Chapter 19: Can't Be Too Idle

Jiang Yuan took out the first fingerprint; it was a fingerprint with only the first half, and the position was relatively blurry.

Facing such a fingerprint, the first thing Jiang Yuan had to do was determine which finger it was.

After that, it was processing the fingerprint image.

Finally, it was marking the feature points.

After Jiang Yuan acquired the fingerprint skill, he used it a few times and felt he was getting the hang of it. Now, his operation felt exceptionally smooth.

Just seeing the fingerprint image, which was blurry after being enlarged, constantly being zoomed in and out under Jiang Yuan's mouse, occasionally changing color gradients, brightness, and contrast—at the same time, Jiang Yuan was constantly marking feature points.

Wang Zhong only felt dazzled. After watching for a while, he couldn't watch anymore.

Software like PS has quite powerful built-in functions, and there are a large number of keyboard shortcuts to facilitate users in improving efficiency.

But for bystanders, if the person using it doesn't explain or clarify, a flurry of keyboard shortcuts will leave the bystander dizzy.

This was exactly Wang Zhong's state at the moment.

"Alright, I'll go back first." Yan Ge felt even more bored sitting there, so he greeted them and went back to his office to busy himself.

Wu Jun naturally looked at Wang Zhong and smiled, "Little Wang, aren't you going back to work?"

"Work... I'll watch for a while, learn a bit, and then go back to work." Wang Zhong didn't quite understand Jiang Yuan's operation, but he knew Jiang Yuan was processing fingerprints now.

This kind of operation, actually, even if Jiang Yuan explained it to him in detail, he wouldn't be able to remember it. Even if he remembered it, he wouldn't be able to use it for a while.

Anyway, Wang Zhong just watched blankly, learning as much as he could.

At least he could learn something now. In the past, following Yan Ge, there was nothing left to learn.

During the process of processing the image, Jiang Yuan marked 4 feature points along the way. After completing this step, he chose a direction from another corner and marked 5 more feature points, saying, "That's it for now, let's run it and see."

Wang Zhong only felt dazzled. Before he had even entered the state, he saw Jiang Yuan had already let the software run.

In a moment, 20 fingerprints appeared in the candidate list.

Jiang Yuan eliminated them one by one and re-marked them.

Wang Zhong quickly became weary.

Doing trace evidence examination and comparing fingerprints was inherently extremely boring.

This process was like someone trying to find a twin for a hedgehog.

He could pull out 8 quills first and compare them all over the world. If it didn't match, he could pull out several more quills, or mix them with a few of the previous 8, or form an independent team, and continue comparing all over the world until it matched, then check if all the quills were the same.

An old saying goes: 8 quills and 8 more, 8 quills and 8 more, every quill is different, hard and long.

Jiang Yuan compared tirelessly for half an afternoon. When it was time to get off work, he finally announced that the comparison of the first fingerprint had failed.

"Let's go home." Jiang Yuan packed his things, preparing to get off work on time.

Wang Zhong was like a physics enthusiast who had listened to a lecture on theoretical physics for half an afternoon—dazed and sleepy. He felt he should be interested and excited, but his body and brain both thought he was wrong, to the point that he now had doubts about his own existence.

Jiang Yuan didn't care about that much, going home to eat meat and sharing the reward he had received with his old man.

"Just started working and already got a reward, not bad, not bad." Jiangfuzhen was exceptionally happy. While speaking, he took out his phone and called Auntie Hua, saying, "Do you know how much young people earn now? Is 10,000 yuan a lot?"

"It should be quite a lot. Renting a two-bedroom apartment in our residential area only costs one or two thousand. It depends on the renovation." Auntie Hua answered very naturally, "I bought a house in the provincial capital a while ago, and the rent is only three or four thousand a month. Actually, if you calculate it, it's not cost-effective..."

"I thought so. But back when we were farmers, 10,000 yuan was too much. Now I don't know. Just watching money enter the account every day, I don't know if it's a lot or a little."

"You are Fuzhen, it must be a lot."

"I heard from my son that he solved a case at his unit a couple of days ago and was rewarded with 10,000 yuan. I was just thinking, are unit rewards this high now? Hahaha, I guess it's quite a lot, huh..."

Auntie Hua's tone changed as she listened: "There's such a high reward for being a police officer?"

