Chapter 8: New Case
Being valued by your superiors was a good thing.
There’s always tomorrow, Jiang Xia told herself.
She stopped trying to refuse Chief Wu’s kindness. Draping her new uniform over the back of the chair, she rolled up her sleeves and began tidying the workstation that would soon be hers.
She worked quickly, sorting the scattered papers and files into neat stacks in no time.
Watching her work, Wang Xudong gathered the files from an unused desk across from him to clear some space.
“Xiao Jiang, there’s room over here. You can put the files here for now.”
“Thanks!”
Jiang Xia carried the files over.
“Thanks, Brother Wang.”
Wang Xudong waved dismissively.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“I’ll get some water.”
Hu Wei, quick to read the room, hurried out. Before long, he returned carrying a basin with a cleaning rag floating inside.
After wringing out the rag, he wiped every bit of dust off Jiang Xia’s desk before she even had the chance to help.
In less than ten minutes, the workstation was completely cleaned up.
The neatly arranged desktop still glistened with a few damp streaks.
Jiang Xia stole a glance at Chief Wu and couldn’t help feeling a little sentimental.
Being in a leader’s good graces definitely had its perks.
If it weren’t for Chief Wu, who would have been so eager to help her get settled?
She quickly adjusted her mindset.
If I can’t slack off, at least maybe I’ll have less work to do.
She soon realized she had been far too optimistic.
The police station was far busier than she had imagined.
Apparently deciding that Jiang Xia was a talented college graduate with neat handwriting, Chief Wu promptly placed a thick stack of witness statements on her desk.
“Xiao Jiang, rewrite these statements according to this format.”
Well…
Time to start writing.
At exactly eight o’clock, Wang Xuguang and Shen Huoda strapped on their sidearms and headed out on their daily patrol.
Seated at her desk, Jiang Xia buried herself in copying the statements.
She had only been at it for a short while when the office telephone rang.
Deputy Chief Xu picked up the receiver.
“Two groups are fighting on Xingfu Street? All right, all right, I understand. I’ll bring some people over right away!”
Deputy Chief Xu hung up the phone and hurried out with several officers.
The moment he left, two groups of people walked into the station.
The first group consisted of three people. Two of them were arguing loudly, occasionally shoving each other as the argument escalated.
Seeing things about to get out of hand, Chief Wu stepped forward with a stern expression and barked at them to stop.
The second was a man in his early thirties. Holding a slip of paper, he approached Chief Wu.
“Chief Wu, I’m going to Henan Province to visit relatives. My factory has approved my leave.” He held out the document. “Could you write me a letter of introduction?”
After taking the paper and checking the factory’s name and official seal, Chief Wu turned toward Jiang Xia.
“Xiao Jiang! Someone needs a letter of introduction. Use the sample on my desk and write one up.”
“Got it.”
Jiang Xia put down her pen, found the sample letter on Chief Wu’s desk, and beckoned the man over.
“Comrade, please come over and tell me the exact address and your personal information.”
She hadn’t even finished writing the letter when four more people came bustling into the station.
As Chief Wu dealt with them one after another, he kept calling out instructions.
“Xiao Jiang, have them write an IOU in a moment!”
“Xiao Jiang, hurry up and copy that public notice—we’re almost out of time!”
“Xiao Jiang…”
“Xiao Jiang…”
…
Throughout the entire morning, the station responded to seven or eight dispatch calls, while wave after wave of people came through the door.
At its busiest, the station was livelier than a marketplace.
By noon, things finally settled down.
Jiang Xia shook her arm, which had gone numb from writing, and wiped the sweat from her face.
Chief Wu hadn’t been exaggerating.
Community police stations really did deal with an endless stream of trivial matters.
And I actually thought I’d have time to slack off…
She hadn’t had a single free moment all morning.
Nor had anyone else.
Everyone in the station had been running around nonstop. Even Lu Fusheng had been busy mediating disputes—though Jiang Xia couldn’t shake the feeling that the guy was somehow finding opportunities to slack off while doing it.
“Tired already?”
