his clothes, and left.

At five in the afternoon, Lu Siyu was cooking dinner in the small villa in the west of Nancheng. Today, he stewed a pot of fish soup, a fish he had personally butchered.

Lu Siyu’s movements were neat and efficient. First, he stunned the fish, removed the internal organs, scales, gills, and the black membrane inside the abdomen. Then he washed the fish cleanly, rinsed away the blood on his hands, and absorbed the water on the fish with kitchen paper. Heating the pot, adding oil, first searing it on both sides, then adding water. Light yellow oil flowers emerged, and the soup gradually turned white, cooking until the soup became milky and gradually thickened.

Lu Siyu had always believed that the freshness of food was closely related to the time of death of the organism. To make delicious food, it had to be cooked in the shortest time after the organism’s death. Therefore, he usually handled the butchering of poultry and fish himself. The blood of these animals was warm, and the fish’s blood was cold; shrimp could still jump around. Only with such fresh ingredients could one create truly exquisite delicacies.

After stewing the fish soup, Lu Siyu also made tomato beef brisket. He put it in a pressure cooker, mashed the boiled potatoes into a puree, mixed it with meat juice, and the meat roll in the oven made sizzling sounds. Rolled in lettuce, it became an exquisite delicacy.

Waiting for the other dishes to be ready, and with the aroma of food wafting through the room, Lu Siyu was preparing to sit down and enjoy the meal when suddenly he heard the doorbell. He lifted his head in surprise; in this neighborhood, besides delivery and security personnel, rarely did anyone else visit.

Lu Siyu wiped his hands and went to the door. Peering through the peephole, he saw Song Wen standing outside.

Lu Siyu’s initial instinct was to pretend not to be there. He glanced back at the well-lit room and the floor-to-ceiling windows without curtains. Considering that if he didn’t open the door, Song Wen might actually resort to breaking in through a window, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to open the door himself, greeting, “Captain Song.”

Song Wen casually changed into indoor shoes, and Lu Siyu squatted at the door, adjusting the shoes he took off and arranging them in a row with the others.

Song Wen walked into the house, habitually glancing around the environment.

This area belonged to the wealthy district of Nancheng, with each building being a separate unit, complete with a yard.

It was said that this house design was by a Spanish architect, and the entire villa had a touch of exoticism. The living room had a height of about four to five meters, with a curved design on the ceiling. Upon entering, there was a spacious living room of over a hundred square meters plus a dining room. The kitchen had a square-shaped island, surrounded by various equipment, combining both Chinese and Western kitchens. The kitchen was exceptionally tidy after finishing cooking.

Having a professional habit, Song Wen swept his eyes across the entire living room, finally focusing on Lu Siyu. Lu Siyu stood aside, wearing a comfortable home outfit, and had a pair of golden wire-framed glasses. He looked at the unexpected guest expressionlessly.

Song Wen’s gaze finally swept over the dishes on the table, each plate neatly arranged. “Do you eat so well every day?”

“I’m used to it. Cooking is also a way to relax,” Lu Siyu said, glancing at Song Wen. It was his day off today, and he obviously came directly from home, making it to the mealtime. He politely added, “Captain Song hasn’t had dinner yet?”

“I just have a few words. After saying them, I’ll go back to eat,” Song Wen lightly coughed, and his refusal didn’t seem sincere.

“No trouble at all. It’s just a matter of adding an extra set of bowls and chopsticks,” Lu Siyu said, taking out bowls and chopsticks and placing them in front of Song Wen. Then, he added some green onions to the fish soup, placed it on the table, and, finally, thoughtfully poured two glasses of red wine. At first, the wine in one glass was slightly less than the other, and Lu Siyu frowned. He added a bit more, ensuring that both glasses had the same amount of wine before handing one to Song Wen.

Song Wen didn’t stand on ceremony. As if he had come to share a meal from the beginning, he sat at the dining table and started eating with Lu Siyu. The main dish, the fish soup, was particularly delicious. The extremely fresh fish soup lacked any fishy smell, only having the unique fragrance of fish meat. It wasn’t as greasy as other types of meat. Drinking the thick soup made Song Wen feel warm all over.

Lu Siyu picked up a large portion of fish meat, and Song Wen, raising his head, heard him affectionately say, “Little Wolf…”

Song Wen didn’t expect to be suddenly called by his nickname. His movements paused, and he looked at Lu Siyu. Colleagues didn’t know this nickname, and it was challenging for anyone to associate it with Song Wen’s current demeanor. He was about to ask Lu Siyu how he knew his nickname when a pure white Samoyed jumped out from the nearby guest room, skillfully leaping onto the table. Lu Siyu placed the fish meat on the table, and the dog started eating. Lu Siyu lowered his head, expressionless, and extended a pure white hand to scratch the dog’s belly, and the dog squinted its eyes in enjoyment.

