After a heavy rain, the entire city was enveloped in a cool dampness.

The next morning, a rare glimpse of long-awaited sunshine appeared.

Xie Kui’s first action upon arriving at the office was to call the team, summoning everyone back to work overtime for a meeting to discuss issues related to Jiang Zhihao.

The current situation was very tricky. Jiang Zhihao was currently abroad, and there was no concrete evidence of his crimes yet, preventing them from making a direct arrest.

Based on current deductions, Jiang Zhihao likely wasn’t aware of the police suspicions yet. To avoid alerting him and making escape more difficult, they couldn’t summon him back to China for investigation. However, waiting idly until he returned was also not feasible.

Xie Kui reviewed the transcript from when Jiang Zhihao reported the incident. According to him, on the night of the incident, he had worked late at the company until 11:09 PM, then drove straight home and did not leave again. The next morning, he left home around 8 AM to drive to work. Shortly after arriving at the company, around 9 AM, he received a call from Dr. Feng informing him that Zhuang Zi had not shown up for her appointment.

The preliminary plan involved investigating the office building where Jiang Zhihao’s company was located and the surveillance footage from his residence at Changhe Bay Apartments to verify his alibi.

They split up and worked tirelessly until the afternoon, returning to headquarters for another debriefing.

Xie Kui summarized the investigation: “On the night in question, surveillance at Jiang Zhihao’s office building showed him leaving the underground parking lot at 11:09 PM with two other colleagues who were also working late. However, surveillance at Changhe Bay community gate showed his car entering at 1:17 AM. The issue lies here: the distance between the office building and Changhe Bay is 7.6 kilometers, a drive of just over twenty minutes. Therefore, it appears he did not return home during these two-plus hours.”

Xiao Meng suggested, “Then we should investigate the route his car took.”

Xie Kui nodded, “Start on that immediately. Tomorrow, when I’m back at the office, I’ll see if I can glean any information from his coworkers.”

…

In the afternoon, Xiao Meng had to go to the transportation department and wasn’t sure when he’d return.

Before leaving, he instructed Xiao Mi, “If it’s time to go home and I haven’t returned to the station yet, go home with Captain Si; his house is big, beautiful, and safe.”

Xie Kui teased him lightly, “Passing your troubles to him, do you think he doesn’t have enough work, or are you trying to avoid him denying your vacation request?”

“You think he’s like you?” Xiao Meng confidently replied, “Maybe other things are uncertain, but he definitely won’t ignore this.”

Xie Kui raised an eyebrow, curious. “Why do you say that?”

To prove his point, Xiao Meng shared specific reasons with Xie Kui.

Xiao Meng had some confidence in sending Xiao Mi to persuade Si Hang.

Xie Kui hadn’t been at the station long enough to understand some of the colleagues’ private discussions.

Si Hang was originally a bona fide second-generation rich, with his father being the founder of the top 500 enterprise, Fengyue Group, and his mother a prominent figure in Yip Province as a painter and calligrapher.

However, fate sometimes intervenes. When he was four years old, his mother took him shopping and tragically lost him. He was later abducted and sold in rural areas.

He was rescued at the age of seven. How he survived those three years was known only to him; all the details were sealed away in his heart.

At the time, the conditions for solving cases were not advanced enough, and children who couldn’t find their families could only be sent to orphanages. Therefore, he was separated from his family for over twenty years.

That’s why Xiao Meng could confidently urge Xiao Mi to pester Si Hang: “They both had unfortunate childhoods, so Big Brother, seeing Xiao Mi, would surely think of his own past, feeling a sense of empathy and shared suffering.”

Xie Kui was curious, “How did Big Brother find his parents later?”

Xiao Meng replied, “Because he became a police officer and got into the best police academy in the country.”

Si Hang’s achievements today were inevitably linked to his childhood experiences.

Having endured the most painful suffering, he could undergo harsher training than most. He graduated as the champion of the five disciplines from the police academy and was specially recommended by his superiors to intern at the provincial criminal police team, with numerous honors listed on his resume.

At occasional gatherings, colleagues often discussed how, during his internship at the provincial team, he was known for his decisive and impressive demeanor, possessing an extraordinary tenacity and determination. Senior detectives competed to take him on as an apprentice.

Later, when he was assigned to the city team, during a team dinner with the director present, someone joked and asked why he became a police officer. Everyone expected him to talk about fighting evil, promoting justice, and upholding righteousness, but he straightforwardly admitted it was to find his family.

He didn’t want to put on airs, nor did he pretend to be hypocritically righteous.

His original reason for choosing the police academy was to find his long-lost family. However, after more than a decade in the profession, he gradually fell in love with this job and with the pursuit of the two things every person should have: conscience and truth.

Later, when he found his biological parents, his father insisted on giving him part of the company to manage. On one hand, it was to make amends for past wrongs; on the other hand, he didn’t want Si Hang to continue in dangerous frontline work, dealing with violent criminals, always at risk to his life.

But Si Hang refused.