Film and Television: My Cheat Code is AI

At night, Ji Jie and Zhang Yang arrived at the construction site. From afar, they could see the unfinished building standing there in the dark. There wasn't a single light on the building, and there were no streetlights around. The nearest light source was the window of the residential area a few hundred meters away, which appeared as a blurry patch of light from a distance. Ji Jie took out her flashlight, and the beam swept across the sand, gravel, and weeds piled up at the entrance of the construction site.

Ding Jian looked around: "Sister Ji, what are we doing here in the dark?"

Tian Rui checked the time: "There haven't been any new breakthroughs in the physical evidence; now all we have left are the witness testimonies." She pushed up her sleeves and glanced at her watch. "It's five minutes to nine now, which is basically the same time as the night of the incident."

Zhang Yang said, "In his statement, Grandpa Zhang said that he saw Lin Ying and Jiang Dali entangled with each other from 100 meters away, and Jiang Dali even hit Lin Ying. Now, let alone 100 meters away, you can't even see a shadow from 30 meters away."

Ji Jie handed the flashlight to Ding Jian and said, "I'm going to walk forward now. I'll turn back and call out every twenty meters. Watch carefully. Turn off the flashlight."

Ding Jian turned off his flashlight, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness. Ji Jie's footsteps echoed a few steps forward, followed by her voice from the darkness: "Can you see me now?"

Ding Jian shouted, "I can see it clearly!"

Ji Jie walked on, her footsteps fading into the distance. When she was about twenty meters away, she called out, "Can you see me now?"

Ding Jian squinted for a moment and said, "A shadow."

Ji Jie's voice came through again: "It's twenty meters away now, twenty meters."

Zhang Yang squatted down, spread his notebook on his knees, and used the dim light of his phone to jot down the time, location, and distance. Ji Jie walked about thirty meters forward when Ding Jian called out, "Sister Ji, don't go any further! You can't see anything at all anymore!"

Ji Jie walked back, turned the flashlight back on, and her face was half-lit from below by the outward glow of the flashlight. She smiled and said, "Zhang Yang was right."

Ding Jian asked, puzzled, "Why would Grandpa Zhang lie?"

Ji Jie said, "I suspect there used to be lights on the construction site. He did see Jiang Dali and Lin Ying dating near the site, so he imagined the crime based on our clues. But he forgot that the construction site had been shut down for three months, and the lights had been gone for a long time."

Tian Rui said, "This old man Zhang is really meddling."

Ji Jie said, "This is something we overlooked. Many people in life are like him, turning what they hear from others into their own experiences, and telling them in a very convincing way."

Ding Jian scoffed, "What kind of thrill is that?"

Ji Jie said, "We have to thank Zhang Yang this time. If he hadn't insisted on coming to check the construction site at night, we probably wouldn't have discovered this situation so early."

Back at the station, Ji Jie wrote a report and handed it to Lao Zheng the next day. After reading the report, Lao Zheng looked up and asked, "What? You're saying the old man's testimony was false?"

Ji Jie said, "This is all our fault. We should verify the testimonies provided by the public."

Old Zheng thought for a moment and said, "That means all the circumstantial evidence can only prove that Jiang Dali went to the construction site that night, and no one can prove that he had contact with Lin Ying." Ji Jie nodded, and Old Zheng closed the report and said, "Okay, I'll go and apologize to the bureau leaders, request the procuratorate to withdraw the arrest warrant, and request supplementary investigation."

Ji Jie said, "Team leader, this should be blamed on me."

Old Zheng waved his hand and said, "Don't talk to me about that yet. What I want to know now is what new ideas you have for the future investigation."

Ji Jie said, "After I learned that Lin Ying was pregnant, I also began to suspect someone, Li Ming. Zhang Yang asked about him during the interrogation, but he was somewhat vague. I think Li Ming is highly suspicious."

Old Zheng nodded and said, "I've been thinking about that too. If it's really as he says, that he and Lin Ying were childhood sweethearts, then why didn't he mention anything about Lin Ying's pregnancy during the first inquiry?"

Ji Jie said, "Yes, if he knew that Lin Ying was pregnant with Jiang Dali's child, then he would be the most likely suspect in the murder."

Old Zheng took a report out of the drawer and handed it to her, saying, "This is Zhang Yang's investigation into Li Ming's movie-watching situation today. There were no surveillance cameras in the movie theater, but the waiter remembered him, saying that he came near the end of the movie, watched for a while, and then left."

Ji Jie looked at the report and said, "I didn't expect Zhang Yang to have already gotten ahead of us."

Old Zheng looked at Ji Jie: "Ji Jie, you're a veteran investigator now. Da Zeng went to another place to be a team leader, and Jiang Han is also a team leader in Hebei Province. If you don't want to leave the Sixth Group, you can stay here. But you need to change your tendency to act on emotion."

Ji Jie smiled and said, "We've been comrades-in-arms for so many years. I know this is a problem I have, and I can't seem to change it." She waved the report in her hand, "I'll take this report back and take a look."

In the afternoon, Ji Jie brought Tian Rui and Zhang Yang to Li Ming's house. As soon as the door opened, Li Ming saw the three of them and immediately put on a smile, saying, "Officer Ji, Officer Tian, ​​Officer Zhang, please come in. I was thinking of embroidering two banners to send to your police team after this case was solved, but I didn't expect you officers to come first."

Ji Jie observed her surroundings and said, "No rush, we can thank you after we catch the real culprit."

As Li Ming poured water, he said, "Hey, isn't Jiang Dali the real killer?"

Ji Jie didn't reply, her eyes sweeping over the many DVDs of domestic films on the table. She picked up a copy of "Big Shot's Funeral" and said, "I didn't expect you to really love domestic films. You're already paying for tickets to see movies, why are you buying VCDs?"

Li Ming smiled and said, "Watching the movie is free; it's organized by Yingying's mother's school."

After sitting down, Ji Jie said with a smile, "Actually, I quite enjoy watching domestic films. I get tired of watching a couple of foreign blockbusters, since they're about other countries' affairs."

Li Ming nodded and said, "Yes, yes, these foreign blockbusters are just for fun at the beginning, but they don't get very interesting in the end."

Tian Rui laughed and replied, "There's a really good scene in 'Big Shot's Funeral,' where Ge You is pursuing Rosamund Kwan..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Ming quickly added, "Yes, yes, that's right. Ge You was chasing Rosamund Kwan and he fell to the ground. Ge You got up and said, 'This time I'm laid off.' It made everyone in the movie theater laugh that day." He laughed quite happily as he said this, leaning back and gesturing with his hand.

Zhang Yang put down his teacup and looked at Li Ming: "You must be mistaken. Your lying skills are terrible. This plot only appears in pirated VCDs. It was cut from the official movie release. You won't see this scene in the theater."

Li Ming's smile froze for a moment, then he quickly tried to cover it up: "Oh, I might have misremembered. I mixed up the movie and the pirated disc. This scene is definitely not in the movie." He reached up and scratched the back of his head, not looking at Zhang Yang.

Ji Jie stood up and looked into Li Ming's eyes: "Li Ming, Lin Ying's autopsy report is out. There are some things we need to verify with you. You must come with us."

Li Ming's Adam's apple bobbed, and he put down his cup and stood up: "Okay."