S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 81

The Culinary Murderer 33 – Common Sense

---

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rushed home to find all the household's feline residents and Big Brother Bai in the courtyard.

Bai Jintang was sitting under a yard umbrella, wearing sunglasses, and holding a box of cat treats, feeding them one by one to the cats.

Luban and Lilia were darting back and forth with a group of kittens, eagerly collecting the snacks from Bai Jintang.

The little lion was sprawled on a deck chair, yawning lazily.

Before heading home, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had dropped Wen Xiaorou off at the SWAT team office, then bought two fire extinguishers and hurried back.

Fortunately, when they looked up, the villa was still standing, and the kitchen didn't look like it had exploded...

Bai Jintang gave the two of them a long, pointed look.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang tilted their heads at him – Big Brother, it's already evening, why are you wearing sunglasses?

They instinctively looked up, and sure enough, the sun had set.

Bai Jintang reached up and pressed down his sunglasses.

The two of them saw that his eyes were red, probably from the smoke.

Bai Jintang pointed toward the villa, meaning – You brought them in, you clean up the mess!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang grabbed the extinguishers and ran back to the villa.

The villa's floor-to-ceiling doors and windows were wide open. At the front door, Bai Ye was sitting on the steps with a tablet in his hand, scribbling something.

Inside the living room, there was no visible fire damage, but the air was thick with an odd smell, burnt food mingled with a distinct chemical stench.

"Wow... what’s that smell?" Zhan Zhao walked in, covering his nose and mouth.

Bai Yutang asked Bai Ye, "Where are the others?"

Bai Ye was updating a recipe, tapping away as he replied, "The twins went out to buy a new pot, Chopsticks and Radar are cleaning the kitchen."

Zhan Zhao ran to the kitchen for a look. Good grief! The place is covered in fire extinguisher foam. So there had been an actual fire?!

Inside, Issel and Eleven were cleaning, one mopping the floor and the other stuffing charred remains into a garbage bag.

Zhan Zhao picked up a pot from the gas stove. The bottom was completely gone, only a metal ring remained. He held it up, peered through it at Bai Yutang, and said, "Yutang, look at this!"

Bai Yutang stared speechlessly at the pot, reduced to a bare ring. "This is an induction pot, who put it on the gas stove?"

Eleven and Issel both gave them a weary glance, as if to say How were we supposed to know the pots were different...

"And anyway, how did it even burn like this? What did you two cook with it?" Bai Yutang asked, completely baffled.

Issel glanced at the half-full bottle of cleaning fluid on the table nearby.

Zhan Zhao picked up the bottle, looking at the two of them in confusion.

Issel then glanced towards something else sitting to the side, a bottle of salad oil.

Zhan Zhao huffed. "You two mistook cleaning fluid for cooking oil? You're even more outrageous than me!"

Issel cast a long-suffering look at Eleven. "He put it in!"

Eleven was speechless. "You handed it to me."

"They were both in the cupboard! And they look exactly the same!" Zhan Zhao compared the cleaning fluid and the salad oil, the colours just happened to match, they were both yellow liquids. And the cleaning fluid was in one of those large refill bottles... Honestly... it left him at a loss for words.

Bai Yutang pinched the bridge of his nose and said no wonder it smells like chemicals. They were really lucky it didn't blow up. Were they making chemical weapons here?!

Zhan Zhao tried to step into the kitchen for a closer look, but after just two steps, Issel suddenly called out, "Be careful..."

Zhan Zhao's foot slipped...

"Aiya..."

Luckily, Bai Yutang was right next to him and caught him just in time.

Zhan Zhao struggled for a while before finding his footing again, his feet kept sliding.

Bai Yutang looked down. Well then, the entire floor was covered in a layer of oil.

The two of them turned to look at Issel, who was mopping the floor.

