Animal Detective

Chapter 114: PAW Patrol

Director Lv Youwei’s office.

"Director Lv, please let me explain," Shen Xin hurriedly protested.

Just as he’d expected, trouble followed as soon as the video went viral.

First thing the next morning, Shen Xin was summoned to the director’s office.

The moment he walked in, Lv Youwei greeted him with a wry smile and called him "Comrade Godfather."

Shen Xin nearly had a breakdown.

Obviously, Director Lv had seen the video.

But he had barely opened his mouth before Lv Youwei raised a hand to stop him.

He said with a smile, "Look how nervous you are. It’s just a funny video. I haven’t said anything."

’You haven’t said anything? Calling me "Comrade Godfather" is pretty damn scary,’ Shen Xin thought.

"However..."

As expected, Lv Youwei’s tone shifted. "You’re a police officer, after all. It’s not great for you to be associated with a movie character like that, is it?"

Shen Xin nodded in vigorous agreement.

’God as my witness, I’m the victim here!’

"Director Lv, how about... I contact the person who posted it and ask them to take the video down?" Shen Xin asked tentatively.

Lv Youwei smiled, which was as good as a yes.

"By the way, I heard from Sun Zhao that you’re investigating the Xiao Hong case?" Lv Youwei asked.

He was clearly aware of the case.

It had been six years. Gao Liyun, just like Shi Yanhua, came by every so often to ask about the case’s progress.

The difference was, Shi Yanhua would cause a scene.

Gao Liyun, on the other hand, never made a fuss. She would just calmly ask about the investigation’s progress, but the calmer she was, the worse it made everyone feel, like they had failed her.

After all, the case had been cold for six years.

The family wanted closure, and they couldn’t provide it.

Seeing Shen Xin nod, Lv Youwei asked if there were any new developments or new investigative leads.

Shen Xin hesitated for a moment before reporting Ding Yuwei’s idea.

After some thought, Shen Xin also shared his own idea about posting a reward notice.

"Using the internet to post a reward?"

Lv Youwei was taken aback for a second, then fell into deep thought.

After a long moment, he said, "That’s right. Traditional media really is on the decline. Not many people pay attention to it anymore. These short-form video platforms are booming. I remember last month, at a meeting at the municipal bureau, we even discussed this new trend."

"Shen Xin, your idea is good, but have you thought about the specifics of how to do it?"

Lv Youwei wasn’t familiar with how these platforms worked. The most he knew about were official accounts.

"Also, if we solicit clues so publicly, could we leak case information, allowing the killer to learn about our progress and affecting our investigation? Have you considered that risk?"

Shen Xin nodded.

’Of course I’ve considered it.’

’But in my opinion, it’s the same as putting it in the newspaper or on TV.’

Any time you post a reward, you take on that risk.

"How about this? We’ll discuss it," Lv Youwei said, not shutting the idea down completely.

This was a six-year-old cold case. He knew how difficult it was to investigate.

Back in the main office, he was, of course, mercilessly teased by Zhao Tianxing and the others.

Growing more and more frustrated, Shen Xin contacted the platform’s customer service directly and requested the registration information for the Wang Pao Fu account.

The real-name verification information showed the user’s name was Wang Lei.

He was indeed from Nanjiang, and as it turned out, from Tingyang District.

Shen Xin dialed his cell phone number directly.

"Hello? Who’s this?"

The call connected quickly, and a man’s voice came through.

Shen Xin didn’t waste any time. He asked if he was Wang Lei, and after confirming, stated his own identity and informed him that he needed to come to the Tingyang Branch’s Criminal Investigation Division at 1:00 PM to cooperate with an investigation.

Even though the guy didn’t know Shen Xin was a police officer, you can’t just take a stranger’s likeness and make a prank video.

It might not be a criminal offense, but it was definitely a matter for public security administration.

So this was an official summons.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then Wang Lei laughed. "Dude, are you nuts?"

And with that, he hung up.

Shen Xin was stunned.

’Buddy, you’re playing with fire.’

Shen Xin didn’t call back.

’I issued an official summons according to regulations.’

’If he won’t come, then I’ll just have to pay him a visit.’

But less than ten minutes later, the guy called back.

Evidently, he had looked up the landline number.

The moment the call connected, his voice was completely different. He asked nervously, "Are... are you really a cop?"

Shen Xin had already stated his identity, so he didn’t waste any more words and just told him to be there on time in the afternoon.

After hanging up, Shen Xin went back to the training grounds to work on building affinity.

Shen Xin had also noticed something.

As animals that have long been domesticated by humans, dogs and cats were still quite different.

Cats were more independent, while dogs were more reliant on humans.

Therefore, a dog’s Affinity level increased much faster. You didn’t even have to do much—just feed them some treats, play with them, and give them a bath or something.

And their Affinity would go up.

This was especially true for Dou Dou.

She must have been a stray for a long time. When Shen Xin examined her, he found quite a few scars.

She was very thin and timid.

