Chapter 26: ◎If Officer Zhou Trusts Me, I Might Be Able to Help You◎

Zhou Hui’s expression softened a little. She had been too tense.

Yu Bai was probably just exceptionally skilled in this field. After all, she was a talent hired from America by the Provincial Public Security University. Without some real expertise, how could she have handled so many major cases? Even with the Ji Shen incident, Yu Bai’s talents in criminology could not be ignored.

At twenty-nine years old, a professor at the Provincial Public Security University—what kind of concept was that? Zhou Hui let out a slight sigh. As expected, academic elites were meant to be looked up to.

However, Yu Bai’s sensitive identity and unclear background had always made Zhou Hui wary of her, to the point of seeing enemies everywhere.

Seeing Zhou Hui relax, Yu Bai said nothing more. She simply smiled, sat down on the bed, and began scrolling through her phone.

Leaning against the pillow, she idly flipped through every app, nearly dozing off, until one topic suddenly caught her eye. Yu Bai bolted upright in bed, nearly throwing out her back.

She slowly raised her head and sneaked a glance at Zhou Hui. Then she slowly lowered it again.

After a moment of silence, Yu Bai lifted her head once more, looking at Zhou Hui as if she wanted to say something but held back.

Zhou Hui caught the back-and-forth glances from the corner of her eye. By now, she was piecing together the case details in her mind.

“What do you want to say?” Zhou Hui suddenly looked up at Yu Bai.

Yu Bai froze for a moment. She seemed about to speak, but the words slipped away. In the end, all she said to Zhou Hui was, “Officer Zhou, you should check the hot searches yourself!”

Zhou Hui’s heart sank as a bad premonition welled up.

She opened the hot searches and saw that #Murder Maniac Returns to Pingling City# was holding steady on the list, with the number of comments climbing rapidly.

Zhou Hui frowned deeply. This was not normal.

“Officer Zhou, has your Police Bureau offended someone? The forces behind the riverway murder case seem pretty substantial—like they came prepared. You all need to be careful.” Yu Bai wiggled her phone and fixed her clear black-and-white eyes on Zhou Hui. “Hot searches every few days. Someone’s trying to steer this toward public opinion.”

Of course, Zhou Hui knew full well. The “Shao Yuan Case” from two years ago remained unsolved, and she was well aware of the powers behind it. They had the means to hire killers, to murder over a dozen undercover agents—and even their families—without a trace.

And now, they had the ability to manipulate public opinion, direct the public’s gaze, and even influence the police investigation.

Of course, this was just one of Zhou Hui’s theories about the case.

“Bzzz—”

At that moment, Zhou Hui’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen: Han Wei.

She answered, and Han Wei jumped right in. “Captain Zhou, have you seen the hot search?”

Zhou Hui replied, “Yeah, I’m looking at it now.”

“What’s going on with this? The internet’s full of wild theories—vengeful ghosts, crimes of passion, revenge killings, you name it. Are this generation’s netizens just bored out of their minds?” Han Wei’s voice grew more agitated with every word. From the noisy background, it sounded like the rest of the team at the Police Bureau was getting restless too.

Frowning, Zhou Hui endured the clamor on the line. “Same as last time—withdraw the hot search and keep investigating.”

It had only been a few days, and they’d hit the hot searches twice now. Zhang Yunan must have a real headache. Zhou Hui figured the provincial authorities would be applying pressure again today, demanding a quick resolution.

This kind of situation was highly unfavorable for the investigation. The higher-ups would feel the heat, and the case had snowballed far beyond what Zhou Hui—or even Zhang Yunan—had anticipated. Everything was a mess. All they could do was pull the hot search and hunt for a breakthrough, but those rarely came easily.

After hanging up, Zhou Hui noticed Yu Bai watching her.

“Sorry, did my call disturb you?” Zhou Hui said apologetically.

“No.” Yu Bai shook her head and paused before adding, “If Officer Zhou trusts me, I might be able to help you.”

Yu Bai’s words were utterly sincere, her eyes lingering on Zhou Hui’s face as she gazed at her.

Zhou Hui’s face betrayed no emotion. She glanced at Yu Bai and said gravely, “How exactly do you plan to help?”

