The two went to the forensics department to find Peng Sijue for permission to borrow people. Peng Sijue, who was slowly sipping coffee answered, "No!"

"But… I’ve already brought the scraps here. What if there is a clue?" Lin Dongxue pleaded.

Peng Sijue rolled his eyes. "What does 'what if there is a clue?' mean? Do you know how many cases there are in Long'An City? How many identification work and tests do you think we do each day? We’ve always had a shortage of people here. I can’t lend people to you to look for hypothetical evidence. Unless you can be sure and confirm that we will be able to find evidence in the mountain of scraps.”

Lin Dongxue was frustrated and filled with gloom. "Captain Peng, please. I beg of you."

"I won't help you. There are tools in the cupboard over there, you can use it and find the clues yourself."

Lin Dongxue cheerfully opened the cupboard and saw that there was a shovel inside. Her heart sank again. She bowed her head and offered her thanks before taking the shovel to clean up the garbage.

Lin Dongxue still didn't give up. While cleaning up the garbage, she looked out for anything special. Xu Xiaodong anxiously waited around. "It's useless. There is no instrument to detect biological waste in here. How can the naked eye look for clues in there?”

"If it were Chen Shi who took the clues to find him, he would help immediately. But he won’t for me! Favoritism!” Lin Dongxue angrily stabbed the shovel into the pile.

"I will help you!"

"No, you just go home."

"What about you?"

"I will go home when I am done."

"Haiii, three hundred yuan gone to waste..." When he noticed that Lin Dongxue was really angry, Xu Xiaodong hurriedly rephrased. "Don’t let it get to your heart. I will get off work first; see you tomorrow."

After finally cleaning the garbage, Lin Dongxue let out a sigh in relief. She didn’t want to admit defeat like this.

She thought that the gym should not have closed yet. If she couldn’t find any clues, maybe she should just go visit Wu Hao again.

Immediately after having that thought, she took a taxi to Wu Hao’s gym and stood by a bookstore. She held her gaze towards the gym upstairs and waited there for two hours. It started getting darker outside and her legs were numb. The boss of the bookstore came over and had urged her several times, so she had to buy a few magazines.

At this moment, a phone call came. When she heard Chen Shi’s voice, Lin Dongxue was happier than anything. “Why are you looking for me?”

"Why are you not at home?"

"You went to my house?"

"My friends gifted me a few crabs to eat. There is no steamer in my house, so I wanted to find you to happily steam and eat them together."

Lin Dongxue’s heart felt sweetened, but she still maintained an unhappy tone. “Don’t you come to my house all the time! Don’t you know that it’s not good for a male and female to be around each other?”[1]

"Where are you?"

"I am on a stake-out."

"What? A stake-out on who? Where did your brother send you off to?"

"No, I came here by myself. Since I can't find evidence of Wu Hao's murder, I’m feeling really impatient."

"Let me know your address. I will come right away."

Half an hour later, Chen Shi’s car arrived. He rolled down the window and told her to get in the passenger seat. Lin Dongxue was very comfortable after finally being able to sit down. Chen Shi lectured, “You don’t even have a car, what kind of stake-out is this? Usually this type of work needs to be executed by two people. Don’t you know that?"

Lin Dongxue pouted. "I’ve investigated for three days but I didn't find anything. I was in a hurry."

"This kind of case can't be rushed. Take it slowly and you will get the results faster. Understand? Tell me about your progress."

By the time Chen Shi finished a cigarette, Lin Dongxue had finished reporting the current progress to him. Chen Shi sighed, "This guy is really not simple. The defense is too thorough."

"What’s your opinion on this? How should we investigate from now on?"

"Randomly investigate."

Lin Dongxue couldn't help but laugh. "What do you mean ‘randomly investigate’?"

"Investigating cases is like attacking a city during war. Do you understand? When there is evidence on hand, don't let the other party know; when there is no evidence on hand, you need to bluff that you do. You don’t need to be scared to alert the other party in every case. Sometimes, you need to give the suspects a little pressure. What is the temper of Wu Hao like?"

"Irritable and aggressive."

"Exactly. Plus, Pan Xiuying is pregnant right now; she must be very anxious deep in her heart. The pressure between the two people must be immensely large. You should let them know that the police are skeptical of them. You need to pay visits to them every so often. Rummage through their garbage bags so that they can’t eat or sleep well. They will re-examine what they have said to you all and will discuss with each other regarding how to destroy any evidence they have. Won’t this expose their horse leg?”[2]

Lin Dongxue was amazed. "Then was my stake-out useful?”