Most of the officers had already gone home for lunch. Hu Wei, who had stayed behind for desk duty after returning from a call, walked over carrying his lunchbox.
Taking a bite as he spoke, he said,
“I honestly didn’t expect the station to be this busy. It’s always one thing after another. When I first got here, it was a disaster—I was completely overwhelmed and kept making mistakes.”
“But you’re different.”
Hu Wei grinned honestly.
“I watched you all morning. You kept getting interrupted while writing, but every time Chief Wu checked your work, he said it was good. That’s seriously impressive.”
As he spoke, he gave Jiang Xia a thumbs-up.
“It’s nothing.”
For most people, the easiest way to work was to focus on one task from start to finish. Constant interruptions only made things more chaotic, especially for newcomers, who could quickly end up in complete disarray.
But Jiang Xia wasn’t really a newcomer.
In her previous life, she’d been a teacher, and interruptions like these had been a daily occurrence. Handling them smoothly came naturally to her.
Unfortunately, that realization didn’t make her happy.
Because it only proved one thing—
She had already become a fully seasoned corporate workhorse.
The kind that willingly pulled the millstone without anyone even asking.
What a depressing conclusion.
“You’re way too modest.”
Hu Wei pulled up a chair and sat down, still sounding excited.
“I wanted to tell you yesterday how amazing you were when you solved that case. You shut Lu Fusheng up so completely he didn’t dare say another word. You have no idea how much I hate the way that guy orders everyone around. Hey, Jiang Xia, are all police academy graduates as capable as you?”
“Not all of them. I just happened to do particularly well in this area.”
One person alone couldn’t accomplish everything.
If she wanted to have an easier time at the station, Chief Wu’s support alone wouldn’t be enough. She needed to make a few friends as well.
Hu Wei had joined around the same time she had and had taken the initiative to be friendly, so Jiang Xia was happy to accept the olive branch.
She asked in return, “What’s Lu Fusheng’s background? How can he throw his weight around like that?”
“He’s got connections.”
Hu Wei curled his lip.
“Nothing all that impressive, though. His family paid to get him in. He doesn’t dare offend anyone with real authority, so he just acts like a big shot around the newcomers.”
“I figured as much.”
Jiang Xia nodded, not the least bit surprised.
It was almost exactly what she’d guessed the day before.
“Lu Fusheng only throws his weight around because he’s older. He’s always playing the seniority card. Have you noticed? None of the veteran officers pay him any attention.”
Hu Wei slapped his thigh.
“Exactly!”
Nothing brings people together faster than complaining about the same annoying coworker.
Jiang Xia was sincerely grateful for Lu Fusheng’s contribution to their budding friendship. By now, Hu Wei was looking at her as if she were a comrade-in-arms.
Remembering the favor her older sister had asked of her yesterday, Jiang Xia said,
“Oh, by the way, Brother Hu, do you know anywhere in our precinct—or nearby—where street vendors set up stalls?”
“Sure. There are people selling vegetables on Xingfu Street.”
Hu Wei replied,
“But the vendors over there are always getting into fights, and there are pickpockets too. You’d better not go there by yourself.”
That dangerous?
Jiang Xia frowned slightly.
“Is there somewhere safer?”
“Safer?”
Hu Wei quickly understood what she meant. After thinking for a moment, he said,
“I honestly don’t know. But I have a few classmates who were assigned to different police stations. If you’re not in a hurry, I can ask around for you.”
“That’d be great.”
That would be much faster than asking around herself, and it might also give her some local connections in the future.
Jiang Xia let out a relieved breath.
“Once I get my first paycheck, dinner’s on me.”
“It’s just a small favor. No need.”
Hu Wei waved his hand generously, but halfway through the gesture, he suddenly stopped.
Pulling his hands back together awkwardly in front of him, he said somewhat sheepishly,
“Um… Jiang Xia, could you teach me that footprint-tracking technique you learned at the police academy? I’d like to solve a case myself someday.”
“Sure.”
Jiang Xia agreed without hesitation.
“I happen to have a book on it. I can bring it for you tomorrow.”
