Jiang Xia didn’t accept the money.

But two days later, Chief Wu still brought her a high-quality sketchbook. It had a black hard cover with a long strap that fastened it shut, along with a box of Marie drawing pencils.

As long as it wasn’t too outrageous and could help solve cases, Chief Wu was generally supportive. When work wasn’t busy, he didn’t mind if his officers slacked off a little.

But Jiang Xia would rather crack sunflower seeds and sip tea than pick up that sketchbook.

Even if she starved to death—even if she had to jump out of the police station—she refused to practice drawing portraits ever again!

That, however, was a story for later.

At the moment, Jiang Xia was deep in thought.

Chief Wu did have a point.

No matter what kind of research you wanted to do, it usually came down to two words:

Burn money.

With the police station’s budget already stretched thin, it was only natural that they weren’t willing to support it.

That completely crushed her plan of using “research” as an excuse to practice lockpicking in front of her coworkers while farming System points.

This was a grassroots police station, after all. Jiang Xia understood why they thought the way they did and wasn’t about to force the issue.

But if that path was blocked, she’d have to find another.

At the moment, the only criminal skills she possessed were lockpicking and pickpocketing.

Since lockpicking couldn’t be demonstrated, that left only pickpocketing.

According to the System’s criteria, the fastest and most efficient way to earn points was to steal something and immediately return it.

But that was still theft.

It crossed a line she wasn’t willing to cross.

That idea was out.

As for other methods…

Jiang Xia couldn’t think of any.

If only there were something the System would recognize as a crime, but that wouldn’t make my coworkers suspicious and would let me do it openly…

Unable to come up with an answer, she idly twirled the ballpoint pen in her hand before her thoughts drifted back to lockpicking.

If it wouldn’t work at the local station…

It might work at the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

They had a Technical Division and dedicated trace evidence examiners. Their way of thinking was more progressive. Even if she picked locks every day, nobody would probably gossip behind her back.

The more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea became.

The Municipal Bureau…

It really did seem like an excellent choice.

Not only could she exploit the System’s loopholes to farm skill points, but there were also far more cases to work on.

Best of all, she wouldn’t have to spend her days dealing with the endless trivial chores that came with working at a neighborhood police station.

And with her abilities, getting into the Municipal Public Security Bureau wouldn’t actually be that difficult.

After thinking it over for a while, however, Jiang Xia dismissed the idea.

Ability was one thing.

Her family were ordinary people with no connections or influence. Pulling strings to get transferred would be both troublesome and expensive, and even if she succeeded, she’d still end up at the bottom of the pecking order.

Better to let things take their natural course.

With her skills improving every day, it was only a matter of time before the Municipal Bureau took notice of her.

Lost in thought, Jiang Xia suddenly realized Shen Huoda’s snoring had stopped.

After pulling an all-nighter, he slowly opened his eyes and sluggishly sat up.

“No wonder it smells so good. So Chief Wu brought meat buns, huh? Did you save one for me?”

Shen Huoda wiped his face, then vigorously shook his head, though he still looked half-asleep.

“Xiao Jiang, could you get me a basin of cold water?”

“Sure.”

Jiang Xia set down her ballpoint pen and stood up to fetch a washbasin.

As she did, the hem of her shirt brushed against a pencil, knocking it off the desk.

Whoops.

She smacked her forehead lightly and bent down to pick it up.

Before her fingers even touched the pencil, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

Could I steal this…

No.

Could I “borrow” it?

Jiang Xia’s eyes lit up.

A pencil wasn’t worth much. If she openly picked one up, nobody would really care. At most, they’d tease her a little.

More importantly, she could do it repeatedly.

That was far more practical than lockpicking, which she couldn’t openly demonstrate very often.

The only question was…

Would the System recognize it?

Why not find someone to test it on?

Once the idea occurred to her, Jiang Xia immediately started looking for an opportunity while going about her work.

That afternoon…

After sleeping the entire morning, Hu Wei was back to full strength.

Looking refreshed and full of energy, he took over his master’s shift and joined Deputy Chief Xu in interrogating the suspects arrested the previous day.

Seeing him emerge from the interrogation room carrying a notebook and pen, Jiang Xia picked up her own notebook and walked over.

“Well? Did you get anything new out of them?”

“No.”

Hu Wei shook his head, looking somewhat disappointed.

“Deputy Chief Xu says they’re definitely hiding more cases, but they’re keeping their mouths shut.”

“That’s only to be expected.”

Jiang Xia said, “They’re already looking at life sentences. If they confess to even more crimes, they might end up facing the firing squad. Why would they talk? Anyway, I’ve reorganized yesterday’s interrogation transcripts. Take these over and have them sign them.”

“Got it.”

Hu Wei accepted the notebook and handed her the one he was carrying.

“These are the new statements.”

“Let me take a look.”

Jiang Xia flipped through a few pages.

“This part’s a bit messy.”

“Oh, that’s a place name. It’s pronounced… Qi City or something? I didn’t know how to write the character.”

“I know it. It’s Qicheng—what’s now Qi County.”

She took the pen from Hu Wei’s hand and wrote the characters as she spoke.

“Oh, by the way, Brother Hu, did you ask around for me about good places to set up a street stall?”

“I was actually going to tell you the other day, but you weren’t around that morning.”

Hu Wei replied, “The guys I know said most street vending areas in their districts aren’t very peaceful. People’s Park is better since there are patrol officers, though you’ll have to pay a five-fen entrance fee. Hongxing Road is another good spot. The customers there are more generous because there are government offices nearby.”

“Great. Thanks, Brother Hu. I’ll head back to the office and get back to work.”

Jiang Xia let the pen hang naturally at her side in her right hand while casually waving the statements in her left as she walked toward the office.

The moment she had taken a single step away, the familiar voice of the System sounded beside her ear.

【Congratulations, Host. You have completed one minor crime. Experience +1.】

It worked!

Jiang Xia’s heart leaped with joy, and her footsteps became noticeably lighter.

Excellent.

From today onward…

She was going to become the ultimate pen-swiping maniac.

Chief Wu spent another full day interrogating the suspects over and over.

When it became clear that they weren’t going to confess to anything else and there was no additional evidence to pursue, he officially closed the case.

He also took the opportunity to call Section Chief Liu from the garment factory and told him to come collect the recovered goods.

Although He Tuzi had only possessed the stolen merchandise for two days, he’d already managed to sell off some of the bedsheets and pillowcases—some individually, some in sets. Recovering those would be difficult.

Fortunately, he hadn’t sold much.

More than eighty percent of the stolen goods were still intact.

The moment Section Chief Liu heard the news, he was overjoyed.

He had been convinced the stolen goods were gone for good.

If that had happened, he would certainly have been criticized at the end of the year, and his bonus would have gone up in smoke. Instead, things had taken a dramatic turn for the better. Not only had the thieves been caught, but almost all of the stolen goods had been recovered as well.

Now he could stop worrying about being reprimanded.

Overjoyed, Section Chief Liu prepared a few gifts. Bringing along two young workers, he rode over to the police station to collect the recovered merchandise.

“You’ve done our factory a tremendous favor!”

Inside the office, Section Chief Liu handed out bundles of neatly tied fabric scraps to everyone.

“I can’t thank you enough. I don’t have anything valuable to offer, so I brought some leftover fabric. They’re just scraps the factory can’t use anymore. Take them home to patch holes in your clothes, or if nothing else, glue a few layers together to make shoe soles. It’s better than letting them go to waste.”

“Here, Comrade Jiang. This bundle is yours.”

As he spoke, he handed Jiang Xia a stack of fabric scraps.

Textiles were still in short supply. Buying cloth required ration coupons, making fabric a precious commodity.

Scraps this small—most only the size of a palm—weren’t worth much, but they were undeniably useful.

Chief Wu didn’t stop anyone from accepting them.

With a smile, he said, “Looks like we’re getting a little windfall today. Go ahead and take them.”

Jiang Xia picked up her bundle.

Not only was it noticeably heavier than everyone else’s, but the pieces of fabric were also larger and far less tattered.

She raised an eyebrow.

Looking up, she caught Section Chief Liu smiling knowingly at her.

No wonder he’s a section chief.

The man really knows how to handle people.

After seeing him off, it was almost time to get off work.

Jiang Xia carried her bundle of fabric scraps home.

Her younger sister, Jiang Ying, was busy in the kitchen, while their mother wasn’t idle either. Zhou Mei sat beside the coffee table, carefully gluing together pieces of cardboard.

Jiang Xia dropped the bundle in front of her.

“Mom, guess what this is?”

“So much fabric?”

The moment Zhou Mei saw it, her eyes widened with surprise and delight.

“Where did you get all this?”

“Section Chief Liu from the garment factory gave it to us.”

Jiang Xia smiled.

“The station caught the thieves who stole from their factory and recovered the goods, so he brought these over as a thank-you gift.”

“No wonder.”

Zhou Mei untied the string around the bundle and happily began sorting through the pieces.

There was quite a lot of fabric—at least six or seven jin (about three to three-and-a-half kilograms).

Once the bundle was untied, the scraps spread across more than half of the coffee table.

Most were white, pink, blue, or gray. They varied in size, but the larger pieces were the majority, many about the size of a hand towel. There was enough material to make quite a few useful things.

Just look at my daughter. She’s really capable!

A surge of pride welled up inside Zhou Mei.

She picked out several of the largest pieces and began planning aloud.

“This fabric is really nice. If I piece these together, I could even make a shirt. But no one in the family needs new clothes right now…”

She thought for a moment.

“Oh, I remember your shoulder bag is getting worn out. These would be perfect for making you a striped cloth bag. As for the rest, I’ll think about what to make with them later.”

“Take your time, Mom.”

Jiang Xia smiled.

“I’m going to see what delicious food Sis is making.”

“Go on, you little glutton.”

Jiang Xia slipped into the kitchen.

The room was filled with the aroma of spices.

Jiang Ying stood in front of the stove, sprinkling chili powder into a pot. When she saw Jiang Xia come in, she said,

“There’s no snack for you today. I’m making seasoning, and the smell sticks to your clothes. You’d better go back out.”

“Hm?”

Jiang Xia casually closed the kitchen door behind her and protested,

“Sis, do you really think all I ever do is eat?”

Jiang Ying was silent for a moment.

“…Isn’t that true?”

Thinking back, Jiang Xia realized that the first thing she asked every day after coming home was what there was to eat.

She really couldn’t argue with that.

“Well, that’s because your cooking is just too good.”

She gave an awkward cough and changed the subject.

“I found out about those places you asked me to check.”

She repeated everything Hu Wei had told her about the recommended vending locations.

Then, after a brief hesitation, she asked,

“But Sis, are you really planning to have Cousin set up a street stall? It’s not exactly easy.”

People in the twenty-first century often liked to claim that the 1980s and 1990s were a golden age when money was lying everywhere on the ground, as though anyone could become rich.

But after actually finding herself in this era, Jiang Xia had realized just how difficult it really was.

For one thing, most goods were still rationed.

Just securing a source of merchandise was a huge challenge, not to mention the lingering controversy over whether private business amounted to “capitalist behavior.”

Most of the people who managed to make a fortune had at least some connections or influential contacts.

For ordinary people…

It simply wasn’t that easy.

“I wasn’t planning on having him run a street stall forever.”

Jiang Ying understood the situation even better than Jiang Xia did. This still wasn’t the era when private businesses were flourishing.

“This is just a trial run. We need actual sales figures before we can approach the commune and ask for funding to set up a workshop. Once it’s officially established as a collective enterprise, no one will be able to criticize it.”

That settled it.

Her sister clearly knew what she was doing, so there was no need for Jiang Xia to worry.

“In that case, Sis, I’m rooting for you. When your workshop grows into a factory, I’ll go around telling everyone, ‘The factory director is my sister.'”

“Oh, stop talking nonsense.”

Jiang Ying reached over and flicked Jiang Xia on the forehead.

“It’s still way too early for that.”

“I’m serious. Your cooking is so good—you’ll definitely succeed!”

“Now that’s something I like hearing.”

Jiang Ying laughed.

“Come on, say a little more.”

While the Jiang sisters were laughing and chatting at home…

…

The atmosphere at the Municipal Public Security Bureau was considerably gloomier.

Municipal Public Security Bureau — Criminal Investigation Division

Squad Leader Tan Bingyi sat silently in his chair.

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing twenty or thirty swollen mosquito bites covering his arm.

Every single one had come from staking out the countryside.

“Here, Captain Tan. Cooling balm.”

Chen Dong handed him a half-used tin of medicated balm.

“Still no luck?”

“No.”

The mere mention of it made Tan Bingyi’s temper flare.

“We’ve been staking out that place for three days and haven’t seen a damn thing!”

“The robbery-murder case is too random. There’s not much we can do.”

Chen Dong shook his head.

“We don’t have any leads, so we’re stuck using the most old-fashioned method.”

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he added,

“By the way, remember that theft at the garment factory a few days ago? It’s been solved.”

“Oh?”

Tan Bingyi’s interest was finally piqued.

As he rubbed the cooling balm onto his arm, he asked, “Who solved it?”

“Jiang Xia—the one I mentioned before.” Chen Dong replied, “Apparently it was the work of a habitual traveling thief. He’d stolen more than ten thousand yuan in payroll money from a chemical plant in Qi County before fleeing here. Somehow, she managed to track him down and get him arrested.”

“I was wondering why you suddenly brought up that case.”

Tan Bingyi set the tin of cooling balm on the desk.

“So this is what you’ve been leading up to.”

“You want me to transfer her into the Criminal Investigation Unit, don’t you?”

“She’s talented. It’d be a waste to leave someone like that at a local station.”

Lowering his voice, Chen Dong added, “Besides, Second Squad’s been on a roll lately. If we don’t start bringing in some talent, all the good people are going to end up with them.”

“Even so, there’s no need to recruit a young woman.”

Tan Bingyi held up his arm.

“Take a look at these mosquito bites. This is the Criminal Investigation Unit. Our work is tough. Whenever a case comes in, we work around the clock. If a stakeout means spending an entire night in the wilderness, then that’s exactly what we do.”

He paused before continuing.

“Can she handle that? Even if she can, how many years is she realistically going to do it? Once she gets married, most of her energy will go toward her family. Then we’d have wasted one of the bureau’s staffing positions.”

That was a difficult point to argue against.

Chen Dong couldn’t really refute it.

Still, believing that talented people should be secured first and discussed later, he persisted.

“Then just transfer her here on a temporary assignment. We can figure out the rest afterward.”

“That’s even worse.”

Tan Bingyi frowned.

“She just started working. She’s still learning under her mentor.”

“If I borrow her now, she’ll end up in an awkward position. She won’t be fully settled at her original station, and there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to keep her here.”

“What’s she supposed to do then?”

“I don’t think that’ll happen.”

On that point, Chen Dong was surprisingly confident.

“With her abilities, I’m sure she’ll earn a permanent place.”

Tan Bingyi remained unconvinced.

A student who just graduated… how capable could she really be?

Sure, she was exceptionally skilled at tracking suspects from footprints.

But it wasn’t as though the Criminal Investigation Unit lacked people with that kind of expertise.

