Chapter 386: Osmanthus

Songxiang Police Station.

Captain Zhang Qi of the Third Squad, smiling broadly, showed Cai Yuan the recently recovered dog: "Little girl, take a look— which one is yours?"

Zhang Qi was tall and broad-shouldered, his voice loud; from a child's perspective, he was a towering presence.

Cai Yuan ducked behind Cai Mian, then glanced around.

In the courtyard of the police station, against the wall, stood a row of cages housing large dogs—Huskies, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, German Shepherds—while a parallel row of smaller cages held puppies: Papillons, Teddy Bears, Pekingese; in the central cages, several clearly groomed dogs were displayed.

Among them, the most numerous were Pugs—the breed Cai Yuan had lost. Each one looked either forlorn or bewildered, their wrinkled skin slack, lazily watching the people and dogs, occasionally sticking out their tongues, playing the fool.

In the cage beside the Pugs were groomed Teddy Bears, meticulously styled Pomeranians, freshly clipped Bichons, trimmed Yorkshires, bathed Bulldogs…

Judging by Zhang Qi's expression, even if the little girl pointed to any of the terriers and claimed it was her Guixiang, he would unhesitatingly accept it.

Or rather, that was precisely the outcome he hoped for.

Sending out a dozen or so officers just to find a dog? It sounded absurd. Better to dig into the team's budget and just placate the girl with a replacement.

Jiang Yuan glanced behind him. There stood several pet shop owners, smiling amiably.

The dogs in the courtyard were indeed a mix of newly recovered strays and accidental passersby—after grooming by the pet shops, they looked presentable enough. Of course, there were also newly listed dogs for sale. After all, the dogs these shops sold were the cutest—by breed and age alike.

Jiang Yuan made no effort to stop Zhang Qi's attempt. After all, each had his own idea. Worst case, the little girl Cai Yuan would end up with one extra dog.

Cai Yuan rushed eagerly toward the Pug cage, eyes shining with hope.

Inside the cage were seven Pugs, slightly different in appearance, but to someone who didn't own dogs, the only distinction was a vague "cuteness level."

Cai Yuan examined each one carefully, then shook her head in disappointment: "Guixiang isn't here."

Zhang Qi's expression changed, then he grinned like a cross-dressing wolf in disguise: "Then check the cages beside it— is Guixiang there?"

"No, Guixiang is a Pug," the girl firmly shook her head.

"Why not take home another dog you like for now, and we'll keep looking? When we find Guixiang, you can decide whether to keep both or just one." Zhang Qi didn't mention the possibility of never finding her dog—but a delaying tactic was fine. If he could buy time, especially stretch the team's deadline, he'd be satisfied.

As for the other squads—who ended up as the "Dog Squad"—he didn't care at all; he'd laugh the loudest.

The seven-year-old girl scanned the area with a critical gaze, then declared: "I don't want any other dog. I want Guixiang."

"Then we'll find Guixiang." At this, Jiang Yuan stepped forward and halted Zhang Qi's further attempts.

Zhang Qi cleared his throat twice, trying to push back.

Jiang Yuan said: "Captain Zhang, over the next two days, lead your team to visit every shop and business in Songxiang. Distribute photos of Guixiang. Record any suspicious leads."

He spoke in a commanding tone—effectively issuing an order.

Zhang Qi was assigned to him. If their views aligned, some initiative was welcome; if they clashed, Jiang Yuan had no patience for courtesy.

Having handled so many cases and organized countless investigations and searches, Jiang Yuan was thoroughly practiced. Assigning a squad leader-level officer required no psychological maneuvering.

Zhang Qi froze—he'd expected to discuss this with Jiang Yuan.

But once Jiang Yuan gave the order, Zhang Qi suddenly realized he had no grounds to refuse.

His own squad leader, Xu Xuewu, was eagerly investigating Case 613. The Third Squad had clearly been handed over—could he just walk away?

Think deeper: Xu Xuewu's beloved Passat—how many sleepless nights, how many cases cracked, to finally earn it and save it—yet he'd lent it outright to Ningtai County.

