Chapter 165

It was dark.

The green ivy in the office held its post.

Dinner time.

The downpour had eased to a drizzle; the flow resembled a successful man's urine—occasionally trickling, intermittently stopping, never fully ending, and no one could say when it would finally cease.

The Party committee members of the Ningtai County Bureau collectively hosted a banquet at the cafeteria for leaders from the municipal bureau, provincial department, and central ministries.

The head chef of the county bureau's cafeteria had pulled out all the stops!

Just the cold appetizers alone featured several elaborate dishes: mustard duck feet, combined-flavor eggplant, snowflake beef tongue—all made with premium ingredients and bold flavors, signature dishes of the kitchen.

On ordinary days, as a formally employed chef, the head chef wouldn't exert himself so much; he'd just slap together a buffet and call it a day.

To the head chef, a nearly perfect meal was a conversation between successful men.

It was a quiet echo between the tiny Ningtai County and the vast provincial capital, the distant capital city; it was the small county's welcome to the metropolis, and its pride in the metropolis.

Liu Jinghui pulled Jiang Yuan to the cafeteria's second floor.

Zhang Zhihong had flown to Changyang City with him and waved over with a familiar smile: "Comrade Liu, I thought you'd be here tonight—got your work sorted out?"

He knew Liu Jinghui had been busy with a case lately.

Liu Jinghui sat Jiang Yuan down and smiled: "Thanks to Jiang Yuan—the case is solved."

"Oh? How'd you solve it?" Zhang Zhihong assumed Liu had passed the case elsewhere or handed it off to Jiang Yuan.

Liu Jinghui laughed heartily, didn't answer right away, but stood up, raised his glass, and said: "I'll be presumptuous—I'd like to toast our Ningtai County leaders first. You've cultivated an outstanding technical talent! Director Guan, let me toast you."

Compared to central ministry officials, Liu Jinghui was treated with greater respect by the county bureau's leadership.

Director Guan Xi immediately stood up, clinked glasses with Liu Jinghui, and smiled: "Comrade Liu, you're too polite—what's the story here?"

Liu Jinghui downed his drink before saying:

"I brought over a case—Yunchang City's unsolved mystery. Originally, I thought I'd send Jiang Yuan to inspect the scene, see if we could dig up more evidence, since the original leads in Yunchang had hit a dead end."

He spoke casually, but Guan Xi and the others listened intently.

All of them were veteran cops—they knew a case a municipal bureau couldn't crack was bound to be extremely difficult.

If even the provincial department couldn't solve it, and they had to pull someone from below, the difficulty wasn't just doubled—it was multiplied many times over.

The more casually a scene was described, the more complex it truly was.

Guan Xi instinctively glanced at Jiang Yuan beside him and asked: "And then? Did you take over the case?"

"I was forced into it. All the technical leads were useless," Liu Jinghui scoffed. "Footprints checked. Bloodstains checked. Relationships mapped. Surveillance footage reviewed—nothing found."

Liu Jinghui picked what he could say, gave a broad overview, then added:

"Turns out, everyone could've guessed the outcome. I handed the case to Jiang Yuan—he cracked it in a few hours."

Honestly, by the time Liu Jinghui got halfway through, everyone had already guessed the ending.

But when he finally revealed it, everyone was stunned.

Because this wasn't just a story—it was real, something that had just happened.

It struck the heart more directly than even a likely fixed football match.

"How'd he crack it?" Guan Xi couldn't help asking.

"Jiang Yuan spotted a flaw in one piece of evidence—directly pointing to the killer. The evidence had been reviewed by provincial experts, yet Jiang Yuan spent less time on it than they did."

At this point, Liu Jinghui didn't elaborate further.

The victim's husband worked at Jindun Company and had some investigative and counter-investigative experience—he'd been to the scene and handled it himself.

So when evidence tampering surfaced, Liu Jinghui immediately suspected the husband.

But none of this could be mentioned before the case was closed.

Liu Jinghui's explanation remained vague.

Guan Xi and the others didn't care about the case itself—they all turned their gazes toward Jiang Yuan.

This situation was like borrowing your family's draft ox to help someone else plow a field.

The current situation is like borrowing a big livestock from home, only to end up clearing an entire mu of land for someone else.

And you couldn't even demand the ox back.

You didn't even have fallow land to plow yourself—

But if you thought about it carefully, you did have fallow land.

After all, it was a county—there had to be work for a big ox like this.

Guan Xi thought this, and his smile toward Jiang Yuan turned into a "hehehe."

