Chapter 2: Yes, He Has a Child

The greatest achievement for a community police officer is perhaps sitting in the residential area of his beat, chatting with the elderly while they provide him with a basket full of "legendary tales," regardless of whether they are true or not.

Cen Lian knew that the stories he had heard so far could only be classified as legends. At first, the familiar middle-aged women and elderly men spoke with a semblance of detail, but as more neighbors joined in, the accounts began to lose all logic. By the time the last elderly woman finished, he had a clear picture in his mind.

He had extracted a wealth of information, with perhaps less than twenty percent being truly useful, though in their line of work, that was considered a high ratio of valid intelligence. At the very least, he now knew the following: Gao Tong’s divorce, as shown in his household registration, took place twelve years ago, and the couple had no children. He was suspected of having an affair. Recently, someone had seen a woman with a child who looked like a high schooler visiting Gao Tong. Gao Tong had sold the welfare housing from his former factory to purchase this apartment in the urban village, so none of his old colleagues lived here.

Putting these pieces together, anyone with a basic grasp of deduction would focus on the woman who visited Gao Tong with the child. Combined with the suspicion of an affair, it was reasonable to infer that this woman might be his mistress, and based on the child's age, one could conclude the boy was likely an illegitimate son. The possibility of the woman being Gao Tong’s ex-wife could be effectively ruled out. Even though he didn't like to overthink things, Cen Lian followed the logical progression to this point.

Now, he needed some bold hypotheses. He pulled a worn, black-leather notebook—usually used for logging community patrols—from his waist pouch and flipped to the last page to organize his thoughts.

"After the cashier's death, the whereabouts of the money remained unknown. It is possible it was transferred by the killer to a pregnant mistress. Given the child’s approximate age, it can be inferred that Gao Tong was not yet divorced from his ex-wife at the time, so there is a possibility the funds were transferred to the mistress to raise the child."

"Next, I should pull the surveillance footage to confirm the woman’s identity and conduct an investigation to see if she acquired a large, unexplained sum of money fifteen years ago."

"If I keep investigating secretly like this, will I get disciplined..."

Cen Lian stared at the last sentence for a moment, then immediately crossed it out, pretending he had never written it.

Returning to the station, he was surprised to find so many people remaining in the office area. "Are we expecting an inspection? Why is everyone here catching up on paperwork?" Cen Lian panicked, fearing he had missed some important notice while he was distracted by his investigation into Gao Tong.

"Not at all," replied Tang Hua, who had joined the force the same year as him. "Director Chen has been leading the team to take down an entire organized crime gang, so we're just processing the paperwork."

"No wonder I haven't seen Director Chen lately." Cen Lian relaxed and took a stack of documents from Tang Hua to help. "Why is he handling the case personally?"

"Director Chen is hoping to move up," Tang Hua whispered. "But our station’s performance has been mediocre this year. It's almost October; as long as we don't make mistakes, we’re fine, but achieving real results is hard."

As Cen Lian finished filing the documents, Chen Xinyong, the director of the Xinhe Police Station, returned. He scanned the office area, saw that everyone was busy, and headed upstairs without a word.

"Can this 'organized crime' charge actually stick?" Cen Lian asked Tang Hua quietly, noting the director’s grim expression. Tang Hua looked around and lowered his voice further. "I doubt it. Although the headcount is high, the severity of their actions is questionable."

Cen Lian wasn't surprised; it was genuinely difficult to find a real "organized crime group" within their jurisdiction.

"What are you up to lately? I see you spending all day in your beat," Tang Hua asked, slowing down his work to chat. "Did the neighborhood office draft you for manual labor?"

"Not exactly. Some residents reported that a person in my area is acting suspicious, so I’m focusing on that," Cen Lian said, not daring to mention he was investigating a case. "But you know, ever since the 'Chaoyang Masses' became famous, residents in my district report suspicious behavior once or twice a month."

Tang Hua grew interested. "What's the situation this time?"

"They say the person is very secretive. Whenever there's community business, he pretends not to be home, but neighbors say he’s always inside and just refuses to open the door," Cen Lian said, telling the truth. "I feel something is off, so I’m keeping an eye on it."

Tang Hua stroked his chin. "Sounds like a drug user, or maybe just a eccentric character. It’s almost the end of the year—if you can turn up a drug case, the narcotics squad will definitely treat you to a good meal." He didn't think much of it; in the community, they mostly caught petty thieves or people hiding at home to use drugs.

*If I can actually solve this,* Cen Lian thought, *Director Chen might be the one treating me to dinner.*

After they finished "slacking off" with professional skill, Tang Hua was called to the detention center, leaving Cen Lian to continue reviewing the surveillance footage he had pulled.

Filtering by time and location, he quickly found the woman with the child. She looked to be in her forties, and the boy appeared to be of high school age. They had been captured by the camera at the express delivery drop-off point in Building 15, and the direction they were heading was indeed toward Building 13.

It seemed this was a breakthrough!

Holding the answer key but lacking the steps, Cen Lian immediately enlarged the woman’s photo and, with some trepidation, opened the database to attempt a match. Theoretically, this was a reckless move. But with the answer right in front of him, he couldn't let a murderer walk free.

The computer hummed with effort, and after a while, it spat out a few facial matches. Cen Lian silently thanked the shop owner for installing high-definition surveillance, as it allowed him to find the woman's identity without any trouble.

Yao Shuwen, female, 44, unmarried. She had one son, who had just turned 15. The household registration and permanent residence for this mother and son were not in Kang'an City, but in the neighboring province's Gaoping City.

Cen Lian’s excitement collapsed. Great, his weekend was gone. If the investigation yielded nothing and his unauthorized access of the database was discovered, he might lose his job. Although his reason told him it was best not to continue the investigation alone, his hand, betraying his better judgment, opened his phone to book a high-speed train to Gaoping City—the very one leaving that evening.

Cen Lian looked at the information on the screen, only hoping that this "cheat code" wouldn't be the end of him.