"Could it be what?" Chen Shi asked.

Geng Qing said, "I previously mentioned to my dad that I wanted to study abroad. In the job that I’m doing now, if I am an overseas graduate, my salary will be several pay grades higher. The school that I planned to go to costs 400,000 yuan a year, but I had just said this casually. I hadn’t planned to put it into action at the moment. I didn’t expect that he would really raise money for me... My dad was always like this. Whenever I said I wanted something, he would go and buy it silently. He never said anything. When I got home, I would suddenly see what I wanted on the table. I’m already so old, but he still treated me like a child." Geng Qing smiled bitterly.

"If you study abroad, how many years would you have to stay there for?"

"I may have to stay abroad for three years."

Chen Shi nodded.

"I just saw Wang Mengqi with a face filled with anger. Did you ask him something? It couldn't be him. He had a good relationship with my dad. During Chinese New Year last year, he bought a lot of gifts and spent the New Year at our house. My dad said that it felt as if we were a family." After death, these happy memories had turned into sadness. Thinking of this, Geng Qing's eyes became red again.

"Don't be too sad. We’re going to keep investigating, and we will keep you informed of the progress."

"Okay."

Leaving the funeral home, Lin Dongxue said, "I don't think Wang Mengqi is suspicious. They suit each other and have the ‘husband and wife look’."

"What exactly is this so-called ‘husband and wife look’?" Chen Shi asked.

"No way. You don’t even know about this...? It’s said that the longer two people are together, the more they grow to resemble each other."

"Is that right?" Chen Shi smiled, "At most, the two will gain weight together after getting married."

"This has a scientific basis to it![1] Let's see if we have the ‘husband and wife look’..." Lin Dongxue turned the rearview mirror.

"Hey, I'm driving! If we crash and die, we’ll have that ‘husband and wife look’.

"Damn you!" Lin Dongxue scolded with a smile.

Chen Shi’s cell phone rang and he asked Lin Dongxue to help him take the call. Lin Dongxue leaned forward, took out the cell phone from his pocket, and turned on the speakerphone. Sun Zhen said, “Brother Chen, I found another one who claims to sell that kind of drug. Will you come over?"

"Wait for me. I’ll come over right away... Can you order some takeout for us? I’ll give you the money later."

"No worries, I’ll treat you and Sister-in-Law."

When they got to the office, Sun Zhen showed Chen Shi their chat history. Sun Zhen had asked if there were any drugs that the police couldn’t detect. The other party simply replied, "One hundred thousand yuan as a deposit of intention and attach a photo of your ID."

"They’ve demanded an exorbitant price!" Chen Shi sighed.

"Should I make the payment?"

"It’s most likely a scammer!" kk said. "Those who ask for money outright are definitely scammers."

"Where did you find this person?" Chen Shi asked.

"The other party found me. I posted on a forum and left my contact information behind."

"Try it and see. I'll pay for it."

Lin Dongxue said, "Let the team pay for it. This is for investigating the case. How can we ask you to pay for it out of your own pocket?"

"That would be great!" Chen Shi said very gratefully. "It’s a bit painful for me to have to pay 100,000."

After the police's money reached his account, Sun Zhen immediately sent the money to the account designated by the other party. Lin Dongxue wrote down this number and notified the Network Information Section to investigate it. Then Sun Zhen sent a photo of the ID. Following Chen Shi’s suggestion, he had sent a fake one.

If the other party was really Xu Fa, he might recognize Sun Zhen, kk, and Chen Shi, not to speak of Lin Dongxue. She was a policeman, and they’d know instantly if they checked.

There was no response for a long time, and KK said in hindsight, "You see? It’s a scammer. This IQ tax was so not worth it."

"Shut your crow’s mouth!" Chen Shi reprimanded.

"He replied!" Sun Zhen said excitedly, but the content was only a short sentence. "Add another 100,000. I will leave the goods in the designated location. You need to come over to pick it up. After you get it, pay the outstanding balance of 200,000."

kk said, "This scammer is a high-level one. They didn’t even try to lead up to it when they wanted money."

