"Murder! Murder!"

A scream broke the peace in the alley. People opened their windows and looked down. They could only see a man covered in blood rush out of the shop at the entrance and fall to the ground. The rain on him was dyed red extremely quickly.

He was followed by a man holding a kitchen knife. The man looked up at the surprised faces of his neighbors, silently dropped the knife, pulled out his phone, and dialed 110.

"Hello, 110, the police platform."

"Someone wounded someone with a weapon." Zhang Hao said quietly.

"What's the address?"

"No need. I will surrender myself to the head office."

Early in the morning of the next day, there was clear weather after the rain had stopped. Chen Shi couldn’t forget the taste of the meatball noodles and went there again, only to find that the shop was closed.

It was not only him who was disappointed. Many old patrons gathered at the door. For some seniors, eating a bowl of hot Zhangji soup noodles early in the morning was a ritual not to be missed every day. They even brought teapots and alcohol bottles over.

There were people living here in the crowd who talked about what happened last night.

It turned out that a thief broke in late at night, and the boss Zhang Hao wounded the thief with a knife. As a result, he found that it was his second uncle. So, he called the police himself and they’re both still in the bureau right now.

"Then when will the store open?" This was the only concern for the diners.

Chen Shi sighed and prepared to go to another place for breakfast. At this time, several police cars stopped outside the alley. The people who came were all acquaintances. Peng Sijue, Lin Dongxue, and Xu Xiaodong were among them. Chen Shi greeted, "What a coincidence?"

"Brother Chen, how did you know about the news?!" Xu Xiaodong asked in surprise.

Lin Dongxue said, "Does he look like he knows the news? He's definitely here to eat noodles."

"I can’t eat them anymore." Chen Shi smiled. "They didn’t die, did they?"

"Who did you listen to?"

"Neighbor!"

"His second uncle was cut on his back. It’s not fatal. They’re both in the detention center. They only found out that the second uncle went in to poison the food when they questioned them. We’re here to obtain evidence.”

"Poison?" Chen Shi was shocked. "Fortunately, the boss found out. Otherwise, there’d be so many people who would have died today."

"It's not actually poison. He said it was a laxative bought from a pharmacy."

Lin Dongxue went to knock on the door. Although the shop was closed, Zhang Hao's wife and son were still inside. They lived on the second floor. After explaining the situation, the police went in to investigate the scene.

One of the windows was broken and there were scattered fragments and blood on the ground.

All the basins of minced meat in the freezer were taken away. All of them were beef mince.

A neighbor collected the knife thrown away by Zhang Hao last night. They handed the knife over to the police. It was just an ordinary kitchen knife. According to Zhang Hao's wife, he usually put it on the shelf.

"It seems to be an ordinary event." Lin Dongxue said. "Are you going to come and watch?"

"Um..." Chen Shi thought. "It decides whether I can eat noodles tomorrow, so I’ll care about it!"

"Haha, you really care about things regarding eating and drinking!"

"It’s from your blessings. Since I quit smoking, everything I eat tastes nice... I seem to have gained weight recently as well."

Arriving at the bureau, Chen Shi went to visit the boss first. Zhang Hao was sitting in the detention cell, covered in a blanket given by the police. He looked a bit depressed. Chen Shi said, "I have listened to the neighbors talk about the matter. The fault lies with your second uncle, and you made the report on your own initiative, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

"If possible, I don't want to sue him. After all, he’s my father's younger brother. I don't want to make the family relationship so tense." Zhang Hao said.

Chen Shi was a little curious and asked, "Why don't you want to go through the legal process?"

"Blood is thicker than water."

Chen Shi didn't believe this reason, so he exchanged a few perfunctory words and left.

Peng Sijue asked people to buy some laxatives that were common in the market and the comparison results came out quickly. It was indeed a laxative. Also, because Zhang Farong wasn’t knowledgeable about these things, only a small amount of ground pills was placed in each pot. The dose wouldn’t have even caused people to have diarrhea.

Peng Sijue said, "Whether it constitutes a crime of dropping dangerous substances or not depends on the court's judgment."

Lin Dongxue said, "I really hope that this old hooligan will be sentenced. He would surely be convicted of trespassing in a private house, right?"

Chen Shi pondered on it. "Can you let me go to the interrogation?"

Peng Sijue said, "You’re already a regular customer here, so what is there to be so polite about? Just let Captain Lin know.”

"Okay. Dongxue, don’t talk later. I'll ask the questions." Chen Shi winked. Lin Dongxue didn't know what he was acting so mysterious about.

Although he acted melodramatic, yelling while sitting in the interrogation room, Zhang Farong’s injury wasn’t a big problem. "Hurry up and ask. I still have to go to the hospital to lie down for a few days. I’m old and I might die from such an injury.”

Chen Shi threw a pile of documents on the table. "Zhang Farong, we just checked your criminal records. Your life is really rich and exciting. You’ve sold pirated discs, organized prostitution, and fought both individually and as a group. You’re so lucky to not have been caught in in the 90s to be executed!"

Zhang Farong waved his hands and smiled. "Heroes don't mention the bravery of those days! It's a thing of the past."

"Then, let's talk about what’s happening now. Why did you go to Zhang Hao's store to poison the food last night?"

"Officer, you’re making it sound so serious. It wasn't poisoning. I just put some laxatives in so that he couldn’t run his business the next day. It wouldn’t kill anyone.”

"Have a little common sense, okay? Do you know there is a crime in the criminal law called the crime of spreading dangerous substances? And the customers in that old store are mostly elderly people. If the dose wasn’t done well, it could have caused a fatality. Can you bear those consequences?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Farong's face went pale. "Is it so serious? I... Didn’t I not succeed? Look, I’m already like this. I’ve already received my karma. Can you let me go?"

"Unsuccessful?" Chen Shi chuckled a bit. "There’s another crime. You broke into a private dwelling!”

"I didn't steal anything. I just put some laxatives in... And it was just an attempt!"

"Don't talk around the point! You’re so old but you’re still fooling around, these two crimes are enough for you to go to jail. At your age, with that body, when you go in, that will probably be your graveyard!"

Zhang Farong was frightened and his whole body broke out in cold sweat. He looked as if he was about to cry. "Government, pity me. I’m so old and the whole family is relying on my pension!"

Lin Dongxue glanced at Chen Shi, wondering why he deliberately frightened Zhang Farong.

"It depends on your own attitude!" Chen Shi loosened his tone. "Be honest. Maybe there’s a chance we can help you."

Zhang Farong swallowed and asked, "Explain... What?"

"Motive!"

Zhang Farong bowed his head in contemplation, and suddenly said, "You should go for a test. The meat is definitely not beef."

"What is it?"

"Unexpected meat!" Zhang Farong nodded to imply it was the truth.