S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 5

Smiling Murderer 05 - New Home

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Later, under the guidance of Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang went to many other crime scenes.

The only thing these crime scenes have in common is that they are remote, desolate, and sparsely populated.

A lot of blood was left on the ground at the scene of the crime. It can be seen that the murderer killed people here.

“You have been searching for so long, have you found any clues?” Bai Yutang asked.

Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing bowed their heads and said nothing – no progress. But it’s no wonder that the two of them haven’t made progress, they have not been allowed to participate in the investigation, so they are both secretly investigating… they have not seen any forensic materials, photos, or evidence.

“That’s right,” Zhan Zhao suddenly thought of something and asked Liu Qing, “the report says you made a mistake and broke a clue… what clue?”

Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan looked at each other, “Someone from Interpol found a suspect. That person was an informant. We got in contact with him, saying we wanted him to help us inquire about clues, so he walked around the area a bit. It just so happened that the people from the criminal police team set up a sentry to keep an eye on him. They thought he was the murderer, so they sent people to arrest him… If he was caught and released, it would be troublesome, so we came forward to help him escape.”

“Oh,” Bai Chi nodded and asked, “didn’t you make it clear later?”

“We tried.” Shen Zhongyuan said, “It’s just… it’s been a long time since Interpol deployed the sentry. If they only caught the one informant in the end, it would be too shameful to speak of, so they prevaricated… On one hand, Liu Qing and I participated in the investigation and violated the regulations, that was the first mistake; on the other hand, we can’t talk about informants, so we can only quietly take the loss.”

“Liu Qing and the deceased were friends, but you have nothing to do with them,” Bai Yutang looked at Shen Zhongyuan puzzledly, “why can’t you participate in the investigation?”

“Because he revealed the clues of the investigation to me.”  Liu Song said.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both nodded. 

“The corpses were all sent to Gongsun, right?” Bai Yutang asked Bai Chi.

“En.” Bai Chi nodded, “I went through all of the procedures this morning, and the corpses will be transported to the forensic room in a while. Gongsun and Ma Xin will perform the autopsies overnight.”

Bai Yutang nodded. Seeing that it was late, he asked Liu Song and Shen Zhongyuan, “Why don’t you two report back with us first?”

“Oh, okay!” Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan both nodded, and followed Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao back to the SCI office.

Everyone was in the SCI office, and they saw that Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned with two new people. They all guessed that they were Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan, and everyone looked at the two notoriously troublesome police officers.

Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan had always worked in the Nancheng branch, a branch that was relatively simple. Coming to the main bureau and looking up at it, they felt a little uncomfortable; they felt as though they were countrymen coming to the city for the first time.

When they entered the police station, they saw modern decorations. Although there were many people in the police station, it was clean and beautiful; it looked like a branch office or a farmer’s market.

Taking the elevator upstairs, they came to the SCI office. Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing looked at each other, and said in their hearts that they really were magnificent.

When they entered the office, they saw that everyone was there. Bai Yutang frowned when he saw that Zhao Hu and Ma Han were back, “Didn’t I say that you two would return tomorrow?”

Zhao Hu and Ma Han replied in their hearts – We can’t say that we were afraid of you suffering a loss.

“Hu Zi, how are you?” Zhan Zhao asked, “Did you get checked?”

“I’m okay.” Zhao Hu said, “My whole body was checked, and the doctor said that I am not sick.”

Zhan Zhao nodded.

“It’s good that you are here. These two are Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing, who used to work at the Nanchang Branch. Introduce yourselves and cooperate.” After Bai Yutang finished, he signalled for Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan to find a place to sit.

The two were at a loss. Jiang Ping pointed to two desks on the side of the room, “Here.”

As the two walked over, Zhao Hu poked Ma Hand and asked, “Oh, didn’t you say that he was arrogant? How can he be so obedient? Oh… it’s as they say, the cat doesn’t bite and the cat doesn’t bark!”

Ma Han gave him a blank look, “As if they are a cat, look at the shoe print on Liu Qing’s pants.”

Zhao Hu glanced at him and understood, “Oh, it turns out they have already experienced Head getting off the horse.”

While they were talking, the door was pushed open. Ma Xin poked her head in and said, “Captain, the corpses are here.”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hurried out. Luo Tian and the others also went to help put the corpses in the freezer in the morgue next to the forensic room.

Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan went to the forensic room with curiosity, and were surprised by the advanced equipment, saying in their hearts that the treatment of the main bureau is too good. Not only do they have a beautiful female forensic pathologist, but the forensic room was clean and there was no smell.

Actually, what they didn’t know is that all of the equipment was ‘donated’ by Bai Jintang.

“Gongsun will come over at about 6 o’clock,” Ma Xin said, “we will start the autopsy at that time.”

Bai Yutang nodded and patted Ma Xin’s shoulder, “You’ve worked hard, find a place to sleep for a while.”

“It’s okay.” Ma Xin cheerfully went to do the preparations for the autopsy.

Zhan Zhao looked at Ma Xin for a while, then gently jabbed Ma Han behind him with his elbow, “Ma Xin has been in a good mood recently.”

Ma Han looked around, then leaned over and spoke in a low voice, “She accompanied Yangyang to the amusement park the other day and injured her foot, so Luo Tian carried her back. My mother asked Luo Tian to stay for dinner… Yangyang started calling her grandma.”

“It’s already been decided?” Zhan Zhao’s eyes widened.

Ma Han shrugged, “I don’t know why, the little girl’s lips are sealed, and my mother won’t tell me either.”

“Oh…” Zhan Zhao touched his chin with interest, looking at Luo Tian in the distance, and Luo Tian’s back inexplicably turned cold.

Later, Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping to sort out all of the information relating to the case with those who were on duty tonight. Everyone else will come early tomorrow morning to have a meeting and analyze the case.

Of course, Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan sat at their desks to write the 10,000 word self-reflections… After thinking about it, the 10,000 word self-reflection is a lot less work than copying the sentence 10,000 times!

What did Jiang Ping see as the two were struggling to write? He was curious and took a look, and saw the two of them holding their cheeks, looking at a large piece of paper with only two words written – ‘self-reflection’.

It happened to be Wang Chao and Zhang Long on duty tonight. When they heard the story, they laughed with joy, but Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing had bitter faces.

“Liu Qing, I heard that you are quite critical of our boss, why?” Jiang Ping asked.

Liu Qing shook his head quickly and said, “That’s a rumour.”

Everyone was puzzled.

“I just can’t get used to those with family connections.” Liu Qing said, “It turns out that the criminal police captain of the sub-bureau also has family connections. He is incapable, if the case can’t be solved, then he kills his own people… I know that Captain Bai doesn’t have a simple background, so I had a misunderstanding at the beginning. Later, I came to see SCI, and I haven’t said anything else since… After the fight today, I was completely convinced.”

Shen Zhongyuan smirked on the side.

Jiang Ping felt that Liu Qing was a genuine person, and he was not like the rumours described him. After thinking about it, he searched for self-reflections on the internet, printed them out, and passed them over, “Copy it!”

Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan were surprised and delighted. After taking the ten or so pieces of paper, they said in their hearts that at least they don’t need to think about what to write… and it will be done overnight!

Zhang Long took a few from their hands, “I’ll copy a few for you.”

“I’ll also copy a few.” Wang Chao and Jiang Ping took a few away as well. Shen Zhongyuan and Liu Qing looked at each other, and they were moved to tears – They’re good brothers!

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao left the police station. The two wanted to go home to eat and take a bath. The little lion also needed to be picked up from Zhao Zhen, as he was playing with Lisbon the past two days.

Just as they were getting in the car, Zhan Zhao received a call, “Gongsun is calling.”

Answering the phone, Zhan Zhao heard Gongsun report an address to him, which was near the police station, and asked them to go immediately.

“What’s the matter?” Zhan Zhao asked puzzledly, but Gongsun had already hung up the phone.

“Gongsun seems to be in a hurry.” Zhan Zhao said to Bai Yutang.

“There’s nothing wrong, right?” Bai Yutang frowned and drove to the address Gongsun gave them.

At a glance, they saw a big Jeep arriving ahead of them; it was Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi’s car.

“Brother!” Bai Chi opened the car door, and Lisbon and the little lion ran out.

When the little lion saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, it ran over to them.

“Seaman!”

“Simba!”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang called out at the same time, and the little lion ran over and rubbed against the legs of the two.

“It’s called Seaman!” Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

“Seaman doesn’t sound good!” Bai Yutang said, “It’s better to call him Simba.”

