He had been very free these past few days. While Tao Yueyue was at school, Chen Shi cleaned up the whole house. The house had looked quite clean but he actually had to change the water with which he had washed the rag three times. It could be seen that he had indeed been a bit too busy these days.

After the house was tidied up, Chen Shi put on an apron to wash vegetables and cook. Lin Dongxue would be coming over for dinner that night.

The reason why he didn’t drive his taxi that day was because Lin Dongxue had happily told him last night that she had gotten her driving license after sitting the exam again and had driven to work herself that morning.

At this time, his phone beeped. Lin Dongxue sent a message to tell him to hurry down.

Going downstairs, Chen Shi felt heartbroken when he saw that his car had been dented. What shocked him even more was that the car was full of napa cabbages. He asked, "What happened?"

"When turning a corner, I accidentally hit a stall selling vegetables. The stall was run by an old lady. I felt so sorry that I bought all her napa cabbages."

"My God. There are over sixty catties here. Why didn’t you hand them out to your colleagues?”

"I’ve already done that, but there are still so many left..." Lin Dongxue looked very wronged.

"Okay, I’ll make some hot and sour cabbage!" Chen Shi patted her head. "Don't blame yourself. I think you need to hone your driving skills. You still can't drive alone."

"I'll give you money for the car repairs!"

"No need. There’s insurance."

Chen Shi parked the car, and the two brought the napa cabbages[1] home making multiple trips. When he thought about the situation, Chen Shi wanted to laugh. He asked, "There are no cases that I have to attend to lately, right?"

"There are none that we need to trouble you with. They are all minor cases. Today, a man blindly spouted spoilers for a movie that he watched. He was hacked to death. The murderer confessed to us himself. Oh yes, there was a girl who jumped off a building two days ago because she was jilted. Old Zhang has already dealt with it."

"Long’an's highly-intelligent criminals aren’t doing well this month!”

"I disagree. You’ve already solved two cases."

"Just one. That disappearance case didn’t count as ours. I didn’t get a bonus for it.”

"I know you’re so free that you’re bored. Why don’t you go to the bureau with me tomorrow to see what you can help out with?”

"I’m not going. I don’t want to do the post-investigation work. Just let me drive my taxi!”

"No wonder you don't want to be a police officer..."

"Yes, being a policeman is boring!"

When Yueyue came home, the three had dinner together. Tao Yueyue put down her bowl and went back to her room to read. Lin Dongxue looked at her back. "Yueyue has grown up."

"Oh? I didn't notice!" Chen Shi said.

"A little suggestion. She’s already a big girl. Is it still appropriate for her to live with you?"

"You know that we’re usually like this and don’t interfere with each other. We occasionally talk with each other. I don't think there’s a problem. She’s not an ordinary child."

"I feel that it’s best to be more concerned about her!"

Chen Shi waved his hand. "She doesn't need me to pay attention to her and I don't have the time. The two of us are just friends who have a large age gap between us. It’s not a father-daughter relationship... I'm still so young!"

"Look at your irresponsible attitude."

"I never thought that a child should be the guardian's possession. The two sides are just two independent people."

"I'm curious about what your family is like."

"They’re just like that. They can’t be said to be either good or bad. I experienced some troubles typical of those born after the 1980s." Of course, this was a lie. Song Lang had grown up in an orphanage. He still remembered Song Lang's rebellious adolescence. If he hadn’t met a certain person later on, perhaps Song Lang would have continued to fool around.

To be honest, childhood was a time that Chen Shi didn't want to live through again. This point also resonated with Lin Dongxue.

Sometimes, he also considered whether he should pay more attention to Yueyue, but he didn’t know how to deal with children. If he couldn’t find a way to go about it, then he should just let it be, and not bother each other.

Tao Yueyue had indeed become more silent recently. He thought that maybe her studies in the third year of junior middle school had become a heavier burden. Or there might be some adolescent troubles.

Lin Dongxue took out her mobile phone, held it to her ear and spoke a few simple sentences. "Fell off a building? Do you need me to go? Okay, I'll come over right away!"

Putting down her phone, she said to Chen Shi with a smile, "Great detective, give me a ride!"

"It’s perfect for aiding food digestion. Let's go!"

The place where the incident had occurred was very close by, so Lin Qiupu asked her to handle it. When they reached the scene, the local police had already arrived. The deceased was a male. His ID card had been found on him. His name was Gu Daqiang. He was only 24 this year.

Chen Shi looked up and saw a window standing wide open and asked the police, "Is that the deceased's home?"

"Seems like it."

"Let's go up and have a look."

Chen Shi and a local police captain surnamed Li went up to the apartment. Captain Li said, "I’ll call a locksmith."

"No need!" Chen Shi dealt with it himself, opening the lock swiftly.

"The criminal police really have a lot of tricks."

"I learned this from dealing with so many criminals." Chen Shi said humbly.

Gu Daqiang’s house wasn’t large. There were leftover takeaway boxes on the table and the ashtray was filled with cigarette butts. The cold wind blew in. The window screen had been removed, and there was a shoe print on the window frame.

Chen Shi was checking the bedroom. Captain Li found a piece of paper somewhere and called out, "Officer Chen, look at this. It’s a suicide note!"

The suicide note had been printed out. It read, "Ah Zhen, I'm sorry, I'm an asshole. After two days of all kinds of suffering, the only thing I can do is to personally go to Yellow Springs[2] and ask for your forgiveness. Ah Qiang."

"It was a suicide." Captain Li concluded.

Looking at a crease on the paper, Chen Shi asked, "Where did you find it?"

"On the bookshelf."

"You folded this crease here?"

"No, it was there when I found it."

Chen Shi went to the bedroom and turned on the computer. There was a printer next to the computer. He printed a web page to confirm that the printer was functioning. He said, "It was murder! There’s a printer in the house. Why did he fold the paper? This paper was brought in by an outsider."

Captain Li suddenly saw the light. "It’s no wonder that you’re a criminal police officer. Your experience is rich!"

Chen Shi was too lazy to explain that he wasn’t actually a police officer because he was afraid of the trouble. Since there was suspicion of murder, he immediately withdrew with Captain Li and asked the forensics squad to come over and investigate the scene.

Half an hour later, Old Zhang and Peng Sijue arrived together. Old Zhang said, "I just heard that the deceased was Gu Daqiang. Is it true?”

Lin Dongxue asked, "Do you know this person?"

"A few days ago, a girl named Ah Zhen fell down from a building and it was determined that she had committed suicide. Gu Daqiang was her former boyfriend. I feel that these two cases are related, so I came."

"Old Zhang, did you see him that day?" Chen Shi asked.

"I did."

"How was he like? Was he full of regret or was he indifferent?"

"He wasn’t indifferent. We talked for a while. He was trying to shirk responsibility the whole time. He said that the girl was prone to being suspicious and that it had nothing to do with him. From what I saw at that time, he would never commit suicide, so I think this case of him falling off the building is suspicious."

Chen Shi nodded. "He really wouldn’t have committed suicide. I just found his cell phone in the house. He had saved a red envelope after ordering takeaway.[3] He forwarded a recent movie that he wanted to watch in his circle of friends. His recent fitness plans were also written down on his calendar. It shows that he was in a calm state of mind and was planning for his future life. A person with such a mindset wouldn’t kill himself!”

Chen Shi’s eyes shone brightly. "This case is rather interesting. I’ll take it!"

1. AKA “Chinese cabbages”.

2. In ancient Chinese mythology, the realm of the dead is called the ‘Yellow Springs’ (Huángquán 黃泉).

3. You can send red envelopes on WeChat. It’s real money.