“We’ll keep an eye on her for now.”

He waved the matter aside.

“There’s no rush.”

Chen Dong couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.

Their captain was a genuinely decent man.

That was admirable.

But sometimes he was just too shortsighted.

If they didn’t move quickly now, then by the time Jiang Xia truly made a name for herself…

It would already be too late.

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.14 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“Haha… haha.”

The last shred of hope in Jiang Xia’s heart finally died.

She had been wondering why her Reputation Points had been skyrocketing lately, already climbing past eighty. So this was the reason—they’d been advertising her the whole time!

“Really? What a coincidence.”

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xia calmly picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

The King of Thieves was the King of Thieves. What did that have to do with Jiang Xia?

“Yeah. They’re terrified that thief might stick around here,” the veteran railway police officer continued. “But if you ask me, a thief with skills like that wouldn’t be interested in a little backwater like ours. He was probably just passing through on the train.”

Exactly! That’s what I think too!

Nodding inwardly, Jiang Xia quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Speaking of which, with so many thieves gathered in one place, was it hard to arrest them?”

“It was pretty dangerous. We never expected there to be that many of them. We almost…”

The old railway officer launched into a thrilling account of the arrest and subsequent interrogations, embellishing the story with no small amount of exaggeration.

Having seen his fair share of such tales, Chief Wu wasn’t particularly interested. Still, he politely played along to save the man’s face. Hu Wei, on the other hand, was completely captivated, so engrossed that he forgot to touch his chopsticks.

Since the topic of the King of Thieves had been dropped, Jiang Xia kept quiet. She chimed in from time to time while speeding through her meal.

She no longer wanted to lead the operation to arrest He Tuzi.

To gain his trust as quickly as possible today, she’d had no choice but to show off a bit, letting He Tuzi see that she was an expert pickpocket with exceptional skill.

Although she’d been disguised, it wasn’t as if she’d changed her face. From a distance, he might not recognize her at a glance, but up close, after a careful look, he’d almost certainly realize they were the same person.

There was a real chance he’d recognize her during the arrest.

For the sake of Chief Wu’s heart, Jiang Xia figured it was better if she stayed out of it.

The problem was that Chief Wu would almost certainly want her to lead the team. After all, she was the only one who had been to He Tuzi’s house. Neither Chief Wu nor the others had ever seen the place, nor did they even know what He Tuzi looked like.

She needed to solve that problem first before coming up with an excuse not to go.

So, after quickly finishing her meal, she returned to the office, grabbed a notebook, and began sketching furiously.

Without any drinking, the meal wrapped up much faster. Even with everyone chatting away, they finished eating in just over forty minutes.

The veteran railway officer knew Chief Wu had work to do that afternoon, so he didn’t stay any longer. After leaving behind a letter of appreciation stamped with his department’s official seal, he packed the four empty plates back into the lunch carrier, waved goodbye, and left.

Chief Wu brewed himself a strong cup of tea.

He had a feeling it was going to be a very busy day.

Carrying his enamel mug back into the office, he immediately noticed several sketches spread across Jiang Xia’s desk.

Aside from a few rough drafts, there were three main drawings.

One was a portrait of a man in his thirties or forties. He had a slightly round face, triangular eyes, and thinning, patchy hair.

Another depicted the entrance to a courtyard. Spring Festival couplets flanked the gate with the character “Fu” (“Good Fortune”) pasted upside down in the center, while the shabby wooden gate had part of its frame broken off.

The last was a map of the surrounding area, with routes and landmarks marked in remarkable detail.

“You really prepared everything.”

Chief Wu picked up the portrait and narrowed his eyes as he studied the face.

“So this is the He Tuzi you mentioned?”

“That’s right.”

Jiang Xia pushed the map toward him, covered her mouth, and let out an enormous yawn. She looked utterly exhausted.

“I got a good look inside the house. There’s a bed, so he definitely lives there. But the stolen goods are hidden outside, probably not far away. When I bought something from him, it only took him seven or eight minutes to go get it and come back. If you search the surrounding area, you should be able to find the stash.”

“That’ll make things even easier.”

Catching a thief with the stolen goods in hand was naturally the ideal scenario. It would leave him with very little room to deny the charges during interrogation.

Chief Wu glanced at Jiang Xia. Seeing the fatigue written all over her face and the faint dark circles under her eyes, he lowered his gaze and thought for a moment.

“You’ve had an exhausting morning. How about you sit this one out this afternoon and get some proper rest here at the station?”

His prized workhorse had just finished plowing the field—of course it deserved the best feed and care afterward. What if he worked her into the ground?

Jiang Xia hesitated.

“Will it really be okay without me leading the way?”

“Don’t worry.”

Chief Wu waved the portrait in his hand, the paper rustling through the air.

“Back in the day, we could track someone down with nothing more than a name. Now we’ve got a portrait and a map. If we still can’t catch him, we’d be a disgrace. Just stay here and wait for the good news.”

“Well… all right then.”

A reluctant expression appeared on Jiang Xia’s face, but inside, she was overjoyed.

Hehe. I knew Chief Wu couldn’t bear to overwork me.

With her disguise already in place, she hadn’t even needed to bring it up herself. Chief Wu had taken the initiative and told her to stay at the station and rest.

Now all she had to do was wait for them to bring the suspects back in custody.

Once it came to official business, Chief Wu moved with his usual decisiveness. Before everyone had even assembled, he had already begun laying out the arrest plan. As soon as the team was complete, they set off without delay.

He fled.

They pursued.

There was no escaping.

The Next Day

At the police station…

The moment Chief Wu had left with the rest of the officers yesterday, none of them returned for the rest of the afternoon. Worried about how things had gone, Jiang Xia deliberately got up early and came to the station first thing the next morning.

As soon as she walked through the front gate, she spotted Hu Wei.

He had just come out of the interrogation room, a notebook in hand. His eyes were bloodshot, streaked with red from staying up all night, yet he looked incredibly energized.

“Brother Hu? When did you guys get back?”

Jiang Xia walked over and asked, “How did it go? Did you catch them?”

“We got every last one of them!”

Hu Wei exclaimed excitedly.

“We caught the second-in-command of the fencing operation and those three thieves. While the iron was still hot, we interrogated them overnight. They confessed to several other cases. You wouldn’t believe it—the biggest job they’d pulled was worth over ten thousand yuan!”

Jiang Xia sucked in a sharp breath.

Just as she’d expected, this gang had committed far more than a single theft.

She simply hadn’t imagined one of their cases would involve such a staggering amount.

Fortunately, they’d been caught.

Recalling the criminal law, Jiang Xia said, “With repeated thefts totaling that much, they’re basically looking at life imprisonment.”

“Yeah,” Hu Wei replied with a grin. “You could say they’ll be eating the state’s rice for the rest of their lives.”

He rubbed his eyes vigorously.

He was exhausted to the point of collapse, yet his nerves were still buzzing with excitement. He couldn’t fall asleep even if he wanted to. But if he didn’t get some rest now, he’d be too wiped out to work over the next couple of days.

“I’d better head home and get some sleep. I’ll come back this afternoon. If anything comes up, could you cover for me?”

As he spoke, Hu Wei handed his notebook to Jiang Xia.

“No problem.”

Jiang Xia took the notebook and walked into the office in an excellent mood.

The office was nearly empty. The only person inside was Hu Wei’s mentor, Shen Huoda, who was stretched out across a row of chairs, fast asleep. His snores were loud enough to shake the room.

It looked like he’d had an exhausting day yesterday as well.

Rather than wake him, Jiang Xia quietly tidied up her desk before opening the notebook to read through the interrogation records.

Excellent.

Although He Tuzi had named several accomplices, he hadn’t mentioned her at all.

That settled it.

Everything had worked out perfectly.

Jiang Xia finally let out a sigh of complete relief.

“You’re here early today.”

Chief Wu walked in through the doorway carrying a paper bag.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I picked up some meat buns from the state-run restaurant. Here, have one.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a steaming hot bun and stuffed it into Jiang Xia’s hand before she even had a chance to refuse.

His apprentice really was a lucky star.

A theft case involving more than ten thousand yuan—even if they’d solved it incidentally, it still counted as a major achievement. Their top contributor deserved a good meal.

Since he’d practically forced it into her hand, Jiang Xia didn’t decline.

She took a bite.

Beneath the thin wrapper was a generous filling of juicy minced meat. Rich broth burst into her mouth, filling it with a savory, mouthwatering flavor that was almost intoxicating.

No wonder it came from the state-run restaurant.

The bun was genuinely delicious.

The only problem was that it was scorching hot.

Slowing down, Jiang Xia looked at the dark circles beneath Chief Wu’s eyes.

“Master, were you up all night yesterday too?”

“No. I turned in after midnight. Old Shen handled the rest of the interrogation.”

Chief Wu looked at Jiang Xia, growing more pleased the longer he looked.

“You’ve only been here a little over a week, haven’t you?”

“That’s right. Today makes exactly my tenth day.”

Jiang Xia nodded.

“What’s up, Master?”

“A rookie who solves two cases in ten days…”

Chief Wu chuckled.

“That’s a first for me.”

“One of them was even a major case. Add in the letter of appreciation Old Qin sent over, and with those achievements alone, you’ll probably receive a district-level commendation this year.”

Real life wasn’t like the novels.

Even a district-level commendation wasn’t something you could get casually. There were only three slots available each year, while more than a thousand people competed for them.

The fact that Chief Wu believed Jiang Xia had a real chance of winning one spoke volumes about how highly he thought of her.

Jiang Xia smiled, and an idea suddenly struck her.

“A district commendation isn’t enough to make you proud, Master. Why don’t you give me a little more support? If I solve a few more cases, maybe I can aim for a city-level commendation instead.”

“Oh?”

Chief Wu raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of support?”

“Let me do some research!”

Jiang Xia said eagerly.

“It’ll really help with solving cases. Take the garment factory burglary, for example. If I hadn’t examined the tool marks on the lock, I never would’ve been able to tell it was the work of a seasoned thief.”

Chief Wu fell silent.

…Why was his apprentice still so obsessed with her “research”?

He seriously suspected that what she really wanted wasn’t research at all, but an excuse to practice picking locks.

“Come to think of it…”

He stroked his chin.

“The thing you used the other day—that magnifying glass. You called it… trace examination?”

“That’s right. The Municipal Public Security Bureau even has officers who specialize in it.”

Seeing that Chief Wu seemed to be wavering, Jiang Xia hurriedly pressed her advantage.

“Just let me study more cases in the future. It’ll help me improve my ability to identify evidence.”

“Ohhh…”

Chief Wu deliberately drew out the sound.

Then he answered with unwavering conviction.

“No.”

The sudden reversal caught Jiang Xia completely off guard.

“Why not?!”

Mimicking Jiang Xia’s habitual gesture, Chief Wu spread his hands.

“Don’t think I don’t know that research costs money. Who knows how many locks you’d have to pry open doing all this? Our station is already poor enough as it is. Where are we supposed to get the money to buy locks just so you can take them apart?”

So…

The only reason he was refusing was because of the cost?

The explanation was so unexpected—and yet so perfectly reasonable—that Jiang Xia almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

“I can pay for them myself…”

“No, absolutely not.”

Chief Wu waved the suggestion away.

“You still have a family to support. How can I let you throw your own money into a bottomless pit like that?”

Chief Wu waved his hand dismissively.

“With all the skills you’ve got, why not work on something that doesn’t cost money? I think your portraits are excellent. That sketch of He Tuzi yesterday was incredible—it looked exactly like the real guy. Why don’t you practice that more? Ideally, someone describes what a suspect looks like, and you draw them as if you’d taken a photograph. That’d make our job catching people a whole lot easier!”

He was talking about forensic sketching.

Wanted portraits had existed since ancient times, so it wasn’t surprising that Chief Wu had thought of the idea. The profession of forensic sketch artist wouldn’t become formally established until the late 1980s. The main reason was that portrait drawing was difficult to master. Not only were there very few artists capable of producing truly accurate likenesses, but anyone with that level of skill could earn far more money in other professions. There simply wasn’t much incentive to become a police sketch artist.

Jiang Xia, however, wasn’t interested in making a fortune.

Her portraits were accurate enough that she had every qualification to become a top-tier forensic sketch artist.

But…

In her previous life, she’d spent over twenty years drawing. She’d also taught intensive entrance-exam art classes for nine years, spending every day sketching from eight in the morning until one or two o’clock the next morning.

She’d drawn herself sick of it.

Sketching a little now and then was fine.

Making it her career again?

No way.

Not a chance.

Even if someone beat her to death, she wouldn’t do it.

“That’s completely different, Master!”

Jiang Xia tried to discourage him by explaining just how difficult it was.

“Drawing someone I’ve actually seen and drawing someone based only on another person’s description are worlds apart. The first is like writing out a passage I’ve already memorized. The second is like someone giving me a few random sentences—or even just a few words, maybe with typos and in the wrong order—and asking me to figure out which text they’re from before writing the whole thing out from memory.”

“If I guess correctly, great. But if I guess wrong, the portrait could end up looking nothing like the suspect, and that would only make the investigation harder.”

“That does sound difficult.”

Although he knew nothing about drawing, Chief Wu understood the comparison.

But instead of giving up on the idea, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two yuan.

“That’s exactly why you should practice.”

He held out the money with a grin.

“Here. This is for paper and pencils. From now on, whenever you’ve got free time, just draw for fun. I won’t stop you.”

Damn it.

Looking at the banknotes Chief Wu was offering, Jiang Xia couldn’t help giving him the middle finger in her heart.

All she wanted was to practice picking a few locks at the station.

Why did it have to be so difficult?

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.13 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Hmm…

That actually made a lot of sense.

Remembering the title’s negative side effect, Jiang Xia raised her middle finger at the system.

I was just praising you, and then you pull this?

You really can’t be happy unless you screw me over once, huh?

Silently cursing the system, Jiang Xia was already on one knee, her shoulder pinned down while one of her arms was twisted behind her back.

The young patrol officer, Cao Cheng, was enthusiastically snapping handcuffs onto her wrists. Naturally, he wasn’t gentle with someone he believed to be a criminal, and the rough handling made her arm ache.

Recalling the title’s effects that she’d checked before leaving home, Jiang Xia didn’t immediately reveal who she was. Instead, she used her mind to have the system unequip the “King of Thieves” title before speaking in a muffled voice.

“Easy there, brother. I’m one of your colleagues—Jiang Xia from Zhouying Police Station. I’m here investigating leads on a case. If you don’t believe me, call the station and ask.”

“Shut up! Who’s your brother?”

Cao Cheng barked before she had even finished speaking. But after yelling, the rest of her sentence finally registered.

She had given both her full name and police station, and even told him to call and verify it.

His hands froze.

Did I just arrest a fellow officer?

Looking down, he realized the person he had pinned to the ground was a young woman. His face instantly cycled through every color imaginable.

Come to think of it, it was strange. Just moments ago, everything about her had seemed suspicious, making him eager to slap the cuffs on her.

But now that he knew her identity… well, she suddenly looked completely different. Her movements clearly carried the discipline of someone trained at a police academy, and there was even an air of uprightness about her.