Had Xu Xuewu abandoned them? No—he simply wanted to solve a long-standing homicide case and gain another 100 points on the performance leaderboard.

The chief of Songxiang Police Station gently pulled Zhang Qi back, preventing him from saying something inappropriate due to Jiang Yuan's youth.

Turning back, Jiang Yuan said to Wang Chuanxing: "Organize the report from here. Has Da Zhuang arrived?"

"He'll be here in an hour," Wang Chuanxing replied.

Wang Chuanxing added to Zhang Qi: "Da Zhuang is our Ningtai County police dog."

Ningtai County had few cases, so police dogs often had nothing to do. These days, they spent more time loaned out than brought back.

But regardless, police dog deployment was always formal. That alone showed Jiang Yuan's determination.

Zhang Qi smiled and stepped back two paces.

The Songxiang Police Station chief, fearing Zhang Qi might sulk, pulled him aside and whispered: "Old Zhang, we've known each other for years. Let me ask you honestly—if Xu Da handed you Case 613 as lead, could you solve it?"

Zhang Qi gritted his teeth: "If it were ours, we'd just work overtime, push harder to crack it."

"Could you?"

"No," Zhang Qi said seriously—he looked surprisingly handsome.

The chief laughed: "Xu Da probably knows that too."

Zhang Qi sighed, then muttered: "But even finding a dog—we can't find it either."

The chief burst out laughing.

…

The Third Squad assembled and set out on duty.

Jiang Yuan, accompanied by Mu Zhiyang, wandered through the alleyways, first visiting every place Cai Yuan often took Guixiang to play, then scouring nearby wooded patches and abandoned areas, finally chasing after stray dogs…

The dog had been missing too long—it was no longer just a simple lost-pet case. Over these two days, Jiang Yuan had researched lost-dog cases and found that ordinary lost dogs usually stayed within their familiar surroundings.

That is, if a dog wandered off normally—even if it couldn't find its way home—it would still roam nearby. Thus, the first few days were the optimal window for recovery.

But Cai Yuan was too young, and Cai Mian lacked mobility, causing Guixiang to miss her best chance to return.

Still, it was possible Guixiang had been taken away from the start.

In that case, two possibilities existed: one, a pure dog thief who stole dogs for meat; two, someone who saw the dog, noticed it was stray, and simply took it home to keep.

Jiang Yuan thought the first unlikely. First, Guixiang was a small Pug—not worth stealing. Second, such incidents were rare in Miaohé County and nearby; Songxiang's layout wasn't suited for quick theft-and-flee operations.

Still, Jiang Yuan assigned Wang Chuanxing and others to investigate that lead. He himself pursued the other possibility: someone had adopted the dog.

The best way to pursue that path… was to distribute flyers.

Flyers reaching the adopter—or triggering their conscience, making them uneasy enough to return the dog—was the ideal solution.

In the meantime, Jiang Yuan began investigating theft cases in Songxiang, especially home burglaries.

He had no clear direction—just idle hands, no leads on the dog, so hunting thieves… fingerprints, footprints, tool marks—on average, he solved one case per hour. Not exaggerated.

Soon, Xu Xuewu had to send another squad to exclusively arrest suspects Jiang Yuan had identified in theft cases.

One after another, habitual thieves from Miaohé County were stuffed into the case center.

Some suspects pretended to be casual, feigning indifference.

But the leadership of Miaohé County Bureau were all alarmed, frequently visiting the case center to see the overcrowded conditions.

All day, Xu Xuewu was tied to the case center, greeting and seeing off visitors.

"So many people."

Xu Xuewu: "Yes, our case center is just too small. A few more suspects and we're packed."

"Does Miaohé County really have this many thieves?"

Xu Xuewu: "Some are seasoned criminals. Others were caught because Jiang Yuan matched old fingerprints from cases two or three years ago. Mainly, our center is too small—once we get a few more, we can't even give everyone a private cell."

"I heard all these people were arrested because of a dog?"

Xu Xuewu: "They were arrested for theft. But if Jiang Yuan finds that dog, these guys could've stayed home longer. Honestly, our case center's too small—so many have nowhere even to lie down…"

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