Issel spread his hands. "The fire extinguisher didn't work, so Eleven poured in a whole bucket of cold oil..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stared at them in disbelief. "You two are not only good at starting fires, but apparently good at putting them out too? Skilled in both civil and martial arts?"

Issel and Eleven could feel the full force of the sarcasm in their gazes. They simply turned their faces away in silence – True resilience lies in knowing when to bow and when to stand tall!

Zhan Zhao changed into a pair of slippers and sat down on the sofa to make a phone call, asking Jiang Ping to check the detailed records of Zhu Yi's disappearance case, especially who had been responsible for closing the file back then.

Bai Yutang headed to the door to check on Bai Ye.

Uncle Ye seemed quite composed, as if he'd long anticipated they would cause a mess. He handed over the completed menu and looked up at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang was curious and asked him what he was planning to make.

Bai Ye passed him the tablet and gestured toward something nearby.

Bai Yutang took the tablet, turned around and glanced in the direction he had indicated, then looked back at Bai Ye in confusion.

Bai Ye said, "The problem with these two is that they lack basic common sense."

Bai Yutang thought for a moment and had to agree.

To be fair, both Eleven and Issel were individuals with top-level natural abilities and outstanding all-round skills, it was just that they had probably never cooked before and lacked even the most basic culinary knowledge.

"They need tutoring," Bai Ye said. "It's exhausting."

Bai Yutang had just been about to offer a few words of encouragement when Bai Ye added, "So you do it."

Bai Yutang was taken aback and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Mm-hmm." Bai Ye nodded. "The dress rehearsal is tomorrow afternoon, with a live broadcast in the evening... The twins said that to prevent cheating, all competitions will be broadcast live. You give them a crash course in basic knowledge tonight, that way they can still get a proper sleep in the morning. I'll teach them a bit more during the rehearsal in the afternoon, and they'll be ready to go live at night."

To Bai Yutang, the way it was phrased didn't sound like they were preparing for a cooking competition, it sounded more like they were going on a mission...

Bai Ye stood up. "The twins have gone out to buy kitchen equipment, don't forget to teach them how to use everything... Oh, right."

Bai Ye suddenly remembered something and added, "No need to teach them about knives, they know how to use those."

With that, Bai Ye headed off to the front garden and joined Bai Jintang to feed the cats.

Bai Yutang stood in the doorway, once again deeply aware of how much his toes hurt... Truly, I brought it upon myself!

Zhan Zhao came running out, just about to speak when Bai Yutang abruptly asked, "Cat, do you want to join the tutoring session tonight?"

"Tutoring session?" Zhan Zhao's cat-like eyes opened wide. "What for?"

Bai Yutang pointed at the pot ring in Zhan Zhao's hand. "Basic knowledge!"

......

Leaving the ignorant duo behind to finish cleaning the kitchen, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned to the bureau.

Jiang Ping had already found the closure records from the case back then. "It was a police officer named Wang Yong."

"Wang Yong?" Bai Yutang found the name rather common, but couldn't recall any officer by that name. "Is he still in the force?"

"No, he resigned the same year the case occurred," Jiang Ping pulled up the detailed personnel file. "To be precise, Zhu Yi's case was the last one he handled, he resigned three days after the case was closed."

"Can we find out what he's doing now?" Bai Yutang was suspicious.

"He switched careers to become a private security guard."

That answer didn't surprise Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao. Quite a few former officers had gone into private security work, some were even poached directly from the force.

"Guess whose bodyguard he is?" Jiang Ping followed up with another question. Judging by his expression, it clearly carried some deeper meaning.

"Whose?"

Bai Chi, who was standing nearby, couldn't help asking first.

"He's Shi Yanshuo's bodyguard, and also the head of security at his company," Jiang Ping blinked at the two of them. "He's even set up his own security consultancy, he's doing quite well for himself."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't help but chuckle – This is getting almost too coincidental. Everything about this case seems interconnected, and Shi Yanshuo looks more suspicious by the day.