"Mmh, but you better not do it anymore."

"Why?"

"Being sedentary is not good for your health. Staying up late is not good for your skin either."

"Go die!" Lin Dongxue grinned and punched him. "What about the crabs you talked about?"

Chen Shi took out a box from the back seat and pointed to the words on it. "Look, it’s Yang Cheng Lake’s hairy crabs. Want to eat them?"

Lin Dongxue pointed to a small word behind the words "Yang Cheng Lake" and protested, "Stupid, it obviously says Yang Cheng Lake 'brand' hairy crabs. It’s fake!"

"Gah, the guy conned me... Want to eat them?"

"You know how to cook them?"

"Yes!"

"Then let’s go!" Lin Dongxue laughed.

When they arrived at Lin Dongxue’s residence, Chen Shi quickly steamed the crabs and chopped another to make crab porridge. Then, he made a plate of ginger vinegar and took the dinner he made to the living room. Lin Dongxue put down her phone. “I told my brother and he said that the idea of knocking the mountain and scaring the tiger is very good. He will mention it to the team tomorrow.”

"You didn’t mention me, right?”

"I just mentioned that ‘someone’ suggested it to me. He should have guessed that it was you though. My brother’s feelings towards you are very complicated now. He doesn’t want to ask you to intervene, but also hopes that you can help and make a difference.”

"You brother cares about his image and face too much. Even Wukong[3] often asked for help from the Buddha. It didn’t affect his personal image though!”

"Oh? You’re likening yourself to Buddha? Really shameless!"

"Can you not be so serious? Come and eat."

Although they were not real Yang Cheng Lake crabs, Lin Dongxue had only had instant noodles and take-out every day, and so this dinner was very enjoyable. After eating the last crab, she still had an appetite for more. Chen Shi smiled. "Don't lick your fingers any more than this. The skin of your fingers is going to come off.”

"Screw you!"

"Are my cooking skills good or what? Can’t you praise me a bit?”

"I have a proposal. I’ll give you my house keys and you can come and help me cook every day, okay?”

"How much will you pay me?"

"Fifty yuan a day. That’s one thousand five hundred a month! Of course, you can eat here as well and save your dinner money."

"I’ll think about it. It feels like a trap."

Lin Dongxue raised a fist up. "You think I’m going to rob you sexually or something?"

Chen Shi packed up the dishes, got up and excused himself. "It’s getting late. I should leave.”

"Why don’t you stay with me?"

Today, Peng Sijue had made her so frustrated, and she still didn’t feel too good about it. However, when she made this request, her face became flushed. It was not because she asked Chen Shi to stay, but because she was ashamed of her mental endurance being so weak.

She didn’t expect Chen Shi to agree. "Okay, I will wash the bowls first though."

They watched variety shows together and soon became tired,. Lin Dongxue’s head slowly began to tilt little by little until it finally fell on Chen Shi’s shoulder.

His shoulders were very solid, and so she dreamed of sleeping in her father's arms as a child. Her parents died too early; she had forgotten her father's appearance.

After opening her eyes, the window was already letting bright light in. Lin Dongxue found herself sleeping in her bed and recalled that she was with Chen Shi last night. She suddenly became extremely nervous and lifted her duvet up. She saw that she was still wearing clothes.

When she went into the living room, the oranges and melon skins she chucked on the table last night were all cleaned up. Sandwiches and milk bought from a convenience store were placed on the table next to the TV. Chen Shi had written on a piece of paper and placed it next to the sandwiches, saying, "You fell asleep. I will leave first and I will see you at the hospital Pan works tomorrow!”

Looking at this, Lin Dongxue could not help but smile.

1. Traditionally. It’s the translation of an expression derived from ancient China.

2. There’s an interesting story that accompanies this saying and although it differs very slightly from source to source, the main points are the same – Due to the wife (surnamed 馬, so that’s where the ‘horse’ comes from) of Ming dynasty emperor Hongwu having unsightly legs, she was reluctant to show them off and had extra-long dresses made to cover them up and keep them hidden. Then one day while she was out in the city a big gust of wind blew her dress up exposing her legs – and so the saying goes… to expose a 馬 leg came to mean to accidentally expose a secret.

3. Name for monkey king. Known as Sun Wukong in Chinese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_King