Chapter 302

Wen Shu looked at the members of Jiang Yuan's special task force as they chattered among themselves, assigning tasks, and suddenly felt surprised.

Yu Wenshu leaned close to Wan Baoming and whispered, "Is this a new unit? Everyone wants to make an impression?"

Wan Baoming was equally surprised, murmuring, "Not really—some of them have switched units multiple times; they should be quite experienced by now."

"Yeah, Shen Yaowei spoke first, and he actually had something substantial to say—I didn't expect that." Yu Wenshu remembered several people in the task force clearly, which wasn't strange at all.

For instance, the first speaker, Officer Shen Yaowei, was the cousin of Shen Yaoguo from the Public Security Brigade—a real thorn in the side of the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Shen Yaowei graduated from a decent school, met all the physical requirements for the Criminal Investigation Brigade, and joined precisely because he was drawn to the glamour of being a detective—he wanted to solve big cases, catch Wen Liang, take down Wen Chou, and drink wine with Lü Bu all in one go.

But detective work doesn't work like that. Shen Yaowei, young and eager to be a general, had neither soldiers nor command ability, nor the strength to charge through enemy lines alone—and naturally, no one followed him. Even the veteran assigned to mentor him could only shake his head.

Yu Wenshu frowned as he thought of this, then said to Wan Baoming, "Now that I think about it, Shen Yaowei and Jiang Yuan are somewhat alike."

"How so? Jiang Yuan is quite humble." Wan Baoming had a very good impression of Jiang Yuan. A technician of such high skill, yet without an arrogant attitude—this was rare in the technical police system.

Yu Wenshu smirked. "He's humble, sure—but humble where? Really, it's just a matter of the gap in actual ability."

Without connections and unable to adapt to the system, one is more likely to hop between departments, grabbing big rewards, seizing big power, and clinging to big titles—only to eventually fall back into the grind of just surviving.

"So what are you guys investigating now?"

Yu Wenshu had originally just picked a few troublesome types and shuffled them into the newly formed task force, never expecting those guys to suddenly become so enthusiastic.

Office.

"There's no point in pretending to be good—eventually, only solving the case matters," Wan Baoming said.

Shen Yaowei stared at Tang Jia for a while, then looked disappointed. "Forget the big hotels—there are too many rental apartments to check."

Shen Yaowei's gaze shifted away from Tang Jia.

Look for mistakes in the current case task force—find where their judgment went wrong, then reverse-engineer their logic.

Jiangcun people aren't lazy, but they deeply value their own efforts—especially after doing something themselves—and demand high spiritual returns.

Of course, there are many who don't fit the system, but if they come from poor families with no connections, those who can't adapt quickly sink into obscurity, eventually becoming the office's old chair or the old workhorse.

"Plan Seven: I want to find the victim's first crime scene. There are two ways. First: trace the first scene through the victim's belongings, bodily traces, etc. That's what you're doing now."

Bo Yihua had thick eyebrows and small eyes, a parade-ground physique, and looked quite pleasant—but his speech was blunt.

Bo Yihua wasn't even polite to Jiang Yuan. He sneered, "What do you care what I'm doing in this group? Can a person be wrong?"

Tang Jia had participated in, and even led, a large number of cold case investigations—his experience made him appear unusually calm.

"The other path: start from the victim's residence. Over such a long period, with sword-fighting scenes involved—if the victim stayed somewhere, it wasn't a big hotel, but a rental apartment, or possibly the killer's own home."

"You're working on cold cases—where's the slim chance left for you?" Tang Jia countered.

Jiang Yuan said, "If everyone on the team focuses on their own lead, isn't that the best way to minimize errors?"

He had no time to consider Bo Yihua's thoughts.

Bo Yihua gave him a similar feeling—Tang Jia didn't

issue direct orders.

"Find him a partner." Tang Jia spent a minute arranging it, then turned away and kept working.

The other officers in the task force were still pondering the case's next direction, but Bo Yihua was already deciding which path to take—how to solve the case with minimal cost. Yet everyone could only fixate on results.

New information came back quickly.

Bo Yihua nodded.

The brigade's troublemakers, under Bo Yihua's command, had become front-line workers—Yu Wenshu muttered, "Even if they're going to change, shouldn't it be after they've solved a few cases?"

After all, special detectives rarely encounter cold homicide cases in their careers, and even rarer is the chance to fully participate in and solve one.

Soon, Shen Yaowei left with his partner.

Bo Yihua thought for a moment and said, "For this case, I have two preliminary ideas. First, the ideal scenario: we might find the victim's connection to someone through surveillance or other means, or directly identify the suspect through interpersonal networks. No leads have come back yet—we must wait."