“…”

Clearly, it was just a dog, so why call it a wolf?

The dog was being petted beautifully, and as Song Wen watched Lu Siyu play with the dog, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation. A person who was usually so cold was now displaying this bit of tenderness on a dog.

“Little Wolf, greet the guest,” Lu Siyu ordered. The dog jumped down and ran over to rub against Song Wen’s jeans.

“Your dog is quite friendly…” Song Wen felt the dog rubbing against his leg intimately and couldn’t help but reach down to pat its head.

Lu Siyu couldn’t bear to watch any longer. “Little Wolf, don’t rub your butt against people’s pants…”

The dog was criticized, showing a look of grievance. It shrank its body and raised one leg, assuming a posture as if about to urinate.

Song Wen, holding the chopsticks, froze. “…”

Suddenly, there was an urge to have hotpot with dog meat.

The dog was carried away by Lu Siyu, and Song Wen, watching him, couldn’t help but ask, “Why is the dog named Little Wolf?”

“Why? Is it not a good name?” Lu Siyu pinched the dog’s round face, looked up at him, and then explained, “I picked up this dog. At that time, I moved out of the dorm, feeling a bit afraid of loneliness. On my way home, I picked up this dog. It was all dirty at that time, snarling at me with bared teeth. Its two canines were like those of a wolf. It was small and didn’t look fierce at all, but rather cute. That’s when I suddenly thought of this name.”

Song Wen took a tissue from the side and wiped his mouth, ruthlessly puncturing his lie: “To pick up a purebred Samoyed, your luck is really good.”

Lu Siyu nodded, seemingly completely oblivious to the skepticism and sarcasm in Song Wen’s words. He didn’t explain further, lowering his head to pat the dog’s belly, lost in thought.

After finishing the meal, Song Wen put down his chopsticks, finally getting to the point. He habitually rolled up the sleeves of his shirt: “I came here today to talk to you about something.”

Lu Siyu nodded, reaching to take the Samoyed off the table. The dog, very obediently, tucked its tail and entered its bed in the guest room.

Song Wen paused for a moment before getting into the main topic. He habitually rolled up the sleeves of his shirt: “Your psychological assessment results from before weren’t quite satisfactory.”

A slight hint of confusion appeared on Lu Siyu’s usually expressionless face. He adjusted his glasses, seemingly not understanding why the results turned out that way.

“I have a question I’d like to ask you,” Song Wen opened, “Why did you become a criminal detective?”

Lu Siyu cleared his throat, “I’ve had a dream since I was a child…”

Song Wen interrupted him, raising an eyebrow, “Give me something practical, don’t use the stuff you learned at the police academy to fool me.”

Lu Siyu looked at him, “So, Captain Song, can you tell me why you became a criminal detective?”

“In this city, there are always many bad people, and someone needs to catch those bad people,” Song Wen looked at Lu Siyu, “It’s something that always needs someone to do.”

The room was quiet, and Song Wen continued, “However, I chose this profession mainly because of my family. Many people in the City Bureau don’t know, but my father is an old detective. Initially, my father’s image was glorious and great in my mind, but later on, I discovered that there were things he couldn’t do, things that disappointed me. Also, my father was a very face-conscious person… he was very selfless, the kind of person who, as people say, swells his face to look fat. He likes to be at the forefront of everything, a praised good cop by everyone’s standards. But in reality, once something happens… in his mind, whether it’s his son, his wife, or his own life, everything can be abandoned…”

Song Wen didn’t make the situation very clear, but Lu Siyu understood. There must have been something that happened, something that made Song Wen extremely disappointed in his father, causing the image of his father in his heart to fall drastically.

“Later, when I was eight years old, my parents divorced.”

Song Wen said this, and Lu Siyu’s eyes changed slightly, showing a hint of sympathy.

Song Wen shrugged, “He and my mom messed around for a few years, then remarried, so I don’t really count as growing up in a single-parent family. It’s just that for a few years, my father’s position was missing. He rarely appeared, and when he did, he was very harsh on me. Later on, in the midst of his reprimands and blame, I learned to rebel. I habitually opposed him. If he didn’t think highly of me, I had to prove it to him. At that time, he wanted me to become a doctor, so I went and became a cop. Now, I quite like this job.”

