Chapter 401

Ningtai County.

Members of Jiang Yuan's cold case task force returned to headquarters by car and high-speed rail.

Jiang Yuan came back by high-speed rail; Wei Zhenguo drove over specially to pick him up and asked, "Was this trip successful? I heard officials from the ministry came."

"Yes, we uncovered another major case—it turned out to be one they'd previously overseen," Jiang Yuan briefly explained.

Wei Zhenguo clicked his tongue in admiration: "That's great—you're getting another break already?"

He was guessing based on Jiang Yuan's previous patterns.

To his surprise, Jiang Yuan shook his head: "I can't take a break these next few days—I want to solve a few more cases."

"So eager?" Wei Zhenguo said, startled, yet curious amid his boredom. He had once been captain of the Sixth Squad, specializing in catching thieves; now, with so many cameras and every known criminal screened out, cases suitable for his squad had dwindled drastically. Having worked tirelessly his whole life, Wei Zhenguo now found himself oddly idle.

Jiang Yuan smiled modestly: "I've developed a new small technique—testing it out. If it fails, fine; if it works, I'll rush through a few cases."

"You went out to solve cases and accidentally invented something new?" Wei Zhenguo merely remarked—he wasn't a technician and had no idea how difficult—or absurd—it was to develop a new method usable in time analysis.

Soon they arrived at the Criminal Investigation Brigade. After the car entered the gate, Jiang Yuan first saw a green curtain ahead, surrounded by piles of construction materials, with occasional clanging and hammering sounds.

"Is this... another building going up?" Jiang Yuan was surprised.

Big cities might claim constant change every day, but in small towns like Ningtai, time felt frozen—new urban construction was extremely rare; sometimes three or five years passed without a single major construction site.

In contrast, the Mount Sining scenic area where Jiang Village lay received higher-level funding for construction and demolition.

Wei Zhenguo chuckled—he'd held back the news on the way just to see Jiang Yuan's reaction. "Director Huang and Director Chai keep saying at every meeting that it's all thanks to Jiang Yuan... This isn't a building—it's a parking lot being dug underground."

Jiang Yuan stared at the construction site he'd helped bring about and sighed: "So parking's already full?"

"Still manageable for now, but better to prepare ahead. A few days ago, Director Huang brought in a Passat and a pickup truck from Miaohé County."

Jiang Yuan knew about Xu Xuewu's Passat—he felt a sliver of sympathy, but not much. The pickup truck was outside his knowledge—he asked what it was about.

Wei Zhenguo was surprised: "I thought you knew. The pickup was a deposit from neighboring Longli County—they're broke as dirt. Captain Hou came personally, treating everyone to meals, but Director Huang still swindled two vehicles out of him. He likes pickups, so they sent over Longli's old one first."

"Deposit..." Jiang Yuan hadn't expected Comrade Huang Qiang to be running a pre-sale system.

Wei Zhenguo drove straight to the new building of the Criminal Investigation Brigade. A group led by Huang Qiang stood at the bottom of the steps to welcome Jiang Yuan.

In the county, this level of reception was top-tier.

Jiang Yuan quickly got out, grasped Huang Qiang's hand with proper decorum, and had office colleagues take photos.

After several days apart, Jiang Yuan noticed Huang Qiang looked tired—he guessed the deputy director position was a challenge for him too.

Huang Qiang clapped Jiang Yuan on the shoulder, exchanged a few pleasantries, asked about his time in Miaohé County, and soon they reached the office. They sat together on the sofa, and Huang Qiang added: "A few days ago, Hou from Longli County—you know him, Captain Hou—came to see me. He wanted to borrow you. In this very office, the old man nearly knelt down to me..."

Recalling the scene, Huang Qiang's face lit up with pure delight.

Ningtai County and Longli County are neighbors; over the years, their two brigade captains had been in constant competition—until Jiang Yuan appeared, letting Huang Qiang rise above and leave Hou Le far behind.

As for Hou Le coming to beg for help—that satisfaction was beyond words.

"I couldn't resist—I said yes," Huang Qiang laughed. Then he looked at Jiang Yuan: "This dream of mine? You've got to make it real."

"What kind of case?" Jiang Yuan smiled.

"No specific case—but we need to solve a cold case," Huang Qiang paused. "You've been away, so you might not have noticed: the Qinghe City Bureau issued a notice last month declaring this year the 'Cold Case Crackdown Year,' requiring all subordinate counties and districts to solve at least one homicide cold case, five or more of other types..."

Ordinary cold cases weren't hard to handle, especially thefts—when you needed volume, catching a few veteran thieves wasn't difficult.

But homicides were serious—these were the ones previous investigators had exhausted themselves trying to solve, leaving them behind.

For units like the Qinghe City Criminal Investigation Brigade, these were extremely difficult challenges. Longli County's police capabilities were generally weaker than Ningtai's—making the challenge even harder.

And this year was especially critical for Hou Le—he couldn't afford to underperform during the "Cold Case Crackdown Year."

Jiang Yuan was almost certainly Hou Le's best option. Of course, the hardest part was getting Huang Qiang to say yes. Longli County's CID simply wasn't strong enough; without reinforcement, they might end up last.

Everyone knew—even a guaranteed promotion could be lost if you ranked last.

Jiang Yuan was nearly the best choice Hou Le's family could find, and of course, softening Huang Qiang's attitude was likely the hardest part. But the Longli County Criminal Investigation Team was already weak; without reinforcement, Longli County might sink to last place.

Jiang Yuan's roaming-style case-solving had given the Qinghe City Bureau hope and a reliable way to claim credit. Meanwhile, other county and district bureaus frequently invited Jiang Yuan to assist—and he usually agreed. But Longli County? Huang Qiang might just block them entirely.

When nothing was urgent, Huang Qiang wouldn't stop him from shopping—but when it mattered, money and enthusiasm weren't enough. If Huang Qiang refused to lend Jiang Yuan, or delayed his schedule far into the future, Hou Le would eventually have to beg.

Jiang Yuan's Xunhui -style case-solving gave Qinghe City Bureau hope and a guarantee for credit. On the other hand, when other county or district bureaus invited Jiang Yuan to take on cases, he was very likely to accept—except for Longli County, which might be blocked by Huang Qiang.

"I don't care when you do it for him. But if I flat-out refuse, Hou Le will get angry," Huang Qiang, familiar with his longtime rival, added with a smile to ease Jiang Yuan's tension.

"Fine, I'll do it," Jiang Yuan didn't overthink it. He recalled: "I remember Longli County had a case involving an unidentified body—I can take that one."

Huang Qiang quickly said: "Unidentified body cases are tough. Besides, that corpse's been sitting there so long it's probably rotted—maybe even cremated already."

"Why wasn't it cremated?" In China's rules, after autopsy, cremation should follow immediately; keeping a body in an ice coffin cost 80 yuan a day.

"A provincial expert came to examine it and recommended deeper investigation from all angles—so they kept the body." Jiang Yuan nodded. This kind of case was clearly within his reach.

"Why wasn't it cremated? The national procedure requires cremation after autopsy; keeping it in an ice coffin costs eighty yuan a day."

"An expert from the provincial bureau came to examine it and recommended further investigation from all angles, so the body was kept." Jiang Yuan nodded—he could tell at a glance this case was well within his scope.