The station was so busy that she genuinely hoped more of her coworkers would take the initiative to learn new skills.
The more capable everyone became, the easier the workload would be.
“That’s fantastic!”
Hu Wei’s face lit up.
He patted his chest and declared,
“If you ever need help with any heavy lifting or odd jobs, just let me know. I’m not good at much else, but I’ve got plenty of muscle!”
After chatting for a while, Jiang Xia and Hu Wei had grown noticeably closer.
…
The very next day, Jiang Xia brought Hu Wei both her Footprint Tracking notes and her Criminal Investigation textbook.
The textbook was carefully covered with a protective book jacket, while the footprint tracking material was a handwritten notebook. Both were neatly wrapped, making it obvious that their owner took great care of them.
Hu Wei even washed his hands before touching them.
He had transferred from the military to the police force.
Every police officer dreamed of solving cases.
And as a rookie, Hu Wei’s dream burned especially brightly.
Seeing Jiang Xia solve the case at Dong Aihua’s house the other day—her calm search for clues, the confidence with which she explained her deductions—had simply been unbelievably cool.
He wasn’t asking for much.
If he could become even half as good as she was, he’d be satisfied.
After all, although he’d never attended a police academy, he had studied through the second year of junior high before enlisting, and his grades had been among the best in his class.
With that foundation, surely he couldn’t be that bad.
Early that morning, before anyone else had arrived at the station, Hu Wei took advantage of the quiet and eagerly opened the Footprint Tracking notebook—the one he was most interested in.
He flipped to a random page, intending to skim through it first.
Neatly written characters filled the page.
Formula for estimating height from three-dimensional footprints:
Height = (Bare foot length − Difference between three-dimensional and two-dimensional footprints) × Foot-to-height ratio coefficient.
Below that were sections explaining:
How to calculate bare foot length from shoe-print length…
Methods for calculating the difference between three-dimensional and flat impressions…
Variations in foot-to-height ratio coefficients…
The longer he read, the stiffer his expression became.
How is it that I recognize every single Chinese character… but once they’re put together, I can’t understand a thing?
Fighting off a growing sense of dizziness, Hu Wei stubbornly turned another page.
Affiliation formula:
P?(U?) = 1 − [(X?? − X??) ÷ 100 + (X??…
Hu Wei gradually fell silent.
He suddenly realized…
Closing his eyes felt remarkably comfortable when looking at all those letters.
Just then, Chief Wu walked into the office.
He was about to grab his teacup for some water when he happened to glance over.
There sat Hu Wei, leaning back in his chair with his eyes tightly shut, looking for all the world as though he’d fallen into a deep sleep.
…Huh?
Sleeping first thing in the morning?
Chief Wu walked over for a closer look.
One glance at the book in Hu Wei’s hands, and he immediately knew—
Jiang Xia had to be the one who’d lent it to him.
The books were all legitimate police training materials, so Chief Wu didn’t say anything.
Still, he couldn’t resist satisfying his curiosity and flipped through a few pages himself.
Then, without a word, he quietly closed the book.
Nope.
This thing makes me sleepy too.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Today, it was Jiang Xia’s turn to cover the station during the lunch break.
She was lucky. Throughout the entire noon shift, the phone never rang, and no one came to the station on official business.
For once, she managed to enjoy a peaceful lunch.
Inside the office, Chief Wu, being older, was beginning to lose the battle against drowsiness. He lined up four chairs, stretched out across them, and settled in for a nap.
Jiang Xia was still full of energy.
But to stay sharp for the afternoon, she took some tea leaves from Chief Wu’s desk drawer and prepared herself a cup of tea.
After several days on the job, her duties had more or less settled into a routine.
Most of her time was spent copying documents. When things weren’t busy, she’d follow Chief Wu around to learn how to mediate neighborhood disputes.
Overall, she had adapted well and still found time to practice the skills she’d upgraded through the system.
The twenty experience points she’d earned from lock-picking had all been invested in Footprint Tracking.
As a result, her mind now contained numerous advanced formulas, a wealth of case studies, and significantly improved visual acuity and spatial awareness.