Cao Cheng couldn’t help stealing several more glances at her face.

Was the change really this dramatic?

Did I seriously see things just now?

Questioning himself, he then remembered what she had been doing moments earlier, and his head immediately started to ache.

“Master… what do we do now?”

The veteran officer beside him remained remarkably calm.

“Leave things as they are. Take her back to the station first, and we’ll sort it out after we’ve confirmed everything.”

Jiang Xia cooperatively allowed herself to be escorted back to their police station.

To be honest, it was quite a novel experience.

It would have been even better if there weren’t so many onlookers watching.

…

Anping Police Station

Inside the office, Jiang Xia sat in a chair, rotating her wrist.

Several patrol officers from the station kept glancing at her face, then turning to Cao Cheng and making comments like, “She doesn’t look like one at all.”

Cao Cheng’s face had turned bright red.

“Ah, okay. No need to come pick her up. Ah… that works too.”

Deputy Chief Yang hung up the phone with a click, then turned to Jiang Xia with a smile.

“We’ve verified your identity. Xiao Jiang, just wait here for a bit—someone’s coming to pick you up.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Thank you, Chief Yang.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

He waved his hand, then asked with concern, “By the way, today’s arrest didn’t spook the suspects you’re investigating, did it?”

“No.”

Jiang Xia answered confidently, “They know I can keep my mouth shut.”

That wasn’t the real reason.

The truth was that Brother Hua and Bald He believed she was part of the underworld, someone who understood the rules and would never report them to the police.

It wasn’t because criminals were honorable or loyal. People in that world were experts at cheating and deception—who had room for virtues like that? The real reason was that everyone involved had dirty hands. Who knew how many crimes they had committed? The less they confessed, the sooner they could get out. Otherwise, detention could turn into a prison sentence.

“Good. That’s what matters.”

Deputy Chief Yang didn’t ask further questions. Once he was sure their actions hadn’t affected the investigation, he returned to his own work.

Jiang Xia waited for someone to come get her.

She didn’t sit idle. She took off her patched outer jacket, fetched a basin of water, washed her face clean with soap, removed the wig, and tied up her hair properly again.

After all that, she looked like a completely different person. Even if Brother Hua had been watching outside, he probably wouldn’t have recognized her.

Before long, the person sent to pick her up arrived.

It was Hu Wei.

He parked his sturdy black bicycle, hurried into the office, greeted Deputy Chief Yang with a serious expression, explained a few things, and then motioned for Jiang Xia to leave with him.

But the moment they stepped outside, he could no longer keep up the act.

He broke into a wide grin, flashing a row of gleaming white teeth, and even laughed out loud.

“Jiang Xia, weren’t you supposed to be gathering intelligence today? How’d you end up getting arrested?”

“So what?” Jiang Xia shot back. “That just proves my acting was convincing!”

It wasn’t like she’d lost her badge or done anything embarrassing. She casually swung the evidence wrapped in her jacket—the two sets of bedsheets and pillowcases—then looked down at him with a smug expression.

“I found the fence. The evidence is right here. Admit it—you’re impressed.”

“I am!”

Hu Wei turned his bicycle around, then stepped aside and made a grand welcoming gesture.

“Our hero, please take your seat. Let’s hurry back so we can discuss how to make the arrest.”

Jiang Xia placed the bundle of evidence into the front basket before climbing onto the rear seat sideways.

Hu Wei stepped on the pedal, gave it a hard push, and the bicycle shot forward.

Not long afterward, they returned to the police station.

It was nearly noon.

Jiang Xia hopped off the bicycle, picked up the evidence from the basket, and headed toward the office. Before she even stepped through the door, the rich aroma of meat drifted into her nose.

She glanced inside.

Hey—that’s a familiar face.

It was the veteran railway police officer from the train station.

He was standing beside Chief Wu, with a large insulated food carrier set on the table in front of him. The delicious smell was coming from inside it.

Looks like he had quite the haul, Jiang Xia thought. He even brought food over to thank us in person.

Having figured out the reason, she walked into the office carrying the evidence.

“Master, I’m back.”

“Comrade Jiang, you’re back!”

Before Chief Wu could say anything, the railway officer enthusiastically greeted her. He stepped forward, grasped her hand, and shook it vigorously.

“Thanks to the suspect sketch you provided, we were able to identify every member of the gang. The day before yesterday we launched the operation and, ha! We wiped out three thief hideouts in one go and arrested more than a dozen people. Two of them were wanted fugitives, and one had even committed murder!”

Whoa!

Jiang Xia was genuinely surprised.

No wonder the railway officer was so thrilled.

That was a major accomplishment—more than enough to earn him an official commendation, and he probably wouldn’t have to worry about a promotion or raise this year.

Of course he’d come personally to express his gratitude.

Chief Wu’s expression, however, was a little complicated.

Such a huge achievement…

And it had been handed over to a sister police unit just like that.

Even though he knew luck had played a big part, he still couldn’t help feeling a little wistful.

After all, just as most people never complain about having too much money, Chief Wu certainly wouldn’t mind if his station kept stumbling upon opportunities to earn commendations.

Holding the suspect sketch in his hand, thinking about who had personally given it away, he looked at Jiang Xia, who had just returned, and sighed.

“Xiao Jiang, I had no idea you had a talent like this.”

Jiang Xia’s smile stiffened.

“Haha… well… it just never came in handy before.”

She gave a light cough and hurriedly placed the bundle of evidence on the desk.

“Um, Master, I found the gang’s middleman who was selling the stolen goods, and I brought back evidence. Look—these bedsheets are identical to the batch stolen from the bedding factory!”

“Oh?”

Chief Wu looked genuinely surprised.

Deputy Chief Yang hadn’t mentioned that over the phone. He had assumed Jiang Xia had been mistaken for an illegal black-market trader during her investigation and arrested because of that.

He hadn’t expected her to go straight to the gang’s middleman.

Good grief… I really did take on an extraordinary apprentice.

Chief Wu lifted a corner of one of the sheets and examined it closely.

“They really are identical. And they don’t have that musty smell you’d expect from goods that have been sitting in a warehouse for ages. This should be the batch stolen from the bedding factory.”

He nodded enthusiastically.

“Excellent! Once we arrest him, this case will be solved.”

He looked at Jiang Xia with approval.

“The middleman is a cautious fellow. The fact that you managed to track him down is impressive in itself.”

In a much better mood now, Chief Wu joked,

“Xiao Jiang, is there anything else you’re good at that I don’t know about? Tell your master now so I can prepare myself mentally.”

“That’s all, Master.”

Jiang Xia chuckled awkwardly and spread her hands.

“Those are the only things I can do.”

She actually knew a few other tricks.

But if she admitted them, her master would probably develop high blood pressure on the spot.

Better to keep those to herself.

“It seems I’ve come at a rather inconvenient time.”

By this point, the veteran railway officer had pieced everything together.

Jiang Xia’s case had already reached the final stage—they were about to make the arrests and were pressed for time.

“In that case, maybe I should get going.”

“Oh, don’t be like that.”

How could they let someone who had brought food to thank them leave without even sharing a meal?

Chief Wu quickly reached out to stop him.

“Most of our people aren’t back yet. Even if we’re making arrests, we’ll have to wait until everyone gets here this afternoon. Let’s eat first, then talk.”

“Exactly,” Jiang Xia chimed in.

“I still need to draw the suspect portraits first. Otherwise, what if you arrest the wrong people?”

The railway officer stopped in his tracks.

“Fair enough. Let’s eat first.”

Carrying the insulated food carrier, the four of them headed to the boiler room.

Hu Wei wiped down the small table while the railway officer unpacked the dishes one by one.

There weren’t many—just four—but every one of them was a hearty meat dish: braised chicken, sliced pork hock, steamed pork with rice flour, and braised prawns.

They were all Jiang Xia’s favorites.

Since the meal had been brought specifically to thank her, she didn’t stand on ceremony. As soon as everyone picked up their chopsticks, she reached straight for a piece of pork hock with the skin on.

After eating so many vegetable-heavy meals, rich, fatty pork hock tasted absolutely incredible.

There was still an arrest operation that afternoon, so Chief Wu skipped the alcohol. As he peeled a shrimp, he remarked leisurely,

“Old Qin, you really spared no expense on this meal.”

“I’m happy!”

Old Qin took a sip of water, then recalled the operation from two days earlier.

“It was pure luck. Originally, we were just waiting for that gang to gather so we could catch them all at once. Who would’ve thought there’d be three different gangs meeting together? Worked out perfectly—we swept them all up in one operation.”

Chief Wu looked puzzled.

“What were they gathering for?”

Old Qin narrowed his eyes, trying to remember.

“They were asking around about a thief known as the King of Thieves—someone supposedly incredibly skilled.”

Jiang Xia’s chopsticks froze halfway to her mouth.

No way… it couldn’t be that much of a coincidence, could it?

“The gang Xiao Jiang identified said they ran into a thief on the train who actually stole their wallets. They said his skills were unbelievable and that he scared them half to death. So they organized a dinner to ask around about him.”

Old Qin chuckled.

“And that’s exactly when we swooped in and arrested the whole lot.”

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and turned toward Jiang Xia.

“Come to think of it, what a coincidence. That King of Thieves was apparently on the very same train you took back here, Xiao Jiang.”

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.12 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Jiang Xia asked in confusion, “Master?”

Chief Wu didn’t answer. He waved a hand. “We’ll talk later.”

“Chief Wu, why are you leaving so suddenly?”

Section Chief Liu instinctively reached out to stop him. “You’ve helped us so much. At least stay for a meal!”

“No need.”

Turning to Section Chief Liu, Chief Wu said,

“Now that we’ve confirmed they’re experienced thieves from outside the area, and we know their approximate age and height, someone at the factory may well have seen them. With these leads, your people can handle the investigation from here. Our station has plenty of work waiting, so we can’t afford to stay here any longer.”

“Well… sigh, all right.”

At that point, Section Chief Liu understood and stopped trying to persuade him. Instead, he took the rain cover and umbrella from his own bicycle and placed them on Chief Wu’s.

“Then at least take these with you.”

“No, no, that’s not necessary!”

“It absolutely is. I asked the two of you to come help, and I can’t very well let you ride back soaked in the rain, can I?”

“…All right. I’ll return them to you later.”

After a brief exchange, Chief Wu finally accepted the umbrella and the bicycle rain cover.

Jiang Xia went back to the warehouse to retrieve her tools, then rode her bicycle alongside Chief Wu as they headed back to Zhouying Police Station.

After riding for a while, she finally couldn’t hold back her question.

“Master, why are we dropping the case?”

“You little rascal. Weren’t you pretending not to know? Didn’t I already say our station has too much on its plate?”

Chief Wu snorted.

“Who knows which district those three thieves are from? If we really started canvassing for them, we could throw all ten officers from our station into the search and spend half a month running around without turning up a single lead. Our station simply doesn’t have that kind of time to spare.”

Just as I thought.

Jiang Xia wasn’t the least bit surprised.

There were no instant messaging apps, no surveillance cameras, and no cell phone location tracking. With only a vague description to work from, the only way to identify the suspects was by going door to door, conducting painstaking interviews.

That would inevitably require an enormous investment of manpower and resources.

Jiang Xia wanted to commit officers to the investigation too.

But when she thought about the workload she’d had over the past few days…

Yeah, right. There wasn’t a spare minute to be found.

She couldn’t help sighing toward the sky.

“We’re just too short on manpower!”

“It can’t be helped. We’ve simply got too few people.”

Chief Wu had accepted that reality twenty years ago. It no longer stirred much emotion in him.

He said evenly, then paused for a moment before continuing,

“But it depends on the case. A clothing factory is a big operation. The workers carry off more scrap fabric every day than what was stolen this time. At worst, Section Chief Liu will get criticized, lose his bonus, and miss out on commendations or promotions. Even if the case isn’t solved, it won’t amount to much.”

“But if it’s a case like Dong Aihua’s family… then whether we’re busy or not doesn’t matter. We have to throw everything we’ve got into it.”

Jiang Xia nodded in agreement.

Chief Wu was still Chief Wu—not Lu Fusheng.

It wasn’t that he was constantly looking for excuses to slack off. Their manpower really was stretched to the limit, so they had no choice but to focus their efforts on the cases that mattered most.

Besides, he had a point.

It was a large factory. Losing a few bundles of goods wasn’t going to make much of a difference.

Even so, Jiang Xia couldn’t shake her frustration.

These thieves were seasoned professionals. Who knew how many times they’d already stolen? The total value of their thefts might well have reached six figures. There was even a chance they were involved in other serious crimes.

Was she really supposed to stand by and watch criminals continue roaming free?

But the station genuinely couldn’t spare any additional officers…

Jiang Xia angrily stomped down on the bicycle pedal.

Why is it so hard just to catch a criminal?

The breeze rushing toward her ruffled her hair, bringing a refreshing coolness. Along with it, some of the irritation welling inside her gradually faded.

An elderly woman carrying a grocery basket slowly crossed the sidewalk ahead of them.

Jiang Xia’s eyes landed on the towel draped over the basket, and suddenly an idea struck her.

“Master, if it’s too hard to track down the people, why don’t we track the stolen goods instead?”

Chief Wu smiled helplessly.

“We’re already halfway back, and you’re still thinking about this?”

Still, Jiang Xia really did have a quick mind.

Following the stolen goods was indeed a promising direction.

The problem was…

“Tracking the stolen goods could help,” Chief Wu said, shaking his head, “but only to a limited extent.”

“Professional thieves like these usually unload everything to a fence in one go, turning the stolen goods into cash as quickly as possible. Then the fence finds people to distribute and resell the merchandise.”

“It’s a shady business, so everyone’s on guard. Without someone you know making an introduction, you’ll never even meet the fence. The best we can do is stake out the black market and work our way up from the small-time dealers. By the time we finally get to the fence, those three professional thieves will probably have already caught wind of us and disappeared.”

Wait… someone you know making an introduction?

Jiang Xia suddenly remembered the title she’d received as a system reward.

When equipped, it increased the favorability of her “fellow professionals” by 20%.

If I disguised myself as a thief and equipped the title… then asked another thief to introduce me…

I might be able to meet the fence directly!

And once I know who he is and where to find him, arresting him will be easy!

The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.

She immediately said, “Master, could you give me half a day off? I’ll take a look around the black market. Maybe I’ll stumble across something.”

Chief Wu sighed helplessly.

Why is this kid so stubborn?

Still, there was nothing wrong with wanting to solve the case. Half a day wouldn’t hurt. Let her run into a few dead ends and learn how difficult it really was. After that, she’d probably give up on the idea.

“All right.”

Though that was what he was thinking, he still offered her some serious advice.

“They only stole the goods last night. They won’t resell everything that quickly. Wait another two days, then try your luck at the black market the day after tomorrow.”

Jiang Xia nodded enthusiastically.

“No problem!”

Time flew by.

On the appointed morning, Jiang Xia didn’t rush out the door. Instead, she dug out one of her mother’s old, patched-up outfits and put it on.

Since she was going undercover, her appearance naturally had to fit the part. At the very least, she needed to get rid of that unmistakable look of a regular working person.

