Chapter 59.1: Use Big Sis as Scapegoat Again
Jiang Xia genuinely wanted to have a nice meal.
She stared stubbornly at the tofu on the plate, carefully judging its color.
After all, traditional tofu could be set with either brine or gypsum, and tofu made with the latter could also be very white.
Unfortunately, her enhanced color perception shattered that little hope.
No matter how white gypsum-set tofu was, it would still have an overall ivory tint due to the natural properties of soybeans. There was absolutely no way it could be this ghastly white.
Jiang Xia had reached her definitive (and thoroughly resigned) diagnosis.
This tofu had definitely been adulterated!
How many years had it even been since Reform and Opening Up began? The private market was only gradually being opened up, so how had someone already become this creative?
Jiang Xia seriously considered what might have been added to it.
Given that chemical products weren’t nearly as advanced or widespread as they would become in the 1990s and after the turn of the millennium, whatever substance they had used would have to be readily available, easy to obtain, and not lethal in the short term.
The most likely culprit was probably sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, commonly known as ‘diaobai kuai’.
Its scientific name was sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, an industrial bleaching agent commonly used in the textile-dyeing industry. When heated, it decomposed and released toxic gases such as formaldehyde and sulfur dioxide. It could damage the liver and kidneys and was strictly prohibited for use in food processing.
Which raised the question: Did the chef at this privately owned restaurant know that the tofu was contaminated?
The dishes hadn’t all arrived yet. Everyone was still chatting, planning to start eating once everything had been served. Jiang Xia figured she could wait a little longer and see what was really going on.
“Oh, right. There’s a tricky case over in Renzé that they need me to come handle. I’ve got to leave at eight tonight.”
Chen Yongyi hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Jiang Xia at all. He smiled and said, “I can’t drink when I’m taking the train. If I drink before getting on, I get dizzy and throw up. I can’t handle it. So today we’ll just stick to the food and skip the alcohol. It’ll also give us a chance to properly sample what this restaurant’s chef can do.”
“Don’t worry, Expert Chen.”
Banquets like this generally weren’t complete without some alcohol to liven things up, but that only worked if drinking actually helped people bond. Xu Changsong knew perfectly well that neither of these two was going to be much good at that, so he had already crossed alcohol off the list.
“I told the restaurant ahead of time not to serve any alcohol. I had them bring out a few extra bottles of juice instead. I also had them brew a pot of Dahongpao from Mount Wuyi. Expert Chen, how does that sound?”
As he spoke, Xu Changsong turned to Jiang Xia.
“Speaking of which, Jiang Xia, what kind of fruit juice do you like?”
Jiang Xia looked up and replied, “Apple. Slightly sweet, not sour. It’s much better than hawthorn juice.”
Xu Changsong immediately reminded Rong Zhenhai, “Da Rong, don’t forget to get Jiang Xia some apple juice later.”
Rong Zhenhai immediately agreed. “Sure thing.”
“Jiang Xia.”
The moment Jiang Xia came up in conversation, Chen Yongyi’s attention shifted toward her as well. He silently calculated the time and said, “Come to think of it, in a little over two months, it’ll be October. The provincial department is going to launch another campaign to tackle long-unsolved cases. Would you like to come?”
The moment he said this, Xu Changsong, who had been about to continue chatting, immediately swallowed the words in his throat.
Even Rong Zhenhai looked over enviously.
Damn. Straight to the provincial department?
“Huh?”
Jiang Xia was a little surprised.
In fact, the clearance rate for criminal cases was quite low in those days. Even after the turn of the millennium, before the Ministry of Public Security officially introduced the slogan that ‘every homicide must be solved’, the national clearance rate had only reached 41 percent. And that figure didn’t even account for cases that were never reported. If those were included, the actual rate might not even have reached 30 percent.
Under such circumstances, cities—and even entire provinces—accumulated huge numbers of unsolved criminal cases.
The public-security authorities at every level didn’t simply leave those cases unattended, either. Every year, they would concentrate their resources on them: bringing together experts from different fields, adopting new technologies, and conducting large-scale re-investigations of old cases that had been compiled together, all in an attempt to see whether they could finally crack them in a concentrated effort.
Generally speaking, criminals were capable of committing multiple offenses. Once a large number of old cases were brought together, cases with highly similar characteristics could be consolidated into a single series. By piecing together clues that had previously been found in different cases, investigators could often identify a suspect, reopen the investigation, and make an arrest.
Experts were even better at this. With their higher level of expertise, they were more likely to notice details that had originally been overlooked in old cases.
And with particularly difficult cases, having experts in forensic pathology, trace evidence, footprints, fingerprints, and other fields all gathered together could lead to ideas sparking off one another. That kind of cross-disciplinary exchange could produce entirely new insights and allow a case to be cracked in one stroke.
For these reasons, provincial public-security departments were always quite fond of organizing these campaigns to tackle long-unsolved cases.
But…
The people invited were all experts. She still had the same old problem: she wasn’t qualified yet.
“You’re giving me far too much credit.”
