Volume One: First Scroll
Dead Man
Your future wife might not be straight, and she’s taken a liking to her own sister-in-law?
“Police, tell your boss to come out.” This was already the thirteenth food factory they had visited. Song Yuhang got out of the police car, slamming the door shut with a bang.
Calling it a food factory was generous; it had no sign, no storefront, hidden deep within an urban village. The dilapidated iron gate was speckled with rust, and the plaster on the walls was peeling, revealing faint large characters painted in red: SELL RAW MATERIALS.
If it weren’t for the pile of metal tins and cans stacked by the workshop entrance, it wouldn’t have caught Song Yuhang’s attention.
Legitimate manufacturers registered and licensed by government departments had transparent and controllable channels for every incoming and outgoing shipment. But these kinds of illegal workshops were another story entirely.
Hence, they were priority targets for investigation.
Hearing the commotion, the old man guarding the gate lifted the curtain and ran out. Seeing the fully armed officers and the police dog, half as tall as a man, eyeing him intently, his legs went weak. He scrambled back inside to knock on the inner room’s iron door.
“Boss, boss, someone’s looking for you…”
Song Yuhang and her team followed him inside. The courtyard was equally filthy and chaotic, littered with randomly discarded trash, plastic bottles, industrial waste, and even excrement. A pungent odor assaulted their nostrils.
Could anything produced in a place like this be edible?
Song Yuhang gave a look to the criminal police officer beside her, who immediately pulled out his phone to call their colleagues at the Market Supervision Bureau1.
“Who… who the f%ck is it this late at night…” A bald man, still wearing a gold chain around his neck but shirtless, lifted the curtain and walked out. “Holy sh%t!” The sight of the courtyard full of police scared the wits out of him, and he immediately tried to duck back inside to gather his valuables.
Song Yuhang took him down in one move, pinning his arm and cuffing him securely before helping him up.
“Officer2, Officer, I really haven’t broken any laws! I just run a small business, an honest trade…”
One officer escorted him as he followed Song Yuhang into the warehouse. The moment the lights flickered on, several rats scurried across the ceiling beams, one dropping right in front of her before darting away.
The wooden beams were covered in cobwebs. Chemical raw materials were haphazardly stacked on the floor, with black rat droppings scattered around the barrels.
A criminal investigation team member ran over and handed her a thin booklet: “Captain Song, found it. This bastard’s3 account book.”
Song Yuhang quickly flipped through a couple of pages. Despite the small size of the place, the accounts were kept quite clearly. “Well now, quite a few buyers. Do you remember who you sold to?”
The bald man grinned, revealing yellowed teeth, bowing and scraping4 at her. “Yes, yes, I remember. All small workshops like ours, or street vendors, and also those making those internet famous foods and drinks…”
As he said this, several members of the criminal investigation team felt a wave of nausea. Someone muttered under their breath: Damn it, I’m never eating that stuff again.
Song Yuhang continued flipping through the account book. She noticed several large incoming payments each month, likely from the businesses he mentioned. Instead, it was a few smaller amounts that caught her attention.
She kept flipping and saw that the buyer for these smaller transactions was always the same person. She held the account book up for him to see. “Take a look. Who is this buyer?”
The account book was densely filled, listing only contact information, no names. The bald man stared for a long time, then thought and said, “Don’t recognize them. Never met face-to-face.”
“Then how do you deliver?”
“It’s always a one-way contact by phone. I leave the goods at a designated location, and after the buyer picks them up, the money is transferred to my card.”
Song Yuhang handed the book to another criminal investigation team member. “Have Zheng Chengrui check this phone number.”
Buying industrial raw materials like it’s a drug deal rendezvous.
Song Yuhang’s expression darkened slightly. “Where’s the transaction location?”
“In the guard booth at the entrance of Beidou Industrial Park.”
Inside the barred cell, the man looked innocent. “Officer, Officer, I’ve told you everything I know! Apart from cheating people by substituting substandard goods, I’d never dare do anything harmful!”
Clang. The iron door opened again. Song Yuhang sat down and tossed the account book onto the table in front of him.
“There’s a chance to redeem yourself now. It depends on whether you seize it or not.”
The man swallowed hard, looked at the account book on the table, then at her expression, and nodded. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Whatever you ask me to do, Officer, I’ll do it.”
After Lin Yan left, it wasn’t until late at night, when the corridors were deserted, that the woman found an opportunity to slip out of the family housing compound. She went to the small shop to buy some groceries, then, carrying a plastic bag, furtively approached the public phone booth.
Seeing no one around, she began dialing the number.
