Chapter 47: Setting a Trap for Me? You're Too Green

Zhou Zizhe ignored his teasing and instead stared fixedly at his face for several seconds:

"Have we met somewhere before?"

"Impossible." Yu Dazhang had already wrestled with the thought just now, and waved a hand dismissively:

"Stop trying to get chummy. Even if we really did know each other, it's useless — no one can save you now."

Right now he really wanted to rush up, grab Zhou Zizhe by the neck, and shake him around a few times.

Then loudly interrogate him: Speak up — were you trying to set a trap for me?!

"No, I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before. My memory is very good — I absolutely wouldn't be wrong!"

After saying this, Zhou Zizhe's voice gradually lowered, and a contemplative look appeared on his face:

"Where exactly did I see him... I shouldn't be unable to remember..."

"Enough, enough. I don't have time to play guessing games with you." Yu Dazhang interrupted impatiently:

"Do you have something to say or not? If you keep this up, we'll swap you out for someone else."

That line seemed to do the trick — Zhou Zizhe stopped dwelling on it, and his eyes refocused.

"Officer, you're awfully young. How did someone of your weight become a criminal investigator?"

As if firing back at Yu Dazhang's earlier teasing, Zhou Zizhe said with a smile:

"Let me guess — you joined the force first, then put on the weight afterward, right?"

"Wrong guess." Yu Dazhang kept a straight face:

"I'll give you one last chance. If it's still this kind of boring topic, I'm out of here."

He had the confidence to say this — this was the police's home turf, not the suspect's.

"Don't rush. Please allow me to confirm your identity." Zhou Zizhe put away his smile and asked in all seriousness:

"He — why isn't he him?"

Yu Dazhang had long expected him to ask this. His face darkened, and he snorted:

"Clever, aren't you."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Zizhe's expression changed, and without realizing it, his tone grew a touch urgent.

"He is him!" Yu Dazhang's gaze turned sharp:

"You want to probe how much I actually know — fine, I'll tell you: I know everything about you."

"Your motive for murder, and the very first plan you made after killing."

"You raised that question to mislead me, to make me think Kong Lingjie didn't know the truth and was brought here by you under false pretenses."

"You're too naive. What do you mean, 'he isn't him'? Kong Lingjie knows perfectly well what he's doing."

"Let me tell you — he is him. He is the accomplice in this case, and he will definitely be sent to prison!"

After a brief pause, Yu Dazhang took a deep breath and went on:

"At a time like this, you're still thinking 'save one if you can' — you're truly beyond saving."

The interrogation room fell silent.

Across from him, Zhou Zizhe said nothing, his gaze drifting — seeming to dodge Yu Dazhang's eyes, yet also as if pondering something.

Beside him, Qian Cheng took notes while sneaking peeks at Yu Dazhang next to him.

Being at his side, he didn't have to use his brain at all — it was as if every scheme became simple in his presence.

About a minute later, Yu Dazhang spoke again:

"What, gone mute? Go on — I think you can still struggle a bit more."

Whatever Zhou Zizhe was thinking, his gaze suddenly steadied, and the composure from earlier returned to his face.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and he looked at Yu Dazhang with a half-smile:

"That's right — it's you. I never imagined the one who saw through my plan would be this young. I'd pictured myself being caught, and in my imagination, the one to catch me was always an old-timer."

Pretty cocky... Yu Dazhang couldn't stand that smug look of his, and said coldly:

"If we're talking young, you're even younger."

"Not the same." Zhou Zizhe looked at the fatty before him, a hint of admiration in his eyes:

"Our angles are different. I'm the one setting the problem; you're the one solving it. If I swapped places with you, I definitely couldn't do what you do."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted down to Yu Dazhang's shoulder.

"Two chevrons?" He squeezed his eyes shut hard, then opened them again, looking at Yu Dazhang in disbelief:

"You're still a probationary officer?!"

"Was catching you that hard?" Against this kind of cocky person, Yu Dazhang decided to hit back the same way:

"I'll say it again — clever, aren't you! Dealing with a self-important type like you doesn't need a veteran investigator at all."

"Why use a sledgehammer to kill a chicken — a probationary officer like me is more than enough."

Qian Cheng, taking notes on the side, unconsciously straightened his back at those words. Sounds pretty damn inspiring~

He had always thought Yu Dazhang was a proud, arrogant person.

After all, the man's abilities were right there in front of you — he had the capital to be proud.

But he hadn't expected that, in Yu Dazhang's heart, veteran cops like them held such a high place.

"Why use a sledgehammer to kill a chicken" — that really sounds good.

Zhou Zizhe was also taken aback by Yu Dazhang's words, though his thoughts differed from Qian Cheng's.

He was genuinely shocked by Yu Dazhang's status as a probationary officer.

Could it be that he really had been full of himself, underestimating today's criminal investigators?

No — he's bluffing!

Most criminal investigators nowadays come out of the police academy, and he himself was a top student at the police academy.

"You also attended the police academy, right?" Zhou Zizhe asked.

He directly ignored Yu Dazhang's provocation; at a time like this, getting angry meant losing the upper hand.

Please... collect... 6... 9... Book....!

"Talk about your case." Yu Dazhang naturally would not follow his topic.

"Fine, then let's talk about me." Zhou Zizhe paused, as if weighing his words, and continued a moment later:

"You say you know my motive for murder, then tell me, what exactly made me want to kill?"

He seemed easy to talk to, but in reality, he was still trying to draw Yu Dazhang into his own topic.

If Lu Zhongxin encountered such a question, he would surely shout in reprimand: "I am the one asking you! Confess honestly!!"

Speaking that way would certainly create momentum, but unfortunately, it would be useless.

Moreover, Zhou Zizhe across from him would immediately deduce: the police definitely do not know his motive for murder.

This question seemed like him testing Yu Dazhang, but in truth, it was still a probe.

A probe to see whether this probationary officer, about his own age, was bluffing or had truly deduced the truth.

"Originally, I shouldn't answer such a question from you."

Yu Dazhang's stern face softened a bit, and his tone when speaking was no longer so harsh:

"But to cure your paranoia, I will tell you."

Saying this, he took two sheets of paper from the file bag he had brought in, placed them on the table, and tapped them:

"Do you know what this is?"

Looking at the paper on the table, Zhou Zizhe did not answer, but his eyes showed more interest.

For some reason, he felt what was recorded on the paper was very important, and certainly related to him.

"This is the transcript made for Zhang Yan's parents." Yu Dazhang picked up the paper and waved it before Zhou Zizhe's eyes:

"I recorded it personally on the afternoon you were caught."

"Do you want to know how they evaluated you?"

Zhou Zizhe still did not answer, and his face showed no expression; he just stared straight at the paper in Yu Dazhang's hand.

"Very good, I like your reaction." Yu Dazhang smiled:

"No reaction is the best reaction; you are still too green."

"At the very least, you should show a look of curiosity, even just a little bit of surprise; that would seem more real."

"You are afraid, so you dare not show any expression of emotion."

"Didn't your school teachers teach you that the more one pursues perfection, the more flaws there are?"

"Just like you are now."

Seeing that Zhou Zizhe still looked unmoved, Yu Dazhang did not get angry; instead, his smile deepened:

"Earlier, I watched the surveillance footage of Zhang Yan going home from school on the day she disappeared; shortly after she left the school gate, she took a phone call."

"Don't think about how to deny it; that call was made by you."

"I don't know what you said, but I can read what Zhang Yan said in the surveillance video."

"Plus this transcript from Zhang Yan's parents."

"Next, I will tell you a story..."

"A melodramatic love story of an insecure man."

(End of this chapter)