Animal Detective

Chapter 164: Guaranteed to Earn a Merit

No one woke him, so Shen Xin slept soundly until after nine in the morning.

When he opened his eyes, Li Teng was already awake and playing with Da Mei.

"Shen Xin, this cat of yours is incredible."

Li Teng was in a state of disbelief.

After he woke up, he’d been playing with Da Mei for a bit when she jumped onto the TV stand and pawed at the television.

Li Teng got the hint.

She wanted to watch TV.

A cat that wants to watch TV... if that wasn’t incredible, what was?

"She’s just a bit clever."

Shen Xin gave a casual reply and rushed into the bathroom to wash up.

Li Teng had already bought breakfast.

Shen Xin asked about the case while he ate.

"They found him."

Li Teng had asked Jiang Wengang; Gong Baocun hadn’t confessed anything about his supplier.

With the sheer amount of drugs involved in his case, there was zero chance of a suspended death sentence.

Talking or not was meaningless for him.

But they found a lead by tracking his movements.

Shen Xin nodded. ’So at this point, the case is pretty much solved.’

"Li Teng, what kind of commendation do you think we’ll get for cracking such a huge case? A second-class merit award shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

A first-class merit award usually involved death or serious injury, so a second-class one was more likely.

"Shouldn’t be a problem."

Li Teng nodded. It was over half a ton of drugs, after all. Then his face soured. "You’re a shoo-in for a second-class merit, but the rest of us are in a tight spot. With that Fang Pinzhang incident, I’ll be counting my lucky stars if the good just cancels out the bad."

The fallout from the Fang Pinzhang incident was terrible and very tricky to handle.

That was also why Jiang Wengang was so desperate to catch the supplier.

Seeing Li Teng’s glum expression, Shen Xin didn’t have the heart to gloat. He quickly finished his breakfast, and then something occurred to him.

He hurried over to the windowsill and snapped a smug selfie with his phone.

He sent it to Ding Yuwei.

"Guess what."

Ding Yuwei replied quickly.

"It’s almost 2018, and people are still flashing the peace sign in selfies."

’I told you to guess, not comment on whether I’m handsome or not,’ Shen Xin thought.

Just as he was about to reply, another message arrived.

It was very short, just two words: Thank you!

A girl as smart as Ding Yuwei probably already knew what was going on.

Besides, news traveled fast; she must have known that Gong Baocun had been captured.

Her father had died unexpectedly in the line of duty years ago. How could his colleagues have been content to let it go? Weren’t they all determined to catch Gong Baocun?

Now that he was caught, they might have even contacted Ding Yuwei themselves.

"What’s to thank? When Da Mei gets involved, it’s a guaranteed success."

Soon, Ding Yuwei sent back a smiley face, followed by a voice message.

"Tell Da Mei that from now on, I’ll be covering her cat food expenses."

In the office of the Tingyang Branch’s Criminal Investigation Division.

After sending the message, Ding Yuwei put down her phone and gazed out the window, a little lost in thought.

’Dad, the man you wanted to catch is in custody. You can rest easy now. From now on, I’ll take good care of Mom, and I’ll take good care of myself, too.’

Her phone vibrated again.

It was a message from Shen Xin. He said that since he was in Ningshan, he could bring back a couple of roast ducks for her if she wanted.

"Okay."

Ding Yuwei smiled and sent her reply.

Shen Xin didn’t stay in Ningshan for long.

「That afternoon, they prepared to head back.」

Lin Weinian came to see them off personally. After saying goodbye to Chen Guanglin and Jiang Wengang, he made a point to shake Shen Xin’s hand.

"Shen Xin, you did a great job. Come visit us in Ningshan again when you have the chance," he said with a broad smile.

After what Zhao Hongjie had said, Lin Weinian knew it was a lost cause.

But he was still sad to see him go.

’Such a promising talent.’

Tang Youkun also came over to shake Shen Xin’s hand.

"Xiaoshen, you have my WeChat now. Let’s keep in touch,"

Tang Youkun added.

"And Captain Zhang, he had something to do today so he couldn’t make it, but he specifically told me to tell you to stay in touch. He wants to ask for your advice on raising cats."

’We have to stay in touch. If a similar situation comes up again, maybe we can ask him to come over and help.’

’Nanjiang isn’t far from Ningshan. He could be here in two hours.’

