Being a detective is extremely difficult, especially in criminal investigation.
They often face conflicts between morality and law, and as these conflicts become frequent, three outcomes tend to emerge.
First, they may fall into depression; many detectives experience varying levels of depression after retirement, and some even become monks.
Second, they may gradually become indifferent, with hearts of stone; in a sense, such people are even more suited to be detectives.
Third, they resign!
"Your mentor is a very competent detective, don't hold it in, go seek his advice."
Xu Liang patted the other person's shoulder, offering comfort.
Arresting Chen Hua and his son personally, even for an experienced detective like Liu Jin, is bound to shake one's mindset.
Not to mention this intern in front of him.
Wang Chao remained sullen and silent.
He felt he did the right thing.
The law is there to maintain social order, and Chen Dong bypassing the law to kill privately is an assault on public safety.
He arrested him, and there's nothing wrong with it, emotionally or logically!
It's just...
His heart was in turmoil.
"Want a smoke?"
Xu Liang fumbled in his pocket, pulled out two cigarettes, and offered them to the other person.
"I don't smoke," Wang Chao refused politely.
"Hey, what detective doesn't smoke?"
Xu Liang chuckled, sticking the cigarette behind the other person's ear.
Out of ten veteran detectives, nine are addicted smokers, and the one left is also known as a drinker!
"I'm off."
With that, Xu Liang patted his backside and took off.
By the police station's main entrance, only Wang Chao remained standing there, dazed.
He took the cigarette from behind his ear and held it in his hand, staring at it, then glanced in the direction Xu Liang had left.
Afterward, he felt somewhat better.
It's just...
"No lighter, huh."
Looking at the cigarette in his hand, Wang Chao was lost in thought.
"How do you smoke this?"
...
When Xu Liang walked out of the police station.
He caught a bus, squeezed all the way home, and it was already half past seven by the time he got off.
The house wasn't far from the law office, also located on Hongfu Street.
The night of Hongfu District at seven was as dark as ink, with stars dotting the sky.
Xu Liang trudged through the dark, heading to the end of Hongfu Street to a community.
As he was about to pull out his key, a noisy voice squeezed out through the door crack.
"Old Man, do you even know what you're doing!?"
"What are you talking about, if you don't know then don't make a fuss!!!"
The voice sounded somewhat immature, possibly around twelve or thirteen years old.
Soon after, another voice followed.
"You little brat, what did you call me just now!?"
"Try saying it again!"
"Old Man Old Man Old Man! I got this answer right, yet you say I'm wrong, you can't even explain, it's embarrassing, I don't acknowledge you as my dad!"
"You little brat, don't run!"
Listening to the familiar chaotic sounds, Xu Liang's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he smiled, gently pressing down on the door handle.
"Click!"
The door opened.
The house wasn't big, just about one hundred ten square meters, with a warm color scheme for the décor.
The furniture was just about complete.
Sofa, coffee table, and a large head black-and-white TV.
The sound of cooking was coming from the kitchen, with a hint of oil and smoke lingering in the air.
Two people stood by the sofa, one big and one small, their faces about seventy percent similar.
The one holding a feather duster was Xu Fuqiang, the only uncle Xu Liang had.
The smaller one was Xu Ze, Xu Fuqiang's biological son, Xu Liang's younger brother, thirteen years old this year.
At the moment, they were standing off around the sofa, facing each other, vying.
Xu Fuqiang glared at Xu Ze with hostility.
Xu Ze's face was tense, and when he saw the other raise the feather duster, he suddenly dashed to hide behind Xu Liang.
"Brother Liang, Brother Liang, Old Man wants to beat me to death!"
He hugged Xu Liang's thigh tightly, pointing at Xu Fuqiang.
Only then did Xu Fuqiang notice Xu Liang had returned home.
"Back?"
"Wait, Xiao Liang, stand aside for now, today I'll beat this brat to death!"
With that, he charged up, but Xu Ze kept dodging, the two of them circling around Xu Liang.
Xu Ze wasn't one to give in easily, shouting loudly:
"Hit me, kill me, if you don't, I'm not your own!"
"You little brat!"
