Chapter 759: A Chance Encounter

Is it an illusion?

Could it be that the person has a generic face, which is why I feel I’ve seen them before?

Yu Dazhang stared intently at Xia Bin’s sketchpad, his mind racing as he strained to recall every person he knew.

It’s not an illusion.

As the figure on the sketchpad grew clearer, Yu Dazhang found himself recognizing it more and more.

I’ve definitely seen this person before… he concluded internally.

But this person isn’t someone he’s close to—yet they must have had some interaction.

With Yu Dazhang’s current memory, anyone he’s ever come into contact with, he could generally recall.

Since he couldn’t recall this person, it meant their connection was shallow.

Probably someone he met only once, exchanged a few words with.

The problem is, there are too many such people.

For example, shopping at a supermarket and having a brief exchange with the cashier—that counts as an interaction.

Such things happen everywhere in life; no matter how good your memory, you can’t remember everyone you’ve ever met.

One thing Yu Dazhang could be certain of: he didn’t know this person’s name.

If he had known the name, he would have remembered.

“Who could it be?”

He muttered to himself.

This feeling was unbearable—like seeing an actor on TV and instantly knowing you’ve seen their performances, yet unable to recall which role they played.

At that moment, a hand landed on his shoulder.

“What are you muttering about?”

Xu Dui stood beside him, asking softly:

“Think you’ve found a new lead?”

To Xu Dui, Yu Dazhang now seemed completely absorbed in the case.

So much so that when speaking to him, Xu Dui had to lower his voice deliberately, afraid of disrupting his thoughts.

“Where would I get so many new leads?”

Yu Dazhang looked up at him:

“I just think the person Xia Bin drew looks familiar.”

Hearing this, Xu Dui also turned to the computer screen and frowned:

“Even though it’s detailed now, it’s still just an outline—how can you tell it’s familiar already?”

Everyone’s ability to recognize images differs.

Some people are like they’ve got a live GPS in their brain—they never get lost, while others are naturally directionless.

Differences in neural cell activity cause variations in image recognition ability.

“Look at it in three dimensions, and you’ll see the difference.”

Yu Dazhang explained:

“Like an engineer studying blueprints—add elevation, and you naturally get a 3D sense.”

Xu Dui blinked twice, clearly not understanding.

He’d never encountered such knowledge before, so he had no concept of “three-dimensionality.”

“Could you just be mistaken?”

Xu Dui still thought his claim was dubious—how could he recognize someone from an unfinished sketch? It made no sense.

To him, the figure on Xia Bin’s sketchpad was just an ordinary drawing, with no discernible features.

Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then asked a bizarre question:

“Have you bought cigarettes recently?”

“Yes,” Xu Dui replied:

“I bought a pack the day before yesterday at noon.”

He had a heavy smoking habit—normally he smoked two packs a day, and during major cases under pressure, three packs a day wasn’t unusual.

“Where did you buy them?” Yu Dazhang asked again.