To please others? It's better to please yourself.

Xu Jing'an woke up early in the morning and carefully looked at her clothes again while getting dressed.

To be honest, Shen He's actions yesterday really impressed her. But she was even more afraid! Based on her past experience watching movies and reading novels, even knowing the situation, some people would still carelessly break the rules.

Xu Jing'an checked herself over from head to toe again, not missing a single spot. Hmm, there was no red, not even the hair tie in her braid or the insoles in her shoes.

Before leaving, he thought about it again and was still worried, so he also hid the hammer from home in his waistband before leaving the house.

These past few days, when she went grocery shopping, she didn't buy any red vegetables. She even wanted green chili peppers!

These past few days, Xu Jing'an has been secretly practicing drawing the dagger at home whenever she has nothing to do, and she even had Shen's father find some black paint to blacken the dagger. The dagger is good in every way, except that it's too shiny.

Dou Dou has started elementary school, so Xu Jing'an only needs to take care of Mao Mao every day now.

More than half a month later, according to rumors, the culprit had been caught. Shen He hadn't been home for seven days straight; the case was so heinous that it had created widespread panic.

Moreover, it happened just before the college entrance examination, so all the attention and pressure from the province to the city was focused on this case, and the police were also under great pressure.

Before the police had issued an official announcement, Xu Jing'an, still worried, found a laundry mallet at home and put it in the shopping bag.

Seeing his daughter-in-law constantly arming herself, Mr. Shen quickly called out, "Jing'an, I'm taking the day off. Leave Mao Mao at home!"

"Okay, Dad, remember to lock the door so Mao Mao doesn't go out to play."

"Don't worry, Dad knows. But could you please put the cleaver down? We need to eat lunch too, don't we?"

Xu Jing'an thought for a moment and said, "Dad, how about we have some noodles and scrambled eggs for lunch?"

"These dishes are too complicated to cook, and it's inconvenient for you to make them with a child!"

"If you want something nicer, wait for me to come back tonight and I'll make it!"

"If all else fails, we can borrow from the neighbors."

Never before had Mr. Shen felt so deeply how much his daughter-in-law valued her life!

He nodded helplessly, "Okay, be careful on the road."

Xu Jing'an hurriedly rode her bicycle to work, otherwise she would be late.

When Mao Mao woke up to pee, he saw his grandpa at home and knew he didn't have to go to daycare today. He happily ran over to his grandpa to play with him.

After picking my grandchildren up from school at noon, I asked, "Grandpa, what are we having for lunch?"

Egg noodles

Zhuangzhuang: "Still eating noodles? It's been half a month!"

DouDou: "Yeah, Grandpa, let's switch!"

"Don't worry, Grandpa has already asked someone to buy another kitchen knife. If we can get one today, we'll have something else for lunch!"

Mao Mao: "Grandpa, is one handful enough?"

Mr. Shen: "Whether it's enough or not depends on your dad. If he's capable and solves the case sooner, will we need to spend extra money?"

The children nodded; that was indeed the case. Look how scared Mom is! She even has two needles stuck to the hem of her dress!

Shen He, who was scolded by his father for being useless, also received a "roaring" from his superiors at the bureau along with his colleagues.

……

会议 室

The room was filled with smoke, and each man had a pile of cigarette papers and matchsticks in front of him. These men, who hadn't been home for days, were unshaven, their clothes crumpled, and their faces haggard. If it weren't for their uniforms, who would know they were police officers!

"What use are you guys? You haven't solved the case in so long!" Director Qiao paced anxiously. "At this sensitive time, everyone's attention is focused on us! The people are panicking too. I even saw a woman who didn't dare to buy red chili peppers anymore."

"If things continue like this, how can we face the police officers we wear? How can we give an explanation to the victims' families and the general public?"

How can students preparing for the college entrance examination concentrate on their studies? This is their chance to change their destiny; who can shoulder this responsibility?

"Are the Criminal Investigation Detachment and Criminal Police Brigade just sitting around doing nothing? Do I have to submit a report to the provincial government to request outside assistance?"

"Director, it's a call from the province!" Deng Qiushi from the office ran over and interrupted the director's speech.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Fengchun turned and left the meeting room.

As soon as Director Qiao left, Ren Jiahua, the captain of the criminal investigation team, spoke up: "Now let's go through the case from the beginning again."

"There are now eight victims, and they all share the following characteristics: 1. They all had red items on their bodies. 2. They were all under thirty years old. 3. They all returned home after 8 p.m. 4. They all died from rape and murder."

"Differences: First, the locations of death are different. This is a map of our city, showing that the deaths occurred in the north, east, south, northeast, and southeast directions. Second, the methods of the crimes are different. Both were rape and murder, but some resulted in quick and clean deaths, while others were clearly cases of torture and murder, with multiple wounds all over the body."

Director Qiao walked in, sweating profusely; he was clearly under a lot of pressure. "Now, everyone, let's brainstorm and discuss the case again. Summarize everyone's opinions."

Zhou Liuer, captain of the criminal investigation detachment: "Judging from the modus operandi, it doesn't seem to be the work of the same person; considering the time of the crimes, our city is not small, and it would be impossible to search two locations at the same time; considering the crime scenes, some of the places where the bodies were found were the primary crime scenes, while others were just dumping sites; therefore, after analyzing the case, we deduced that the perpetrator was not the same person."

Qiao Fengchun nodded. "Any other discoveries? Shen, tell me about them."

Shen He looked at the case analysis diagram on the wall: "Based on the discovery of the body and the crime scene found, there have been no crimes committed in the western area so far."

"There are only three possibilities: First, the criminal lives far away, making it inconvenient for him to travel back and forth. Second, the criminal hasn't had a chance to commit the crime yet, but it's already in his plan. Third, this area to the west is the criminal's hiding place, and he's subconsciously avoiding it."

At this point, Shen He felt a pang of panic. But before he could figure out what was going on, he was urged to participate in the case discussion again.

Saturday: "Let me tell you about the progress of the case: First, through interviewing the victim's family, neighbors, friends and other people around him, as well as examining the crime scene and summarizing the victim's daily habits and life trajectory, we found that the probability of the crime being committed by an acquaintance is very small."

"Second, after tracking, investigating and checking each suspect one by one these days, we have concluded that eight suspects appeared at the crime scene, but none of them could provide strong evidence."

"Third, we can't bring these eight suspects in for questioning and interrogation as we used to. This is mainly because we lack direct evidence and their identities are very sensitive. One is a family member of a martyr, three are students who have registered to take the college entrance examination, two are educated youth who have just returned to the city, one is connected to higher-ups, and the other is currently working in the municipal government."

Veteran police officer Guo Tian: "Summoning anyone now would have a bad impact!"

Ren Jiahua: "Next, I'll go over today's mission arrangements and deployment: First, I've already spread the word that the criminal has been caught. Hopefully, this will mislead the other side. Second, I've requested a female comrade from the military. I'll have her try wearing a red coat tonight to see if we can lure her out."

"Third, the location is to the west. There are many large factories here, so the chances of criminals appearing are still quite high. We must take the initiative. The rest of you continue to monitor and conduct interviews to see if there's anything we've overlooked."

"Fourth, rest from now on, and proceed at night. You are not allowed to go out during this time, nor can you contact anyone. To prevent leaks, you cannot act alone once you leave your room."

"5. Specific individual arrangements will be the responsibility of each squad leader, who will coordinate them themselves."

"Sixth, each team's tasks will be assigned by their team leader to me, with the director responsible for overall coordination! Meals will be provided. Meeting adjourned!"