“Simba is too ordinary!” Zhan Zhao said, “All lions are called Simba!”

Bai Yutang looked at the sky weakly, “But Seaman is too unusual, isn’t it, who would want to be called Seaman?”

The two started quarreling again over the little lion’s name. Zhan Zhao picked the little lion up, pinched its ears, and asked, “Is Seaman a good name?”

The little lion flicked its ears and looked away, seemingly dissatisfied.

“What about Simba?” Bai Yutang asked. The little lion flicked its tail twice without making a sound.

“You are quite leisurely.” At this time, a voice came from behind them, “If I am dying and ask for help, would you stand by the door arguing over the name of a little lion? By the time you figure it out, I might be rotten!”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were embarrassed. Turning their faces, they saw Gongsun standing at the gate of the villa behind them, and they were unsure of when he got there.

“Gongsun, what’s the matter?” Bai Chi asked.

“Come in.” Gongsun led everyone through the gate. There was a big garden, grass, trees… it was not very luxurious, but it was very warm, and there was a small white villa in front of them.

“Where is this?” Zhan Zhao asked, “The piece of real estate that Brother just bought?”

“En.” Gongsun nodded, “This is very close to the police station, it takes two or three minutes to drive and only a few minutes to walk. The house is very big… everyone can live in it.”

“Everyone?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Lisbon and Caesar always need someone to watch them, Luban has always been living at your mother’s house, and it is inconvenient for everyone to work overtime, so Jintang bought this small villa… There are four separate rooms, each with its own bathroom, and a large kitchen… Well, me, Jintang, and the twins have already moved in. There are two more rooms, do you want them?”

Everyone glanced at each other, and Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, “Is there really such a good thing?!”

Bai Chi smiled, “That’s great! It will be so lively!”

The corners of Bai Yutang’s mouth twitched, “That means we have to live with the twins?”

Zhan Zhao pondered for a while, then asked Gongsun, “Did you call Seaman Caesar?”

“Let’s go in and take a look, it’s all furnished.” Gongsun smiled.

When they walked into the living room, they saw Bai Jintang sitting with one leg over the other while reading the newspaper, and the twins sitting watching TV. When everyone entered, they smirked.

Bai Yutang’s eyelids twitched, and he asked his heart if it really was a good thing to live with the twins?! Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi happily followed Gongsun to see the rooms.

Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen walked over to Bai Jintang and sat down, asking, “Brother, why did you suddenly think of living together?”

Bai Jintang pinched out his cigarette, “Since the incident with Zhao Jue last time, Gongsun has always felt that it was not safe for you to live alone. Living together, we can take care of each other. Uncle Zhan told me about this house two days ago, and he also seems to want us to live together, so I bought it.”

“Oh…” Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen understood in their hearts.

Lisbon laid down comfortably on the carpet in the lobby. The little lion rubbed against him for a while, then ran over to say hello to Bai Jintang. Bai Jintang pinched its ears, “He really hasn’t grown up at all… just like a cat, but it eats a lot of meat.”

“Dandan, come here!” Da Ding led the little lion with a piece of cake, and the little lion leaned over. (Angel: Dandan, 蛋蛋, is the Mandarin name for Exeggcute, the Pokémon that is a group of six eggs.)

“Why do you call it Dandan, it’s called Cupid!” Xiao Ding said seriously.

“He is a male, naturally he is called Dandan!” Da Ding replied.

Xiao Ding frowned, “Why are you so vulgar?”

“Isn’t Cupid also naked? You are no better than me!”

Da Ding and Xiao Ding also quarrelled over the name of the little lion.

Zhao Zhen sat on the sofa and asked Bai Yutang, “What is it called?”

Bai Yutang shrugged, he and the cat turned through a dictionary and couldn’t think of a name that they were both satisfied with.

“Xiao Bai!” At this time, Zhan Zhao walked to the railing on the second floor and leaned against it, “The decoration is great, let’s live here!”

Bai Chi also came out and said, “That’s right, let’s live together!”

Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen naturally had no objections.

Therefore, everyone went back to pack their things, moved into the new home, and started their new life together.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I’m excited to see what this new living arrangement will bring for the three couples.

I love that everyone is fighting over the name of the little lion, the poor thing has at least five names 🤣

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 27/28, 2021