After receiving Xiaotao's call, I spent the entire night in a state of uneasiness and sent her a bunch of texts that went unanswered. Perhaps Xiaotao was truly busy.

The next morning, I arrived at the station and headed for Xiaotao's office. Upon entering, I saw her slumped over the table, sleeping in her police uniform. It had most likely been a busy night.

The thought left me feeling rather distressed. Shaking her gently, I said, "Xiaotao, let me take you home to rest."

Xiaotao sleepily opened her eyes, slurring as she spoke, "Song Yang, you’re here? There are some documents on my desk. Take a look at them yourself."

As soon as I sat down next to her, Xiaotao turned to me and rested her head on my thighs, wrapping her arms around my waist as she mumbled, "I stayed up all night investigating the case. Do you mind if I use you as a pillow? Your body feels warm and nice!"

Of course I didn't mind. She fell asleep again as soon as she found a comfortable position on my legs.

I picked up the documents on the table and looked at them. At about 4 pm yesterday, Deng Chao was involved in a fight with another inmate and was stabbed in the liver with a makeshift metal knife. He suffered hemorrhagic shock on the spot and was confirmed dead by the prison doctor an hour later. Then, at about 7 pm, his body was taken away by the hearse but collided into a truck on the road. The accident killed two funeral home workers and injured one, and Deng Chao's body had disappeared.

Through the surveillance videos and tire tracks on the scene, the police found that the truck was loaded with heavy objects and the license plate deliberately blocked. Apparently, the accident wasn’t an accident at all, but a calculated attempt...

After that, they went to the prison to inspect the scene and tested the blood left by Deng Chao during the stabbing only to discover that although the DNA was consistent with Deng Chao’s, the red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells in his blood were already dead. That is to say, while the blood definitely belonged to Deng Chao, it had been extracted in advance.

The scene where he was "killed" was completely fabricated!

Xiaotao even followed up with a call to the doctor who confirmed Deng Chao’s death at that time. After thorough questioning, the doctor insisted that Deng Chao showed no vital signs and definitely had a wound in his abdomen, which basically ruled out any suspicions that the doctor was involved in the set-up.

I suspected Deng Chao had ingested poisons that could put him in a state of suspended animation, such as diluted tetrodotoxin.

Of course, the most suspicious person remained the inmate who stabbed and injured Deng Chao. A prisoner on death row, he was completely indifferent to the police's night-long interrogation. Flanked by arrogance and smugness, he even blurted, "I’m a dead man walking anyway. What's wrong with earning a bit extra for my wife and kids?" Indeed, his words were evidence that he had been bought off.

The mastermind behind this prison break had undoubtedly bought off more than just this death row inmate. It was very likely that the prison was filled with their people, especially the prison guards, and the one person or group who could orchestrate such a big operation was none other than the mysterious organization! Nevertheless, I still failed to see what a powerless student who murdered one man could offer them. What could have motivated them to break Deng Chao out of prison?

After reading through these documents, I heaved a heavy sigh. With his escape, I had one more source of potential danger!

While Xiaotao slept soundly, my legs were almost numb from staying in one position for too long. But just watching her sleep brought a burst of joy in my heart. I held out my hand, tempted to caress her hair yet reluctant to do so for fear of waking her. I hesitated, suffering through several internal battles of “should I or should I not” before gently placing my hand on her hair. My hand was met by a silky sensation, nose filled with a soothing fragrance that only belonged to Xiaotao. Her hair was so smooth and soft I thought perhaps this was the kind of hair modeled in shampoo advertisements.

The sun rays shone through the window, illuminating the room in a golden glow. I couldn’t resist the naughty impulse that sprung up and slowly lowered my head towards Xiaotao. But right then, several officers walked past, giving me quite a fright so I sat back upright. By the time they left, I had already forgotten my wicked intentions.

Xiaotao slept until noon, awakened by the alarm she set on her cell phone.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up in surprise. "Song Yang, why am I sleeping on you?” she asked. “You should’ve woken me up!"

