During lunch, the officers started discussing a case from three years ago.
To be honest, that case had given them a massive headache for a long time, and even Han Fei had been at a loss.
Back then, to solve the case, the officers had practically stayed up all night, poring over the case files and crime scene photos, which they had flipped through countless times.
No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t make any progress. After the entire team had struggled for over three months, they ultimately decided to shelve the case temporarily.
They had originally thought the case would remain unsolved until the day they retired. Who could have guessed… Xu Mo solved it in just half a morning!
Half a morning—that’s all it took to match the efforts of the entire team over three months!
“Is Xu Mo some kind of monster? He just solved that case like it was nothing!”
“He started looking at the case files at 8 a.m., caught the suspect by 10 a.m., and wrapped up the case before 11 a.m. That’s barely over two hours!”
“That’s insane. I remember we spent over three months on that case and still couldn’t crack it. Xu Mo’s just on another level.”
“Three months? Is it really that exaggerated? Three months and you still couldn’t solve it? What was the case even about? I didn’t even get a chance to look at the files before it was solved. Brother Li Chen, can you tell me about it?” Xiao Zhang, who had joined the team less than half a year ago, asked curiously.
Li Chen swallowed the food in his mouth, took a sip of his drink, and then waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s not exaggerated at all. We really did spend over three months on it. As for the case files… even if you looked at them, it wouldn’t help. I can tell you with certainty that there wasn’t a single useful clue in those files. To this day, I still don’t understand how Xu Mo cracked it.”
“You joined the team just before Xu Mo arrived. You’re lucky—you’ve hit the jackpot. Let me ask you this: Do you know how long it normally takes to solve a major case?”
Xiao Zhang thought for a moment and replied, “Half a day?”
Before Li Chen could respond, Xiao Zhang shook his head, dismissing his own answer. “Half a day is too short. Maybe a day or two, but definitely no more than three days.”
Xiao Zhang had joined the police station not long before Xu Mo arrived. Since then, not a single case had taken more than 24 hours to solve.
As a result, Xiao Zhang had started to believe that this was the normal pace of solving cases.
“Hah…” Li Chen couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“You’ve really hit the jackpot, haven’t you? ‘No more than three days to solve a major case’—how can you even say that? Let me tell you, before Xu Mo joined, most major cases at our station took at least a week to solve. Some cases even dragged on for half a month or a month.”
“Things only started improving after Xu Mo arrived. Back then, it was normal for us to go one or two days without sleep, or even three to five days without going home. Every time we got a case, we’d be swamped. By the time we finished, my mom barely recognized me.”
“Back then, solving a major case within a day was something I didn’t even dare dream about. Being able to go home on time for dinner in our line of work? That just didn’t happen. No police station could guarantee solving a case within a day.”
“Xiao Zhang, you can only say stuff like that here at our station. If you say that anywhere else, people will tear you apart. It sounds like you’re showing off, and it’s a pretty big show-off at that!”
Xiao Zhang frowned subconsciously, thinking, “Is it really as exaggerated as Li Chen says? It can’t be, right? Watching Xu Mo solve cases… it seems pretty effortless!”
Seeing Xiao Zhang’s expression, Li Chen didn’t bother saying more. He just chuckled, “You should be grateful you’ve got Xu Mo. Life now compared to before is like heaven. Getting a case in the morning and still being able to go home for dinner on time… Back then, I wouldn’t even dare dream of something like that.”
After saying that, Li Chen went back to eating without waiting for Xiao Zhang’s response.
Xiao Zhang was still puzzled, so he decided to text his former roommate from the police academy.
“Haozi, how’s it going in Jinling? Have you come across any major cases? How long does it usually take your station to solve a case?”
Haozi: “Of course I have. Solving a case usually takes at least a week or two. Sometimes even a month. Why are you asking?”
Xiao Zhang: “Huh? Why does it take you so long to solve a case? Are you sure you’re not messing with me? Over here, we solve cases in under 24 hours…”
Haozi: “?”
The next second, Xiao Zhang received a WeChat call from his former roommate, Haozi.
“What the hell are you talking about? Huh?
“You’re full of…”
…
After the lunch break, before Han Fei could even approach Xu Mo to discuss another case, Xu Mo came to him first.
“Perfect timing. I was just about to come find you.”
Han Fei picked up another case file from his desk. “This is another case that’s been unsolved for five years.”
“That’s exactly why I’m here,” Xu Mo said with a smile, taking the file Han Fei handed him.
Since Xu Mo had effortlessly solved one of Han Fei’s long-standing headaches that morning, Han Fei was in a good mood.
Moreover, he was confident that Xu Mo could crack this case too.
Just thinking about this case being solved made Han Fei feel even better, and he even started humming a tune.
“Take a look at it first. If you have any questions, let me know. I worked on this case back then too. I’ll go wash some peaches for you. Eating fruit after a meal is good for your health.”
With that, Han Fei left the office with two peaches.
Xu Mo quickly skimmed through the case file to get a general idea of the situation. Without hesitation, he immediately pulled out the system-rewarded solution kit.
The reason was simple: since this case had been sitting in the police station for five years without being solved, it was clearly a tough nut to crack. After a quick glance, Xu Mo confirmed that it was indeed challenging, so he decisively used the kit.
Not long after, Han Fei returned with two freshly washed peaches.
“So, have you finished reading? Any thoughts or questions?”
“I’ve finished. I think I already know who the killer is.”
Han Fei: “???”
Stunned, Han Fei dropped the two peaches he was holding, and they hit the ground with a loud clatter.
“What did you say? You… you already know who the killer is?!”