She filled her mug from the hot-water thermos in the corner, then carried it back toward her desk, blowing gently across the steaming tea as she walked.
Hu Wei was still seated at his desk, flipping through sheets of paper covered with inked footprints.
Over the past few days, he had collected footprint samples from everyone around him for basic practice.
He still hadn’t given up.
He was determined to master footprint tracking.
It was only after starting to study it that he realized how overconfident he’d been.
The gap between himself and Jiang Xia was simply heaven and earth.
Forget reaching half her level—even if he studied diligently for several years, he’d be thrilled if he could reach one-tenth of her ability.
After finishing one set of calculations, he couldn’t help calling out as Jiang Xia walked past.
“Hey, Jiang Xia, what do you make of these footprint measurements?”
Jiang Xia glanced at the data for a few seconds while blowing on her tea, then answered casually,
“Male. Height between 176 and 178 centimeters. Age 33 to 35. Weight around 74 kilograms.”
She took another sip of tea.
“Pretty solid build, too.”
Hu Wei was stunned by how quickly she’d reached her conclusion. He looked down at the serial number on the page and checked it against the recorded data.
Every single detail was correct.
“Wait… Jiang Xia, you didn’t even use a forensic measuring ruler. You just glanced at it and knew the measurements?”
Then he looked at the calculations he’d spent more than twenty minutes working through.
Unable to hold it in any longer, he groaned.
“And your estimate is in such a narrow range! How on earth do you do that? I’m lucky if I can narrow someone’s height down to within six centimeters!”
“The gait characteristics are pretty obvious. The heel and arch show outward pressure, there’s a scraping mark where the foot pushed off, and the big toe impression is elongated.”
Jiang Xia explained matter-of-factly,
“That indicates a tall person, so there’s no need to subtract for shoe size.”
“As for the age…” she continued, “the center of pressure has shifted about two-thirds of the way toward the second toe. Converting that gives an estimated age of around thirty-four.”
Listening to her explanation, Hu Wei lowered his head and stared at the footprint again.
The print was just a black smudge on the paper.
To him, it looked no different from any other footprint.
Only by concentrating could he barely make out that the body’s weight had shifted toward the second toe.
As for how much it had shifted?
He couldn’t tell at all.
When he looked back up, he gazed at Jiang Xia as though she were some kind of immortal.
Seriously… what kind of eyes do you have?!
Jiang Xia calmly took another sip of tea.
Basic stuff. No need to make such a fuss.
Although her Footprint Tracking skill was only Level 2, the proficiency bar had already reached 52%.
In reality, she was already far more capable than an ordinary veteran detective and was steadily approaching Level 3, the level of an expert.
Analyzing a complete barefoot impression at a glance was child’s play.
Compared with the technical knowledge, however, Jiang Xia was even more interested in the improvement to her eyesight.
She could now perceive much finer details than before.
To use an imperfect analogy, where she had once been able to estimate that a shoe print was about three or four millimeters deep, she could now tell that it was 3.4 millimeters deep, with a five- to six-millimeter twisting drag mark along the edge of the heel.
It was absurdly powerful.
So this is what the world looks like through an expert’s eyes?
And Jiang Xia had a feeling that her enhanced vision wasn’t useful only for examining footprints.
She just hadn’t figured out what else she could use it for yet.
Ring—! Ring—!
The phone at the station suddenly rang.
“The phone!”
Before Jiang Xia could answer it, Chief Wu, who had been napping across the chairs, shot upright. The chairs behind him tipped over with a loud bang, crashing into the wall.
Still seated, he wiped his face and asked,
“Xiao Jiang, what’s going on?”
“I’ll find out.”
Jiang Xia picked up the receiver.
“Hello, Zhouying Police Station.”
A middle-aged man’s anxious voice came through the line.
“This is Section Chief Liu from the Security Department of the Garment Factory. Is Chief Wu there? I need to speak with him immediately. It’s an emergency!”
“The Garment Factory? Isn’t that in the neighboring precinct? Why are they calling me?”
Chief Wu frowned in confusion. Walking over, he took the receiver from Jiang Xia.
