Yu Can displayed a hint of surprise at just the right moment.
She asked, "Is it Zhao Bin?"
Ji Feng said, "He said it was a woman."
"Is that so," Yu Can pondered, "Perhaps it's Sun Fangfang. She's always been on good terms with Zhao Bin."
Ji Feng smiled, his gaze sharp: "And you?"
"I'm on good terms with Zhao Bin too," she said. "Officer, do you suspect me?"
Ji Feng said, "Ms. Yu, perhaps you don't know, but now the police database is connected with social security and medical insurance. I've checked your past. You started working as a real estate agent back in 2002 and 2003."
"That's right," Yu Can nodded. "My family was poor, and I had younger siblings. I started working at 18. With my limited education, I couldn't find office work, so I became a real estate agent. Back then, houses weren't worth much, and times were tough."
Ji Feng said, "Do you know Liu..."
Yu Can tilted her head in thought: "It sounds familiar. I need to think about it." She brushed her hair and smiled, "Would you like some tea?"
Her demeanor was so natural, combining both girlish directness and the allure of a mature woman. As it was dark, passersby couldn't discern her age, mistaking her for a bold, passionate woman extending an invitation.
Ji Feng stared at her.
More precisely, he stared at the key ring hanging from her hand.
One was a BMW key, and the other was... a strange red switch.
"Get in the car," she opened the door. "I've invited someone else. You'll want to meet her."
Ji Feng smiled: "Who?"
Yu Can said mysteriously: "What do you think?"
"Well, you can't possibly have invited Teacher Jian," he sat in the passenger seat, fastening his seatbelt. "Anyone else is the same."
Yu Can said: "Well, you're in for a disappointment then."
"You can't fool me," Ji Feng said. "What's in the strawberries?"
Yu Can: "Don't worry, they're real cream strawberries. Even if you left them by the roadside, someone couldn't resist taking them home."
Ji Feng chuckled.
He had guessed this point, which was why he had no choice but to get in the car.
There were no houses near the carport, but at this twilight hour, the uncles and aunties from the neighborhood would be out for their evening stroll. They were all used to being frugal, and if they saw a box of fresh strawberries left there, they might either try to find the owner or, tempted by the small gain, take them home themselves.
Of course, it was possible that no one would care, but he couldn't take that risk.
Many residents in the complex were families of police officers. Rather than letting them bear the risk, Ji Feng preferred to take it upon himself.
"Oh, I forgot to mention," Yu Can said casually, "To get your sister to come down, I also gave the security guard a box of tangerines. He seemed to like them."
Ji Feng's movements suddenly froze.
The phone rang.
Ji Feng glanced at it, unsurprised to see it was from Teacher Jian.
"Answer it," Yu Can said. "We have a long drive ahead."
Ji Feng answered the phone.
Jian Jing: "Where the hell have you gone?"
Ji Feng: "There's something..."
"Ahem." Yu Can cleared her throat, flashing the remote control hanging from her finger at him. "Give me the phone."
Ji Feng cooperated, handing over the phone.
Yu Can spoke: "Teacher Jian."
Jian Jing: "Yu Can?"
"What a coincidence, I was just chatting with Officer Ji when you called," she said. "Has there been any progress in Xiao Xin's case? Can you tell me who killed her?"
Jian Jing said: "I don't know."
Yu Can: "Is that so?"
"Do you have any clues you can provide me?" she asked.
Yu Can said: "No." She paused, then smiled, "I'm sorry, I'd like to chat with Officer Ji alone. Goodbye."
She hung up the phone.
Ji Feng asked: "Are you a bit scared?"
"What do I have to be afraid of?" Yu Can steered with one hand, the other always gripping the remote control. "You're the one who should be afraid."
Ji Feng smiled and said: "It's normal to be afraid. Many people are scared when they see Teacher Jian."
Yu Can didn't respond.
A ringtone sounded, this time it was Yu Can's phone.
She pressed the car's hands-free button.
Jian Jing said: "Ms. Yu, hanging up on me wasn't very polite."
Yu Can said: "Is that so?"
"Making me angry has serious consequences," she said. "Where are you?"
Yu Can: "Guess."
Jian Jing laughed instead of getting angry: "Then you guess where I am."
But Yu Can said: "I'm not interested in Teacher Jian's whereabouts."
"Listen to this," Jian Jing moved the phone away.
Ji Feng listened carefully. There was a commotion on the other end, as if someone was arguing about hair in the bathroom, with occasional vulgar language.
"This is Fragrant Garden," Jian Jing didn't bother keeping it a secret, implying something. "I came here to find a girl named Shi Zhaozhao."
Yu Can's hand on the steering wheel tightened slightly, then she suddenly looked at Ji Feng: "What Teacher Jian is saying seems quite interesting. Officer Ji, don't rush, listen to her patiently."
Ji Feng said indifferently: "Is that so?"
Yu Can said: "Teacher Jian, please continue."
"I asked your shop assistants if they knew which colleague had grown wisdom teeth. One remembered that Shi Zhaozhao had them before, her teeth hurt for a long time, and she specifically took time off to have them removed. I asked if this person was still working in your shop, and they said she had just resigned a few days ago. One of them knew which complex she lived in, which is where I am now."
Jian Jing spoke slowly and deliberately, asking: "Isn't that a coincidence?"
Yu Can: "It is a bit."
Jian Jing said: "There's an even bigger coincidence. Shi Zhaozhao's roommate said she hasn't been home for several days. Do you know where she went?"
"How would I know if she's resigned?"
