We asked you to solve cases, and here you are sharing your criminal experiences?

Two police cars, with their long sirens blaring, sped into the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau compound.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Song Qianxia quickly pushed open the car door and jumped out.

This time, sandwiched between Zhou Zheng and Captain Gu in the back seat the whole way, she felt like she was being squeezed into a meat sandwich.

Zhou Zheng got out of the car from the other side, his loud voice echoing in the courtyard.

"Advisor Song, why are you running so fast? Have you forgotten you're now a key person under surveillance?"

Song Qianxia rolled her eyes, too exhausted to even argue.

I was just about to open my arms and take a deep breath of free air when

"cough."

A clear, cold cough came from above the steps.

Song Qianxia felt a breath catch in her throat, and looked up.

Zhou Hui, deputy director of the Provincial Department's Inspection Division, stood at the entrance of the office building's lobby, her eyes fixed intently on their car.

Gu Tingchen was also taken aback. Zhou Zheng stood ramrod straight: "Director Zhou!"

As he got out of the car, his gaze swept over the laptops in Zhou Hui's and her assistant's hands, his eyes darkening slightly.

"How was your trip to the city hospital?"

Zhou Hui didn't even bother with small talk.

"Let's go straight to Conference Room One."

Gu Tingchen led the team and went straight inside.

In the conference room, Gu Tingchen pulled out a chair and sat down, speaking concisely and to the point.

Five boxes of controlled neurological reagents went missing from the city hospital pharmacy.

"The suspect was highly skilled; he left this coded graffiti on the bottom layer of the access control system when he left. The command center has already compared it with the national totem database, but found no such person. Next, the task force plans to investigate the underground drug distribution channels in Jiangcheng..."

"No such person found? I don't think so." Zhou Hui fiddled with the laptop in front of her, the screen displaying Song Qianxia's entire surveillance log from last night to today.

"Captain Gu, I understand your desire to protect your team members, but there's no need to beat around the bush with the inspection team."

Zhou Hui's sharp gaze passed over Gu Tingchen and went straight to Song Qianxia, ​​who was cowering behind him.

"Song Qianxia, ​​your micro-expressions and body language tell me that you not only recognize this symbol, but you're even wary of it. Tell me, what is it?"

Gu Tingchen frowned slightly.

"Director Zhou, Consultant Song just felt at the scene..."

"Captain Gu!" Zhou Hui tapped the table. "I'm asking her: if there's any concealment of information, immediately escalate it to compulsory detention!"

All eyes were on Song Qianxia.

Song Qianxia knew she couldn't fool anyone today. She secretly glanced at Gu Tingchen and received a warning look from him that said "don't talk nonsense." She sighed inwardly.

"Um, that..." Song Qianxia raised one hand, looking like a well-behaved elementary school student who was about to cry after being called on by the teacher.

"Director Zhou, Captain Gu, may I request a disclaimer before I begin my report?"

Zhou Hui frowned: "Cooperating with the investigation is your obligation. What right do you have to negotiate?"

"This isn't about negotiating! Absolutely not!" Song Qianxia quickly shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"I just wanted to give you a heads-up! Because what I'm about to say might expose some of my less-than-compliant... little hobbies. But I swear, my stance is absolutely one of life and death with the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau!"

Gu Tingchen leaned back in his chair. This woman was about to start making up lies with a straight face again.

"Speak up. As long as it helps the case, the task force won't delve into how you obtained the information." Gu Tingchen forcefully gave her a way out.

With the living Yama (a powerful figure in Chinese mythology) backing her up, Song Qianxia lowered her voice.

"Leaders, it's normal that this bird can't be found in the national database. It's not a domestic species at all. In certain underground circles overseas, this silver bird with a red cross... is called a silver finch."

"This man is a troublesome information broker who makes money by selling medical information and special drugs."

Zhou Hui's expression turned serious after hearing these words.

"Song Qianxia, ​​you've never even left Jiangcheng. Where did you get such detailed intelligence on foreign criminal organizations?"

Song Qianxia was prepared and immediately took out her cell phone from her police uniform pocket.

"Reporting to Director Zhou! I'm doing all this to prepare for the civil service exam!"

Zhou Hui froze, nearly dropping her pen on the table: "What did you say?"

Song Qianxia slammed her fist on the table in anguish.

"You have no idea how difficult it is to get a position in the municipal bureau these days! The essay questions get more and more difficult every year. How can I possibly succeed without preparing in advance?"

"In order to gather materials, I had no choice but to work hard. A few months ago, I stayed up all night to access foreign websites and memorized all the publicly available old case files of Interpol."

Old Zheng's hand, which was holding the thermos, trembled slightly, and he almost spilled the scalding hot goji berry water onto his crotch.

Song Qianxia swiped her phone screen and opened an interface.

"Back then, in order to learn about criminal psychology abroad, I even joined a dark web gossip group on an external website."

"That group is full of hackers and geeks who brag without paying taxes, and they post all sorts of gossip and rumors about foreign organizations every day."

Song Qianxia pushed her phone towards the center of the table.

"Look, everyone. This group is the Cyrillic Midnight Gossip Squad."

Zhou Zheng peeked over and took a look. The screen was full of a mix of English and Russian, interspersed with a few animated GIFs of guns.

"How did you get into this group?"

Gu Tingchen leaned back in his chair, watching her performance with a blank expression.

"Pay up!" Song Qianxia said with a pained expression. "These bastards are so greedy, they want fifty yuan just to join the group!"

"You actually paid to join this kind of group?" Lin Wan looked at her incredulously.

Song Qianxia quickly added, "How could I possibly give fifty! I added the group owner as a friend and talked to him about Chinese food for three days and three nights."

"I sent him the recipes for the eight major Chinese cuisines and explained how to make boiled cabbage in clear broth. In the end, I managed to get the price down to five yuan."

There was a full three seconds of silence in the meeting room.

The only sound was the whooshing of the air from the air conditioner vents.

Zhou Hui felt a throbbing sensation in her temples.

A dark web group that can accurately uncover the secrets of top overseas medical intelligence brokers, for only five dollars?

This is practically insulting the intelligence of the provincial inspection department.

But ironically, Song Qianxia's logic was perfectly closed loop.

The chat history and transfer records on my phone are all clearly visible.

Zhou Hui grabbed the phone on the table, trying to find a flaw in the story.

I swiped the screen and even saw that Song Qianxia was still lurking in the group, having grabbed two red envelopes totaling less than a cent.

There was a machine-translated Chinese message hanging there: "I heard that money-grubber has landed another big order. Has her scalpel not dulled yet?"

"Advisor Song," Gu Tingchen broke the silence, "You got a really good deal on these civil service exam study materials."

Song Qianxia smiled obsequiously.

"Captain Gu, you flatter me. It was just pure luck—who knew that something that wasn't on the essay section would come in handy in this case!"