Hearing the shout, the man trembled with fright and the mop in his hand fell to the ground.

Walking into the store, Chen Shi saw fragments of wine bottles and a little blood on the floor. The dim lights made the atmosphere in the narrow store even more suspicious. Chen Shi asked, "Are you the owner?"

"Yes, do you want to buy cigarettes or wine?"

Xu Xiaodong showed his credentials and the shop owner said, "Oh, police. Did Li Sheng really get killed?"

"We’re investigating this matter and heard that he had been here around 8:00."

"No... no. Why would he come here?"

"What's with the blood on the ground?" Chen Shi thought of the wounds on the back of the deceased's hand.

"I accidentally smashed a bottle of wine just now and scratched my hand..."

"Let me see your hand."

The shopkeeper was frightened and started cold sweating. He kept rubbing his palms on his pants. Chen Shi stared into his eyes and asked again, "Has Li Sheng been here?"

"No... he hasn’t been here."

Chen Shi raised his head and glanced. "There’s a surveillance camera in your store. Let us see."

"Don't, don't." The shopkeeper admitted with embarrassment, "Okay, he really did come, and I... had a quarrel with him. I was afraid you’d doubt me. After all, he was killed as soon as he walked out. Nothing like this has ever happened on this street, and I’m also very scared!"

"Lying intentionally will only make us more suspicious."

The owner lowered his head in shame.

Chen Shi said, "Let's take a look at surveillance footage!"

Bringing up the footage of the store, Li Sheng did come in at around 8:00. He spoke a few words to the shopkeeper, and then picked up a bottle of Wuliangye on the shelf. The shopkeeper ran out from behind the counter and pulled his arm towards the counter. The bottle fell to the ground and Li Sheng clutched his hand before walking away.

The owner explained, "This guy was very unreasonable. I played mahjong with him a few days ago. I didn't want to go there because I was afraid of losing money in the beginning. He said it’ll just be a single jiao[1] for each round. He had really good luck that day. After asking me to give him twenty yuan, I said that I thought each round was a jiao and asked why he calculated based on the points. If he wins, he’ll calculate it based on what would get him more. If he loses, he’ll calculate it based on what would cost him the least. Isn’t that unreasonable? Just for these twenty yuan, he came over every day to talk about some gossip and troubled me. I just said a few words to him. That old man wasn’t happy and wanted to use wine to cover the gambling debts. The wine broke when we pulled on it and he accidentally scratched himself. It was this kind of matter. Isn’t it funny just talking about it?"

"It wasn’t 'accidental' on the surveillance footage. You obviously took his hand and smashed it on the counter." Chen Shi pointed out the details.

"Uh, I didn't think too much at the time. I was also angry."

Looking at the broken Wuliangye on the ground, Chen Shi thought it was troublesome. A bottle of Wuliangye was only 20 yuan. He calmly said, "You really have to thank this surveillance footage. Otherwise, the deceased will have your fingerprints on some of his injuries and there’s his blood in your store. You wouldn’t have been able to explain yourself."

The shopkeeper broke out in cold sweat, saying, "Yes, yes, I shouldn't have been so impulsive."

"It seems that Li Sheng is very officious."

"Yes, he’s just so unreasonable. He’s a cannon fire. In order to get some petty gains, he can make a big commotion. I don't want to interact with such people."

Looking out of the store, Chen Shi said, "The case happened half an hour ago. Did you witness anything?"

The shopkeeper stared out and shook his head.

Finally, Chen Shi and Xu Xiaodong took away the surveillance footage from the store.

Peng Sijue’s survey of the scene was finished and Lin Dongxue had returned from Li Sheng’s house. Lin Dongxue said, “Xiaodong, you don’t need to take care of this case. The task force is super busy and I’m pretty free, so I’ll handle it!"

"That's great!" Xu Xiaodong cheered. Realizing that he was too excited, he then explained in a silly manner, "I mean, this arrangement is very reasonable."

"Hurry up and go home to your mother!"

"I didn't drive..."

Chen Shi said, "You have to pay to ride in my car."

They sent Xu Xiaodong home, and the two went back separately. Chen Shi went to the bureau the next morning and saw a group of policemen gathering outside the forensic examination room. There was a sobbing cry coming from the crowd. Xu Xiaodong was saying, "Little Li, don't be sad. We will get to the bottom of it."

"What's wrong?" Chen Shi asked in surprise. Had he missed something?

Lin Dongxue hooked her finger, calling Chen Shi to an office next to them. She frowned as she said, "I never thought there would be such a coincidence. Do you know who died last night?"

Chen Shi could guess from Lin Dongxue's reaction, but he still asked, "Who?"

"Little Li's father! We went to check Li Sheng's household registration information in the morning and found out. Little Li confirmed that the body was her father’s. When she was a child, her parents divorced. Although custody was given to her father, she hadn’t returned since she joined the police academy."

Cries came from the corridor and the two looked in that direction. Lin Dongxue sighed, "We’ve received the family of the deceased quite a few times, but this time, I don't know what to say."

"What about the appraisal results?"

"There are no traces except for a pair of size 41 shoe prints. The deceased died from suffocation caused by the reverse flow of blood in his air intake pipe. We haven’t watched the surveillance footage yet."

Chen Shi pondered, "Could this be revenge targeted towards us?"

Lin Dongxue's eyes widened. "Let’s hope it isn’t!"

After the crowd dispersed, Little Li went to Old Zhang and asked to join the task force to find out the cause of her father's death. Lin Dongxue came over and said, "Little Li, you can't investigate your own father's death. Let me investigate this case!"

"What Dongxue said is right. As a relative of the deceased, you have to avoid the investigation process!" Old Zhang comforted, "Little Li, don't worry. With Dongxue's ability, they will definitely find out who the murderer is."

Little Li shed tears again. "He called me two days ago and asked me to take time to go back and see him. I haven't been home for seven years. I'm really unfilial!"

Lin Dongxue patted her shoulder. "Don't be too sad. Would you like to take a day off and rest?"

Little Li shook her head, wiped her tears, and said, "No, I will continue investigating cases."

Lin Dongxue accompanied her all the way to the parking lot. She said a lot on the way. "You don't need to blame yourself too much. If you say you aren’t filial, I am also very unfilial. Two days ago, I even poured water on... the face of that person who claims to be my father!"

"My dad was indeed not a competent father, but..." Little Li's eyes suddenly straightened.

Lin Dongxue followed her sight and saw that there was a piece of paper stuck on the windshield of the police car that Little Li usually used. Little Li reached for it. Lin Dongxue stopped her, put on her gloves, and picked it up. There was a word written obviously on the piece of paper: "Diagnosis Report".

1. 1/10 of a yuan.