Chapter 227: Entry

Dawn.

After a hearty meal, Jiang Yuan, Wu Jun, Wu Junhao, Huang Qiangmin, and others stood in front of the restaurant waiting for the car.

The wind in Qinghe City felt softer and more yielding than the wind in Ningtai County, gliding across the face and vanishing before one could truly savor it, only to sweep back again moments later.

If Qinghe City were a tall, beautiful woman, this wind would be like a lingering dance, tugging at the heartstrings and stirring longing.

If Qinghe City were a burly man, this wind would… be slightly nauseating.

The few men standing on the steps all stood in silence, lost in thought; an inner and outer exhaustion left them all feeling profoundly drained.

What began as a theft had become a murder case—with two corpses—and had been swiftly solved by Jiang Yuan; otherwise, Huang Qiangmin would have regretted it enough to stab himself twice.

"Captain Huang." A Mercedes pulled up before them; the driver stepped out and smiled: "You're heading back to Ningtai? I'll give you a ride."

"You're…?"

"Oh, I'm the company car driver for Jianyuan Corporation."

"Too kind, but no thanks," Huang Qiangmin really wanted to ride—he knew how terrible his team's vehicles were, overloaded on the highway, afraid to turn on the air conditioning or they'd be too slow to overtake and get crushed by trucks.

The Mercedes' quality? He didn't know, but the air conditioning was probably good.

The driver urged again twice, but seeing Huang Qiangmin's firm refusal, he smiled: "Then I'll wait for you a bit—I'll grab breakfast too, and if you decide to ride later, I'll still have time."

He walked into the breakfast shop; Huang Qiangmin and the others couldn't reasonably stop him from eating.

"With a new assistant general manager, the company's whole vibe's changed," Huang Qiangmin felt pleasantly relieved, watching the driver's back, chuckling softly.

"Because your subordinate's a woman, so your attitude softened?" Wu Jun had also noticed Jianyuan Corporation's recent assertiveness.

Huang Qiangmin tilted his head: "If a leader can exert this kind of influence, our squad should've already won a collective first-class merit. This driver might've been brought over by Yuan Yushan—I heard she brought some people into the company."

"So Yuan Yushan has her own people?" Jiang Yuan asked, slightly surprised.

Huang Qiangmin nodded: "She has her own company outside. I heard she originally had no inheritance rights, wasn't even allowed to run a business externally—but Jianyuan's internal chaos got so bad, all the prohibitions gradually loosened."

"Who'd have thought the biggest winner this time would be a little girl?" Wu Jun sighed with emotion: "If my son ever marries a girl like her, he'd be incredibly lucky."

Wu Jun couldn't resist lighting a cigarette and took a deep, satisfying drag.

Wu Junhao stepped back a pace—he was a healthy, fit man who smoked but refused secondhand smoke.

"By the way, did the thief confess?" Wu Jun had been resting these past two days, very comfortably—now he was just curious.

Huang Qiangmin grunted: "He shook so hard his head was emptier than his pockets. Getting dragged into this case? He's had terrible luck. Add in the other cases uncovered, he's looking at at least seven years."

"Damn. Was he ordered to do it?"

"No."

"Just randomly came over to pull off a job?"

"Something like that… but…"

"But what?"

"He said he received several express deliveries from Qinghe—local specialties. They stirred up thoughts of home, so he came over just to take a look."

"And happened to commit a crime along the way?"

"Yeah. Looking back now, that's clearly what happened." Huang Qiangmin patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder and smiled: "Who'd have thought we originally came just to investigate a theft?"

Jiang Yuan deeply agreed.

Wu Jun silently handed each person a red Guan Yu wooden carving and murmured: "Alright, let's not talk about this bad luck anymore. Let's go home safely. If you can, eat a red fish; if you can't, eat a red egg…"

…

Evening.

Jiang Yuan ate a red grouper, bright red with small white spots on its body.

The red grouper became famous from Hong Kong dramas, sold at high prices in China for a while, until aquaculture technology broke through—after that, both domestic and overseas red grouper lost their market value.

Compared to the Meng Dushan group, China's agricultural scientists had killed themselves and their enemies alike to nourish all things.

Jiangfuzhen's fish-cooking skills were average, but steamed fish didn't require much expertise.