Sitting in front of the mirror, she took out a hairpiece, blended it into her own hair, and braided everything into a thick, long plait that hung over her chest.

Then she studied her reflection and applied a layer of foundation several shades darker than her natural complexion.

Before long, the girl in the mirror had become someone with slightly darker skin, looking every bit like a country bumpkin from a rural village.

Jiang Xia nodded in satisfaction.

With this appearance and demeanor, who would ever guess I’m a police officer?

She decided to test the effect of the title.

Jiang Xia opened the system interface.

The moment she equipped it, she suddenly found the person in the mirror intensely irritating.

Her appearance hadn’t changed at all, yet moments ago she had looked simple and approachable. Now her eyes darted around suspiciously, and even the way she idly played with her braid seemed restless and untrustworthy…

In short, she looked like someone who was obviously up to no good.

Seriously? Is that even reasonable?

Jiang Xia paused before remembering her profession.

…Actually, yeah. That tracks.

She fell silent for a moment, then promptly unequipped the title.

As expected of something produced by the system—it was top-notch. The title’s effect was incredibly convincing. She’d better not wear it just yet, or she probably wouldn’t even make it out of her own precinct before attracting attention.

After giving herself one final inspection and confirming everything looked right, Jiang Xia left home.

She boarded a bus bound for Wutong Street.

It was the city’s most well-known black market.

It wasn’t far from the bus station and attracted heavy foot traffic. Beside it lay an old residential neighborhood that had never been redeveloped, its maze-like alleys making it an ideal place to negotiate deals and conduct transactions in secret. If the police showed up, the complicated layout also made it easy to slip away.

Where there were crowds, pickpockets gathered like sharks smelling blood.

After walking up and down the street once, Jiang Xia quickly identified several members of the local underworld and figured out who their leader was.

Brother Hua—real name unknown—was only a little over thirty, yet he carried himself like an old retiree.

At the moment, he was sitting beneath the shade of a tree, a palm-leaf fan in one hand while casually cracking sunflower seeds with the other, occasionally glancing up to survey the street.

Jiang Xia equipped her title, walked over to him, and pulled a gleaming pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

“Brother,” she asked with a rustic accent, “care for a smoke?”

Golden Leaf?

Now that’s someone who knows the rules.

Brother Hua glanced at Jiang Xia and immediately found the young woman unusually likable.

He adjusted his posture, gave her another careful look, and quickly sized her up.

“New around here, paying your respects? Which trade are you from?”

“The Rong trade,” Jiang Xia replied in a northern rural accent. “I haven’t finished my apprenticeship yet. I’m just a little willow.”

“My master and I were just passing through. We figured we’d work this area for a bit… and maybe pick up some merchandise.”

As she spoke, she opened the cigarette pack, took out one cigarette, and respectfully offered it to him.

Brother Hua accepted it without hesitation.

Jiang Xia then took a box of matches from her pocket and lit it for him.

Taking a deep drag, Brother Hua slowly exhaled a ring of smoke and nodded approvingly.

“Not bad. You’ve got manners.”

“So tell me—do you work the daytime shift, or the nighttime shift?”

“We mostly work nights… though we do some daytime jobs too.”

Jiang Xia smiled shyly.

“We’ve been at this line of work for a while, but I came out today hoping to buy a few things for my big brother. He’s getting married.”

She scratched her head awkwardly before asking,

“Brother, do you know where I can get some good cloth? Preferably red—something festive.”

Brother Hua raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? You’re buying your brother’s wedding things yourself?”

“He raised me.”

Jiang Xia lied without the slightest hesitation.

“I don’t have much money saved, so there’s no way I can afford the Three Rounds and One Sound. I just want to help him save face. It’d be even better if there were ready-made items, so I wouldn’t have to pay someone to sew them.”

Ordinarily, Brother Hua would never chat this openly with a novice he’d just met.

But today, for some reason, he genuinely liked this young apprentice. Hearing that she was shopping for wedding linens, he began thinking along the same lines.

“Something festive…”

He lazily waved his fan.

“I don’t have any red cloth. But as luck would have it, one of my brothers just got hold of a batch of bedsheets and pillowcases. Bright red floral prints—real festive-looking stuff.”

“You interested?”

A fresh batch of bedsheets and pillowcases… with bright red floral prints?

The description matched the goods stolen from the clothing factory almost perfectly.

Jiang Xia’s heart leaped with excitement, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she asked hesitantly,

“Can… can I take a look first?”

“Sure.”

Brother Hua agreed readily.

“It’s not far anyway. Come on, I’ll take you there.”

Jiang Xia froze for a moment.

No way… It can’t be going this smoothly.

She quickly realized it was probably the system’s doing.

She hadn’t expected a mere 20% increase in favorability to be this effective.

System… you’ve really earned some credit today.

I won’t complain about you ripping me off ever again. Look how useful this is!

Following Brother Hua, Jiang Xia walked into a narrow alley, turned several corners, and arrived at a small courtyard.

The yard wasn’t large—only about five or six square meters. Inside stood a single-story house, where a balding man was leisurely drinking liquor while snacking on peanuts.

“Old He, you’ve really got yourself a comfortable life.”

Brother Hua pushed the door open and walked right in.

“Hua? What brings you here?”

The balding man looked up and immediately spotted Jiang Xia behind him. His brows knitted together.

“And you even brought a stranger?”

“I came to bring you business!”

Brother Hua replied matter-of-factly.

Pointing at the balding man, he introduced him to Jiang Xia.

“This guy’s one of the best fences around here. His prices are fair, too. If you’ve got stolen goods to unload, he’s your man. Of course, the more valuable and portable the better—especially gold, silver, or anything else that’s easy to resell.”

Jiang Xia nodded and, staying in character, asked, “So… what kind of prices do you pay?”

The balding man didn’t answer.

Instead, he turned to Brother Hua with a wary expression.

“Which crew is she with?”

“Oh, right—I forgot to mention.”

Brother Hua explained,

“She’s a little willow from out of town. Just passing through, planning to work here for a few days before moving on.”

“A little willow?”

The balding man looked Jiang Xia up and down, his eyes filled with unconcealed suspicion.

“You’ve tested her skills?”

The moment she saw his reaction, Jiang Xia understood.

Old He was a fence—a middleman dealing in stolen goods—not a fellow thief.

That meant he wasn’t truly one of her “colleagues.” The system title’s effect was probably weakened on him… or perhaps it didn’t work on him at all.

Without the system’s favorable influence clouding his judgment, letting Old He remain suspicious would be dangerous.

Jiang Xia decisively chose to show off a bit of her “skill” and prove she really was a little willow, earning his trust.

“My master’s not well-known. His surname’s Li. Folks around our area just call him Old Man Li.”

She smiled and stepped closer, stopping directly in front of Old He to shorten the distance between them.

“I haven’t finished my apprenticeship yet, so I’m not that capable.”

The statement was so vague it might as well have said nothing at all.

Old He’s brows drew together. The suspicion in his eyes hardened into something far more dangerous.

“What are you trying to pull?” he demanded coldly. “Quit beating around the bush. Who the hell are you?”

“Didn’t Brother Hua already tell you? I’m a little willow. I ain’t lying.”

She grinned innocently.

“I’ll embarrass myself a little and let you see I’m the real deal.”

As she spoke, Jiang Xia sat down beside him.

Just before he was about to lose his temper, she extended a hand toward him.

Resting quietly in her palm was a key ring tied together with a red cord.

Old He froze.

Why do those keys look so familiar? They look just like the ones to my…

His eyes widened.

He immediately shoved a hand into his own pocket.

Empty.

The keys in Jiang Xia’s hand were his.

Old He stared at them in disbelief.

Even knowing she’d just lifted them from his pocket, he couldn’t recall the slightest hint of when she’d done it.

What incredible skill!

“Hah! So you really are one of us. My apologies, little sister.”

To reach that level of pickpocketing took years of practice. She had to have grown up in the trade.

The suspicion instantly vanished from Old He’s face.

Taking the keys back from Jiang Xia, he became noticeably more welcoming.

“You’ve got talent, little sister. I didn’t even notice my keys were gone. With hands like yours, you’re bound to strike it rich one day.”

“If you ever need to unload goods here, bring them to me. I’ll give you a fair price—the same deal Hua gets.”

As he spoke, Old He held up three fingers.

Thirty percent of the item’s original value.

After all, stolen goods carried risks. No fence would buy them unless there was enough profit to justify the danger. Offering thirty percent of the market price was already considered a generous rate.

“Now that’s what I call straightforward, Brother!”

Staying in character, Jiang Xia nodded with satisfaction before adding,

“Brother Hua mentioned you’ve got some bedsheets and pillowcases too. Let me have a couple of sets. We’ll be doing business together from now on, so you’ve got to give me a good price.”

“So that’s why you asked about my prices first.”

Old He feigned annoyance.

“I was wondering what you were up to.”

He waved a hand.

“Ah, forget it. I like you, little sister. I won’t charge much—just enough to cover my trouble. Twenty yuan. How’s that?”

That worked out to about forty percent of the normal price.

Like a genuine customer, Jiang Xia pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding.

“Deal.”

She took out the money, counted out the bills, and placed them on the table.

“All right then.”

Old He set down his chopsticks.

“Wait here a minute. I’ll go get them.”

Picking up an empty cloth sack from beside his chair, he headed outside.

A short while later, he returned carrying a bulging bundle.

“Take a look, little sister.”

Jiang Xia opened the sack.

A pale pink bedsheet immediately caught her eye.

The floral pattern on it was identical to the sample hanging in the clothing factory.

Confirmed.

These are the goods stolen from the factory.

“What a beautiful bedsheet.”

Jiang Xia steadied herself.

Looking up, she smiled gratefully at Old He.

“Brother, you’ve been too kind. I’ll definitely come to you again in the future.”

Don’t worry…

This afternoon I’ll be back—with the police to arrest you.

Old He didn’t notice anything unusual.

Instead, he was already wondering what valuable stolen goods Jiang Xia might bring him in the future.

Hearing her promise, he nodded enthusiastically.

“Good! Be sure to come back!”

With the stolen goods now serving as physical evidence, Jiang Xia bid him farewell and left with Brother Hua.

As they walked back, Brother Hua had a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

His thoughts were still on the trick Jiang Xia had just pulled.

They both belonged to the Rong trade, so he understood exactly what she’d done.

Old He hadn’t noticed, but as an observer, Brother Hua had seen it clearly.

Jiang Xia had deliberately kept Old He’s attention fixed on her face through conversation, then taken advantage of the moment she sat down to deftly lift the keys from his pocket.

As simple as it sounded, the technique was incredibly difficult to pull off.

Even Brother Hua himself wasn’t confident he could succeed every time.

This girl is supposed to be an apprentice?

She’s no greenhorn—she’s already a seasoned professional who could work on her own!

Just what kind of master could train a disciple like this?

Curiosity got the better of him.

“By the way, little sister, how long has your master been in town? Maybe we could have a drink together sometime.”

Now that she’d obtained all the clues she needed, Jiang Xia was already thinking about how to make her exit.

She answered vaguely,

“Not long. About seven or eight days.”

“Seven or eight days?”

Brother Hua mulled that over, then suddenly remembered something.

“So you came here on the seventeenth—”

“Police!”

“Don’t move!”

Before he could finish speaking, three figures that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere pounced on them like hungry tigers.

Brother Hua’s words died in his throat.

“Cops?! Run!”

Clinging to the last shred of his conscience, Brother Hua shouted a warning to Jiang Xia.

Then he pivoted on his heel and bolted down the street as fast as he could.

Jiang Xia froze.

Before she could even react—

Bang!

Someone slammed her to the ground.

A young man’s excited voice rang out from behind her.

“Master! I knew this woman was no good the moment I saw her! Just look at these bedsheets—she’s obviously trafficking illegal goods!”

…Huh?

Wait.

No, no, no… this isn’t how this was supposed to go!

<< _ >>

**TN

Little Willow – underworld slang for an apprentice or novice thief.

Three Rounds and One Sound – the traditional set of expensive marriage purchases: a bicycle, sewing machine, wristwatch, and radio.

The post Criminal Master System Ch.11 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

Jiang Xia froze for a moment before realizing what he meant. She couldn’t help laughing.

Just how much of an impression had that lock-picking incident with the piece of wire left on her master? Now, every time he saw a lock, he assumed she wanted to open it?

This was physical evidence. Why would she tamper with it?

She only wanted to pick brand-new locks back at the station…

Walking over to the warehouse keeper’s desk just inside the entrance, Jiang Xia pushed the ledger lying in the middle of the desk aside as she said,

“Master, I just want to examine the lock to see if there’s anything unusual about it.”

As she spoke, she gently placed the padlock in the center of the desk, took off her shoulder bag, and pulled out a magnifying glass and a flashlight.

Hearing that, Chief Wu finally relaxed.

But before he had fully let out his breath, he saw what she had taken out, and immediately tensed up again.

“You brought all of the station’s precious equipment with you?”

He opened her bag and saw a measuring ruler, adhesive tape, brushes, a small container of aluminum powder, and other forensic tools. His face filled with concern.

“Be careful with these. If they get damaged, they’ll be almost impossible to replace.”

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll be careful.”

Jiang Xia nodded obediently.

By modern standards, these tools were astonishingly primitive. But in this era, every one of them was a valuable piece of equipment. The flashlight alone cost about half a month’s salary.

She definitely had to handle them with care.

Taking a seat behind the desk, Jiang Xia composed herself.

She picked up the magnifying glass and examined the large padlock before her.

It was another padlock, only much larger—just over seven centimeters long. It had clearly been in use for quite some time. Some of the paint had worn away, but otherwise it was intact. There were no obvious pry marks visible on its surface.

Jiang Xia immediately understood.

No wonder Section Chief Liu was so convinced it had been an inside job.

Information was scarce these days, and most thieves weren’t particularly skilled. The few who knew how to open locks quietly usually relied on a crude method: inserting two wrenches into the shackle and using leverage to force the lock open.

But that technique would leave the area around the keyhole badly damaged, with unmistakable signs of forced entry.

This lock, however, had an undamaged keyhole and still locked normally.

To anyone who looked at it, the obvious conclusion would be that it had been opened with the proper key.

Of course, even if someone suspected the lock had been picked with a piece of wire, an ordinary person would have a hard time spotting any traces inside the keyhole.

But she could.

That was the beauty of the enhanced eyesight she had gained after the system upgrade.

Jiang Xia switched on the flashlight.

It was noon, and the sun should have been blazing overhead. Instead, the sky was gloomy, heavy clouds hanging low. Inside the warehouse, with its narrow windows, the dimness was even more pronounced.

Fortunately, darkness was exactly what Jiang Xia wanted.

She shone the flashlight on the lock and carefully examined the minute marks around the keyway through her magnifying glass.

Watching her work, Section Chief Liu suddenly felt that something wasn’t quite right.

When Chief Wu had asked Jiang Xia for her opinion earlier, he’d assumed this was simply a master bringing his apprentice along for experience.

But after following them around the warehouse, he realized that Jiang Xia had been the one asking all the questions and conducting the inspection.

Chief Wu hadn’t done a thing.

