Chapter 3

Inside the Jing Shi Police Bureau.

Everyone stared at each other; inside the opened plain-colored handbag, the freshly unearthed gold jewelry still smelled of fresh earth, yet its dazzling brilliance could not be concealed. After police verification, the items in the bag were exactly all the jewelry stolen from the Dragon Auspicious Jewelry Store in the east part of the city half a month ago.

Seeing this, Zhao Lin's heart finally settled; he excitedly looked at Ling Yue, repeatedly grateful: "Miss Ling! Truly thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me retrieve these things; these past days I've almost despaired!"

After speaking, he remembered the police all around, his tone faltering: "Of course, I also want to thank the police comrades for their help these days; without the police comrades, how could we have so smoothly caught the thieves?"

Lin Shaoze gripped a pen, his eyes on the transcript, repeatedly hesitating. Everything seemed so coincidental: Ling Yue unintentionally discovered where the thieves had buried the loot; coincidentally, on the day they dug it up, she was spotted and chased by the thieves, which let them catch the culprits.

How could it be so coincidental?

His gaze fell on Ling Yue; he said nothing, but his scrutinizing look had already been sensed by her, scalp tingling. She knew her words were riddled with mistakes, yet she couldn't outright say she could understand animal thoughts—was she crazy or were they?

Ling Yue tapped her fingertips and gave him a faint smile: "Captain Lin, any more questions? If not, I'd like to go home and rest."

The other officers were taken aback, unsure what Captain Lin was up to—the suspect had already confessed, the story had been told several times, yet this young lady had carried dozens of catties of goods running all the way; she must be exhausted.

"Captain Lin, why not let Miss Ling go first?"

"Wait." Lin Shaoze said softly, under everyone's gaze, he continued: "The reward hasn't been cashed yet; although it's only three thousand, and Mr. Zhao—"

Ling Yue suddenly broke into a especially bright smile, cutting him off: "Three thousand isn't little at all." At least it's two hundred more than her 2,800 salary from a month before she quit.

Yes, 2,800, in a first-tier city.

She ought to be grateful she still has a roof over her head; otherwise she'd have long been driven to flee far away.

Beside, Zhao Lin added: "And our Dragon Auspicious, Miss Ling, you've solved a major problem for us; once verified, the 500,000 reward will be deposited into your card right away—no later than three days!"

Ling Yue naturally had no reason to doubt his sincerity; her hard work had finally paid off, and as she spoke her eyes glittered with little stars.

Fifty thousand and three thousand!

Fifty thick stacks of red bills, stacked they could fill a suitcase!

As she left, she felt light on her feet, her heart like a startled deer, pounding wildly.

Ling Yue happily narrowed her eyes, saying after all she's just a recent college graduate—don't believe those Zhihu posts claiming average monthly income over ten thousand and seven-figure savings. In reality, 500,000 is enough to buy a place of one's own in a third-tier county town; and having one 500,000, will the next 500,000 be far off?

Outside the police bureau, Ling Yue finally stopped debating shared bike versus walk—what choice, hailing a cab isn't fragrant?

On her way to catch a ride, she suddenly remembered something, dashed into the neighboring supermarket, and emerged with Ling Yue holding a big bag clearly stuffed with many items.

Inside the police bureau, a few officers hid behind the door, watching the boss's back, shoving each other; the simple-minded Old Zhu was just then pushed out by his companions.

The staggering footsteps instantly drew Lin Shaoze; he looked astonished at the few people exchanging glances, his tone stern yet somewhat lenient: "What are you guys doing? Not going to train? Have you finished today's tasks?"

"Don't, Captain! Tell us, are you looking at that... that Miss Ling?"

"Hmm."

The teammates who didn't expect an answer froze, staring incredulously at their captain: "You admitted it? Besides, Miss Ling is so beautiful, her smile is so sweet, no wonder it makes our captain's heart flutter..."

"Cheng Ziming." Lin Shaoze glanced at him flatly; in an instant, Cheng Ziming looked like a poor little thing stared at by a terrifying demon lord—weak, pitiful, helpless.

"Captain, I was wrong!" He dropped to his knees at lightning speed.

