Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 156

Chapter 156: Sweet Little Daily Life

The New Year’s Day holiday was over, and the Spring Festival was approaching.

Logos had solved some of the backlogged business, and the customer orders in the live stream room had also started to flow back. Qin Luo had taken over the relocation work of the live stream department from Liu Jia and was on her feet from morning to night.

But Shen Yiyi, after experiencing a major case, had been given a commendation by the higher-ups. Besides being in charge of the research project at the Institute of Criminal Science and occasionally attending court, she had been sitting idly in her office with nothing to do.

“One-Cut Shen!”

Piao Zheng was holding a thick stack of documents and greeted Shen Yiyi as he passed by the cafeteria.

He no longer called her Director Shen. Now, Shen Yiyi had a new nickname in their public security building: One-Cut Shen.

The reason was that the great forensic pathologist Shen was now a big internet celebrity. She always liked to say in her popular science videos, “First, we have to make a cut at the xx.” After the forensic science popularization video had gone viral, her fans had always liked to call her One-Cut Shen. It was unknown who in the institute had started it, but as they had called her that, everyone had stopped calling her Director Shen.

Shen Yiyi was a little speechless. “What are you holding in your hand?”

Piao Zheng piled his dinner plate and the documents on the table and pulled out a stool to sit opposite Shen Yiyi. “The catalog of the case materials for Zhan Luo’s transfer.”

“Just the catalog is this much?”

Piao Zheng sneered twice. “There are so many lives on his head. Of course there are a lot.”

Shen Yiyi was chewing her rice and asked, “Has the joint team left?”

Zhan Luo’s case had a huge social impact, and it also involved the modus operandi of a live stream. The public security, the procuratorate, and the court had formed a joint special task force to push forward the case, to ensure that the investigation was in place, to prevent any undiscovered accomplices or imitators. There were also many people involved in the case. Not only Zhan Luo’s case, but also the clearing of the source of the poison that Shang Yi had eaten on the day of his death was also included. Piao Zheng had been busy for two months and had lost weight.

“Not yet.” Piao Zheng was smiling. “But soon.”

The joint team was leaving soon, which meant that the progress of the case had already reached the transfer date. This was an extremely fast speed for a major case, which was a good thing.

Shen Yiyi nodded. “How is he?”

“He’s crazy, but we’ve had a third party identify his mental state. He’s not mentally ill.” At this, Piao Zheng was choked. He took a sip of water to wash down his food and then said, “Even if he is mentally ill, the assessment of his responsibility is not applicable to the court’s judgment. There’s only one possibility for this kind of scumbag, and that’s to be shot.”

“Have his family members come to see him?”

Piao Zheng shook his head. “No.”

Shen Yiyi did not have the convenience to continue to inquire. She and the case-handling department had a gap, and besides, the case also involved Qin Luo. Anyone with eyes could see that the two of them were on good terms, so they would naturally not reveal everything. Therefore, she simply did not ask.

Piao Zheng took a bite of his scallion oil noodles and also changed the subject. “I heard that you’re very happy being a big internet celebrity. You’re going on a business trip with pay in a couple of days.”

“Who told you that?”
“Little Peng.”
“Which Little Peng?”

“The one you had your little apprentice turn!” Piao Zheng rolled his eyes and swallowed the mouthful of scallion oil noodles. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve planted a spy in my place.”

…

Shen Yiyi looked down and shoveled her rice, cursing Lin Puping in her heart for being a good-for-nothing who was more of a hindrance than a help.

“How many days are you staying in Beijing?”
Shen Yiyi was even more speechless. “Did your apprentice even find that out?”
“Do I need an apprentice to find that out?”

Piao Zheng took the tissue in front of Shen Yiyi and wiped his hands, only to find that it was an alcohol wipe. He was so uncomfortable that he wiped his hands on a piece of waste paper a few more times.