So was this Chief Wu that Officer Chen recommended actually competent or not?

The humid, oppressive air grew increasingly stifling, making everyone more irritable by the minute.

Section Chief Liu hesitated several times before finally blurting out,

“Chief Wu… you’re just going to stand here and wait?”

Chief Wu nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“That’s right. I’ll wait here.”

Section Chief Liu’s face turned slightly green.

“This… isn’t that a bit…”

Chief Wu laughed. He knew exactly what Liu was thinking.

Pointing at Jiang Xia, he said,

“She’s one of the top graduates from Shannan Police Academy. Didn’t I tell you? Chen Dong specifically asked for her to come take a look.”

“What?”

Section Chief Liu blinked in surprise.

Officer Chen wanted her to come?

He looked at Jiang Xia again, his skepticism only deepening.

A top graduate might be talented, but she was so young. How much practical experience could she possibly have?

She probably wouldn’t be able to find anything at all.

Officer Chen is really making things harder. Sure, a warehouse theft isn’t as serious as those recent robbery-murders, but that’s no reason to fob us off on some rookie.

Completely unaware of the complaints forming in Section Chief Liu’s mind, Jiang Xia remained absorbed in her examination of the padlock.

After all, using a piece of wire wasn’t the only way to pick a lock without leaving visible damage.

Techniques such as magnetic impact unlocking or skillfully manipulating the shackle could achieve the same result.

The latter method usually left marks on the surface, which could be identified through direct inspection. But detecting traces left by a wire pick required examining the lock cylinder itself, which meant taking it apart.

Doing so would inevitably cause further damage to the lock and could easily destroy whatever evidence the thief had left behind.

So before resorting to such a destructive examination, Jiang Xia first needed to rule out the other, less invasive possibilities.

Holding the magnifying glass, she studied the lock.

Beneath the lens, the texture of the lock’s surface was magnified several times over. Combined with the enhanced eyesight granted by the system, she could clearly distinguish rust, chipped paint, gray scratches left by the lock striking the door hardware, and tiny flecks of green paint transferred during those impacts.

She adjusted the angle of the flashlight.

At certain angles, even the faintest scratches became much easier to see.

She examined the front of the lock, then the sides.

Nothing.

Then she moved to the inside of the shackle.

A scratch just over two millimeters long caught her attention.

It was pale rather than painted, with no flecks of green paint clinging to it. Instead, it had a faint silvery sheen, making it obvious that it was newly made—not the kind of mark left by the shackle knocking against the door hasp.

Could it be…?

Jiang Xia’s spirits lifted immediately.

She quickly examined the lower part of the shackle.

According to the mechanics of prying, a single prying action should leave two marks: one at the fulcrum, where the tool braced itself, and one at the point where force was applied.

This scratch was clearly the point where force had been applied.

That meant there had to be a corresponding fulcrum mark somewhere else.

Sure enough, she found a nearly identical scratch near the upper left side of the lock body.

“I’ve confirmed it.”

Jiang Xia looked up, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

“This lock was pried open. The goods weren’t stolen by an insider—they were taken by experienced outside burglars.”

“What?!”

Examining the lock had taken some time. Growing increasingly impatient, Section Chief Liu had eventually wandered outside the warehouse to squat by the entrance and smoke.

The moment he heard Jiang Xia’s declaration, his hand jerked in surprise.

He didn’t even bother finishing the half-smoked cigarette. He threw it to the ground, crushed it under his foot, and hurried back inside.

He asked anxiously, “It wasn’t opened with a key? Are you serious? You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

“Although the marks are tiny, they’re consistent with pry marks. They’re located on the inside of the upper shackle and on the upper left side of the lock body. The thief most likely wedged two wrenches, or a wrench and a pair of pliers, vertically between the shackle, then gradually forced it open by applying upward pressure. That’s why the lock doesn’t show any obvious damage.”

As she explained, Jiang Xia demonstrated the burglar’s movements, pretending to grip the tools and pressing downward with her hands.

“If you don’t believe me, you can take a look yourself. Besides the lock, there’s something else that’s suspicious. If this had really been an inside job, why would the thief choose a stack that was scheduled to be shipped today? Wouldn’t that be practically inviting everyone to notice the missing goods and start looking for the culprit immediately?”

Without saying a word, Section Chief Liu took the magnifying glass and examined the two tiny pry marks.

Only after a long while did he raise his head, his expression complicated.

There was a trace of embarrassment at having his original theory overturned, but also a sense of relief—as though this explanation had answered doubts he’d been unable to resolve.

He let out a quiet sigh.

“To be honest, I can’t really make sense of those marks myself.”

Setting the magnifying glass down, he continued,

“But what you said makes sense, Comrade Jiang. I was being foolish. Who says a lock can only be opened with its key? Looks like I really did wrong those innocent people.”

After a pause, he turned to Chief Wu.

“Your apprentice is incredible. Those marks aren’t even as big as a grain of millet. I couldn’t have seen them if she hadn’t pointed them out, yet she could tell they were pry marks?”

Chief Wu looked rather pleased by the compliment to his apprentice.

“Well, that’s what you get from a top graduate.”

Then he smiled reassuringly.

“It’s perfectly normal. That’s how we all investigate cases—we ask questions, we follow leads. No real harm was done. Now that we’ve figured it out, those people have had their names cleared.”

“True enough.”

Section Chief Liu sighed again.

“But if we’re dealing with an experienced outside burglar, then this case just became a lot harder.”

“This isn’t an ordinary thief.”

At the mention of the case, Chief Wu’s expression also turned serious.

“They know a wide range of techniques, and they’ve got nerve. Before they even steal, they’re already planning how to cover their tracks afterward. You don’t become this skilled without committing a lot of burglaries. Most likely they’re a traveling professional thief, moving from place to place. That makes them very difficult to catch.”

Section Chief Liu understood the implication behind Chief Wu’s words.

The factory’s stolen goods were unlikely to be recovered.

After all, professional traveling thieves were constantly on the move. They might be in town today and gone tomorrow. Even if the police identified them, there was no guarantee they could catch them—let alone recover the stolen merchandise.

He understood that.

But he was still unwilling to give up.

Looking at Jiang Xia, he asked,

“Comrade Jiang, do you think we can keep investigating? We can’t just stop because they’re difficult to catch.”

“I’ll do my best,” Jiang Xia replied. “We’ll investigate as much as we can.”

She couldn’t make any promises.

Standing up, she said, “Let’s check outside first and see if there are any more clues.”

Section Chief Liu nodded repeatedly.

“I’ll have Xiao Zhang ask around too—see if anyone noticed any suspicious people near the factory these past few days.”

As the head of the factory’s security force, Liu possessed solid investigative instincts. Now that the direction of the investigation had changed, he immediately knew what needed to be done without Jiang Xia having to remind him.

While Xiao Zhang led several security officers to question nearby residents, Jiang Xia walked over to the factory’s outer wall and carefully examined the marks on its surface.

The main gate was guarded, so the thieves must have climbed over the wall.

If so, they might have left useful traces there.

The entire wall was painted a dull grayish white, and to most people, the streaks of dirt looked identical.

To Jiang Xia, however, every mark told a different story.

These straight vertical streaks were caused by rainwater.

Those slanting to the right were left by the north wind.

The splattered spots near the bottom came from muddy water someone had thrown here the other day…

As she sorted through the countless marks, she soon spotted several fresh abrasions along the top of the wall.

These were left by burlap-wrapped bundles scraping against the wall!

Jiang Xia’s spirits instantly lifted.

Seeing that there were few footprints on this side of the wall, she quickly climbed onto her bicycle and rode around to the opposite side.

A narrow dirt path ran along the outside.

Plenty of people had walked through during the day, leaving a confusing jumble of footprints.

But by paying attention to the direction they were facing, Jiang Xia quickly picked out several footprints near the wall that looked suspicious.

At last—

her greatest skill could finally come into play.

Breaking a small branch off a nearby tree, Jiang Xia drew a circle around what she believed to be one of the thieves’ footprints.

Chief Wu, who had followed her over, instinctively glanced at his watch.

“You found footprints already? That fast?”

Jiang Xia answered casually, “You know what they say—practice makes perfect.”

The last time had been her first real field investigation, so she’d worked more cautiously and slowly. This time, not only did she have experience, but her abilities had also been upgraded. And she was searching for footprints near the wall, where there was relatively little interference.

It would have been strange if she hadn’t found them quickly.

Before long, Jiang Xia had marked out the thieves’ movements, as well as the tracks left by the bicycle they had used to transport the stolen goods.

Standing beside the tire tracks, she took a notebook from her pocket and began writing as she spoke.

“Judging from the traces at the scene, this was a group operation. There were three thieves in total.”

“One was around nineteen years old and was mainly responsible for keeping watch.”

“Another was about twenty-one and did most of the climbing over the wall and moving the stolen goods.”

“And the third was roughly thirty-two or thirty-three. He appears to have been the ringleader.”

Section Chief Liu had just returned after giving Xiao Zhang his instructions.

Hearing Jiang Xia’s analysis, he blinked in confusion.

“Comrade Jiang… you’re talking about the thieves?”

Jiang Xia nodded.

“That’s right.”

Section Chief Liu was even more bewildered.

Wait… how on earth can you tell all that?

One look at his expression told Jiang Xia exactly what he was thinking.

“This is a criminal investigation technique called footprint analysis,” she explained.

“I found the thieves’ footprints and used them to estimate their ages, heights, and body builds. You’ve probably heard of it before.”

Now that she mentioned it, Liu vaguely remembered hearing something about it during a training course at the municipal bureau years ago.

But as far as he recalled, footprint analysis was mainly about identifying shoe tread patterns.

Since when could it reveal a suspect’s age and physical characteristics?

Must be some new technique…

The way he looked at Jiang Xia became noticeably more respectful.

A top graduate really is something else. She knows so many specialized techniques.

Chief Wu thought for a moment before asking, “Xiao Jiang, besides their ages and builds, can you tell us anything even more distinctive?”

Jiang Xia examined the footprints several more times before shaking her head helplessly.

“That’s all I can get.”

A hint of frustration crept into her expression.

If there were a ranking for the kinds of criminals police officers liked to catch most, those with obvious distinguishing features would be at the very top.

Whether someone had only one eye, was completely bald, was bow-legged, or had six fingers—people like that were few in number and easy to recognize.

They were the easiest suspects to find and arrest.

Ordinary-looking people, on the other hand, were another story.

They were everywhere.

Even determining whether someone was the right suspect could take an enormous amount of time and effort.

Unfortunately, these three thieves were completely ordinary.

Even with estimates of their ages, heights, and builds, the pool of possible suspects was still far too large. Tracking them down would only be slightly easier than searching for a needle in the ocean—

more like searching for a needle in an entire river system.

Either way, the overall difficulty was still off the charts.

If only one of them had been lame…

With that thought, Jiang Xia sighed helplessly.

“No… that’s all.”

Chief Wu pondered for a moment before glancing up at the increasingly dark sky.

“Then let’s leave it at that.”

“Xiao Jiang, give the information you’ve written down to Section Chief Liu. It looks like it’s about to rain, and we don’t want to get caught in it on the way back. We’d better head out now.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Xia froze.

Wait… the case hasn’t been solved yet.

Why is Chief Wu already talking about leaving?

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.10 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

“This case is a real headache.”

“As you know, petty theft cases like this can usually be handled directly by our Security Department.”

As he spoke, Section Chief Liu took out a pack of cigarettes, offered one to Chief Wu, and continued,

“The item was probably stolen last night. The guards weren’t alerted, and the doors, windows, and locks were all intact. That means someone with a key had to have done it—an inside job.”

“There aren’t many people in our factory who have keys to the warehouse. Besides the management, only three people do: Old Xiao, the warehouse keeper; Zhou Hongxia, the workshop team leader; and Chen Hui from the Finance Department.”

“Old Xiao isn’t well off. He has five sons, and life is already hard enough for him. Three of the younger boys are always running around stealing chickens and other odds and ends.”

“As for Team Leader Zhou, her hands aren’t exactly clean either. She’s always taking leftover fabric scraps from the workshop home with her.”

“And Chen Hui from Finance… I’ve never actually seen him steal anything, but he spends money like water. He buys new clothes and leather shoes every season, and just the other day he even bought himself a camera. His spending is way out of line with his income.”

“So tell me, Chief Wu—which one of those three doesn’t look suspicious?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia couldn’t help frowning slightly.

At first glance, Section Chief Liu’s suspicions seemed reasonable. But aside from Old Xiao—more specifically, his sons, who did have a stronger motive—the other two had little apparent reason to commit the theft. It felt like the classic case of suspecting the neighbor because you’ve lost your axe.

With that line of thinking, Jiang Xia could understand why he had been so overwhelmed by the case.

Chief Wu realized the same thing.

Of course, that was easy to say in hindsight. If he had been handling the case from the beginning, his first instinct would have been the same—to suspect an insider, and those three in particular.

After all, both the crime scene and the circumstances were highly suspicious.

Taking the cigarette, Chief Wu tucked it behind his ear and said with understanding,

“I take it that after questioning them, you didn’t get anything useful?”

“What do you mean ‘anything useful’?”

Section Chief Liu’s face filled with frustration.

“We all work in the same factory. I didn’t dare push them too hard—I only asked a couple of questions. But every single one of them blew up at me.”

“Just now, Team Leader Zhou pointed right at my nose and cursed me out. She said they’re only scraps of leftover fabric, everybody takes them home, so why is she suddenly being blamed the moment something goes missing?

“Old Xiao is getting on in years. He got so worked up that he fainted on the spot. He only just came around. His family showed up and started making a scene too, saying their whole family lives in that tiny place. With neighbors all around them, if anyone went out in the middle of the night, everyone would know about it. So how could they possibly be the ones who stole the goods?

“As for Chen Hui, he says he went to night school yesterday evening and slept there afterward. Several people can testify for him. There’s no way he could have come back to the factory to steal anything.”

At this point, Section Chief Liu let out a long sigh.

“To be honest, what they’re saying makes sense too. But they’re the only ones who have keys, and the keys were neither lost nor borrowed by anyone else. If it wasn’t them, then who else could have done it?”

That was hard to say.

Jiang Xia felt that Section Chief Liu was starting to get tunnel vision. But without evidence, there was no point arguing, so she simply followed his line of reasoning.

“So what you’re saying is, Chief Liu, you can’t prove that they stole the goods, and they can’t prove they weren’t colluding with an outsider. Everything’s stuck in a deadlock, and that’s why you’re at your wit’s end.”

“Exactly!”

Section Chief Liu slapped his thigh excitedly.

To be fair, the young police officer Chief Wu had brought along might be inexperienced, but she was quick-witted. She had put the situation into words perfectly.

“That’s why the old saying goes, ‘To catch a thief, you need the stolen goods.’ Once the evidence is right there, there’s no room for excuses. Unfortunately, we discovered the theft too late. We didn’t catch anyone in the act, and now there’s nothing left to investigate.”

Turning to Chief Wu, he said,

“We’re out of our depth here. From this point on, we’re counting on you.”

“Don’t worry,” Chief Wu replied with the practiced assurance of an experienced officer. “We’ll do everything we can.”

