Chapter 59

Fifth day.

Avoid conflicts with the Rat, north.

Auspicious for moving house, entering a new residence, seeking offspring, keeping livestock, relocating, preparing a corpse, and adding new members to the household.

Wu Jun carefully returned the almanac to the drawer, then took out a box of Soft Zhonghua cigarettes and a lighter, stood before the window above the hanging orchid, and clicked the flame to light the tobacco.

The Soft Zhonghua had been left by Jiang Yuan in the office, originally meant for guests to smoke casually, but Wu Jun hadn’t dared to use them, instead putting them neatly into Jiang Yuan’s drawer. Later, Jiang Yuan saw them and specifically bought another pack to give to Wu Jun.

Wu Jun didn’t dare accept the whole pack, only took one. After all, he was Jiang Yuan’s master. In the era when he first started working, the master-apprentice bond was extremely close—sending cigarettes wasn’t even the half of it; washing the master’s feet, carrying out the chamber pot after meals were all normal. But in recent years, these old customs had faded away.

Now, only two cigarettes remained in the Soft Zhonghua pack, proving he’d taken too few back then.

Hssss…

Wu Jun smoked slowly but drew deeply, nearly finishing the entire cigarette before taking one last long inhale and then jamming the filter hard into the flowerpot, joining it with dozens of other butts.

Another ordinary day…

Wu Jun turned back to prepare for work when his Yanjiao suddenly caught a familiar figure.

Jiang Yuan, along with Wei Zhenguo and others, entered through the main gate, each dressed in civilian clothes.

Wu Jun’s lips curled into a smile as he muttered to himself: “I knew it—when the cigarettes are almost gone, they’re bound to come back.”

Saying that, Wu Jun stretched contentedly, strolled slowly to the cabinet in the office corner, pulled out two red eggs from among a pile of rice, oil, and eggs, then took out a small electric rice cooker from the cabinet, poured in a bottle of mineral water, dropped in the red eggs, and began boiling them with a gentle gurgle.

Just as Jiang Yuan knocked and entered the office, Wu Jun pulled the red eggs out.

“Come, come, have a red egg,” Wu Jun smiled and waved him over.

Jiang Yuan, having sat in a car for hours, was indeed hungry; he automatically took the small bowl Wu Jun offered and asked, puzzled: “You usually just boil red eggs for fun?”

“Do I look that idle?” Wu Jun waved his hand. “Did the trip go smoothly? How was Changyang City? Didn’t offend anyone, right?”

“Everything went well,” Jiang Yuan replied, slightly dazed by the barrage of questions. He peeled the egg and smiled: “The case was solved long ago—just took too long to find the body…”

“No need to go into details. Cases like this, especially those handled outside your jurisdiction, are always the most troublesome.” Wu Jun’s main purpose was to remind Jiang Yuan. Then he sat back in his chair, turned on the computer, and began his day’s work.

Jiang Yuan smiled, peeled off the shell of one red egg, and asked: “Master, should I save you one?”

“No, I haven’t touched a corpse in days. There aren’t any corpses in the county either.” Wu Jun waved him off. “You need to relax these two days—don’t tense up too much. It won’t help. By the way, Ding Lan’s family came to thank you. Later, you and Lao Wei should take a photo together with the banner.”

“Huh? Do we really need to do that?”

“It’s not mandatory, but when a family comes to present a banner, not taking a photo is a waste—you never know when the next one will come.” Wu Jun said: “Ding Lan’s parents are thoughtful—they delivered the banner to the Political Department. They must’ve asked around first. It’s rare.”

For police officers, banners brought in for staged media photos have little real value.

For the entire police system, the media prefers to focus on problems—not on perfect cases, no matter how flawless. They’re too lazy to dig deep.

In comparison, the Political Department within the police bureau still recognizes the value of banners. It’s arguably the most effective form of gratitude ordinary citizens can offer. In the right context, a thank-you letter or a banner can lead to an award—or even a Third-Class Merit.

Of course, for a normal police officer under normal circumstances, achieving such recognition is extremely rare. Internal notifications or public commendations max out at “Outstanding Worker.”

Jiang Yuan poured himself a cup of tea and hesitated before asking: “What about Ding Lan? Did she show up?”

“No, I heard she doesn’t want to go out. But I only heard it secondhand.” Wu Jun had seen many things, but even he couldn’t grow accustomed to cases like this.

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly, then added: “At least Ding Lan has family to care for her. The other two rescued people never went home.”

Wu Jun had heard that too. He sighed: “Their parents are gone, their hometowns unreachable, let alone their complicated pasts.”

Jiang Yuan lowered his head and peeled the egg.

As a police officer, you can only do so much. In truth, Wei Zhenguo had done far more than his duty required. But social wounds are never healed by individual effort alone.

Meet people.

Meet Huang Qiang.

Meet people.

Most of the morning was spent on social activities.

It was just that the Ding Lan case was so horrifying. For many officers, this kind of case was something they’d only heard of, never seen. Jiang Yuan’s return meant everyone wanted to ask a few questions and then relay the news to their colleagues.

“Go to the Police Dog Unit,” Jiang Yuan said, standing up to pack up at noon.

He was curious about the power of his Level 5 skill.

When he arrived at the Police Dog Unit, Li Li and Da Zhuang had already returned.

The Rottweiler, sensing Jiang Yuan’s scent, politely wagged its tail.

Police dogs, like detectives, often travel on missions. Even within Ningtai County, if the roads are bad, they might walk for hours. Yet, returning from the provincial capital to Ningtai, the Rottweiler seemed even more adapted than Jiang Yuan.

“Good tail wag,” Jiang Yuan looked down at the Rottweiler and called out: “Da Zhuang, come here for a pat.”

Da Zhuang froze, confused—something was off in the routine.

Li Li heard the noise and came out, helplessly saying: “Da Zhuang, come here for a pat.”

Da Zhuang finally barked once, plopped its two yellow paws forward, lowered its black, furry head, and began licking its lips with a loud, slurping sound.

Jiang Yuan rubbed the Rottweiler’s bald head hard twice, then said: “Li Team, can I cook dog food for Da Zhuang today?”

Li Li gave him a skeptical look: “Can you even cook? Dog food needs balanced nutrition. Dogs aren’t humans—taste doesn’t matter. What matters is protein, carbohydrates, fat, minerals, and vitamins—all must be included…”

Halfway through, Da Zhuang’s eyes drooped.

The Rottweiler already had droopy ears and a droopy gaze, but Da Zhuang’s expression now was downright pitiful.

Jiang Yuan patted Da Zhuang hard again and laughed: “Today I’ll make you something special.”

Saying that, Jiang Yuan went into the kitchen and skillfully pulled out various ingredients from the fridge.

Li Li, slightly embarrassed, followed in to help wash, peel…

Jiang Yuan first diced the duck meat and soaked it in warm water, then cored the apples, chopped the purple cabbage and cucumber, and tossed them together with a few drops of oil.

Meanwhile, he placed sweet potatoes in the steamer and asked: “Do you have butter?”

Li Li was utterly bewildered, staring at Jiang Yuan like Da Zhuang standing by the door. “Is this really necessary?”

“It’ll probably taste better,” Jiang Yuan replied.

Li Li chuckled awkwardly: “Actually, you don’t need to be so precise with dog food. I just throw in whatever I have…”

“Wang!” Da Zhuang barked loudly.

…