Soon, the call connected.
“Hello?” she asked cautiously.
A man’s hoarse voice came through, slightly impatient. “Didn’t I say not to contact me unless necessary?”
The woman clutched the receiver tightly. “Today… today the police came looking for me.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“What did you say?”
The woman composed herself. “I said what you taught me to say. They… they shouldn’t be able to trace it back to me, right?”
“Besides asking you questions, did they do anything else?”
“No… nothing else. They just sat on the sofa, chatted for a bit, and left.”
“Just routine questioning,” the man said, preparing to hang up. But the woman grew nervous again, stammering, “That… when can Momo…”
The man cut her off with a cold snort. “Wait! Buy another batch of raw materials for me. The seawater is running out.”
The woman could only meekly agree. “Okay… okay.”
Before she finished speaking, the dial tone buzzed in the receiver.
The woman hung up the phone and walked home with heavy steps.
Back at the office, Song Yuhang removed her service pistol and placed it on the desk, finally relaxing. She stretched her muscles and went to the water dispenser to get a cup of hot water for tea.
Lin Yan was lounging around in the Criminal Investigation office, feet propped up on the desk, munching on a bag of chips someone had probably offered her. “How did you know that person would continue buying gamma-Butyrolactone?”
“A guess.” Song Yuhang walked back, holding her cup. “Didn’t you say this kind of raw material can’t be stored for long? And looking at his account book, he clearly buys it every two months or so. Calculating the time, he should be running out.”
Lin Yan made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Old and crafty.”5
“What about you? Any breakthroughs today?” Song Yuhang wasn’t annoyed, leaning against her desk and looking at her.
Lin Yan tossed an interrogation record over. Before she could speak, Fang Xin chimed in, “Same old, nothing much. If this goes on, we’ll have turned the entire doctor community in Jiangcheng City upside down.”
Song Yuhang smiled. “Thanks for your hard work.”
Fang Xin turned to chat idly with other colleagues. “But we visited one family today, in that same housing compound. An old lady living alone, such a sad situation. Her husband died years ago, she never remarried, raised her sick son all by herself. We even pooled some change for her on the spot…”
While they were chatting, Lin Yan’s phone rang. Song Yuhang’s ears perked up.
“Hey, what have you been busy with lately? The Mid-Autumn Festival is in a few days. Mom asked me to see if you could come back for a meal, a family reunion.”
Lin Yan maintained her usual carefree demeanor. “What meal? I’m busy, no time.”
“Still that ‘White Whale’ case?”
“Well, well, even you know about it.”
Lin Ge chuckled. “It’s made newspaper headlines. How could I not know?”
“That’s true, ha.” Lin Yan switched the phone to her other hand and reached for more chips.
Lin Ge paused, hesitating. “When will you guys finish? I haven’t seen… I call her, but she doesn’t answer.”
Lin Yan glanced at a certain someone leaning quietly against the desk, sipping tea and flipping through the record, inwardly pleased but keeping a straight face. “How would I know? Anyway, we can’t rest until the case is solved. Look, she’s right here now. Want to talk to her?”
Lin Ge quickly refused. “No, no, you guys are busy. Solving the case is important, but take care of yourselves too. Stay safe.”
Having grown up together, Lin Yan didn’t know him inside out, but she understood him about seventy or eighty percent. This guy was most likely head over heels in love.
Lin Yan looked at Song Yuhang with a complicated expression, then turned away. “Are you sure about this? If it doesn’t work out, maybe find someone else. You two really aren’t suitable…”
“What, you still hold a grudge against her?”
“No…” Lin Yan thought about that time in the car when they couldn’t control themselves. It was supposed to be just examining injuries, but somehow it ended with Song Yuhang lightly licking her neck, and she herself actually had a physiological reaction.
This was simply too embarrassing to talk about. How could she tell Lin Ge, your future wife might not be straight, and she’s taken a liking to her own sister-in-law?
Too difficult. Might as well just kill her.
Seeing her hesitation, Lin Ge’s voice held a hint of amusement. “Then what is it? I can’t be sure about others, but if she becomes your sister-in-law, she’ll definitely treat you well.”
Lin Yan felt something was off about that sentence, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
Before she could ponder too long, Song Yuhang walked over and patted her shoulder. “New lead. Come over here.”
Lin Yan jumped, nearly dropping her phone. She hastily hung up and stood up to follow her.
“Gotta go, busy now.”
Song Yuhang deliberately lagged half a step behind the others, waiting until Lin Yan was beside her before whispering, “I heard everything.”
Lin Yan gritted her teeth. “You were eavesdropping on me?”
