“What happened next?”
The three police officers who had come to learn looked eagerly at Han Fei.
“Xu Mo and I went to the scene. It had already been cleaned up, and to me, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual. But Xu Mo noticed a lot of details at first glance and even reconstructed the entire crime scene based on the traces left behind…” Han Fei began explaining to the three of them.
Halfway through, the officers started to understand. “So… the murderer wasn’t the victim’s mother, but someone else? The officers sent to investigate suspected wrongfully that the mother was the killer, but in reality, she was just trying to cover for the real culprit. If I’m not mistaken, the killer was probably the mother’s lover, the man who left cigarette butts and hair in the bedroom, right?”
“No, no, this case is far more complicated than that,” Han Fei smiled slightly, thinking to himself that their understanding was still too shallow. “What makes Xu Mo so remarkable is this… while the victim’s mother wasn’t the direct killer, she was the mastermind behind it all!”
Hearing this, the three officers’ faces immediately showed expressions of surprise. They widened their eyes and looked at Han Fei, urging him to continue. “How so?”
Han Fei, pleased with their reaction, continued.
“The victim and the woman weren’t related by blood. During his lifetime, he had repeatedly abused his adoptive mother for no reason, which led her to harbor deep resentment. She felt she had raised an ungrateful wolf. Later… this murder was entirely her plan. It was a case of using someone else’s hand to kill! After the fact, she chose to protect the killer out of a sense of guilt.”
After Han Fei finished speaking, the three officers pondered for a while, replaying his words in their minds and mentally reconstructing the case.
Soon, they felt a sudden clarity.
“Using someone else’s hand to kill… so that’s how it was!”
“Captain Xu is amazing! No wonder he’s talked about like a legend among his peers!”
“Captain Xu is truly a master at solving cases, a real genius detective.”
Han Fei chimed in at this point.
“Xu Mo is the most talented officer I’ve ever seen. Given time, he’ll achieve great things!”
“That’s right, Captain Xu’s talent is truly extraordinary. Just his ability to review surveillance footage at 64x speed is enough to leave people in awe,” one of the officers added, referring to Xu Mo’s remarkable skill.
They all turned to look at Xu Mo, their hearts filled with admiration.
Xu Mo smiled modestly. “It’s not about talent. Solving cases is all about technique, and it’s thanks to Captain Han’s guidance. When I first joined the police force, I was just a clueless rookie. Captain Han taught me everything I know, and all my case-solving techniques were learned from him.”
The three officers’ attention shifted back to Han Fei.
So that’s how Xu Mo, a relatively new officer, had managed to crack so many major cases—it was because Han Fei had personally mentored him!
If Han Fei could train someone like Xu Mo, then he must be quite extraordinary himself!
With that thought, the three officers suddenly felt a strong desire to learn case-solving techniques from Han Fei. They were ready to engage him in a deep conversation, eager to pick up some skills, and for a moment, they even forgot about Xu Mo.
Han Fei could see that Xu Mo had deliberately given him credit in front of his peers, perhaps as a form of professional courtesy or mutual praise. But as he looked at the three officers’ admiring gazes, he couldn’t help but feel… quite pleased with himself!
At that moment, Xu Mo glanced at the wall clock.
Well, it’s time to clock out. Time to make my exit.
He’d let Captain Han handle these three officers. As for him, he was heading home!
That premium tea wasn’t free, after all.
All gifts from fate come with a hidden price.
…
12:15 AM.
Police station.
The three officers were still eagerly chatting with Han Fei, picking his brain for case-solving techniques.
They had been talking since before sunset, and now it was past midnight. Han Fei’s mouth had gone dry several times, but the three officers were still as enthusiastic as ever, seemingly oblivious to the late hour and showing no signs of leaving.
Han Fei glanced at the empty seat beside him—the spot where Xu Mo had been sitting earlier.
As soon as the workday ended, Xu Mo had quietly slipped away. At the time, Han Fei had been basking in the admiration of his peers, feeling somewhat elated as he discussed so-called case-solving techniques with them.
Wait a minute… weren’t these officers here to see Xu Mo? How did it end up being all about me? Han Fei suddenly realized something was off.
Xu Mo had turned the spotlight on me because it was time for him to go home. No wonder he steered the conversation my way.
That sly fox!
Xu Mo’s mutual praise had gone to Han Fei’s head, and he had been thoroughly enjoying the admiring looks from his peers, completely unaware that Xu Mo had played him…
“It’s already past midnight. Maybe we should continue this another day?” Han Fei pointed at the wall clock.
Though the three officers were still eager to continue, they couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed about keeping Han Fei up so late. They nodded, “Sorry, Captain Han. We got so caught up in the conversation that we lost track of time. We’ll let you rest now, and we’ll catch up another day!”
Meanwhile.
In a villa that had been brightly lit just a moment ago, the lights suddenly went out.
A power outage.
“Ahhh!!!” Screams echoed simultaneously from the four bedrooms in the villa.
Moments later, Xu Mo heard a series of frantic knocks on his door.
“There’s a ghost, there’s a ghost!”
“Xu Mo, Xu Mo, are you there?”
They were afraid of the dark, especially when it came so suddenly.
Xu Mo, who had been about to fall asleep, was jolted awake by the screams.
What’s going on? He instinctively reached for the switch on his bedside table, but the light didn’t turn on.
He realized why the four of them had screamed… they were scared of the dark!
In a high-end villa area like this, a power outage was unlikely. It was probably a tripped circuit or a problem with the nearby transformer.
Xu Mo picked up his phone from the bedside table, turned on the flashlight, and got up to open his bedroom door.
Standing at the door were the four women, dressed in light sleepwear.
“There’s no ghost. It’s probably just a tripped circuit or a transformer issue. We’ll call the property management in the morning. It’s fine, go back to sleep.”
“No, I’m too scared to sleep now,” Zhou Qiaoqiao said timidly.
The other three nodded in agreement, admitting that they were too frightened to go back to their rooms.
“It’s just a power outage. What’s so scary about that?”
“Can I sleep in your room tonight?” Yang Jingxuan pointed to Xu Mo’s bedroom.
“I’m scared of the dark too. I don’t want to go back…”
“Me too, me too.”
“It’s too creepy in the dark!”
Without waiting for Xu Mo’s approval, the four of them ducked under his arm and slipped into his bedroom, promptly lying down on the large sofa in the room. “We’ll sleep on the sofa. You take the bed. We won’t disturb you.”
Seeing this, Xu Mo sighed and closed the door, then went back to bed.
Five minutes later, sleepiness began to take over again.
In a drowsy state, An Youyi’s voice broke the silence. “I still can’t fall asleep… What should I do, Xu Mo?”
Xu Mo turned over. “Then count sheep. You’ll fall asleep eventually… One sheep.”
An Youyi continued, “Two sheep.”
“Three sheep,” Zhou Qiaoqiao joined in.
…
As they counted, Xu Mo began to drift off.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt a poke on his face. Zhou Qiaoqiao had come over to his bedside and was prodding him.
“Five thousand four hundred and twenty-three sheep… Xu Mo, it’s your turn.”
Xu Mo: “?”