Song Wen rarely spoke about these things to others. Both he and Song Cheng were very stubborn. Song Cheng hoped that he could become a doctor like his mother and enter medical school. Song Wen thought that being a cop was a very difficult job with a lot of crime, hardships, and everyday encounters with evil. But he deliberately opposed Song Cheng, applied to the police academy, and after graduation, entered the Nancheng Bureau.

In the end, after working as a detective for several years, Song Wen felt that he was very suitable for this job. He could handle the position naturally; he was a born detective. So, he was content with this choice. With age, Song Wen gradually understood the involuntary aspects of Song Cheng’s actions, but the gap between father and son wasn’t something that could be resolved in just a few words.

After listening to Song Wen’s words, Lu Siyu lowered his head, saying, “When I first started school, I applied for the forensic science department. Later, one time, I took a related course in criminal behavior investigation. Towards the end of the course, the instructor suddenly found me. He earnestly suggested that I consider my future career path, whether to become a forensic doctor or a criminal detective. In his professional description, being a detective seemed more suitable for me, so I later considered it carefully and chose this profession.”

Song Wen continued, “Being a criminal detective is tough. Are you sure you can stick with it?”

“I’ve adapted so far and feel okay,” under the influence of his persistent efforts and pampering from Lu Siyu, he didn’t feel wronged.

“You’ve been in the police force for over a week now. How did you feel about the last case you followed?”

“I feel like I learned a lot.”

At this point in the conversation, Song Wen’s expression suddenly became more serious. “I have another story I want to tell you.”

Lu Siyu seemed to sense a different atmosphere and sat up straight in his chair, looking at Song Wen. He was familiar with Song Wen’s current expression; it was the expression he had during interrogations, as if sitting across from him was not a colleague or subordinate but a suspect. His penetrating eyes seemed to see through everything.

“This story happened a few years ago at a police officer academy with various departments, including forensic science. Among the new students, there was one whose performance stood out from the others, and he was also quite good-looking, attracting many girls in the school to pursue him. However, this guy, cold as ice, rejected many people…” Song Wen spoke in a deep voice, and under the dim light, Lu Siyu’s face remained expressionless, as if he were listening to a pure story.

“…This situation undoubtedly caused jealousy among some male students in the dormitory. The male students in the class began to form a group, considering that guy as their imaginary enemy. It started with some trivial jokes, but later escalated. They tore up his books, wet his bed, and one evening past 8, they lured him to the experimental building, stole his phone, and locked it in the dissection room. On that day, there was a fresh corpse that had just been dissected in the dissection room.”

As Song Wen spoke, he kept his gaze on Lu Siyu’s face, not missing any subtle expressions. “…At that time, they were just freshmen. Although they were going to study forensic science, they hadn’t formally dealt with corpses. The male students who played the prank later said they wanted to scare their classmate, lock him up for a night, and break his arrogance. This incident was only discovered by the administrators during the dormitory lights-out check at 12 o’clock. The dean hurriedly brought teachers to rescue him. When they opened the door of the dissection room, they found that guy calmly facing the dissected corpse, separating various organs, carefully observing…”

When Lu Siyu heard this, he finally spoke a sentence, “During school, opportunities to dissect are rare, especially when facing a corpse alone.”

“But at that time, that guy was only eighteen.” Song Wen looked at the person in front of him. Under the light, his skin was bright white, and the red spots on his Adam’s apple were as red as blood. Song Wen didn’t know how that guy looked like back then, in such a bewitching manner.

“Those male students received punishment, the leader was expelled, and that guy was allowed to live off-campus due to this incident. No one in the school dared to be friends with him anymore. Everyone said he was crazy, abnormal, and some even said he had a special fondness for corpses. This guy, maybe naturally introverted, didn’t care about his classmates’ opinions. On the contrary, he got along well with the instructors.” Song Wen said this, raising his head, “The story ends here, just an ordinary story. Bad students got punished, and the good student did his own thing. However…”

Song Wen picked up his glass and took a sip of red wine, looking at Lu Siyu. “Xue Tong, do you still remember that name?” That was the student expelled due to that incident.

“I always feel that this matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface. Later, I investigated this person’s social relations. After dropping out of school, he became an ordinary taxi driver. When I asked about that incident, he seemed unwilling to say much. After my repeated questioning, he said a few words, ‘That’s what he wanted.’ After that, he hung up and refused to reveal anything else.” Song Wen looked at Lu Siyu, asking, “What do you think Xue Tong meant by that statement?”