Seeing the way things were going, Chen Guanglin didn’t dare linger for more pleasantries and quickly whisked Shen Xin away.

「Two hours later, the group returned to the Tingyang Branch.」

From a distance, they could see people waiting in front of the office building.

It was Lv Youwei and the others.

As soon as the car stopped, Lv Youwei approached with a smile and broke into applause.

"Chen Zhi, a beautifully handled case," Lv Youwei said, his face wreathed in smiles.

Before Chen Guanglin could respond with his own pleasantries, Lv Youwei’s attention had already shifted to Shen Xin.

"Especially Xiaoshen, and Da Mei! I heard that catching this, uh, Brother K, was all thanks to Da Mei."

Lv Youwei grinned, bent down, and playfully tickled Da Mei in Shen Xin’s arms.

Clearly, they had already heard all about the arrest in Ningshan.

"Just luck."

Shen Xin said modestly.

Jiang Wengang chimed in, "Director Lv, you should have been there. When Da Mei went off to scout on her own, the Ningshan officers were all completely dumbfounded."

"I can imagine."

Lv Youwei let out a hearty laugh.

This time, Nanjiang had really stolen the show in front of their colleagues from Ningshan.

Shen Xin saw Sun Zhao and Chen Chao, who were both watching with broad smiles.

And then there was Ding Yuwei, standing in the crowd, her eyes fixed on him.

Back in the office, a round of good-natured teasing was inevitable.

"Here, here, let me hold our star performer," Zhao Tianxing said, squeezing through the crowd and reaching for Da Mei.

As if she would let him, Da Mei deftly leaped from Shen Xin’s arms to the floor. She glanced around, then trotted over to Ding Yuwei and gently nuzzled her leg.

"Hey now, Da Mei! And after all the canned food I’ve bought you," Zhao Tianxing protested.

Ding Yuwei crouched down, gently scooped up Da Mei, and said, "Da Mei, do you miss your Snowball?"

Snowball was the little long-haired calico cat Shen Xin had given her.

At the mention of Snowball, Da Mei let out a sharp MEOW and jumped right out of Ding Yuwei’s arms.

’No way.’

Shen Xin heard her thought.

Clearly, she felt no attachment whatsoever to her three rebellious offspring.

Shen Xin deftly pulled out the roast ducks, just in time for an extra dish that evening.

"Forget the cafeteria," Chen Chao said. "After cracking a case this big, we have to make Old Jiang treat us to a meal."

"Exactly! Old Jiang borrowed our people and our cat to crack a huge case—over half a ton of product! He’s got to show his appreciation properly," Zhou Zhongyi agreed.

Sun Zhao immediately declared that if Jiang Wengang didn’t treat them, he could forget about borrowing Dou Dou in the future. He wouldn’t even let them have Tiger Stripes.

Amid the ruckus, Shen Xin was surprised to receive a message from Li Jiahui.

She seemed to know he had returned that afternoon.

’She must have planted a mole in the station,’ he thought wryly.

She asked when he was free, saying she wanted to treat him to a meal to properly thank him for saving her life.

"Come on, what century are we in? ’Thanking me for saving your life’... if we’re going by old tropes, does this mean you have to promise to marry me?" Shen Xin joked in his reply.

Just as he sent it, Ding Yuwei peeked over from her desk across from him.

Shen Xin quickly ducked his head back down.

With a PING, a voice message from Li Jiahui came through.

"I wouldn’t be against it."

Shen Xin’s eyes widened. ’She’s a feisty one.’

"Let’s just stick to dinner then, so you won’t feel indebted," Shen Xin replied, setting a date for the next day.

Sun Zhao had promised him two days off, but he hadn’t even gotten a single full day of rest yet.

So, Sun Zhao had said he’d make up for it.

He’d also secretly told him that a merit award was a sure thing this time.

After he replied to Li Jiahui, Ding Yuwei, who had been peeking over, walked up to his desk.

"Shen Xin, Captain Sun wants us to keep digging into cold cases. What are your thoughts on that?" Ding Yuwei asked, pulling a chair over.

Cracking a case was a rush, but there were always more cases waiting to be solved.

The work never ended.

A thought sparked in Shen Xin’s mind, and a particular case immediately surfaced.

The 2015 Shajin Farm disappearance case.

The reason this case caught his attention was that it, too, had a connection to animals.