Guan Xi thought this, and facing Jiang Yuan, his smile turned into a "hehehe."

The wine had reached a pleasant haze.

The food had left the successful men slightly limp.

Liu Jinghui raised his glass again and continued: "I had another mission this time—to award Jiang Yuan a Second-Class Merit medal. Yes, for the Wu Long Wildman case."

"We'll certainly cooperate wholeheartedly…" Guan Xi immediately pledged.

"The leadership hopes for proper recognition—two Second-Class Merits in such a short time is rare. My thought is to schedule it during one of our upcoming large meetings."

It was standard procedure—find any big gathering to piggyback on; if none, even the bureau-wide excellence evaluations would do.

If nothing suitable came up, even a Mid-Autumn song festival or holiday event would suffice.

Guan Xi agreed—it was a minor matter.

Liu Jinghui felt Guan Xi didn't get it and added: "Director Guan, do you have time in the next two days? I originally planned to take Jiang Yuan to Yunchang City, then handle this after we returned."

Guan Xi realized—he was right. If they didn't arrange it now, they'd have to make another trip.

Guan Xi laughed and turned to those beside him: "What's everyone got scheduled in the next few days?"

The head of the Political Department said: "Mainly training sessions…"

"Then use the training session—it's big enough." Guan Xi asked: "What's the training on?"

"We've got quite a few: fingerprints, DNA, emergency first aid, legal training…"

"Fingerprint training—assign Jiang Yuan to that. Isn't that perfect? Jiang Yuan's now one of the top fingerprint experts in the province—such a valuable resource…"

Guan Xi had drunk a bit too much and was getting a little wordy.

Everyone patiently endured it.

Someone added: "We already planned to invite Jiang Yuan as a lecturer—we just didn't know if he had time."

"Then ask him now," Guan Xi said with full ceremony.

"Yes, yes!" A middle-aged, relatively successful man turned to Jiang Yuan: "Comrade Jiang Yuan…"

"Sure, you arrange it," Jiang Yuan cut him off, his smile genuine.

Another Second-Class Merit meant he could choose another set of skills.

And theoretically, he'd gain a Level 4 skill.

That was far more powerful than random skills—properly paired, it could greatly extend Jiang Yuan's effective range.

Liu Jinghui watched Jiang Yuan's expression, slightly pleased.

Once the award ceremony was confirmed, Liu Jinghui lightly nudged Jiang Yuan—when it came to gifts and reading minds, he was a professional.

Once the award ceremony procedure was confirmed, Liu Jinghui lightly nudged Jiang Yuan: when it comes to gift-giving and reading people's minds, big brother is a professional.

Two days later.

Two police cars arrived at the entrance of Jiang Village Community.

The guard checked their credentials and raised the barrier.

The two cars slowly drove into the community.

Because it wasn't a pedestrian-vehicle separated zone, the cars moved slower than pedestrians, and the people ahead stared curiously.

"Who are you looking for?" At the entrance of the small supermarket, elderly residents past the detention age blocked the cars.

"We're looking for Jiang Yuan. I've been here before," Qi Shanwei got out.

He worked in the municipal bureau's Political Department, routinely handling police-support initiatives, but Jiang Village Community was unforgettable.

This time, villagers indeed recognized Qi Shanwei.

Someone nodded: "Last time, he came to deliver the merit plaque."

"Yeah, yeah—that slightly fat cop… looked kind of dumb."

"He didn't have much hair. Now he wears a hat, but last time I saw him without it."

Villagers never lowered their voices.

Qi Shanwei's face twitched—he didn't want to talk to them and said: "Uh… could you please move? We need to pass."

"Wreath!" A woman spotted the back seat through the glass and suddenly cried out.

Qi Shanwei froze and quickly said: "That's a flower basket—round, with a basket underneath…"

His explanation was ignored.

The Jiang Village residents grew excited:

"Has Jiang Yuan died?"

"Died again?"

"They say Second-Class Merit is earned lying down, First-Class Merit requires hanging on—it's too hard. A Second-Class Merit holder just… gone."

"They mean the military—police aren't that hard…"

"Jiang Yuan was such a good kid… gone like this…"

Qi Shanwei looked helplessly around—those villagers who weren't shouting were all frantically typing on their phones, doing who-knew-what!

Qi Shanwei looked around in bewilderment; the villagers who hadn't shouted were all clutching their phones, frantically typing, not knowing what they were doing!

No, rather, Qi Shanwei could guess what they were up to.

But Qi Shanwei didn't understand why they always thought so far ahead!

……