"Can you find a photo of Shi Yanshuo's neck?" Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping.

"His neck?" Jiang Ping was puzzled.

Zhan Zhao patted the back of his own neck. "Preferably this area!"

"Oh..." Jiang Ping started looking for suitable pictures.

Meanwhile, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang played the recording of Zhu Yi recalling her kidnapping and escape for the others to hear.

"Damn..." Zhao Hu couldn't help but marvel. "That girl's got guts, and she's lucky too."

Xiao Bai Chi finally understood what had been bothering him. "I kept wondering why I didn't remember anything, it turns out I must've heard it while half-asleep..."

Zhan Zhao teased him, saying it was like he'd been hypnotised at the time, the memory implanted straight into his subconscious.

Bai Chi found it a bit unbelievable too, it really did feel like he'd experienced it himself. How scared Zhu Yi must have been at that time... We have to catch that bastard.

"Shi Yanshuo doesn't seem to have ever worn a low-necked shirt." After looking through a bunch of pictures, Jiang Ping noticed something strange, "Even in the middle of summer, it's always suits and ties, buttoned right to the top."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned, staring closely at the photos of Shi Yanshuo.

He was of average build, not tall, not short, neither fat nor thin, around a metre seventy-five, and indeed fit the general description.

But looking at him, his head didn't seem particularly small. Unless the raincoat made it appear that way...

"Could the raincoat have made his head look small because he was wearing a backpack?" Zhao Hu suddenly asked.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both paused and turned to look at him. "A backpack?"

Hu Zi nodded. "If it was raining and he had a backpack on under the raincoat, the raincoat would've puffed out at the back, right? If it was pouring and she was suddenly startled... that might've left her with the impression that the person had a huge body and a tiny head when they rushed at her, right?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both thought – There is actually some logic to that.

"Could the person who attacked Zhu Yi have been a student?" Ma Han also asked. "That park is usually deserted, and Zhu Yi only decided at the last minute to go there, so it's unlikely she bumped into someone hiding there by chance, right? That means the killer must have been following her earlier, and only decided to strike after seeing her enter the park. Zhu Yi went from the swimming pool to the video shop and then home, maybe they met on the way, or... the killer was also at the same swimming club?"

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping to check the swimming club and see if anything came up.

Jiang Ping investigated but just shook his head. "These clubs are public, you basically just buy a membership card and can swim all summer. Some still use paper cards and don't enter data into any computer system."

"Then don't check everyone, just see if Shi Yanshuo has a membership card for any relevant swimming club," Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang set their sights on Shi Yanshuo.

Jiang Ping checked, and as expected, "Shi Yanshuo is really into water sports. Since he was a kid, he's had cards for almost every swimming club and water park."

"Shi Yanshuo is a rich second-generation heir?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked. "His family has been wealthy since his childhood, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Where was his family living during the time of Zhu Yi's case?" Zhan Zhao told Jiang Ping to continue investigating.

It wasn't hard to find out. "His family has a large estate in the suburban area."

Jiang Ping pulled up the address. "His wedding is also going to be held in that estate."

"Are there any tunnel-like places nearby?" Zhan Zhao analysed. "Generally, people choose a place they're familiar with to commit crimes. If the culprit is Shi Yanshuo, it might be somewhere near his villa."

Jiang Ping checked satellite maps. "That whole area has become lively since they built the subway station, and property prices have gone up..."

"Could the tunnel with the sound of dripping water be an under-construction site?"

Jiang Ping looked into construction sites from that year.

"If it's a subway tunnel, it should be underground, but Zhu Yi didn't mention climbing uphill or anything like that..." Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping to check for other buildings with tunnel-like structures.

"It was raining that day, right? An unfinished construction site might have some places leaking water." Jiang Ping suddenly pointed to a photo of a long, narrow building. "Could it be this place?"

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

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

Translated: June 14, 2025 by Angel

Edited: September 22, 2025 by Angel