Jiang Xia shook her head slightly. “If you’re asking whether I’d like to go, then of course I would. With so many experts from different fields, I could probably learn enough just by sitting in and listening to them for ten years. But right now I’m just an ordinary police officer. I don’t have the qualifications to attend.”
“When it comes to criminal investigation, we don’t worry about that many formalities. We let our abilities speak for themselves.”
The police were part of the government system, so in many situations, rank and seniority mattered. But ultimately, those things still had to translate into actual results. What truly mattered when judging an officer was whether they could solve cases.
If you couldn’t solve cases and didn’t have any impressive cases to your name, what good were rank and seniority?
And those who could solve cases would always have the edge over those who couldn’t. Even if they didn’t have enough rank or seniority yet, it wasn’t a big deal. Given enough time, they would eventually get both.
“My own position isn’t particularly high either. Fortunately, I can still get a few words in at the provincial department, so I can mention you to the people upstairs.”
Chen Yongyi spoke frankly. “There still has to be a formal process, though. When the time comes, they’ll probably select two cases in advance and have you draw the suspects. That’s definitely not going to scare you off, right?”
“Of course not.”
With the conversation having reached this point, Jiang Xia was certain.
She was one hundred percent going to participate in this year’s campaign to tackle long-unsolved cases.
It was pretty exciting. In her previous life, she hadn’t even been able to get anywhere near the municipal government. Now she could actually walk into the provincial public-security department!
It just felt like her vacation was growing wings, getting ready to fly off into the distance and see the world.
Xu Changsong, meanwhile, had completely given up on trying to keep her in their city.
Expert Chen was already poaching her on behalf of the provincial department. How could a municipal bureau possibly compete with that?
Besides, he’d known from the beginning that there wasn’t much hope. So he didn’t feel particularly emotional about it now. There was only one thought left in his mind.
He had to find a way to keep her here for a few more days.
If they didn’t make the most of her time now, once she became famous, people would be lining up everywhere asking for her help. Unless their city ran into some truly life-or-death major case, how would they ever manage to get her to come over again?
While Xu Changsong was racking his brain for ways to keep Jiang Xia around for a few more days, Rong Zhenhai wasn’t thinking nearly that far ahead.
He had only one feeling right now:
Envy.
This was a provincial-level campaign to tackle long-unsolved cases! And the people invited were all experts!
And forensic facial composite sketching was a new technology. Whenever a new technology emerged, it could usually help crack quite a few cases.
With this kind of experience on her résumé, her future was absolutely going to be bright.
Brighter than the headlights of a heavy truck—no, brighter than the searchlights of an ocean liner!
Rong Zhenhai sighed inwardly.
See? Having real ability really did make a difference. There would always be seniors willing to mentor you, and whenever an opportunity came along, you could soar straight into the sky.
You just couldn’t help but admire someone like that.
“Going to the provincial department is a good thing. You’ll be able to learn a lot.”
Xu Changsong smiled. “But Jiang Xia, everyone has seen your skill with forensic composite sketches. It’s absolutely top-notch. After this trip, even more people will know who you are. In the future, I—”
Before he could finish, the private-room door suddenly went ‘click’ and swung open from the outside.
A waiter walked in carrying the dishes.
“Excuse me, sir. Could you move over a little? The dishes are here.”
The waiter set one corner of the tray down on the table and placed two quick-fried dishes—stir-fried bean sprouts with pork and stir-fried mixed vegetables—onto it. He then brought out the lion’s-head meatballs and fresh river shrimp.
Once she had finished placing them, the waiter turned around and motioned for the next server to continue bringing out the dishes. She then went back outside and returned with several bottles of fruit juice in different flavors.
By the time everything was done, most of the dishes had already been served.
Jiang Xia scanned the newly arrived dishes, her gaze gradually settling on the stir-fried bean sprouts with shredded pork.
The bean sprouts had thick, sturdy stems, more than twice the size of ordinary bean sprouts. They were long, fresh, and almost unnaturally white and tender. There were barely any root hairs at the bottom. After being stir-fried, they had turned slightly translucent and glistened faintly with oil. They looked absolutely perfect—color, aroma, and flavor all seemingly on point. One bite would probably be wonderfully crisp and sweet.
Jiang Xia, however, wore an expression that was rather hard to read.
‘Emmm…’
And now they’ve got poisonous bean sprouts, too?
Well, that settled it.
This restaurant definitely had some serious problems.
The waiter had left. Looking at the table, which was now more than half full of dishes, Xu Changsong was just about to suggest that everyone could start eating when Jiang Xia beat him to it.
“Chief Xu, we’d better not eat yet. At least two of the dishes they’ve served can’t be touched. They’re both poisonous.”
“Hm?”
Xu Changsong froze. He looked again at the perfectly normal-looking dishes, then stared at Jiang Xia in bewilderment.
“They all look perfectly normal. And you haven’t even tasted them. How do you know they’re poisonous?”
Chen Yongyi was equally startled, but he immediately remembered Jiang Xia’s profession. Rather than being confused, his mind instead flashed back to the fact that Jiang Xia had been staring at the preserved-egg tofu in front of her earlier.
He instinctively asked,
“Is there something wrong with the ingredients?”
“That’s right.”
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