Jiang Yuan, Jiang Fujian, and Qiang Jiu ate one fish weighing nearly two catties—just right.

Wild-caught red grouper had firmer flesh than ordinary tiger grouper or green grouper, but its flavor was rich.

Jiang Fujian ate a little and put down his chopsticks—he was used to freshwater fish; saltwater fish were just for tasting, after which he paired them with other dishes and ate rice.

Qiang Jiu ate happily.

He watched Hong Kong movies, and due to his age, he'd once treated them as documentaries.

He'd heard the name "red grouper," but given his personality, he'd never deliberately bought it. He wouldn't even go to the market—he ate whatever his wife brought home.

And outside of holidays, Qiang Jiu's wife was extremely frugal.

During the meal, Jiang Yuan picked out what he could share and told his father.

Even just a small part of it made Jiang Fujian restless.

"Jianyuan's such a huge company, and it's falling apart like this. Hey, don't get me wrong—I once rented a floor to Jianyuan; they paid promptly, a very proper company," Jiang Fujian shook his head repeatedly.

Jiang Yuan smiled, asking no further questions, offering no further details.

Most criminal cases exceeded ordinary people's capacity to bear.

Especially murder cases—either driven by interests beyond the ordinary, or by emotions beyond the ordinary.

But Qiang Jiu listened intently, and at last asked Jiang Yuan: "Shouldn't you have someone with you? Once you gain fame, you'll be in greater danger. Your skills are too good—some people, after committing a crime and realizing they left a flaw, might come back to kill you first."

Jiang Fujian frowned deeply: "You're right…"

"I've never heard of police officers having bodyguards," Jiang Yuan smiled. "Even my superior can't do that."

"Then you need to train harder. Want me to teach you some hand-to-hand combat?" Qiang Jiu stood up, stretching his long limbs: "Back in the army, I specifically learned close-quarters combat."

"Then… alright." Jiang Yuan had once waited for the system to grant skills, but the system had been slow—he'd better start learning himself.

Seeing Jiang Yuan convinced, Qiang Jiu grew excited, thought carefully for a moment, then said: "I suggest starting with wrestling. Wrestling learns fast, the basic moves aren't hard, and they're genuinely useful. You're not going to war—when you actually need technique, it'll come down to one or two moves deciding victory."

Jiang Yuan recalled his past experiences and nodded unconsciously.

Qiang Jiu, feeling he had something to do, grew impatient.

After Jiang Yuan finished eating, while he was digesting, Qiang Jiu began explaining.

After an hour, Qiang Jiu couldn't wait and demonstrated the basic moves for Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan himself also felt a sense of danger.

The cases he was now touching were growing increasingly complex.

Especially this case—though it began as a simple burglary, Jianyuan Corporation still pulled him in.

The subsequent developments were even more unexpected.

But no matter what, a murder case combining money, power, and emotion absolutely wouldn't mind taking one more person down with it.

The kind of danger ordinary police officers never encounter could easily happen to Jiang Yuan.

It was like demolition incidents—ordinary people might never experience one in their lives, yet Jiang Yuan and his father had encountered several.

With another leave coming up, Jiang Yuan took the chance to learn the basics from Qiang Jiu.

When he stepped outside again, even the two dogs at home sensed Jiang Yuan's newfound confidence—they walked with heads held high and strides broadened.

Three days later.

Jiang Yuan went to work as usual.

At the office, he stepped over the firepan, paid respects to Guan Yu, ate a red egg, and then Wu Jun handed him a red box.

"What's this?"

"The case you solved in Qinghe City—the reservoir corpse case. Third-Class Merit." Wu Jun pointed at the box: "The medal and everything's inside."

"Just a box?" Jiang Yuan felt uneasy.

"Ceremonies are usually reserved for Second-Class Merit. For Third-Class, it's either a small meeting or just a group appearance during a big assembly." Wu Jun paused, glanced at Jiang Yuan's expression, and added: "You've already received two Second-Class Merits—no need to make a big deal out of a Third-Class."

"This is… too plain." Jiang Yuan looked around—the room held only him and his master.

"Don't look. Old Huang's gone to Qinghe City to beg for money—he won't be back these two days."

"Again to Qinghe City?"

"Yeah. Kind of like demanding unpaid wages." Wu Jun always spoke plainly.