After circling for ages without catching him, Xu Fuqiang got angry, both hands on hips, panting:
"Want me to believe I'll have another one with your mom!?"
Xu Ze clung to Xu Liang's waist, poking his head out.
"Then I'll let grandma have another dad for me!"
Xu Fuqiang: ?
Xu Fuqiang's veins suddenly bulged.
"Damn it, Xiao Liang, move aside, this damn brat!!!"
Through these words, Xu Liang understood what had happened, and found it quite amusing.
Basically, his second uncle was helping Xu Ze with homework, Xu Ze claimed a correct answer was wrong, only to discover later that Xu Ze was correct, leading to the conflict.
"Alright, alright!"
In a moment of confusion.
A voice came from the kitchen, following which a middle-aged woman came out holding a dish, standing 1.65 meters tall with an elegant appearance.
This was Aunt Zhao Ying, who was now staring disapprovingly at the father and son.
"The two of you, come eat now!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Fuqiang and his son smiled sheepishly, stopped arguing, and walked towards the dining table obediently.
Seeing this scene.
Xu Liang opened his mouth to smile, showing eight teeth.
But Zhao Ying turned her sharp eyes towards him.
"And you, what's with the silence!"
"Haven't seen you these past days, if it weren't for your phone, I'd think you'd been kidnapped!"
"Where did you run off to!?"
"Explain properly over dinner!"
Xu Liang stopped smiling.
He put away his grin and awkwardly replied:
"Auntie, I'm already twenty-two, there's really no need to call me by my nickname..."
Zhao Ying glared, brandishing a spatula, "Stop babbling!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Liang kept quiet.
The three men obediently queued up to wash their hands and then sat down for dinner.
After all four sat down.
Xu Ze sensibly served a bowl of soup to Xu Fuqiang.
"Dad, you must be tired from scolding earlier, have some soup to soothe your throat."
Xu Fuqiang gave him and Xu Liang each a chicken leg and said:
"You too, you've been running around these days without energy, eat some meat to replenish."
"Dad, you should eat too, today's feather duster didn't hit as hard as before."
Such a scene of fatherly love and filial respect made it hard to believe they had just been saying 'brat' and 'old man' moments ago.
Until...
As Zhao Ying was eating and swallowed her rice, her gaze sharpened, landing on Xu Liang.
"What's with the silence, won't you explain?"
Xu Liang was quite composed, and without haste, took out the words he'd prepared.
"These past few days, I took on a special consulting contract, spent some time on it, but made quite a bit of money."
As he spoke, Xu Liang took out three thousand yuan and placed it on the table.
"Auntie, this is for you and my uncle."
Upon hearing this.
Zhao Ying just glanced at the three thousand yuan, withdrew her gaze and continued eating.
"Your law firm just opened a few months ago, it needs plenty of funds, keep it for yourself."
She said, and then did not question further, carrying on with her meal.
The child has grown up, she can't always be in control.
Xu Liang knows her character, didn't insist, but put the money away, considering that when he's rich, he'll get Xu Fuqiang a Wolf Fang Club.
It'll certainly feel better than a feather duster!
With the meal finished, time reached eight o'clock.
The family sat together watching black-and-white TV for a while, then each went to their rooms to sleep.
...
...
At ten o'clock at night.
In the bedroom.
After taking a bath and changing into pajamas, Xu Liang sat on the bed.
He didn't immediately sleep but thought for a moment before taking out a leather-bound book from his backpack.
As he slowly opened the leather book...
[Name: Xu Liang]
[Plaintiff: None]
[Defendant: None]
[Recorded Cases: None]
He skipped these sections, focusing his gaze on the first page.
[Took on case number '20040601', case 'Snail Case!']
[Completed]
[Scripted '2546 cycles']
[Unscripted]
"Script... Write what?"
Xu Liang frowned.
From the surface, the 'Snail Case' is complete, if nothing unexpected happened, the completion method was routine criminal investigation.
As for scripting...
"Is it a detailed case report?"
Xu Liang fell into deep thought.
He was silent for a long time, finally making up his mind.
Reaching for a ballpoint pen from the bedside.
Before long, the still night, in the bedroom, a rustling sound was heard...
As the sound emerged.
A strange scene unfolded slowly before him.