He took out his phone, showed Shen Yiyi’s social media account, and pointed to the pinned announcement in the fan group. “Isn’t there an announcement in the fan group?”

“Why did you join a fan group? Are you crazy?”
“I’m a fan.”
“… ”

This time, it was Shen Yiyi’s turn to roll her eyes. She tidied up the table, wiped her hands, and fled the awkward social situation. But just as she stood up, she ran into a few familiar faces from the criminal tech department. Before she could greet them, the other had already called out the affectionate nickname of One-Cut Shen.

…

“Are you nervous about the event tomorrow?”
“…What’s there to be nervous about?” Shen Yiyi was leaning against the passenger seat, wearing disposable gloves. When Qin Luo had come to pick her up, she had bought a bowl of sweet potatoes, saying that it could replenish her energy if she got off work too late.

Although Shen Yiyi had bought a car, Qin Luo was reluctant to let her commute alone. As long as she was in Shanghai, she would maintain the habit of picking her up and dropping her off every day. She would also bring snacks from the office every day, yogurt today, a protein bar tomorrow, afraid that Shen Yiyi would be hungry on the way. She was wearing thick clothes in the winter, so you couldn’t tell if she was fat or thin, but when Shen Yiyi took off her clothes, you could clearly see that her lower abdomen had gotten much bigger.

“Isn’t there still an interview? Has your office reviewed the interview script?”
“Oh, it’s been reviewed.”

Shen Yiyi was not afraid of facing the camera, but she was resentful of the name One-Cut Shen. She remembered that Old Piao was lurking in the fan group and was very unhappy. Wasn’t she being watched by her colleagues?

“Why did you create a fan group? I don’t like fan groups.”

Qin Luo glanced at Shen Yiyi’s expression in the rearview mirror. She looked a little worried, as if she really didn’t like this kind of community. But there was no other way. A fan group had its necessity.

“To better optimize the content.” Qin Luo explained to her, “A community has a cohesive force that can help an account develop better. But most importantly, a fan group is to find clues in an organized way.”

Finding clues…

Shen Yiyi looked down and placed the bowl of sweet potatoes on her lap. “Are there any clues?”

“It’s only been two months.”

The account had only been up for two months, and the traffic and heat of the account were indeed good, but most of them had come to watch sensational videos. In these two months, the account’s backend had received no less than ten thousand private messages. Some were to express sympathy for Shen Yiyi, and some were to send blessings, but there were very few who could provide clues. Qin Luo had even specially hired a screening staff to monitor the backend of various social media platforms every day to ensure that there were no information leaks.

Qin Luo did not want to disappoint Shen Yiyi, but this indeed required time to wait.

“There’s no hurry.”

To be able to send an unknown forensic pathologist to a large-scale public welfare event in two months was also one of Qin Luo’s achievements.

This year’s Spring Festival tribute to the guardians was the platform’s annual public welfare project. All kinds of grassroots internet celebrities would attend the event, and Shen Yiyi was attending as a representative of the grassroots cadres of the public security, so she naturally had to make a lot of preparations.

For example, the police uniform…

“This regular uniform hasn’t been worn in years. It has to be ironed.”

Shen Yiyi watched as Qin Luo squatted on the ground, packing for her. A formal shirt, a tie, a police cap. Beside her were Qin Luo’s suit pants and a trench coat. She was secretly unhappy. “You’re dressed so nicely… who are you dressing up for?”

Two people, four suitcases. Besides a change of clothes, Qin Luo had also packed the disposable bedsheets and sofa covers that Shen Yiyi would use, all the sanitary products that could isolate her from the dirt and mess, and the adult products that she had wanted to bring out of pure selfishness.

After all, the leadership had approved a week’s vacation for Shen Yiyi this time. Besides the three days of the event, they still had some time for a trip. Qin Luo remembered the sparks that had flown between the two of them in the hotel in Beijing. She thought that a change of environment would be more stimulating, so she naturally had to pack her equipment.