In truth, he wasn’t very confident.

This case was far trickier than the one at Dong Aihua’s house, and he had no promising leads. For now, all he could do was hope Jiang Xia could uncover some useful clues.

But judging from what Section Chief Liu had said, the crime scene had probably been heavily disturbed by now.

There was a good chance she wouldn’t find much at all.

He’d better start thinking now about what to say if they came up empty-handed.

Chen Dong had really done him dirty this time!

As they talked, they arrived at the warehouse.

The garment factory’s warehouse was newly built—a single-story concrete building over twenty meters long. Its main entrance was in the middle of the front wall, directly facing the factory’s outer perimeter wall.

The wall stood over two meters high and had been coated with white paint, giving it an imposing appearance. Years of wind and rain, however, had left faint vertical streaks of dirt running down its surface.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Section Chief Liu sighed and looked expectantly at Chief Wu.

“This is the warehouse that was burglarized. Old Xiao and the others are waiting next door. Would you like to question them first, or…?”

“No rush.”

Chief Wu shook his head slightly before turning to Jiang Xia.

“Xiao Jiang, what do you think? Any ideas?”

“I need to examine the scene first.”

Standing at the warehouse entrance, Jiang Xia let out a long sigh.

She had prepared herself mentally, but the chaotic mess of overlapping footprints beyond the doorway was still enough to make her heart sink.

These days, the three most effective tools for solving a case were footprints, fingerprints, and interviews.

And among them, footprint analysis was her specialty.

Yet with so many people having trampled through the crime scene after the theft, the original footprints had been completely destroyed. Her strongest skill was practically useless.

It felt even worse than loading into a ranked match only to find your best hero had been banned.

Oh—and the hero had been accidentally banned by your own teammate.

Now that was enough to make anyone’s blood pressure rise.

Forget it, forget it. Solving the case comes first.

Pulling herself together, Jiang Xia stepped into the warehouse.

Rows upon rows of bundled merchandise came into view.

There were more than a dozen stacks of goods, some large and some small. Every bundle looked the same: rectangular, over a meter long and about half a meter high, wrapped in coarse brown burlap and tightly bound with rope. At first glance, they resembled oversized sticks of dynamite.

Jiang Xia bent down and tried lifting one of the bundles near the edge of a stack.

It was astonishingly heavy—easily over a hundred jin (about 50 kilograms or 110 pounds).

“Section Chief Liu, were the four missing bundles the same as these?”

Liu nodded.

“That’s right. Everything from our factory is packed like this. It makes loading them onto trucks easier.”

The bundles were incredibly heavy. Four of them couldn’t possibly have been carried off by one person alone.

There had to have been more than one thief—or perhaps they had used some kind of vehicle.

As she mentally sketched out a profile of the thieves, Jiang Xia set the bundle down. Then something caught her eye.

One of the bundles in front of her was marked 4-13.

She stepped back and noticed another stack with a bundle labeled 3-30.

Looking farther to the right, she spotted yet another marked 4-27.

Those numbers look like dates.

Deep in thought, Jiang Xia asked,

“Section Chief Liu, are the bundles in each stack all being shipped to the same destination? And on different dates?”

“Huh?”

Liu looked surprised.

“How did you know that?”

“I guessed from the numbers.”

She continued, “How many people in the factory know about this system?”

“Oh, practically everyone,” Liu replied. “Most of the factory knows.”

A vague thought flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t quite put it into words. Instead, he asked,

“Why do you ask?”

Jiang Xia blinked.

If everyone in the factory knows this information, then why would an insider choose to steal goods that were scheduled to be shipped today?

Were they simply panicking when they picked the bundles?

That was possible.

But if they had been flustered enough to grab the wrong shipment, how had they still remained calm enough to close the warehouse door behind them and lock it again before leaving?

The behavior didn’t add up.

Something was off.

She continued her questioning.

“Section Chief Liu, which stack were yesterday’s missing bundles taken from?”

Liu pointed toward the back.

“Over there, next to that post where the sample is hanging.”

“Is this bedsheet the same type as the ones in the missing bundles?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Xia walked over.

The spot Liu indicated was far from the entrance, tucked away against the wall in an inconspicuous corner. The workers had already cleared away the remaining bundles, leaving only a large light-red floral bedsheet hanging from a nearby rope as a sample.

She glanced at the floor.

Just as she’d expected, the footprints there were hopelessly trampled and impossible to distinguish.

After making a complete circuit of the warehouse, Jiang Xia returned to Chief Wu’s side.

Seeing the expression on her face, Chief Wu gave her a thoughtful look.

“Found anything?”

“A little.”

Jiang Xia spread her hands helplessly.

“But it’s the same old problem—no evidence.”

She suspected that Section Chief Liu’s conclusion was wrong.

Ordinarily, if someone could slip into the warehouse without alerting the guards or patrols, without damaging the doors, windows, or locks, and then restore everything afterward, the most likely explanation was indeed an inside job.

But if it had been an insider, they would surely have stolen goods that weren’t scheduled to be shipped for quite some time. Otherwise, if they stole them yesterday and the missing bundles were discovered today, they’d practically be inviting people to catch them.

Besides, there were plenty of stacks near the entrance and in the middle of the warehouse marked for shipment in April. What insider would walk all the way to the back just to steal bundles that were due to be loaded onto trucks the very next day?

Only an experienced outside thief—someone unfamiliar with the warehouse’s shipping schedule—would assume that goods stored farther inside would be less likely to be noticed and make a mistake like that.

And a seasoned burglar, after spending time casing the factory, could just as easily learn the guards’ patrol routes, sneak into the warehouse by picking the lock, and restore the lock afterward before leaving.

The theory made perfect sense.

But Jiang Xia kept it to herself.

Without hard evidence, it would just be speculation, and Section Chief Liu—already convinced it was an inside job—would never believe her.

She pondered the problem.

The key to distinguishing between the two possibilities lay in how the warehouse had been entered.

An insider would have used a key.

An outside burglar would have used burglary tools.

If she could prove that the lock had been opened with tools, her theory would hold.

So how could she prove what had been used?

Jiang Xia raised her eyes toward the warehouse entrance.

Time to examine the lock.

She took a pair of gloves from her bag, put them on, and carefully removed the padlock from the warehouse door.

The moment Chief Wu saw what she was doing, his eyelid twitched.

The lock again?

He hurriedly warned her,

“Jiang Xia, just look at it, all right?”

“Whatever you do, don’t go demonstrating how to pick it with a piece of wire in front of Section Chief Liu again. I won’t be able to explain that one away!”

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.9 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

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?

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.8 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

This time, Chief Wu genuinely felt that something was off.

He had seen it clearly. The piece of wire in Jiang Xia’s hand was about two millimeters thick. The local supply and marketing cooperative didn’t carry that kind of wire—it was the sort of thing you had to get from a factory or a specialty shop.

Who would go to the trouble of finding something like that, then carry it around every day?

It wasn’t normal.

Chief Wu felt he needed to get to the bottom of it.

Damn that system!

Under Chief Wu’s scrutinizing gaze, Jiang Xia silently cursed the system.

Before this, she had never carried a piece of wire around—she wouldn’t even have thought of it.

Who thinks about things they never need?

But ever since the system had forcibly bestowed Master-Level Theft Skills upon her, she constantly felt as though something was missing from her hands.

It made sense. To reach a master level in thievery, you’d normally need ten or twenty years of practice. The muscle memory ingrained in your hands would be second nature. If the very tool you relied on wasn’t with you, of course it would feel strange.

So Jiang Xia hadn’t been able to resist. She’d deliberately found a piece of wire, wrapped it around her bracelet, and every now and then she’d absentmindedly fiddle with it, satisfying the itch in her fingers.

But after carrying it for so long, her brain had gradually accepted it as perfectly normal.

That was why, just now, all she’d been thinking about was slowing down enough to avoid suspicion. She had completely forgotten that normal people didn’t carry a piece of wire around with them for no reason.

Chief Wu was still waiting for an answer.

Jiang Xia felt a chill creep down her back as her mind raced. She glanced at Chief Wu, then at the wire, before suddenly putting on an expression of realization.

“Oh! Back when I was in school, I accidentally lost the key to my locker. I didn’t want to spend money on a replacement, and I happened to be learning lock-picking at the time. So I kept a piece of wire on me and used it whenever I needed to open my locker.”

“So that’s what it was.”

Chief Wu mulled over her explanation for a moment, then nodded. Satisfied, he withdrew his gaze, reached out, and pushed the door open.

Jiang Xia let out a silent sigh of relief.

Thank goodness… I managed to bluff my way through.

She quickly followed him inside.

The archive room was lined with wooden shelves packed full of household registration files for the district.

A faint, pleasant scent of paper filled the room.

“When you’re a student, you’ve got to be careful with your money. Locks aren’t cheap either. If you know how to open one, you might as well make do with it. It’s not easy for adults to earn money, so if I can save my family a little, I will.”

As Chief Wu walked toward the last row of shelves, he casually asked, as if making small talk,

“That reminds me—where did you learn lock-picking? Didn’t your roommates find it odd? Weren’t they talking behind your back?”

The moment Jiang Xia heard the question, the relief she’d just felt vanished.

Damn it. I didn’t fool him after all.

He’s still testing me.

The question sounded casual, but it concealed a huge trap.

There was no internet these days. You couldn’t just search your phone whenever you wanted to learn something.

If someone knew how to pick locks, they had to have learned it from someone.

So who had taught her?

“I picked it up here and there from different people, and figured the rest out on my own. It’s actually pretty simple—as long as you understand a bit of mechanical engineering.”

Chief Wu was a veteran police officer. His generation might not excel at everything, but interrogation was second nature to them. Jiang Xia didn’t dare fabricate a detailed story. After giving a deliberately vague answer, she immediately steered the conversation elsewhere.

“When I was in school, I spent a lot of time reading in the library. There’s a branch of criminal investigation called criminal behavior analysis. It studies how different types of offenders behave. When a case comes up, investigators can use the traces left behind to infer the kind of person they’re looking for.”

As she spoke, the system’s earlier reward came back to mind, and inspiration suddenly struck.

Isn’t this the perfect loophole?

As long as she established herself as someone who specialized in studying criminal behavior, she could explain why she possessed all these criminal skills.

Better yet, she could openly grind the system’s experience by “committing crimes” right under the noses of her colleagues and superiors, using the skill points she earned to improve her investigative abilities.

This is like Qin Shi Huang grabbing a live wire—I’m hitting the jackpot!

The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Suppressing her excitement, she said in a natural tone,

“I’ve always been interested in that field, so I study it whenever I have free time.”

“Criminal behavior analysis?”

Chief Wu repeated the term.

He was only half convinced.

Studying criminal behavior to solve cases… it did sound somewhat reasonable.

But wasn’t it enough just to understand the differences in theory?

Why actually practice it—and carry lock-picking tools around every day?

Even if she really had only been opening her dormitory locker, it still seemed excessive.

Standing before the last row of wooden shelves, Chief Wu took down three neatly folded police uniforms along with a peaked cap. Turning around, he handed them to Jiang Xia.

Speaking earnestly, he said,

“We’re community police officers. Most of what we deal with are everyday neighborhood disputes and trivial matters. We don’t come across many criminal cases. So from now on, you’d better stop studying that… criminal behavior stuff.”

Jiang Xia blinked.

“Huh?”

I just found a way to farm the system’s experience points! How can my plan die before I’ve even had a chance to try it?

“‘Huh’ what?” Chief Wu continued. “And throw away that piece of wire too. A community police officer who knows how to pick locks? That won’t sound good if word gets out.”

Jiang Xia understood what he meant.

The ability was simply too suspicious.

Forget the public—even if only her coworkers knew about it, if something ever went missing at the station, there was a good chance she’d become the first suspect.

That was just human nature, and Jiang Xia understood it.

Still, perceptions could change. Locksmiths unlocked locks every day, and no one suspected them of being thieves.

If she could earn the support of her superiors, build a track record, and gain recognition within the profession, then what she was doing would naturally come to be seen as legitimate.

Having finally found a reasonable way to exploit the system’s loophole, Jiang Xia was unwilling to let it fail at the very first step. So she tried one more time.

“Chief Wu, I know this kind of research sounds dangerous, but it really is a legitimate field of study. I’ve heard there’s even a dedicated research team in the capital working on it, and there are books written about it. It’s definitely aboveboard. Please let me keep studying it.”

Is that really the issue? Whether it’s legitimate or not?

The problem was that other people studied it without putting it into practice.

She, on the other hand, had gone straight from research to hands-on application. Who knew when she’d decide to “practice” something next?

She should’ve been a promising detective… so why is she such a headache?

“All the more reason not to mess around with it yourself if there are already people specializing in that kind of research.”

Chief Wu was starting to feel mentally exhausted. Seeing that Jiang Xia still refused to give up, he became even more resolute.

“That’s final. We’re not discussing this again.”

“Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

He had made up his mind.

He was going to mentor Jiang Xia personally.

He had to straighten this girl out.

Well, there was no convincing Chief Wu now.

Jiang Xia wasn’t upset, though.

Getting ten experience points out of nowhere today was already an unexpected bonus. She wasn’t in a hurry to exploit the system’s loophole and level up.

She could take her time.

Give me enough time, and sooner or later Chief Wu will come around.

Cradling her new police uniform in her arms, Jiang Xia confidently followed him out.

Inside the office, all of the officers from Zhouying Police Station worked in the same room. Today, only Sister Chen and Xiao Liu were absent, having gone out to verify household registration records. The rest of the community officers were already there.

Pointing to each person in turn, Chief Wu began the introductions.

“You’ve already met Hu Wei and Lu Fusheng yesterday, so no need to introduce them again. This is Deputy Chief Xu. If I’m not at the station and you run into something you can’t handle, go to him. This is Old Wang, Wang Xuguang. And this is Shen Huoda…”

“Hello, Chief Xu!”

“Hello, Brother Wang!”

“Hello, Brother Shen!”

…

Jiang Xia greeted each of them cheerfully.

“So we’ve got ourselves an outstanding new recruit!”

Once the introductions were finished, Deputy Chief Xu smiled and asked,

“Xiao Jiang, do you have a boyfriend yet?”

“My older sister doesn’t have one either.”

Jiang Xia answered openly, “I’m still young. I’d like to focus on work for a few years and settle down before thinking about dating.”

Deputy Chief Xu shook his head with a chuckle.

“Well, there goes my plan. I was thinking of introducing you to my nephew, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Enough about your nephew.”

Chief Wu pointed to a desk piled high with files.

“Come on, Xiao Jiang. This will be your seat.”

Jiang Xia turned to look.

The desk Chief Wu had assigned her was in an excellent location—right beside his own, with Deputy Chief Xu seated directly across from her.

The sight made Jiang Xia feel like her soul had left her body.

Great… I’m surrounded by the station’s top brass on both sides.

With both station chiefs sitting beside her, how was she supposed to slack off in the future?

“Chief Wu, isn’t this seat a little… inappropriate for me?”

Jiang Xia tried to decline.

“I noticed there’s an empty desk across from Brother Hu…”

“No need. You’ll sit next to me.” Chief Wu said firmly, “I’ll be mentoring you from now on. This way it’ll be more convenient.”