"I've been here for some time,” I said. “You even spoke to me earlier. Don’t you remember?"

Xiaotao was so sleepy earlier she had no impression of our conversation at all. She smiled apologetically, "My superiors have ordered for Deng Chao’s prison break case to be solved in three days. I’m sorry, it looks like I’ll have to take a rain check."

"Can I be of any help?" I asked.

"Of course!" she nodded.

Over the next three days, we visited every one of Deng Chao’s old hangouts but to no avail. It was as if this guy had vanished into thin air. I had never expected my first failure since I started working with the Bureau to involve an old classmate.

Hence, the case remained unsolved. Unbeknownst to me, the next time I saw Deng Chao, what awaited me was a life-and-death struggle. Of course, that’s a story for another time.

A few days later, our internship notice was released. Since I was out of school busy with the investigation, I was stunned when I stumbled upon the notice posted downstairs in our dormitory. Huddled in the crowd, I started checking for my name when Dali patted my shoulder from behind.

"You don’t have to keep looking,” he said. “We’ve been posted to the East China Zhenxing Electronics Company for our internship."

I had never heard of this company so I asked, "Where is it?"

"It's a small town just a little aways from Wu Qu City,” he replied. “I checked it out online and apparently it’s a scenic location."

"Do you believe everything Baidu says? They might just be painting a nice picture!" I retorted.

There were a few fellow students in our group with whom I wasn’t very familiar. In the two-month internship, we were to be personally supervised and taught by a mechanical expert in the factory. In order to pass, all we had to do was obtain a “qualified” internship certificate signed by the master. Generally speaking, as long as we did as we were told, we would certainly pass. After all, most of it was just going through the motions.

I called Xiaotao to inform her of the news, to which she cried, "Two months? That’s way too long! You should apply for an independent internship! I’ll help you find one in a factory."

"Unfortunately, the deadline for application has passed,” I sighed, somewhat embarrassed. “That’s the consequence for not keeping an eye out for developments in school."

"Well be careful out there,” said Xiaotao. “Remember to eat and rest well."

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I can take perfectly good care of myself. It’s you I worry about. Make sure you don’t stay up too late or eat too much instant noodles! Remember, they contain a ton of preservatives that remain in your body even after death!"

After a long chat with Xiaotao, I hung up the call, only to discover that Dali had sneaked up on me when I wasn’t paying attention. "Dude, let me ask you a question. Have you and Xiaotao-jiejie done the deed?" he asked.

"What the hell is in that head of yours?" I snapped.

"Judging from the way you two speak to each other, you sound just like a young married couple,” he remarked. “I’ll give you a bit of advice. You shouldn’t waste any more time sealing the deal. You might as well share with your buddies what it feels like to lose your virginity!"

"Fuck off!” I yelled. “Go watch some porn if you’re so curious!"

The next day, we each hauled a suitcase and set off on the bus hired by the school. A little after we started our journey, a fat boy stood up and introduced himself, "Hello! My name is Zhu Xiaohao and I am the representative of Class 3. I’m very honored to be joining all of you in this internship! We are going to be working and staying in the East China Zhenxing Factory for two months. I suggest we choose a team leader to facilitate management."

As expected of a class representative, he suggested we vote for a team leader and hold a fair election. In truth, more than half of us were accustomed to living like pigs on campus. Suddenly traveling miles away just to work in a factory wasn’t all that appealing to a bunch of lazy students who would rather drown in the legendary Dream Entrancement Wine from the movie "Ashes of Time" that could erase their memory of the coming two months.

After a few questions, everyone agreed that Zhu Xiaohao should be the team leader.

"Dude, why don't you nominate yourself?” urged Dali. “With your qualifications, don’t you think you’re a more convincing choice than this little fatso?"

"What qualifications are you talking about?” I laughed. “I’m not really good at managing people. Besides, I’m just an ordinary student. Don't you dare mention a word about us solving crimes or I'll kill you!"

Dali clapped in mock appreciation. "Ooh, what a down-to-earth man our Great Detective Song is!"