Chapter 276: Chapter 274: What’s in the Southwest?

Monday.

The moment Su Miaoyi woke up, she received a message from Zhuang Yanzheng.

[My mom made breakfast. I’ll bring some to the municipal bureau for you.]

From that day on, Su Miaoyi ate breakfast made by Yan Zhiqing for half a month straight.

And it wasn’t just her; the entire criminal investigation team ate with her for half a month.

Despite their high-intensity work, everyone gained weight.

Su Miaoyi felt her face had gotten noticeably rounder.

"You look better with a little more weight on you," Lu Zhishen said.

When they had lunch together in the cafeteria, Su Miaoyi could barely eat.

The breakfast had been so good that her lunch tasted like she was chewing on plain grass.

"You’ve got good taste," Su Miaoyi said, nodding in agreement with Lu Zhishen. "After all, I’m one of the belles of the criminal investigation team."

"The team only has two ’belles’: you and Chu Xingrou," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Ah, so I’m the other belle," Chu Xingrou said with a laugh as she caught on.

Su Miaoyi nodded, then looked at Zhuang Yanzheng. "This has nothing to do with the team’s ’hunk.’ You’re too old to be in the running."

"Even if I were a hundred, I’d still be the most handsome man in the criminal investigation team!" Zhuang Yanzheng declared.

Su Miaoyi stared at him for a moment, her expression slowly turning indescribable.

"What’s with that look?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"I was just thinking about what gift to get you for your hundredth birthday," Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

"You could get him a banner that says ’Number One Most Handsome,’" Lu Zhishen suggested.

"I’ll get a horizontal banner, then," Yan Cheng said.

"Then I’ll help you hold it up," said Su Miaoyi.

"Then... I’ll be in charge of the gongs and drums," Chu Xingrou chimed in.

The group burst into laughter.

After lunch, they walked toward the office building together.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou walked behind the men, chatting.

Chu Xingrou did most of the talking while Su Miaoyi listened.

As she continued to talk, she felt Su Miaoyi drifting farther and farther away from her.

She didn’t notice at first, but gradually, Su Miaoyi had wandered off on her own.

She hurried to catch up. "Sister Miaomiao."

Su Miaoyi didn’t respond.

"Sister Miaomiao," Chu Xingrou called out again.

The second time she called out, the three men in front turned around, only to see Su Miaoyi walking toward the southwest with a vacant look in her eyes.

The three men walked over to them.

Su Miaoyi kept walking forward.

She went around a greenbelt and walked to the southwest corner of the municipal bureau’s compound.

But she came to a corner of the office building, where the path ended.

Su Miaoyi stood at the corner of the building for a moment, then turned and walked left.

The four of them followed her.

Su Miaoyi went up the steps, entered the office building, walked straight through the lobby, and went to the main entrance of the municipal bureau.

Once she was at the entrance, she looked to the southwest and stopped moving.

She just stood there facing that direction, not taking another step.

Because they had spent the last half-month investigating numerous locations to the southwest, all four of them knew the significance of that direction.

The four of them stood with her for ten minutes.

Then, Su Miaoyi snapped out of it and looked around.

"Sister Miaomiao, are you okay?" Chu Xingrou grabbed her arm, worried she might be unwell.

Su Miaoyi looked at her surroundings, then at the four of them. "Did I walk here by myself?"

The four of them nodded in perfect unison.

"Did you see something?" Yan Cheng asked.

Su Miaoyi shook her head and glanced in the direction she was facing. "I didn’t see anything. I just heard a voice calling for help again. But..."

"What is it?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"This voice was different from the one I heard last time," Su Miaoyi said. "This time, it was a man’s voice. The previous calls for help were from a woman."

"So, more than one victim?" Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Or... is this a different case?"

"Why didn’t it take me all the way there this time?" Su Miaoyi frowned. "Neither the municipal bureau nor any of the district substations have received any relevant reports. So, whether it’s two victims or two different cases, it’s highly likely no one has found the bodies. But searching through missing person reports... that’s just too difficult."

They had, in fact, looked into missing persons.

But with no evidence other than a general direction, it was extremely difficult to narrow down the search.

You could say there were no screening criteria at all.

The four of them fell silent for a moment before heading back.

"Sister Miaomiao, you’re not feeling unwell, are you?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"No. There was no empathy link, so I’m fine," Su Miaoyi said.

Chu Xingrou felt a little more relieved.

Su Miaoyi glanced at her, then suddenly raised a hand to her forehead. "Actually, I am a little dizzy. I’d feel better if you supported me."

Chu Xingrou quickly held onto her.

Su Miaoyi leaned her head toward her.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced back. "Cut the act."

Su Miaoyi stood up straight. "..."

...

When they were getting off work that afternoon, Zhuang Yanzheng gave Su Miaoyi a stack of books.

"This is all material that will be on the exam," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"There’s so much," Su Miaoyi said, staring at the stack of books.

"And that’s the condensed version," said Zhuang Yanzheng.

Su Miaoyi’s brain actually throbbed with a dull ache.

"You’re worried about reading?" Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Back in university, you were studying this, that, and everything in between. You even submitted a special application to take forensic medicine classes next door."

"Me?" Su Miaoyi asked, pointing at herself. "I did that?"

"Yes. You," Zhuang Yanzheng confirmed.

Back then, she got the top score in every single subject.

She was a legend.

Su Miaoyi’s mouth fell open. Although the stack of books still gave her a headache, she quickly accepted this new fact. "Wow, I’m so impressive."

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

Su Miaoyi carried the books home.

After getting home, she flipped through them.

Some of the material was familiar, but some was completely new.

The familiar parts were related to criminal investigation; the unfamiliar parts seemed to be a mix of everything.

She went through the contents of several books, intending to sort them by category.

More than two hours passed as she sorted the books and skimmed the material.

As she read, she suddenly got up, and still in her slippers, walked out the door.

She didn’t take the elevator, taking the stairs instead.

Then she stood at the entrance of her apartment building, once again staring to the southwest.

Shen Yanzhou was just getting back from a business trip. His driver had dropped him off at the entrance to the residential complex and left, so he didn’t use the underground garage.

And that’s when he saw Su Miaoyi standing at the entrance to her building from a distance.

"Well now, did you know I was coming back and come out here specially to wait for me?" Shen Yanzhou said as he approached. "Enjoying the night view?"

Su Miaoyi didn’t say a word.

Only then did Shen Yanzhou realize she was probably seeing something.

He stood to the side without moving.

After another ten minutes or so, Su Miaoyi suddenly clamped both hands over her mouth.

Shen Yanzhou grabbed her arm.

Startled, Su Miaoyi instinctively seized his wrist, about to twist it back.

Shen Yanzhou instantly moved to block her.

When Su Miaoyi saw it was him, she immediately let go.

Her other hand was still covering her mouth, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

Shen Yanzhou looked into her eyes and keenly sensed that these tears were from pain.

He didn’t ask any questions. After waiting for Su Miaoyi to recover, they went upstairs together...

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