“Xiao Jiang, Chief Wu really thinks highly of you.”

Deputy Chief Xu smiled encouragingly.

“He’s taking you on as his apprentice right away! Make sure you work hard.”

Keeping a polite smile on her face, Jiang Xia glanced at the unmistakable envy written all over Hu Wei’s face, then at the unwavering determination in Chief Wu’s eyes.

Instead of feeling honored by her superiors’ recognition, all she felt was overwhelming pressure.

Oh no… Chief Wu is absolutely determined to keep me from doing any more “research.”

<< _ >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.7 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The new recruit at Zhouying Police Station, Jiang Xia, really was something.

Thinking to himself in admiration, Chen Dong got the location of the gambling den from the neighborhood loafer and hurried back into the courtyard.

Now that the case had reached the arrest stage, Chief Wu was in an excellent mood. A faint smile appeared on his face.

“I’ve asked the head of the Security Department to go back and gather some men. What about your side? Did you find anything?”

“I did. The gambling den Wang Qiang frequents is in the warehouse of the Ribbon Factory. There are usually twenty to thirty people there. They’ve got lookouts posted, three dealers running the games, and the leader goes by the nickname Laizi.”

Chen Dong continued, “A gambling addict who just stole some money will most likely head straight to the gambling tables. If you ask me, instead of just testing the waters, we might as well bring enough people and raid the whole place.”

Chief Wu had been thinking the same thing.

He nodded.

“I know the place well. I’ll lead the operation.”

“Sounds good.”

Not long afterward, the head of the Security Department arrived with more than twenty men.

Jiang Xia looked at them curiously.

They were carrying police batons. Three of them wore green police jackets but blue trousers, giving them an unusual appearance.

They were economic police, or jingjing.

During the 1980s and 1990s, China had a special branch of law enforcement known as the Economic Police. They belonged to the Public Security Bureau and held official positions, but they were stationed in the security departments of state-owned enterprises. Their primary duty was to maintain security at factories. They had law enforcement authority and were even issued firearms. Whenever necessary, they also assisted local police stations with operations.

Once everyone had assembled, Chief Wu instructed Lu Fusheng to escort Dong Aihua back to the station to give her statement. After emphasizing a few precautions, he quickly led the rest of the team toward the Ribbon Factory.

The group rode there on bicycles and soon reached their destination.

They stopped around a street corner.

About a dozen meters farther ahead stood the warehouse of the abandoned Ribbon Factory.

Outside the warehouse, a young man stood watch, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

The officers quietly parked their bicycles.

“Weidong, you and Officer Chen take four men and circle around from the left. Section Chief Liu, you take five men and go around the back. Ten minutes from now, move in as soon as you hear the whistle.”

After quietly assigning everyone’s roles, Chief Wu turned to Jiang Xia, who had come along with the team.

“Xiao Jiang, you’re still a rookie. You’re here today to gain experience. Stay with Hu Wei from here on out. Your main job is to keep yourself safe. Understood?”

Leaning lightly against the wall, Jiang Xia pressed her foot against the ground, feeling her blood racing with excitement.

She had only just started the job, and now she was already taking part in an arrest operation. Everything was happening so fast that it almost felt like a dream.

But what police officer had never dreamed of catching criminals?

Jiang Xia had often imagined herself pinning a suspect to the ground, snapping a pair of handcuffs onto their wrists, then saying in a cold, composed voice:

“You’re under arrest.”

The thought alone had always seemed unbelievably cool.

Now that her dream was about to come true, she could barely contain her excitement.

Then Chief Wu’s words hit her like a bucket of cold water.

She immediately wilted like a frost-bitten eggplant.

“Okay… got it.”

I got ahead of myself.

A rookie with no field experience would only get in the way during an arrest. There was no way Chief Wu was going to let her take part in the actual capture. Bringing her along this time was simply so she could become familiar with the process.

Oh well.

Finding Wang Qiang comes first.

After all, they still couldn’t be completely certain he was the thief.

I hope my deduction was right.

I hope he’s the burglar… that he’s inside the warehouse… so we can catch everyone in one sweep and recover every last cent stolen from Aunt Dong.

Jiang Xia prayed silently.

Beside her, Chief Wu glanced down at his watch. Seeing that the time was right, he signaled to the economic police officers, who had already drawn their pistols. Then he put the whistle hanging around his neck into his mouth.

The next second, he charged forward.

The economic police officers and factory security personnel rushed after him.

“Police!”

“Nobody move!”

The shrill blast of the whistle shattered the silence.

The lookout heard the word “police” and his legs instantly went weak. Before he could even shout, “The cops are here!”, he was tackled to the ground.

“The cops are here! Run!”

Hearing the commotion outside, the gamblers inside the warehouse scrambled for the exits like fish pouring out of a breached dam.

But the moment they rushed outside, they ran straight into the officers closing in from both sides.

The police swarmed them, pinning the gamblers to the ground one after another.

“Everybody squat down with your hands on your head!”

Following Hu Wei, Jiang Xia hurried into the warehouse.

The entire building was filled with thick smoke. Before she even stepped through the doorway, the pungent smell of cigarette smoke hit her, mixed with the musty odor of a building that had long fallen into disrepair.

Chief Wu was handcuffing the gambling boss, Laizi, while the other officers were busy restraining the gamblers.

For the moment, no one was paying attention to Wang Qiang.

Lowering his voice, Hu Wei barked,

“Which one of you is Wang Qiang?!”

“I’ll tell you!”

One of the gamblers sold out his companion without the slightest hesitation, pointing toward a young man crouching in the corner.

“That’s Wang Qiang!”

Squatting with his hands on his head, Wang Qiang’s face had gone deathly pale.

His lips trembled as he repeated over and over, “I… I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything!”

It was practically a confession.

At that instant, Jiang Xia felt the weight on her heart finally lift.

She let out a cold snort.

“Didn’t do anything? Then where’d you get the money to play Golden Flower Poker? You stole the money from Dong Aihua’s house, didn’t you?”

The moment he heard the name “Dong Aihua,” Wang Qiang’s legs gave out.

With a thud, he collapsed onto the floor.

Escorting Wang Qiang along with more than twenty gamblers, the officers marched back to Zhouying Police Station in an imposing procession.

The other gamblers were placed in temporary detention while Wang Qiang was interrogated first.

The officers also found more than four hundred yuan in cash stuffed into his pocket.

He had never imagined he’d be caught so quickly.

With the stolen money piled in front of him and the other gamblers identifying him, his resolve completely crumbled.

He quickly confessed to the entire burglary.

After signing his confession and pressing his fingerprint onto the statement, Jiang Xia finished counting the recovered money and followed Chief Wu into the reception room.

By this time, besides Dong Aihua, her second son—who had been keeping watch at the hospital—her youngest daughter, and her husband, who had hurried over from work, had all arrived.

As the officers approached, all four members of the Dong family sprang to their feet.

Four pairs of hopeful eyes stared at them eagerly, yet none of them dared to ask, afraid that the news they had just heard was too good to be true.

“Well…”

Chief Wu cleared his throat.

“The case has been solved, and we’ve recovered the money.”

The entire Dong family let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Aunt Dong, here’s the 923 yuan that was stolen from your home. Please count it and make sure it’s all there.”

Jiang Xia handed the money over.

“Thank you so much, Officer! You’ve saved our whole family!”

Dong Aihua’s hands trembled so violently that her son took the money from Jiang Xia on her behalf.

She herself grabbed Jiang Xia’s hands and shook them vigorously.

“Thank you… thank you, Officer. You’ve saved my family’s life. If this money hadn’t been recovered, I… I really wouldn’t have known how to go on.”

In the past, when something was stolen, it was considered lucky if even one out of ten victims ever got their belongings back. If not for the young woman standing before her, the money would almost certainly have been lost forever.

Words alone couldn’t express what Dong Aihua was feeling.

Overcome with emotion, her knees suddenly buckled.

“Thank you so much. I… let me kowtow to you!”

“Please don’t!”

Jiang Xia hurriedly caught her before she could kneel.

“You’ll shorten my lifespan if you do that!”

“My mother’s just overwhelmed.”

Dong Aihua’s daughter quickly held her mother up and said apologetically,

“If it weren’t for all of you, my brother’s family would have been ruined. We really don’t know how to thank you.”

“We’re police officers. Serving the people is our job,” Jiang Xia replied with a smile. “There’s no need to thank us. You should hurry back to the hospital and pay for the operation.”

It took quite a bit of persuasion before Jiang Xia finally managed to see the endlessly grateful family off.

By the time it was over, she was drenched in sweat from the heat.

She was a little tired, but her spirits were soaring, as if she’d just eaten a piece of incredibly sweet candy. Excitement coursed through every part of her body.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

Chief Wu was grinning from ear to ear as well.

“Being a police officer is hard work—it’s tiring and often thankless. But this is the one thing we’ve got that most people don’t. When someone thanks you from the bottom of their heart… there’s no feeling quite like it.”

“I’m pretty happy.”

Jiang Xia’s cheeks flushed slightly.

She had to admit—it really did feel amazing.

She found herself wanting to solve even more cases.

If only I could become a master detective… solving every case that came my way…

“All right, that’s enough. You’ve only just come back today, and you’ve been working nonstop without even eating. Go home and get some rest.”

The more Chief Wu looked at Jiang Xia, the more he liked her.

In less than three hours, she’d helped solve a residential burglary and busted an illegal gambling den.

It was a double victory.

A talent like this couldn’t be overworked.

“Get a good rest. Come back to work tomorrow.”

At those words, Lu Fusheng—who was busy writing up reports—instantly turned green with envy.

There were so many gamblers left to interrogate, and they were desperately short-handed.

So why was she the one being sent home to rest?

Where’s the justice in that?!

Jiang Xia had no idea someone was silently fuming behind her.

A day off?

She was more than happy to take it.

Cheerfully, she pedaled her bicycle home.

As she climbed the apartment stairs, a rich aroma with a hint of sweetness drifted through the hallway.

Braised pork.

The smell was coming from her own home.

Click.

Before Jiang Xia could even take out her key, the door swung open from the inside.

“I knew it was you the moment I heard the footsteps!”

Her mother, Zhou Mei, wore a delighted smile, though she couldn’t help grumbling,

“You should’ve told us you were back. And why did checking in for work take you so long?”

“There was a case,” Jiang Xia replied with a grin.

“I went along… and even helped solve it.”

“So our great Sherlock Holmes has finally come home?”

Her older sister, Jiang Ying, emerged from the kitchen carrying bowls of rice.

“Hurry up and wash your hands. You’re so late the food’s about to get cold.”

“Okay!”

Jiang Xia hurried off to wash up.

There were only four people in the family, and she was the youngest.

The family was close-knit, and now that she’d graduated and returned home, they’d immediately prepared a lavish meal to celebrate.

After drying her hands, Jiang Xia took her seat at the table.

“Time really flies,” someone said.

“In the blink of an eye, you’ve graduated and started working.”

Jiang Weiguo, her father, sighed with satisfaction.

“Time really does fly. Your sister’s become the head cook in the textile factory cafeteria, and now you’ve got a job too. There are four people in our family, and three of us are now permanent employees. Life’s finally getting better.”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” Jiang Ying said. “Our family’s only going to do better from here.”

She popped the cap off a bottle and poured everyone a glass of orange soda.

“Come on, let’s all have a toast!”

Jiang Xia raised her glass in return before picking up a piece of braised pork.

It was rich without being greasy, melting in her mouth the moment she bit into it.

The aroma was so delicious it was almost intoxicating.

It tasted even better than the braised pork she’d had at the finest restaurants in the provincial capital.

My sister’s cooking has gotten even better…

No, more like she’s finally recovered the culinary skills she had before transmigrating.

That’s right.

From Jiang Xia’s observations, her older sister was also someone from the modern world. She had “changed souls” before the original Jiang Xia fell into the water. Whether it was transmigration or rebirth, Jiang Xia wasn’t sure, but she was fairly certain her sister had ended up with the classic “gourmet protagonist” storyline.

Either way, Jiang Xia was benefiting from it.

In those days, eating a truly good meal wasn’t easy.

With braised pork, pickled cabbage fish stew, and eggplant in savory sauce on the table, Jiang Xia polished off two large bowls of rice in one sitting.

Patting her full stomach with a satisfied burp, she returned to the bedroom to rest.

The Jiang family’s apartment was one of the newest employee dormitories allocated by the Steel Mill. It had its own kitchen and bathroom, but it wasn’t large—only about forty-five square meters, with two bedrooms and a living room.

The two sisters shared one bedroom, furnished with a bunk bed.

Jiang Xia slept on the bottom bunk.

Jiang Ying slept on the top.

The moment Jiang Xia lay down, the system’s notification sounded in her ear.

[Ding! Reputation +4.]

Current Reputation: 51/100.

How did my Reputation increase again when I haven’t done anything?

Looking at the gauge, now more than halfway full, Jiang Xia stroked her chin thoughtfully.

Was it because the pickpocket gang from the train had been talking among themselves? Or had word spread beyond them?

She couldn’t figure it out.

I wonder what I’ll get once it reaches one hundred?

She felt both excited and uneasy.

Excited because, although the system’s rewards were all related to crime, they were like a knife.

Whether they became a force for good or evil depended entirely on the person using them.

She could always use them to solve cases.

But what worried her was that the rewards were all crime-related.

Whether it was a skill or a title, using it would not only look suspicious, but each one seemed to come with some kind of side effect.

Please don’t let the system screw me over again this time…

Just as she was silently praying, Jiang Ying quietly slipped into the bedroom.

She closed the door behind her, lowered her voice, and whispered,

“Xiao Xia, can you do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

“You work at the police station, so you hear all the local news. Could you help me find out where it’s safe to set up a street stall? Somewhere the neighborhood police won’t chase us away.”

Jiang Ying continued,

“This isn’t profiteering anymore. The government allows small businesses now. Our cousin’s been back for a while and still hasn’t found a job. I was thinking he could start by selling food from a street stall. At least he’d have some income. It’s better than hanging around all day doing nothing.”

So my sister’s got the ‘food entrepreneur’ storyline…

Jiang Xia thought to herself.

Patting her chest confidently, she said,

“Leave it to me.”

A food stall, huh?

Looks like I’m going to have even more delicious meals in the future.

The next morning.

Bright and refreshed, Jiang Xia rode her bicycle to Zhouying Police Station.

“You’re Xiao Jiang, right?”

“Morning, Xiao Jiang!”

“Good morning!”

The moment she walked through the door, the community officers greeted her warmly, their attitudes far friendlier than before.

Hearing the commotion, Chief Wu came out of his office carrying a teacup.

Unlike yesterday, when he had worn a perpetual frown, he now looked at Jiang Xia with unmistakable affection.

Though… the way he looked at her didn’t seem like he was looking at a person.

It was more like he was admiring a young ox in the prime of its working years.

“Yesterday was so hectic I completely forgot—you still haven’t picked up your uniform.”

Turning toward the office, he called out,

“Old Wang, bring me the keys. Open the storeroom and get Xiao Jiang a police uniform.”