Shen Xin could imagine her life on the streets: bullied by other animals and inevitably beaten and cursed at by humans.

But thankfully, she hadn’t lost all faith in people.

So when Shen Xin showed her enough kindness, her Affinity level shot up.

By noon, she was already following at Shen Xin’s heels, her tail wagging constantly.

She even insisted on following him when he went to the cafeteria for lunch.

Seeing that her Affinity had already risen to three bars, Shen Xin decided to just let her come along.

His colleagues all knew he was training police dogs, so they didn’t find it strange. The ones from the narcotics unit, in particular, had a complete change in attitude the moment they heard Dou Dou was being trained as a drug-sniffing dog for them.

Chicken legs, large prawns, all the best food from the cafeteria—they immediately bought a huge pile.

To the people in narcotics, a drug-sniffing dog was much more than just a dog.

Shen Xin used the excuse that he couldn’t let Dou Dou get into the habit of taking food from strangers, so he took the food and handed it to Dou Dou himself.

Just as he was feeding her, Zhao Tianxing called to say that Wang Lei had arrived.

Shen Xin glanced at his watch. It was just after twelve.

When he hurried to the reception room, he saw a man sitting with his back to him, fidgeting restlessly.

The moment Shen Xin saw his Morgan perm, he recognized him.

’Isn’t this the kid who was clamoring to buy Da Mei yesterday?’

When Wang Lei turned around and saw Shen Xin, a "Holy shit!" slipped out.

He quickly bit his tongue and said, "Officer, I swear I didn’t know you were a cop! I’ll delete the video right now, okay?"

The second he saw Shen Xin, he understood why he’d been summoned.

Shen Xin gestured for him to sit.

Although the kid was being cooperative, a summons was still a summons. They had to follow procedure, which routinely included taking a written statement.

Perhaps sensing that Shen Xin’s expression had softened, Wang Lei started running his mouth again. "Seriously, Officer, you have no idea how popular your cat is. On that platform right now, there are people who just love watching cats, dogs, that kind of stuff."

"They think it’s too much trouble to raise one themselves, so they watch other people do it. They even call it ’cloud-raising cats.’"

"So, if you started an account with your cat, it would totally blow up. And your dog, too! Just film some interactions with it, and you’ve got yourself a skit."

"Or you could get a few more dogs and make a ’Woof Woof Patrol’..."

Shen Xin raised a hand to cut him off.

"If you don’t see any problems with this, just sign it, and you can go."

Shen Xin pushed the written statement toward him.

Wang Lei quickly took it, skimmed through it, and asked as he signed, "So, Officer, I don’t have to delete that video I made, right?"

"And if I edit you out of the video, can I still use the footage of the cat and dog?"

He still hadn’t given up.

"What do you think?" Shen Xin retorted.

Wang Lei gave an awkward smile and shut up.

"We’ll let the previous video slide. Also, I understand you want to get famous, but you need to be careful about how you do it," Shen Xin added as a warning.

Regardless of whether he himself was a police officer, Wang Lei’s behavior—using a stranger’s likeness just to go viral—was problematic in itself.

"Got it, Officer." Seeing that he was in the clear, he started grinning cheekily again.

Just as Shen Xin was about to tell him he could leave, he froze.

"Your nose is bleeding."

Shen Xin quickly pointed at his nose.

Wang Lei wiped at it with his hand and quickly tilted his head back.

Shen Xin immediately pulled out a tissue for him and asked if he was okay.

"It’s nothing. Young guys just run hot."

He pressed the tissue to his nose and asked if there was anything else. If not, he’d be going.

Shen Xin nodded. He was about to ask if he needed to go to the restroom to clean up, but the man had already bolted.

That afternoon, Shen Xin continued playing with the three dogs—Black Panther and the others—to increase their Affinity levels.

At the same time, he flipped through the K-9 training manual Director Lv had given him, pondering how to begin their professional training.

At a little after 4:00 PM, Shen Xin was summoned to Director Lv’s office again.

"Shen Xin, regarding the idea you brought up this morning, I asked Director Zhao for his opinion, and he thinks it’s a go. During our meeting last month, Director Zhao mentioned that we need to adapt and adjust to new situations and circumstances."

"The attention traditional reward notices get is dwindling. Just like you said, using a short-form video platform is an excellent approach."

Shen Xin was silently shocked.

’Director Zhao?’

’The one from the municipal bureau?’

’Wow, this went all the way up to him.’

Lv Youwei continued, "But you need to think through the specific details of how to do it."

How to post a reward on a short-form video platform, what the specific process was, how much it would cost—Director Lv had no idea about any of it.

Shen Xin nodded, and as if by some strange impulse, Wang Lei’s words suddenly came to mind.

’If you post something on a short-form video platform without any followers, you naturally won’t get any views.’

’To achieve a widespread public notice effect, it would need to get at least tens of millions of views, just like the video of Da Mei that went viral.’

’So maybe I really should do what Wang Lei suggested and start my own account?’

’Using Black Panther and the others to create a "Woof Woof Patrol"?’