"I said the same, I've never heard of it. But he solved a case from 20 years ago. On TV, they call it a cold case, right?"

"Hiss, that's impressive."

"Yeah, their leaders are praising him too. I was just thinking of asking, don't let it be that money has depreciated in the last two years..." Jiangfuzhen laughed a few times and hung up the phone.

Jiang Yuan looked up at his old man and said, "Don't you go to the vegetable market every day?"

"Just confirming. You don't know how severe inflation is. By the way, I forgot to ask..." Jiangfuzhen picked up his phone on the spot and redialed.

After a brief pause, the machine voice came from the phone: The number you dialed is currently busy...

Jiangfuzhen revealed a wealthy smile.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan arrived at the unit and launched an assault on the second fingerprint.

No results.

The third day.

Continuing from yesterday, no results.

The fourth day.

Jiang Yuan gave up on the second fingerprint and began comparing the third fingerprint.

Compared to the previous two fingerprints, although this one is also incomplete, the remaining portion has relatively rich details. It is equivalent to a hedgehog with a healthy coat and plump quills.

Jiang Yuan then compared it more towards the detailed parts.

Starting point, bifurcation point, small eye, small hook, junction point...

Jiang Yuan enlarged the fingerprint image a lot; one screen only showed a local part. He moved the mouse gently, outlining it with his heart.

Wang Zhong finished his daily work and ran over to watch as usual.

He stared at Jiang Yuan's operation, feeling that he seemed to be able to do it, and also seemed unable to do it.

It was like facing a physics problem; he knew all the formulas, and felt that writing it like this was also very reasonable, but if he had to think about it himself, his brain felt like it had been caught in a door.

As Wang Zhong watched, he fell asleep again.

Only when he heard Jiang Yuan say "Matched" did Wang Zhong, like a toad under a spell, open his eyes all at once and ask, "Matched?"

"It should be this one." Jiang Yuan pointed vaguely at the screen.

Wang Zhong leaned over in surprise, nervously comparing while Jiang Yuan checked again.

"How is it?" Jiang Yuan asked politely.

"Seems... it matched?" Wang Zhong didn't quite know how to answer. For him, matching a fingerprint from a newly occurred case was also very common, but matching a fingerprint from an old case, even if it was a cold case fingerprint from a current case, was also uncommon.

If it were Wang Zhong who had matched it, he would probably jump up and shout twice now.

But Jiang Yuan clearly had no intention of celebrating.

For him, the fingerprint of this case couldn't be called simple, but it couldn't be called difficult either.

This was actually normal. Don't look at what Wang Zhong said about a series theft case; no matter how much of a series theft case it was, it couldn't be compared to a serious injury case with a huge social impact like the "Liu Yu Injury Case." The fingerprints involved were at least screened carefully by experts in Qinghe City.

And this "Highway Service Area Series Oil Theft Case" didn't sound high-end at all. Although the scope involved was slightly wide, the trace evidence examiners participating in the investigation were mainly from the county bureau. Although a certain county bureau might have experts, the case might not necessarily be assigned to the experts.

Like Ningtai County, it was Wang Zhong doing it. If he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it.

"This person seems to be in prison already." Jiang Yuan opened the information of the matched suspect and saw a traditional prison photo with small eyes, a flat nose, a thin face, a flat mouth, and slanted eyebrows.

"Imprisoned a month ago. The time doesn't conflict." Wang Zhong quickly took a look, let out a sigh of relief, and looked at the case cause, saying, "Look, he was fighting with someone at a nightclub, causing minor injuries. The money he spent at the nightclub was very likely earned from stealing oil."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Then what now?"

"You call Team Leader Huang. Bring the evidence for interrogation; it's estimated that you can implicate a few members of the gang." Wang Zhong said, pursing his lips, "If Team Leader Huang hears that you've solved another case, he'll definitely be very happy."

Jiang Yuan smiled, "I've been a bit idle recently, and there are no other cases..."

"Don't say that." Wu Jun, who had been leisurely, changed his expression instantly upon hearing this sentence from Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled embarrassedly, "Forgot, can't say I'm too idle, right?"

"Don't say that word..." Wu Jun sighed, lowered his head, and looked at his phone unconsciously, as if it would ring at any moment. ===== CHAPTER 20 =====