Yu Bai smiled easily and replied, “With all my investigations into this case, and everything I know about the ‘Shao Yuan Case’.”

Zhou Hui’s heart jolted. So Yu Bai really did have ties to the Shao Yuan Case. What she hadn’t expected was that Yu Bai would volunteer the information. Just a few days ago at Zhou Boyan’s place, Yu Bai and her father had clammed up tight, no matter how much she pressed. Now the situation had flipped completely.

Zhou Hui didn’t agree right away. For one thing, she couldn’t quite grasp Yu Bai’s motives or intentions, which made her wary of accepting rashly. For another, she lacked both the qualifications and the authority to approve such a suggestion on her own—it simply didn’t follow protocol.

Instead, Zhou Hui opted for a compromise in her response. “I can’t make that call. It has to go through the higher-ups for approval. If they say yes, I can bring you onto the team to help with the investigation. If not, my hands are tied.”

To Zhou Hui, Yu Bai was something of an enigma. Sometimes she felt like Yu Bai was easier to talk to than most friends, and being around her was relaxing. Other times, Zhou Hui saw her as a dangerous figure, someone whose every piece of information needed to be carefully vetted in her mind first.

Zhou Hui suspected this had something to do with Yu Bai’s habit of operating in those gray areas.

Yu Bai, however, didn’t seem bothered by Zhou Hui’s cautious reply. She smiled and said, “No problem. I can wait.”

Zhou Hui noted the confident, unhurried look on Yu Bai’s face. She recalled how Yu Bai approached everything with an air of nonchalance—on the surface, nothing seemed to faze her, no ripples disturbing her calm demeanor. It was like water merging seamlessly with more water, swallowing any turbulence beneath the surface.

Zhou Hui wasn’t nearly as composed. Deep down, she was a little anxious. It wasn’t just that the killer wouldn’t wait for them to crack the case—he could strike again at any moment. It was also Yu Bai herself, and whatever her true aims were. Zhou Hui had no idea, and that uncertainty made the situation perilous.

If Yu Bai’s motives weren’t pure, handing over control of the investigation to someone like her would expose the Police Bureau to enormous risks.

In this regard, Zhou Hui didn’t trust Yu Bai.

She might look after her out of sympathy for Yan Mingchang’s retaliation against her, or chat with her like old friends. But when it came to casework—whether it was the information Yu Bai had provided on Wu Guojiang and Yan Mingchang, or now her push to join the Shao Yuan Case—Zhou Hui couldn’t fully believe her.

Yu Bai had deep ties to these people and events; she couldn’t even fully extricate herself from them. How could her leads be one hundred percent reliable?

Holding this mindset, Zhou Hui called Zhang Yunan. She hadn’t expected a reply by the afternoon.

Approval granted.

Just like that, Yu Bai had become part of the River Channel Murder Case team. Zhou Hui felt a bit off-balance with the sudden shift. She stared at her phone screen for a long moment before turning to Yu Bai on the hospital bed. “Did you already pull strings to get on the River Channel Murder Case?”

“Of course… not.” Yu Bai teased her on purpose, flashing a cheeky grin. “I don’t have the foresight to predict the killer’s moves, and the Police Bureau locked down the info. How’s a businesswoman like me supposed to know?”

“You didn’t know the first time #Murder Maniac Returns to Pingling City# hit the hot searches?” Zhou Hui narrowed her eyes skeptically. She clearly didn’t buy that this was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Yu Bai burst out laughing, protesting indignantly, “Come on, Officer Zhou—that night the hot search blew up, you cops dragged me straight from my club to the interrogation room and confiscated my phone.” She reminded her, “If memory serves, Officer Zhou, you were the one who escorted me into the Police Bureau that day.”

Zhou Hui: “Yes.”

Seeing her admit it, Yu Bai pursed her lips. “Hmph! You were scary as hell, shoving me into the police car and telling me not to talk the whole way. Maybe… I just wanted to experience the perks of power.”

Yu Bai laughed again after saying that.

“…” Zhou Hui frowned slightly, not amused. “Cut it out.”

Yu Bai reined in her smile with effort and nodded. “Fine, no more messing around. So, Officer Zhou, can you fill me in on the case progress now?”