"Then let me tell you," Jian Jing was extremely forthright. "You killed her and disguised her as Cai Xin. This is your usual method, creating an alibi to exonerate yourself."
She continued: "In the Li Xiaonuan case, you checked the weather forecast and chose to buy lunch and visit her on the 17th. You tricked her into eating food laced with sleeping pills, killed her in the afternoon, and dumped the body in the garbage dump, covering it with objects. It snowed that night as predicted. You waited until midnight when the snow stopped, then returned to the dump and untied the ropes. This way, you wouldn't leave footprints nearby, thus directing suspicion to the innocent Wu Honglin.
"You had ridden in his car before, which is when you picked up the wood shavings. You specifically chose him as a scapegoat, probably because you knew he wore size 40 shoes. Moreover, you were foresighted enough to arrange Zhao Bin as a backup plan in advance. The business card left at Wu Honglin's house was his."
But Yu Can said: "Do you have any evidence for what you're saying?"
"It might be hard to prove the previous evidence, but isn't it obvious now?" Jian Jing laughed, her tone suddenly turning cold.
"You arranged to meet Shi Zhaozhao a day in advance, had her eat a drugged sandwich and milk tea, killed her after she fell unconscious, then hid her body in a cold environment to confuse the time of death. The next afternoon, you called Cai Xin to the shop, had her eat the exact same afternoon tea, letting the shop assistants confirm her eating time, then took her to the subway station. But Cai Xin didn't get on the subway; you took her somewhere else.
"At eight in the evening, you pretended to receive a threatening letter, avoiding me when I came to your door, while you quickly went to the abandoned building to burn the body, creating the illusion that the victim was killed between 4 and 6 pm that day.
"You asked if I knew who killed Cai Xin. I really don't know - is she even still alive now?"
However, Yu Can said: "Of course I hope she's still alive."
Ji Feng glanced at her from the corner of his eye, thinking: Impenetrable. What is she trying to do?
Jian Jing probably realized this too and asked: "What do you want?"
"I want to talk with Officer Ji," Yu Can said. "Or does Teacher Jian want to come too?"
Jian Jing: "Where?"
"There's a newly built amusement park in the new district. It's empty now, very quiet. We can have a good chat there," Yu Can said. "Are you coming?"
"I'm coming," Jian Jing hung up the phone.
But she sat in her car, with no intention of going to the amusement park.
Yu Can was treating her like a fool. Even if a newly built amusement park had no visitors, there would still be staff testing the rides daily. Cai Xin couldn't possibly be hidden there.
She was just making up a place to try and lure her away.
They were truly birds of a feather. Just as Jian Jing wasn't actually at Fragrant Garden now.
What she had played earlier was a recording.
But the current situation remained unclear.
It wasn't surprising that Yu Can had kidnapped Cai Xin. When she found out about Shi Zhaozhao, she had sensed there was a hostage. But why take Ji Feng hostage?
A suspect actually taking a police officer hostage?
What was she trying to do? No, more accurately, what had she done?
Jian Jing had a sudden realization and immediately called Lao Gao. It took Lao Gao a long time to answer, and his tone was serious: "Teacher Jian, please don't put us in a difficult position. The case is still under investigation, and we can't disclose information to outsiders."
"Go to Ji Feng's house and bring Yunyun to the police station," she cut to the chase. "The perpetrator of these cases..."
In a flash, something crossed her mind.
"Damn it," she cursed, ignoring Lao Gao's startled questioning, and said, "Yu Can still has a hostage. Keep that in mind."
Then she hung up the phone.
In the office, Lao Gao ignored the frequent glances from his superiors and said anxiously, "Teacher Jian called me and asked me to bring Yunyun over."
The superior's face immediately changed: "What?! Go quickly!"
Many times, police officers forget about their own safety and disregard their own lives. But no matter when, the safety of family members is always the greatest hidden pain in their hearts.
This is a taboo.
Lao Gao and his colleagues got into the car as quickly as possible, calling Ji Yunyun on the way to understand the situation.
Ji Yunyun was bewildered, looking confused as she came downstairs with her schoolbag, and was stuffed into the police car by Lao Gao and others: "Uncle Gao, what's wrong? Did something happen to my brother?"
"Where are the strawberries Yu Can sent you?"
"My brother told me to put them in the bike shed."
Lao Gao, fully armed, rushed to the bicycle shed, not daring to approach. He had his colleagues bring in the sniffer dogs. The bomb-sniffing dog cautiously approached the box, then sat down.
"Shit," Lao Gao quickly called for backup.
Their police car was only equipped with some ordinary police gear, unable to defuse bombs. They had to call in a specialized department.
Meanwhile, the sniffer dog found another identical fruit box in the security guard room.
The security guard said it was also given by the woman who was delivering gifts to the Ji family.
The police had no choice but to search the entire community, spending nearly two hours before confirming that there were only these two boxes.
The bomb disposal team also arrived, cautiously approaching and opening the boxes. The result, however, was unexpected.
The second layer of the fruit boxes indeed wasn't fruit, but it wasn't a bomb either.
It was fireworks.
Peace City had banned fireworks for a long time, and there weren't many stores selling them in the market. The fireworks in the boxes were crudely packaged, with even some damaged paper. Upon opening, one could smell the gunpowder. Many rural areas still sold these.
The situation suddenly became awkward.
Although a false alarm was a good thing, Lao Gao felt extremely frustrated.
Making such a strange fuss, who would believe it was just a misunderstanding? But sending people fruit and fireworks wasn't against the law.
What the hell was going on?
He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but found that he couldn't reach Ji Feng's phone, and Yu Can couldn't be contacted either.
What exactly had happened?