“Oh no…”

Old Wang emerged from the office looking embarrassed.

“I was in such a rush this morning that I left the storeroom keys at home.”

“Hm?”

Chief Wu frowned.

“What about Sister Chen? She handles household registration. She has a set of storeroom keys too.”

“She said yesterday that she’d be taking Xiao Liu out today to verify household registration records,” Old Wang replied. “She won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Old Wang scratched his head awkwardly.

“It’ll take me over an hour to bike home and back. How about I bring the keys tomorrow?”

Chief Wu shot him a look.

“You could’ve forgotten them any other day, but you had to forget them today? You’re holding things up!”

“Uh… how about I give it a try?”

Jiang Xia wanted her uniform now. It didn’t seem right to make someone ride all the way home just because of a set of keys. Besides, she’d already mentioned yesterday that she knew how to pick locks.

She might as well open it herself.

“Oh, right—you do know how to pick locks.”

Chief Wu slapped his forehead.

“Perfect. That padlock’s the same type as the one at Aunt Dong’s house. Give it a try.”

He led Jiang Xia over to the storeroom door.

A lock this simple…

If she couldn’t open it within three seconds, she’d be insulting the Master-Level Lockpicking skill the system had given her.

But just as professional locksmiths deliberately work a little slower so customers feel they got their money’s worth…

Jiang Xia needed to do the same.

If she opened it too quickly, people would think she was too good.

So she’d go slower.

Make it look a bit clumsy.

A little bit lucky.

That way, no one would suspect anything.

She removed a stiff wire from the bracelet on her wrist and bent the tip into a hook.

Then she took off the little ear pick hanging around her neck and inserted it into the keyhole as a makeshift tension wrench.

Holding steady pressure with the ear pick, she carefully worked the wire inside the lock.

Every so often she furrowed her brow and deliberately paused.

She stretched the process out for more than three minutes before—

Click.

The padlock sprang open.

The instant it did, the system’s notification rang in her ears.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations! You successfully picked a high-difficulty lock under a police officer’s direct observation without being arrested. Free Experience +20!]

Wait… that counts?!

And the reward is this high?

One lock was worth as much as stopping twenty pickpocketing attempts!

Jiang Xia’s heart leaped.

Did I just discover a new way to exploit the system?

Suppressing her excitement, she turned to Chief Wu.

“Chief Wu, it’s open!”

To her surprise, Chief Wu didn’t look pleased that the lock had been opened.

Instead, he stared silently at Jiang Xia.

His eyes were filled with curiosity…

…and suspicion.

Jiang Xia’s heart skipped a beat.

My acting was fine…

And I deliberately dragged it out for more than three minutes.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Was it still too fast?

As she was wondering, Chief Wu finally spoke in a faint, thoughtful voice.

“Xiao Jiang…”

“What are you doing carrying a piece of wire around on your wrist?”

Jiang Xia instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Oh no.

I completely forgot about that.

After all…

What kind of normal person carried a piece of steel wire around with them at all times?

<< TOC >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.6 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.

The sun had climbed to its highest point.

Lu Fusheng stood beneath the blazing sun, the heat spreading from his head through his entire body, making him increasingly irritable.

How could she actually have found something?

She was just a brat who had only recently graduated. How much could she possibly know? She should have been like Hu Wei—following experienced veterans like him, respectfully learning the ropes first!

“I mean…”

His wounded pride as a senior officer outweighed any desire to solve the case. Forget going back early for tea—Lu Fusheng strode over to Chief Wu and spoke again in a sarcastic tone.

“There are footprints all over this courtyard. What makes you so sure this one belongs to the thief? Chief Wu, aren’t you worried she might have gotten it wrong?”

This was exactly the moment Jiang Xia had been waiting for.

She had searched the scene from beginning to end precisely to make sure her conclusion was flawless.

Seeing Old Lu challenge her, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but smile.

She rose effortlessly to her feet, brushed the bits of straw off her hands, and spoke with complete confidence.

“This is definitely the thief’s footprint.”

“Chief Wu, there may be many footprints in the courtyard, but only this one appears in all three places: the courtyard, in front of the main house, and inside the house itself.”

Jiang Xia pointed to the trail of footprints she had marked.

“Aunt Dong said that after the crime was discovered, she was the only person who entered the main house. The neighbors and everyone else only came into the courtyard. That means the owner of this footprint entered the house before the crime was discovered.”

“Also, the footprints left inside the house are exceptionally clear and haven’t been trampled over, which means they were made very close to the time of the burglary. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be intact.”

“Furthermore, after the incident, everyone who came and went used the front gate, and their footprints all lead back toward the gate.”

Jiang Xia walked over to the wall, her voice firm.

“Only this set of footprints ends here by the wall, with the toes pointing toward it. That means the person was standing facing the wall—a clear posture for someone preparing to climb over it.”

“Other than the thief, who else would have happened to enter the main house and bedroom before the burglary, then leave by climbing over the wall?”

“Th-That’s…!”

Jiang Xia’s reasoning was logical, well-organized, and perfectly sound. Even Lu Fusheng couldn’t help but feel a flicker of agreement.

But the more convincing it was, the worse he felt. His face flushed with embarrassment.

Unwilling to admit defeat, he forced out another argument.

“Who says standing by a wall means someone’s about to climb over it? Maybe they were just… standing there looking at the wall!”

What kind of professional contrarian is this?

There was an old saying: you couldn’t reason with either an idiot or a contrarian. Old Lu was obviously both.

Jiang Xia glanced at him, completely uninterested in continuing the conversation, and turned her attention directly to Chief Wu.

“What do you think, Chief?”

After listening to Jiang Xia’s analysis, Chief Wu walked over to the wall himself.

Bending down, he examined the chaotic ground.

More than a hundred overlapping footprints covered the area, so jumbled together that they made his head spin just looking at them.

Only by following the trail Jiang Xia had already marked could he barely make out a W-shaped tread pattern in that section.

“Good grief. With footprints this messy, you still managed to pick this one out? Xiao Jiang, your eyesight is incredible!”

Clicking his tongue in amazement, Chief Wu straightened up and continued,

“I think your conclusion is absolutely correct. This has to be the thief’s footprint. It’s just… how did you figure out the person’s height, weight, and age?”

Neither of them paid Lu Fusheng any attention, silently treating him as if he weren’t there.

Realizing this, Lu Fusheng’s face reddened. Just as he was about to speak again, Chief Wu shot him a glare sharp enough to cut.

“Lu Fusheng! We’re trying to solve a case here. Stop making trouble!”

“I…”

Seeing Chief Wu’s face darken, Lu Fusheng swallowed the rest of his words.

Forget it. This rookie’s already got the chief backing her. I can’t win against that.

Trying to console himself, Lu Fusheng retreated dejectedly a few steps and stood in the shade.

Without a contrarian hovering nearby, Jiang Xia felt as though the very air had become fresher.

In a good mood, she answered Chief Wu,

“It’s a bit complicated.”

Explaining footprint analysis wasn’t easy. Jiang Xia paused briefly, organizing her thoughts before giving a simplified explanation.

“For example, height. A person’s height and foot length have a fairly consistent ratio—roughly 6.8 to 1. Judging from the footprint, the thief’s foot is about 25.5 to 26 centimeters long, which puts their height at approximately 173 to 177 centimeters. The stride length and stride width calculations point to the same result, so I’m confident that’s the correct range.”

“As for weight, that’s determined by the depth of the footprint. Age is a little different. The edges of this person’s footprints are sharp and well-defined, the pressure is distributed evenly, the stride is steady, and their coordination is excellent—all characteristics of a young adult’s gait. So I’d estimate they’re between twenty-four and twenty-eight years old. If they were older, there would typically be more wear on the soles of the feet, and the pressure in the footprint would shift more toward the heel.”

Chief Wu listened intently, but the longer he listened, the quieter he became.

He could follow the explanation about height, but everything after that sounded like complete black magic.

Judging weight from the depth of a footprint at least sounded vaguely similar to weighing someone on a scale—but you’d still need a scale. She was claiming she could determine it just by looking?

You’ve got to be kidding.

No matter how he thought about it, the explanation sounded unbelievable. Half convinced and half skeptical, Chief Wu was about to ask more questions when a voice of admiration came from the gate.

“Is this your station’s new community officer? Their gait-tracking skills are even better than Old Qin’s!”

Criminal investigator Chen Dong stood at the entrance.

He had arrived several minutes earlier but hadn’t come inside. Only after listening to Jiang Xia’s entire analysis did he step in from behind Hu Wei.

Looking at Jiang Xia with curiosity, he asked,

“You graduated from a police academy? What’s your name?”

Hearing the question, Jiang Xia turned around.

The newcomer was in his forties, dressed in a police uniform, with a leather briefcase tucked under his right arm. One glance was enough to tell he was a detective from the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

He got here pretty fast.

“My name is Jiang Xia.”

After a moment’s thought, she added,

“I graduated from the Shannan Police School’s vocational program. I majored in public security.”

“A top student, huh?”

Chen Dong raised an eyebrow.

“With gait-tracking skills like yours, you should be working at the Municipal Bureau.”

“Hold it, hold it!”

Hearing Chen Dong’s words, Chief Wu immediately sensed trouble.

He took a quick step forward, placing himself directly in front of Jiang Xia and shielding her from view.

“My station just got this rookie. Chen Dong, what exactly are you trying to do?”

The case was already more than halfway solved, so Chen Dong wasn’t in a hurry. Smiling, he replied,

“Come on, Chief Wu, why are you so nervous? It’s not like I get the final say.”

Yeah, right.

Anyone who believed that would be a fool.

They were all in the same system. Chief Wu knew Chen Dong well enough. If he was praising Jiang Xia so highly, then her so-called gait-tracking skills had to be the real deal.

She might even be better than Old Qin, the veteran detective.

I’ve only just gotten this treasure. There’s no way I’m letting him sweet-talk her away.

With that thought, Chief Wu took another step forward and urged him,

“Enough, enough. Quit chatting. Catching the thief comes first. The suspect’s a local, around twenty-four years old, and we’ve got his height and weight. Just send your people to start checking.”

“Um… Chief.”

Seeing the two men about to begin organizing the search, Jiang Xia quickly spoke up.

“I have another lead.”

“Another one?”

Chief Wu turned around in surprise.

“You’ve got another lead?”

“Yes. I think the thief is probably someone Aunt Dong knows.”

Meeting her superior’s astonished gaze, Jiang Xia explained,

“The way the house was searched is rather unusual. The bedroom—both the bed and the wardrobe—was completely ransacked. But in the main room, none of the cabinets were disturbed. The only thing the thief opened was a biscuit tin, which was then thrown onto the floor.”

“The biscuit tin?”

Chief Wu felt a vague idea forming in his mind, but it remained too indistinct for him to reach a conclusion.

So he asked directly,

“What’s your reasoning?”

“The thief had a very specific objective—finding money in the bedroom. That suggests they were somewhat familiar with Aunt Dong’s home. And in the main room, they ignored everything except the biscuit tin. It’s very likely they knew there was money inside it. If they weren’t someone she knew, then they had probably seen it with their own eyes before.”

Having finished her analysis, Jiang Xia smiled shyly and added a disclaimer.

“Of course, that’s only an inference. I don’t have any direct evidence to prove it, so it should only be treated as a supporting lead.”

If Jiang Xia had offered that theory at the beginning, Chief Wu would have dismissed it as pure speculation.

But after witnessing her abilities firsthand, he now found the analysis convincing, even without hard evidence.

He made the decision on the spot.

“I think this inference makes sense. We can treat the young men among Dong Aihua’s acquaintances as our primary suspects.”

“I agree.”

After hearing the explanation, Chen Dong nodded in agreement as well.

He looked at Jiang Xia, his eyes filled with admiration.

Who would’ve thought?

She’s so young, yet not only is she skilled in gait analysis, she also has such sharp investigative instincts.

She’s a natural for criminal investigation.

Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary detective and had no authority to transfer personnel.

Making a mental note to mention her to his captain later, Chen Dong walked straight over to the waiting Dong Aihua and asked,

“Ma’am, think carefully. Among the people you know, is there a young man around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, about one meter seventy-five tall, who wears rubber shoes? Someone who’s been to your house before and may have seen you or your husband putting money into that biscuit tin?”

“A young man?”

Tear stains still marked Dong Aihua’s face. She froze for a moment before asking in return,

“You mean… the person who stole my money was someone I know?”

“That’s right,” Chen Dong replied. “Please think carefully.”

“Th-That can’t be! I don’t know any shady people!”

Dong Aihua instinctively denied it, but her mind was already searching through her memories. Before long, someone whose age and height matched almost perfectly popped into her head.

After hesitating for a moment, she said,

“Well… there is one person who fits. Wang Qiang, the younger son of the Wang family at the end of the street. He’s about that age and height. Just two days ago, he came with his mother to my house to deliver thirty yuan, and I put the money into the biscuit tin right in front of him.”

“But I watched that boy grow up. He’s always been such an honest kid. How could he possibly come to my house and steal?”

Chen Dong didn’t answer.

He simply asked, “Anyone else?”

Dong Aihua thought for another moment before quickly shaking her head.

“No. That’s all.”

Chen Dong nodded, then turned and walked to the front gate. Addressing the crowd gathered outside, he called out,

“Does anyone know Wang Qiang, the younger son of the Wang family at the end of the street? Does anyone know what he was doing today?”

At Chen Dong’s question, the onlookers immediately began talking over one another.

“Wang Qiang?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him today.”

“Didn’t he go to work?”

“You forgot? He’s a temp worker. There wasn’t much work today, so he didn’t have a shift.”

“Oh, right, no shift. Then where did he go?”

“No idea. I just haven’t seen him all day.”

…

As everyone chimed in, it quickly became apparent that not a single person had seen Wang Qiang that day. An uneasy feeling spread through the crowd.

“Why are the police asking about him? Don’t tell me he’s the one who stole the money?”

Someone objected.

“No way. I remember Wang Qiang being a pretty honest guy…”

“Hah—honest, my ass!”

From a corner, a neighborhood loafer leaning against the wall with a cigarette hanging from his mouth let out a scornful laugh. Unable to keep quiet any longer, he revealed,

“That guy’s been playing Golden Flower Poker for ages. I heard he owes a whole lot of gambling debt. You people are the only ones who don’t know!”

The moment those words came out, the crowd fell silent for a second.

Then it exploded.

“What?!”

“He’s been gambling?!”

“No way! He’s always been so honest. How could he gamble?”

“Anzi wouldn’t make something like that up, would he?”

“A gambling addict has no conscience. If he really lost a bunch of money…” Someone drew a sharp breath. “Then the Dong family’s life-saving money really could’ve been stolen by him!”

An honest person might not steal.

But someone hooked on gambling and drowning in debt was another story.

Especially since Wang Qiang hadn’t been working that day, and no one had seen him anywhere.

That meant he had more than enough opportunity to commit the crime.

Chen Dong couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

It hasn’t even been an hour since we got here, and we’ve already narrowed it down to a prime suspect?

Since when did residential burglary become this easy to solve?

<< TOC >>

The post Criminal Master System Ch.5 first appeared on A Wandering Potato.