“This is Wu Zhenguo speaking. Section Chief Liu, what’s happened?”
“It’s serious!”
Section Chief Liu spoke at breakneck speed.
“We were preparing today’s shipment when we discovered that four entire bundles of bed sheets and pillowcases had disappeared from the warehouse! They’re worth over 1,500 yuan at market price. Everyone here is losing their minds!”
“I reported it to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, but they said they’re tied up with another urgent case and can’t send anyone right away. One of the detectives suggested asking you to come take a look first. I didn’t know what else to do, so I called you.”
Well, well… this has Chen Dong written all over it.
Chief Wu immediately understood.
He looked up at Jiang Xia.
That sly fox Chen Dong hadn’t really meant for him to investigate.
He wanted Jiang Xia on the case.
He’d simply been worried that she was too young to command authority on her own, so he’d had Section Chief Liu invite Chief Wu along as well.
Jiang Xia had reached the same conclusion.
Her eyes lit up.
A new case!
After spending so many days doing clerical work, she was finally getting another investigation!
Come on, Master! Say yes! If you agree, I’ll finally get to leave the station this afternoon!
“Hmm…”
After a moment’s thought, Chief Wu nodded.
“All right. Protect the crime scene. I’ll bring someone over immediately.”
“Master, I’ll go get the equipment!”
The instant Chief Wu agreed, Jiang Xia dashed out of the office without another word.
“I haven’t even said you’re going yet…”
Chief Wu shook his head helplessly.
“Forget it.”
After all, whether he went or not probably wouldn’t make much difference.
A little over a minute later, Jiang Xia returned, now carrying an additional green shoulder bag.
“Let’s go.”
The journey passed in silence.
The Garment Factory was a little far away. Even by bicycle, it took more than half an hour to get there.
By the time they arrived, it was already the start of the work shift. There were no more workers coming in or out of the factory gate.
Only a middle-aged man wearing an olive-green jacket and blue trousers stood there, anxiously looking left and right.
From a distance, Jiang Xia immediately recognized him as the Section Chief Liu who had called earlier.
“Oh, Chief Wu! You’re finally here!”
Before they even reached the entrance, Section Chief Liu hurried over, grabbed Chief Wu’s hand, and shook it enthusiastically.
“You have no idea! The goods that went missing were exactly the ones we were supposed to deliver today. With such a huge shortfall, we have no way to explain things to the factory leaders or the supply and marketing cooperative!”
“I understand, I understand. Everyone’s having a hard time…”
Chief Wu reassured him.
Jiang Xia stepped in at the right moment.
“Section Chief Liu, could you explain the specific situation?”
Only then did Section Chief Liu notice Jiang Xia.
A new police officer.
And far too young-looking.
It was difficult not to underestimate her.
But she had come with Chief Wu, and she was asking about the matter he was currently desperate to resolve, so he didn’t comment.
“Ah, look at me. I’m so anxious I’ve completely lost my head.”
He slapped his forehead, then turned around.
“Come, come, I’ll take you to the warehouse.”
As they walked, he began explaining what had happened.
“Yesterday, our accountant Wang brought some people to check the inventory. Everything was still fine at that time. It wasn’t until after 10 this morning, when we were preparing to send the goods out, that we realized the numbers didn’t match.”
“The warehouse manager, Old Xiao, arrived at 8:30 this morning. He says everything was normal. The warehouse door was closed and locked, the window glass wasn’t damaged, and after he opened it, he stayed by the entrance. No one went inside.”
At this point, Section Chief Liu paused slightly before continuing.
“We also asked the female workers who passed by early in the morning. They all said the door lock and the window glass were fine.”
Jiang Xia gathered the information in her mind.
Since this was only Section Chief Liu’s account, it naturally contained his own subjective assumptions. She didn’t accept everything he said at face value. Instead, she followed the direction of his suspicions and asked:
“So, Section Chief Liu, you suspect that someone inside the factory committed the theft?”
Section Chief Liu shook his head, looking troubled.
“If only it were that simple!”
“Huh?”
Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow.
There was actually another twist?
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