It was three in the afternoon when they arrived in Beijing.

The event was to be held the next day. Qin Luo’s team of more than a dozen people had all stayed in the hotel arranged by the organizer.

But Wang Xi was very considerate of her boss’s needs. After all, she was traveling with her partner, and it would definitely not be comfortable to stay in a chain hotel. So she had booked a suite at a group hotel nearby in advance.

This had put Qin Luo in a good mood. That night, she had treated her team to roast duck.

In these two months, everyone had gotten to know the boss’s wife. Shen Yiyi’s personality was slow to warm up. At the dinner table, everyone was joking one after another, and she was not in a hurry. Especially when she saw Qin Luo wrapping a roast duck roll for Shen Yiyi, Wang Xi had led the jeering. Shen Yiyi had eaten leisurely, but it was Qin Luo whose ears had turned red.

When they were leaving, Shen Yiyi had been recognized by the lobby manager, who had called out, “One-Cut Shen, One-Cut Shen.” Then she had been surrounded by a crowd, with photos and discounts.

Shen Yiyi, as a calm person, was not flustered by the situation, but her thick skin was not enough for her to take pictures with people one by one in public.

She looked at Qin Luo in despair.

Qin Luo’s long legs stretched out, and her elbow turned, directly separating the crowd from her girlfriend. She did not avoid suspicion and directly put her arm around her waist, and smoothly led her out of the crowd.

“You almost scared me to death.”

Shen Yiyi was not yet used to this kind of internet celebrity life, especially since the people who loved to watch the show would always squeeze in front of her. The smell of sweat and oil would rush at her, which made the mysophobe almost autistic.

Qin Luo still had her arm around her and was unwilling to let go. Her face was cold and silent, and her pace was as fast as if she were chasing a donkey.

Shen Yiyi was forced to follow her in a hurry. She turned to look at her half-dead expression. “Why are you so cold?”

“I don’t like them touching you.”

The thought that the lobby manager’s phone had almost been on Shen Yiyi’s collarbone just now made Qin Luo dissatisfied. Compared to what Shen Yiyi had experienced, the scrutiny she had suffered was probably even greater, from her behavior to her words, and every detail would be infinitely magnified. That feeling of being consumed was what Qin Luo was most familiar with. She had always seen herself as a shield, but now it was Shen Yiyi who was standing in the spotlight, becoming a topic of conversation. Originally, she had thought that she would be more relaxed than Shen Yiyi, but as the number of followers on her account grew larger and larger, Qin Luo felt more and more resistant.

“It’s not just the touching.” Qin Luo was also concerned about other things. “And peeking at you, secretly taking pictures of you, and judging you. I feel uncomfortable just thinking about these things.”

Wang Xi was a few meters away, her eyes fixed on her boss’s direction.

She only saw Dr. Shen move Director Qin’s hand from her waist and instead hold her wrist. As they were walking, they even started to swing, as if they were playing on an arm swing. The originally gloomy Director Qin suddenly smiled foolishly.

Wang Xi was used to Director Qin’s Sichuan opera face-changing. She had often seen this strange scene during this period of time, especially the one second she was stern in the conference room, and the next she was smiling foolishly at her phone.

Qin Luo was being held by the hand, and she couldn’t hold back the smile on her lips. “Why are you suddenly like this? You’re an internet celebrity now. It’s not good to be photographed.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yiyi said “oh,” but her arm was swinging with extra force. “Swinging your hands after a meal, you’ll live to be ninety-nine.”

“That’s too long to live.”
“A long life means you can get more pension.”
“Then after a meal—”

This time, Shen Yiyi really shook off her hand. “Not tonight.”

Qin Luo didn’t understand. “Why?”

“I’m very tired.”

“Then just once.”
“Do you believe what you’re saying?”

Hey?! Wang Xi frowned and looked at the two who were walking faster and faster in front of her. How come it was Dr. Shen who was being sullen now?