Five days ago, at the Qinghe City Public Security Bureau, a middle-aged man sat with handcuffs in the interrogation room.
In front of him were two police officers.
"Wang Ning, do you know the penalty for intentional injury?"
The middle-aged man referred to as Wang Ning sighed, waving his hands continuously as he spoke. The sound of chains grinding against the table edge interspersed his explanation, making it all the more irritating to hear.
"How many times do I have to tell you?"
"I really didn't intend to do anything!"
"Isn't the hallway public space? There's no sign that says it's her place. Does walking around there make me a criminal?"
Police Officer: "Then why were you carrying a knife?"
Wang Ning: "The security over there is bad. Can't I carry something for protection?"
...
The police had been interrogating him for an hour but couldn't get anything out of him.
"Captain, he still insists he didn't intend to do anything."
He frowned, looking at the elderly man in front of him, with white hair at the temples and bright eyes, reporting the results of the interrogation.
This was their captain, named Zhou Zhicheng, now fifty years old, but still outstanding both mentally and physically.
"Without inflicting harm, we can only detain him for five days at most,"
Zhou Zhicheng, with furrowed brows, gazed intently through the one-way mirror at the man inside who was continuously 'pleading his innocence'.
The first thing out of his mouth was actually a curse.
"Damn it!"
The officer, however, was unfazed, having seen this many times before.
"Who the hell takes a leisurely walk with a knife?"
The young woman who reported this was still in the next room. When she was brought to the police station, she was so scared she couldn't stop crying. It took a female officer half an hour to calm her down enough to recount the whole incident.
The cause was a dispute the day before over a minor accident with a motorcycle.
At the time, the girl noticed the man's expression worsening and decided not to argue, thinking she'd just have to deal with it and rode away.
But unexpectedly, she saw him loitering at her doorstep this morning, carrying a dangerous object.
That scared her so much she immediately called the police.
Zhou Zhicheng had been in this line of work for thirty years and had seen many criminals. He could obviously tell there was something off about Wang Ning.
But the man wouldn't admit to anything, and there was no actual harm done, so they were at a loss.
The young officer frowned at the file, "Captain, if nothing else works, should we apply for some protection for her?"
Zhou Zhicheng's family situation was rather unique. At over forty years old, he was still a bachelor. It was said his wife eloped with someone else eight years ago, and he had no children.
People like this, without family or occupation, disconnected from society, are prone to impulsive actions.
Zhou Zhicheng nodded, agreeing.
After all, they didn't have any better options at the moment.
Five days quickly passed, and it was soon time for Wang Ning to be released.
*
Mu Yunchu watched the countdown on the lucky draw bag, sensing something was wrong. Her hand waving the fan slowed dramatically, and her face showed signs of worry.
Hu Chi had just finished lunch, thinking to use his break to browse his phone, to see if there were any new happenings.
Unexpectedly, he saw a female streamer on the Whale Platform.
He instantly snapped to attention, sitting up straight, so shocked by the phone screen he couldn't speak.
A colleague next to him rolled their eyes but kindly reminded him, "Even though it's break time, be careful about watching female streamers so openly, or Captain Zhou will scold you if he sees."
Hu Chi was too engrossed to care, waving his hand distractedly, "No."
"Look at this, she's stunning!"
But just as he handed over the phone, he heard their old captain talking, accompanied by the recognizable sound of his leather shoes on the floor, startling him so much he dropped the phone.
"There's nothing we can do, the five-day period is up, even if we don't want to, we have to let him go..." Zhou Zhicheng's words trailed off, his attention caught by the phone sliding on the floor.
When he lifted his gaze to look at Hu Chi, it was as if his suppressed frustration finally had an outlet, as he shouted:
"Hu Chi!"
"You brat, what are you up to? Causing trouble every day!"
Hu Chi shrank back under the scolding, feebly picking up his phone, but just as he was about to exit, a pop-up animation appeared on the screen.
He had won the lucky draw.
His hand hesitated mid-air, two little voices in his mind fighting.
To be or not to be
Guiltily glancing up, he saw the captain had already gone into his office, so he resolutely chose the former.
He couldn't let go of the chance to talk face-to-face with a beauty.
But because everything happened so suddenly, even when he connected his microphone hiding by the window, he hadn't fully understood what this live streaming room was about.
Confused, he had spent a thousand yuan.
Mu Yunchu noticed his confusion and asked again, "What do you want to know?"
"To know... Oh right, to know!"
Hu Chi's expression was a bit unnatural, and he kept sneaking looks toward Zhou Zhicheng's office.
He was too busy admiring Mu Yunchu's face to realize this was a fortune-telling stream.
If anyone found out a policeman was doing this at the station, it would cause a stir.
[Why do I feel this person acts suspiciously, like he's up to no good?]
[I feel the same, and look, he doesn't dare show his full face.]
In a flash of inspiration amid the crisis, Hu Chi turned the camera around.
The scene to Mu Yunchu's right instantly transformed into a view of the asphalt road and distant trees.
He stood on the second floor, capturing the scenery quite clearly.
[???]
[What's going on here?]
But Mu Yunchu seemed to understand a lot more.
She focused on a figure appearing on the screen, gently saying, "Are you asking about this murderer?"
In moments of extreme panic, a person often loses control of their actions, like Hu Chi at that moment.
So when he heard Mu Yunchu's question, he instinctively nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes..."
But halfway through speaking, he caught a glimpse of the figure with his peripheral vision and suddenly sensed something amiss.
He whipped his head around, looking at the phone, "Wait, what did you just say?"
"Who is the murderer?"
The phone's resolution couldn't match the human eye and shrunk the image. So Hu Chi's gaze lingered only briefly on the screen before moving to the actual scene.
In the courtyard below, two police officers were following a middle-aged man. It seemed his detention time was up, and they were preparing to process his release.
Mu Yunchu's answer came through the earphones, and Hu Chi squinted before his pupils suddenly expanded.
Isn't that the Wang Ning suspected of intentional injury!!!
Realizing something, he suddenly sprinted towards Zhou Zhicheng's office, not even bothering to knock before bursting in with a bang.
Zhou Zhicheng: ???
"Captain, I discovered Wang Ning's big secret!" Hu Chi was out of breath from running, but his voice was exceptionally loud.
Zhou Zhicheng seemed indifferent, "What secret?"
"Wang Ning, he's murdered someone!"