“Not really eavesdropping, right? You weren’t exactly hiding to make the call.” Song Yuhang shrugged, leaving her with one last question before quickening her pace towards the front.
“Why don’t you want Lin Ge and me to be together?”
Lin Yan’s face flushed red. She made a motion as if to hit her, but Song Yuhang had already taken two or three large strides into the training room. Lin Yan could only bite her lip and follow resentfully.
“Captain Song, we found this on the phone recovered by Forensic Doctor Lin.” Zheng Chengrui enlarged the image for them to see.
“It looks like a shop, judging by the decor. And what they’re eating is…”
Lin Yan leaned closer. “It’s steak.”
Several people exchanged glances, their faces showing delight6.
“Immediately compare it with surrounding landmarks. Find this shop, and we can find out who exactly Wu Wei was eating with that day.”
Just as Song Yuhang finished speaking, another cyber security team member called out, “Captain Song, come look! This… this is unbelievable!”
Song Yuhang walked over. “What is it?”
The cyber security team member gave up his seat. “According to the phone number, the registered owner is Yu Xinye7, but… but this person died twenty years ago!”
The household registration management8 page on the Ministry of Public Security intranet showed a black and white profile.
Deceased: Yu Xinye.
Cause of Death: Died due to illness.
Contact Number: xxxx, exactly the string of digits from the account book.
On the open computer screen, the deceased stared silently back at them. Wind gusted through the open window, sending a chill down nearly everyone’s spine.
Someone swallowed hard, the gulping sound echoing loudly in the dead silence.
Duan Cheng stammered, breaking the silence, “Could it… could it be a dead person…”
Song Yuhang shot him a stern look. “Not believing in ghosts and spirit is a basic professional requirement for police officers.”
How could someone already deceased possibly call the living?
Song Yuhang frowned deeply. “As far as I know, if the registered owner passes away, as long as no one actively goes to the service center9 to cancel the number, and payments continue to be made, the number won’t be deactivated. This means that the person using this phone number isn’t necessarily the registered owner, but could be someone else. Regardless, whoever it is, they are definitely closely connected to this case.”
“Check if this Yu Xinye has any other relatives.”
The cyber security team member’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “None, Captain Song. There’s no one left on their household register. Both parents are deceased.”
Song Yuhang pondered for a moment. “Check where they were from.”
“Registered residence is Xiaohe Village, Wuli Town, Qing’an County, Jiangcheng City.”
“Contact the local police station immediately to verify.”
Shortly after, the call came back. The operator covered the receiver and handed it to Song Yuhang.
“Hello, my surname is Song. Deputy Captain of the Jiangcheng City Criminal Investigation Detachment.”
Hearing her rank, the person on the other end instantly became respectful, the pages of a booklet rustling loudly. “Off-… Officer10, we checked. There was indeed such a person in Xiaohe Village, died ten years ago. We don’t know the specific illness, but we can confirm he has a distant relative still living in the area. They just came to our town’s Social Security Bureau last month to collect their minimum living guarantee.”
Song Yuhang had a feeling that finding out about this person would bring her closer to the truth.
“Okay, thank you. I’ll make a trip there personally.”
Hanging up the phone, she selected a few people to go with her. Uncharacteristically, Lin Yan didn’t volunteer.
As Song Yuhang looked towards her, Lin Yan swiveled her chair around, took a sip of coffee, and put it down. “Hey, don’t look at me. A poor, remote place like that? I don’t want to go.”
Song Yuhang shook her head helplessly, gathered her things, and tucked her service pistol into the back of her waistband. “Let’s move out.”
Passing Lin Yan’s desk, she deliberately slowed her steps, waiting for her to say something. However, Lin Yan just kept her head down, engrossed in playing Tetris on her phone, having a great time.
Song Yuhang sighed silently and strode to the front of the team.
Once she was gone and the police car, lights flashing, had driven out of the city bureau gates, Lin Yan stood up from her chair and walked to a dark corner of the hallway to make a call.
“Hey, last time you mentioned, where was Li Bin from?”
“Qing’an County, Wuli Town. He worked as a forensic doctor at the local public security bureau for half his life. Because of his solid work and outstanding performance, he was transferred to the Jiangcheng City Bureau. But not long after, he requested to be transferred back to his original post.”
“Is the source reliable?”
“Reliable. The transfer record is all documented on the intranet.”
Lin Yan clenched one hand into a fist, her nails digging deep into her palm. After a long moment, she let out a breath slowly. “Thanks for the trouble. The money will be transferred to your account.”
LP: Re-translated on April 25, 2025
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