Lin Shaoze couldn't possibly not know what these people were thinking; he just couldn't figure it out, his handsome brows rippling slightly: "I always feel things aren't that simple."

"Is there really such a coincidence in the world?"

The teammates looked at each other; after a moment, Cheng Ziming scratched his head: "Isn't it said 'no coincidence, no story'? Besides, I think Miss Ling is beautiful—no, her observational skills are keen. Before, none of us would have guessed that guy would disguise himself as a scavenger; if it weren't for Miss Ling pointing it out, after repeated interrogations we might have really let him go."

"Besides, before we even reacted, the young lady had already grabbed her bag and smashed someone; the move was so clean and swift, awesome!"

People with keen insight are good at pulling silk from cocoons from any trifle, tracing tracks; moreover, wasn't Ling Yue's earlier action just like that? The strange gesture before hitting the suspect might have been because she heard the other's footsteps.

Lin Shaoze tried to convince himself, the light in his depths flickering.

"Ling Yue, endowed with an astonishing aura of insight: ……"

If she knew his guess, her head would surely sprout a row of ellipses like in a manga; really, she's overthinking—what footsteps? It's just listening to the crows' chatter; the crows told her the suspect's whereabouts, letting Ling Yue time things perfectly.

Outside the police bureau, Ling Yue looked up at the sky; after a while, she finally saw those few sneaky black shadows behind the utility pole, the corner of her mouth lifting imperceptibly into a smile.

"Wait——"

Zhao Lin, wiping sweat, ran and shouted: "Miss Ling, wait, are you heading home? How about I give you a ride?"

Ling Yue didn't have time to refuse; the other already smiled kindly and said: "Under the sun who knows how long you'd have to wait; besides, you're my benefactor Zhao Lin—if I couldn't find these things, I wouldn't know what punishment I'd face."

Ling Yue's phone rang; she answered, and the driver's voice came: "Sorry, customer, I'm stuck in traffic, I can't take this order."

Ling Yue glanced at Zhao Lin, then at the empty asphalt road with not a person nor even a ghost in sight, immediately decided, smiling brightly: "Then I'll thank you first."

Her bearing was relaxed and generous.

Zhao Lin was overjoyed, laughing: "Not at all, not at all—clearly it's I who should thank you!"

As the branch store manager, Zhao Lin oversaw a dozen or so employees; he was personable and pleasant in dealing with people and things, like spring wind turning to rain, he casually dropped a few tidbits of knowledge about jewelry—lively and fun—unconsciously drawing them closer.

Ling Yue put away the business card in her hand and slipped it into her pocket.

The enthusiastic Zhao Lin just now seemed touched; he suddenly sighed, carrying the particular weariness of a middle-aged man: "Don't hide it from you, this isn't the first troubling matter."

"I roughly recall it started with the theft of the store's treasure, the butterfly-knot diamond necklace; the name sounds ordinary, but it actually has a notable background."

"It was four years ago; our boss bought it at Sotheby's autumn auction for eight million dollars, a possession of the greatest emperor of Snow Country in his lifetime."

He lowered his voice, speaking in a tone only the two could hear; Ling Yue instantly forgot to convert dollars to yuan, her mind left with only that name.

"Have you found it since?" Ling Yue, listening, felt light as air; she moved her foot, stepping on the car's carpet, as if treading on a soft cloud.

Alas, while she was smug about the 500,000, they had already been using dollars.

Zhao Lin gave a wry smile and shook his head: "It's like it grew legs and ran off; to this day it's still not found."

He rested his forehead, also puzzled: "That day was just bad luck—the store's CCTV happened to be broken, so it didn't catch the culprit. But nothing else happened that day of the theft; the store employees were working normally, and in the blink of an eye the contents vanished; I still remember that day there were hardly any customers, and nobody even went near where the treasure was kept—it's simply……" He paused: "It's simply like seeing a ghost in broad daylight!"

Ling Yue's breath caught, and she involuntarily thought: If it wasn't a person, could it be……?

Zhao Lin didn't want to dwell on it; having recovered the jewelry already made him happy, he was about to change the subject when he suddenly heard the girl's low voice: "Maybe…… I have a way."