Lin Dongxue greatly understood her brother. He had never done anything immoral in his life, so it was logical to say that he would never raise his hand against the suspect; this was just his usual way of scaring them. 

Unsurprisingly, Chen Shi was not frightened in the slightest. He wore a scornful smile and clapped his hands, “Turns out Captain Lin is an energy-saving, environmentally-friendly person! Knowing that this interrogation is meaningless, you chose to switch off the recording system to lower your carbon footprint, huh?”

“Since you find so much humor in the situation, laugh while you can. I’m afraid you won’t be able to laugh very soon.” Lin Qiupu picked up a stack of printing paper and walked in front of Chen Shi, took a look at what was written on the document, and exclaimed, “Your resume sure is dense and exciting!”

Chen Shi glanced at him and challenged, “It’s what I’ve done in the past. What about it? This is the reason you doubt my word?”

“An ex-prisoner with such a terrible rap sheet harassed a beautiful female passenger at two in the morning. Then, the next day, she was raped and killed. What would you think if you were in my position?”

“I strongly disagree with you. The purpose of the government establishing prisons is to rehabilitate and transform people like myself, is it not? After going through a detour, if a person were able to support themselves legitimately after receiving the country’s rehabilitation, would that not be a positive example that deserves encouragement? Why, then, did it get turned into a reason to become suspected? If it’s as you say, logically, ex-cons such as I have to go back to our old, scheming ways, right?”

“Stop talking in circles and avoiding my questions. Answer me, what exactly did you do that night?”

Chen Shi furrowed his brows impatiently, “I’ve already stated it multiple times, but you’d rather die than believe me; I understand the way you think. The justice system in our country states that the guilty can still go to court with a defense attorney. However, I think that you also brought this policy into the interrogation room and that this would only lead to a large number of falsely implicated citizens and erroneous cases. Even if I walked into the police station by my own free will and admitted to murdering someone, the police would still need to find a thousand pieces of evidence before convicting me. Yet from what I can see now, you don’t even have a single piece of evidence in your hands. However, you are standing here with red lips and white teeth[1], threatening an innocent citizen into pleading guilty. How can you face the country’s criminal justice system with what you’re doing? How can you even bear to see yourself wearing that uniform? And what about the civilians? How can you even look at them?”

“You!” Lin Qiupu gasped and paced back and forth, grinding his teeth.

“Brother!” Lin Dongxue whispered as a reminder, fearing that Lin Qiupu would do something irrational in the heat of the moment. 

Towards the rattled Lin Qiupu, Chen Shi didn’t even bat an eye as he kept rambling, not noticing the changing atmosphere in the room, “If I were to plead guilty today, not only would I personally suffer, my family would suffer as well. Furthermore, the deceased would not get their retribution or peace in death. Lastly, the real murderer would still be at large. It’s possible that he would continue to commit crimes in the future. Do you realize how many people you would be hurting all at once? Captain Lin, a drop of ink in this case file is a thousand drops of blood among the people. You have to be careful and then some!”

“I see that you won’t shed tears until you’re looking at your coffin!” Lin Qiupu raised his hand in fury.

Lin Dongxue and the scribe were paralyzed with fear. At this moment, Chen Shi suddenly slammed his head into the stainless steel, leaving a red mark on his head. He raised his head and smiled slyly.

“What are you doing?” Lin Qiupu was stunned. 

“Hitting people! Captain Lin hits people!” Chen Shi yelled. 

“Shut up! Stop shouting!”

Chen Shi smirked, “There’s no monitoring here, and I have this injury on my head that can’t be explained when I leave!”

“Absurd!” Lin Dongxue couldn’t stand merely watching any longer and stood up, “There are two of us witnesses present, and yet you still want to frame the captain?”

“Is the testimony from the two of you adequate? One is a subordinate, and the other is the defendant’s younger sister. Chinese law places more weight on material evidence than witness testimony. Coupled with the precedent where any kin of the defendant has their testimony disregarded, if we truly were to go to court, do you guys really think you can testify against me?”

Lin Dongxue and the minute-taker looked at each other; this guy is too powerful of an opponent. He was able to turn the tables against them just like that.

Lin Qiupu loudly remarked, “What are you treating this place as?!”