Based on the time of death, he had already narrowed the case to a limited scope. Now, we wait to see which path yields the first breakthrough, then allocate more resources accordingly.

"Go check more hotels and rental apartments," Tang Jia ordered, placing photos on the desk without looking up.

Wan Baoming thought for a moment and agreed: "Humble isn't just humility—it's humility born of strength. Without strength, humility is just cowardice."

At this moment, Yu Wenshu and the others seemed to be just taking up space.

Shen Yaowei had no real choice—Bo Yihua's demonstrated ability was unmatched in Shannan Province, and he was the first person Shen Yaowei had ever encountered of such caliber.

If he doubted Tang Jia, Bo Yihua couldn't find a better detective to rely on.

"No," Bo Yihua met Bo Yihua's gaze calmly.

Tang Jia had taken the case and expected to solve it—so naturally, everyone became highly motivated.

"True enough," Yu Wenshu sighed. "Detective work is hard here."

Children from wealthy families who don't fit the system tend to be more restrained; if they're willing to give up fame and fortune, they can often carve out a free life in the office—though not popular, they avoid suffering and live carefree.

That kind of situation is truly regrettable.

Bo Yihua didn't even glance at Shen Yaowei.

At that moment, Bo Yihua walked over and said, "If you don't trust Tang Jia, why did you join the team?"

Bo Yihua looked unenthusiastic: "That chance is too slim."

He thought for a moment and understood. That path—he'd walked it before. It was a dead end.

"We checked over a dozen nearby big hotels. People from hotels outside the area between April 17 and April 22 all said they hadn't seen that person." The first piece of information from Bo Yihua came back.

For them, part of this was work—but an even larger part was pure interest and passion.

Too troublesome—Yu Wenshu dared not confront Tang Jia directly; if things blew up, he'd be the one cleaning up the mess. Being judge wasn't that easy.

Bo Yihua was stunned. After a pause, he hesitated: "If we follow that logic, then the original task force, using the same approach, might've had a chance to find the first crime scene—even a better chance… oh, no, their timing was wrong."

Could he possibly doubt himself?

Cold cases are hardest because there's no crime scene—only old photographs to rely on. Often, even when clues are found, conditions make it impossible to pursue them further, forcing abandonment.

These guys wanted to join Tang Jia's team—driven by the hope of solving cases.

The idea that only results count as achievements sounds fair—but solving cases isn't farming; effort doesn't always guarantee harvest.

Tang Jia grunted in acknowledgment.

Several task force members assigned themselves tasks; others were assigned by Tang Jia; those without work sat quietly, studying the case.

Tang Jia's method was to pick fights.

Shen Yaowei frowned again. "So if your time estimate is wrong, we're just wasting our time."

"No logic, no logic," Yu Wenshu muttered, looking again at the recent speakers. These guys were all troublemakers from connected families—but this level of obnoxiousness was too much.

Tang Jia had no management experience, but the team members seemed used to being unmanaged. The office quickly fell into a delicate silence.

"Only the patient can endure watching a few cases. I bet if the next case goes badly, they'll just slack off again—or ask for a transfer." Wan Baoming looked deeply perceptive. "Not seeing eight days, the world full of cherry blossoms…"

Jiang Yuan scoffed: "So I ask you—do you trust Bo Yihua?"

"If Tang Jia is wrong, all our leads are wasted time," Bo Yihua said.

Shen Yaowei was tense, itching to challenge Bo Yihua.

Tang Jia turned to Shen Yaowei. "This path will be time-consuming and labor-intensive—but if pursued long enough, theoretically, there's a chance to find the first crime scene."

Bo Yihua had tried similar tactics many times. In this sense, Tang Jia had effectively trained himself.

"See how the others' leads are coming along," Bo Yihua said.

Altogether, these connected types were those with some ability, some pride, but fundamentally unfit for the police system.

"Alright. You investigate this lead—I'll assign you someone else." Shen Yaowei turned back to Tang Jia.

"And then?" Bo Yihua pressed.

Yu Wenshu nodded to Bo Yihua, said nothing more, stepped out of the room, and into the hallway: "I thought they'd show off in front of me."

Tang Jia had already gone off to do his own work.

After leaving, Shen Yaowei stared at Tang Jia for a long while, confirming he was genuinely calm—not pretending—before finally walking away.

Tang Jia looked up at Shen Yaowei. He had already received Wang Chuan's warning—he knew Shen Yaowei and the others had no connections. At that moment, looking at Shen Yaowei, he felt as if he were looking at a peer from Jiangcun.

-- to proceed with inspection