Chapter 21: So You’re the Punk Who’s Planning to Go After the Oxygen Generator?

To be honest, this case was a massive headache for the Sixth Hospital.

The victim had just turned twenty-four shortly before her death. She had recently graduated from a five-year undergraduate medical program and was in her first year of standardized residency training. Upon hearing the tragic news, her parents had been locked in a persistent dispute with the hospital. Because the case had never been solved, the parents would visit several times a year, causing Director He no small amount of distress. Furthermore, due to the lack of a resolution, Sun Xiaoyu’s body remained in the funeral parlor, still awaiting cremation.

Director He had been keeping a close eye on the investigation. From the group’s conversation, he could tell they had identified a fairly clear suspect, which was why they appeared much more proactive than when they had first met Wang Yuanteng. Wang Yuanteng did not say much, bidding a polite farewell to Director He at the hospital entrance before getting into the car with Cen Lian. Tang Hua and the others were already waiting inside.

“You’ve made significant progress,” the technician who was returning with them remarked. “I’m familiar with this case. Back then, we tested everything, but we didn’t find a single lead.”

“We just happened to make a discovery,” Cen Lian replied with great modesty.

“You’re being too humble,” Wang Yuanteng laughed from the side. “Our progress is moving at a breakneck speed. The perpetrator’s *modus operandi* is basically confirmed. I’ll bet you that by tomorrow, once we go through the admission records one by one, we’ll find more than one person who has seen Lin Xiangyuan.”

“Actually, I think so too,” Cen Lian grinned.

Back at the dormitory, Cen Lian realized it was Friday. Being a criminal police officer felt like living in a world where the distinction between weekdays and weekends had completely vanished. He picked up his phone, but within two minutes of scrolling, he was grimacing in agony. How could he have forgotten that short-form videos were still videos? Most of the content he stumbled upon involved criminal records related to vice establishments, which were hardly worth his attention. After marking a few as "not interested," Cen Lian fell asleep with his phone still in his hand.

For a criminal investigator, the work is never truly finished.

The next morning, as soon as he reached the office, he saw Tan Tonghui, the captain of the Third Squadron, returning from out of town. Judging by his expression, he had likely just wrapped up the Yang Xu case and handed it over to the Procuratorate for prosecution. When he saw Cen Lian, his expression twisted slightly.

“Little Cen, how is the cold case you recently reopened coming along?” he asked, walking toward Cen Lian with a strained, unfamiliar smile.

Nearby, Wang Yuanteng saw Tan Tonghui’s expression and felt a sense of dread, as if he were seeing a ghost first thing in the morning.

“We have some leads,” Cen Lian replied. Though he wasn't very familiar with Tan Tonghui, the sight of the man desperately trying to hoist his long-dormant facial muscles into a smile gave him an immediate sense of the captain's usual demeanor. “Here is the specific situation…” Under Tan Tonghui’s expectant gaze, he laid out the findings from the past two days for the seemingly ambitious squadron leader.

“In other words, you have a clear suspect,” Tan Tonghui said thoughtfully. “I’ll assign a few more people to assist you so you can finish the screenings as quickly as possible.”

Wang Yuanteng was overjoyed, as they had brought back seventy or eighty admission records. Tan Tonghui pointed out a few officers to help and then turned to leave, clearly having other matters to attend to. The new arrivals looked at Cen Lian, waiting for instructions.

“Brother Teng, I’ll leave this to you,” Cen Lian said.

“Calling me that gives me the illusion that we’re about to star in a New Year’s comedy movie,” Wang Yuanteng grumbled, though he accepted the role and began distributing the admission records they had collected the day before, organized by hospital ward.

Lin Xiangyuan’s photo had been distributed to everyone. The officers in the office paired up, collected the photos, and quickly scattered to find people for questioning. As usual, Cen Lian was paired with Tang Hua. They held the identification information for the patients in Ward 325, right next to 327.

“Hey, the first place on our list is your old patrol district,” Tang Hua said, flipping through the patient records. “And it happens to be your Tianlai Residential Complex.”

Cen Lian had a deep impression of the Tianlai complex. It was there that he had encountered his first criminal record related to a homicide, and it was also the place where he had spent most of his time responding to calls over the past few years. Before arriving, Cen Lian called Director Zhang Guixia and asked her to accompany them.

“This is the benefit of having connections; we don't even need to ask the local police station for help,” Tang Hua chuckled.

“Stay grounded. Our official assignment is still at the Xinhua Police Station,” Cen Lian replied, well aware of his current status.

He was nothing more than a beast of burden on secondment. If there was a difference, it was perhaps that this particular beast was exceptionally good at solving cases. As November began and the end of the year approached, Cen Lian had solved two homicide cases for the Taishan District Branch with mind-boggling speed, delivered a Class B fugitive, and even helped the anti-narcotics brigade uncover a drug trafficking chain. The Taishan District Branch, once under immense pressure to meet its KPIs, suddenly felt relieved, no longer worried about their status as a major city branch slipping out of the top five. If they could also crack this cold case, the branch might even compete for the top two spots, achieving their best results in history.

With such pleasant thoughts, Tang Hua parked the dilapidated Santana on the side of the road, locked the car, and went to meet Director Zhang with Cen Lian. Director Zhang Guixia was quite proactive when it came to solving murders; this time, she had arrived at the Tianlai complex early and was chatting with some familiar neighborhood women.

“Little Cen, you’re here,” Zhang Guixia greeted him with a smile. “This is Yang Junmei, the person you wanted to ask about.”

“Hello, Auntie Yang. We’re here to ask you about something that happened six years ago.” Once Director Zhang had ushered the other women away, Cen Lian began his inquiry. There were no text bubbles above Yang Junmei’s head, meaning she had no criminal record in the eyes of the law.

“Ask whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything I know,” Auntie Yang said, sounding very forthright.

Cen Lian glanced at Tang Hua, who immediately produced the photo of Lin Xiangyuan.

“Auntie, when you were hospitalized six years ago, did you ever see this man?” Tang Hua asked with a smile. Although criminal investigators weren’t typically known for "smiling service," his time at the local station had ingrained in him the habit of being friendly when starting an interview.

“Let me see,” Auntie Yang pulled a pair of reading glasses from her pocket, put them on, and immediately tapped the photo. “I’ve seen this man!”

Cen Lian and Tang Hua immediately perked up, even adjusting the lens of the body camera on their chests.

“I remember this very clearly. He seemed to be visiting an old man in our ward. He told me that the oxygen concentrators buried in the walls of our ward used low-quality oxygen and urged me to break it so the hospital would have to replace it with the best oxygen for us! I scolded him right then and there—if I broke the equipment, was he going to pay for it? It was absolutely absurd!”