“The police station, a place to talk about legalities and reasoning. Forced detention and trial without evidence, violating interrogation regulations by turning off the monitor, and a wound inexplicably appearing on the suspect’s face. With only these three points, I don’t even need to find Long’An’s best lawyer. I just need to find anyone new to the judicial scene, and you wouldn’t be able to explain what happened here even if you were to have a hundred mouths. Not only that, but you’re also ignorant! As a law enforcer, there’s often one thing that’s overlooked. I’ll remind you now; the law doesn’t only constrain the person sitting in this chair – It binds you as well!” 

After a moment of silence, Lin Qiupu had sweat running down his spine, and he held the back of his shirt collar with his fingers, showing a helpless expression. 

Lin Dongxue interrupted the two and said, “Brother, I forgot to say something…”

“What did you say?” Lin Qiupu looked at her incredulously, then looked at Chen Shi, who was smiling. “When he was arrested, he handed you your gun?”

“Y- Yes! Lin Dongxue shyly admitted, “So I think that he may not be the murderer after all.”

Chen Shi wore a satisfied smile. It’s hard to change one’s thoughts. Just as those things added up to make doubts about him, there were several things that he has done to slowly change Lin Dongxue’s opinion of him. 

Common sense dictates that men tend to be more stubborn than women. 

Lin Qiupu took a deep breath, went to the table to pick up the phone, and called out, “Let him go!”

When Chen Shi left the police station, the task force exploded in chaos[2]. It was the first time that a suspect was let go after facing Captain Lin. To save face, Lin Qiupu said to himself, “The sly fox can’t beat the hunter. He’ll be back here again!”

What they couldn’t believe was for Chen Shi came back after about five seconds, shocking the entirety of the station. Lin Qiupu was shocked, “What do you want?”

“Where’s my car?”

Lin Dongxue informed him, “It’s parked in the underground garage. I’ll take you to pick it up.”

“Thanks for the assistance!”

Lin Dongxue took Chen Shi to the underground garage. Once they arrived, Chen Shi checked the ins and outs of the car. Lin Dongxue snorted, “You’re gauging the heart of a gentleman with one’s own measure[3]. What could we possibly have done to your car?”

“If there was a scratch on it or something, who would I go to then!” Chen Shi lit up a cigarette, leaning against the door and hooking his finger, indicating for her to come closer. 

Lin Dongxue thought that this guy was very rude but still walked over nonetheless. Chen Shi mysteriously lowered his voice, “I will help you solve the crime!”

“Say what?!” Lin Dongxue doubted her ears.

“I told you that I would help you solve the case. Do you want me to or not? Once you’ve passed this village, the shop will no longer be around.” [4]

“Oh, please. You can’t solve a case by being eloquent with your arguments. People who have not received professional training-”

“Listen to me. My intuition tells me that this case has a twist. It is most likely a murder that had been planned for a long time.”

“You’ve read way too many detective novels!”

“Your brother and I butted our heads here today, so he’ll investigate the case this way: He’ll investigate the other vehicles passing the murder scene that night, expand the scope of possible witnesses, and investigate my friends. I will tell you right now that investigating in this direction will be a complete and utter waste of time. You will miss the best period to solve the case, letting the real murderer off. If what I’ve said proves to be correct, then bring the autopsy report and find me tonight!”

Chen Shi threw away the cigarette butt and opened the car door. Before leaving, he tipped his head at Lin Dongxue, “See you tonight!”

Lin Dongxue was utterly gobsmacked. When the car disappeared from the garage door, she stomped her foot, “He thinks he’s so smart!”

1. Idiom that refers to people saying or doing things that don’t make any sense despite having the features of a normal person (red lips and white teeth). It can also refer to people saying irresponsible things.

2. It would have said “exploded the pot” if I were to have directly translated it. It means chaos and mess erupted.

3. It is a Chinese proverb that means judging a noble person unfairly with one’s own tarnished mind. It’s a reminder for people not to jump to negative conclusions as an originally noble act can be misinterpreted just by negatively-inclined suspicions, which can tarnish the reputation the aforementioned noble people have built up.

4. An idiom that refers to the opportunity being a limited-time offer, that they are only going to offer once.