Sun Zhen looked at Chen Shi with hesitation. "Brother Chen, I think this may be a scammer. Let’s forget it!"

Lin Dongxue was sending a message, "My brother said that it’s impossible to pay another 100,000, unless there’s a lead."

Chen Shi bit his lip and said, "I’ll pay this 100,000!"

"A human tragedy!" kk sighed as he looked up towards the heavens. "If I spend this 200,000 gambling, I could enjoy myself for a night. If I spend it at XX, I could enjoy myself for many nights. This money is just gone like that.”

"Is this person's job just to sit here and complain?" Lin Dongxue said sarcastically.

"I can even stand up and complain!" As he said this, kk got up from his chair.

Under Chen Shi's insistence, they transferred another 100,000 to the other party. Chen Shi stared at the screen and waited for the phrase "Haha, you’ve been fooled." The office was quiet. Chen Shi said, "Check the other party's IP. "

"I checked it earlier. They used proxies. After several transfers, I couldn't find the original IP at all."

"So vigilant. I think there might be something here." Chen Shi said, as if to comfort himself.

After waiting for ten minutes, the other party finally replied, "At 3:00PM this afternoon, the trash can opposite China Construction Bank on Liuyang Road."

"Wow, it’s real?!" kk called out.

Lin Dongxue looked at her watch. "It's 1:40PM. Let's hurry up and see if we can intercept him."

The two of them didn't even bother to eat their takeouts. They hurried to get to the car. Only when they went downstairs, did they remember that they had been transporting the body earlier, so they had driven a police car. Wouldn’t this alert the other party?

kk came down with the takeouts and asked, "Fuck, do you guys have to be so eager? You won't even eat any food?"

"kk, lend me your car." Chen Shi said.

They got into kk’s small dilapidated car and kk offered to accompany them. He smiled and said, "I’ll show off my skills to let Sister-in-Law know that I’m not just a leech... Sister-in-Law, do you want to eat?"

"Don't call me Sister-in-Law! It sounds so awkward!" Lin Dongxue warned sternly.

"Even if you aren’t now, you will be in the future."

"Since you like to cotton up to her, why don't you call her ‘Mom’?"

"Mom!"

Lin Dongxue was speechless and Chen Shi smiled, "This kind of person is shameless. Don't get drawn into an argument with him."

"I don’t pester just anyone. It's my honor to have such a beautiful Sister-in-Law!" kk smiled as he took out his phone. "Look, you are still my phone’s screensaver. People asked me which movie star this was."

"Don't talk to me. Let me eat in peace." Lin Dongxue helplessly opened up the boxed lunch. She ate it herself and also fed Chen Shi a few bites, force-feeding kk a mouthful of dog food.[2]

At half past two, the three of them went to an area close to the designated place and stared at the trash can without blinking until 3:00PM. kk began to suggest giving up again. "Probably a scammer? They still haven’t shown up."

"Could it have already been put inside?" Chen Shi guessed. "I will get out of the car and have a look."

When he opened the door, kk called out, "Brother Chen! Someone upstairs is looking over here with binoculars!"

The two looked in the direction that kk's finger pointed. In an old building across the street, someone kept looking at the trash can with binoculars. From this, it could be seen that the other party may sincerely want to make a deal, so it was necessary to confirm that the client wasn’t the police.

Lin Dongxue said, "Should I go upstairs now to catch that person?"

"How are you going to prosecute him? Are they breaking the law by looking at the trash can with binoculars? The main point is this drug. We must get it."

"But what if they recognize us? Although we aren’t celebrities, we are often in the limelight. Also, this time the case is still under investigation, so the other party will definitely be vigilant."

1. There’s been studies by Robert Zajonc and other people. Besides assortative mating, there are some other reasons that have been proposed over the years.

2. Slang for showing off one’s relationship in front of single people.