The 80s Female Detective's Guide to Self-Preservation [Criminal Investigation] - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Xiao Xia? Xiao Xia!”

A gentle yet high-pitched female voice jolted Xia Qiuyuan awake from her slumber.

As she opened her eyes, she saw her young grandmother—someone she had only ever seen in old, grainy photographs—wearing an obsolete green police uniform, staring at her with an expression of intense anxiety.

“Grandma…” In her daze, Xia Qiuyuan swallowed the rest of the word.

A ceiling fan, tungsten lightbulbs, weathered wooden tables and chairs, and the woman before her who looked at least forty years younger than the grandmother she knew. Xia Qiuyuan, no matter how disoriented, sensed that something was profoundly wrong.

She raised her hand and slapped her own face twice.

It hurt. This wasn’t a dream.

Her actions startled the woman, Xia Sui. “What are you doing? You came in saying you were exhausted, then flopped onto the table and didn’t move an inch. I thought you’d suddenly dropped dead!”

“Don’t you know Little He from the department next door passed away exactly like that recently? No matter how I called you just now, you didn’t react. I was about to have Old Hou carry you to the hospital on his back.”

Xia Sui looked deeply worried. She was two years older than the person in front of her and belonged to the same family clan; she felt a duty to look after this “younger sister” whose parents had passed away early. Most importantly, when Xia Sui went back to the village the day before yesterday, Auntie Qing had treated her to a lavish meal specifically to ask her to take care of this girl. If something happened to Xia Qiuyuan in her first week on the job, Xia Sui feared she’d be scolded to death back home.

Xia Qiuyuan regained her composure quickly and shook her head at Xia Sui. “I’m fine. I just stayed up too late reading last night. I was a bit tired today, so I slept quite soundly.”

“Goodness, you young people really don’t cherish your health. When you get to my age, you’ll realize that a young body is exactly what you should take care of most.”

“Your age? What age is that? Aren’t you only two years older than Xiao Qiu?” Hou Ming, the leader of Criminal Investigation Team One, walked in after finishing a cigarette and teased Xia Sui. “If we’re talking about age, according to your logic, shouldn’t us men already be hanging as portraits on the wall?”

Xia Sui gave a light scoff. “Go ahead and hang there. The moment you’re on the wall, I’ll seize power and take over as Captain of Team One.”

Immediately, a younger man pushed up his glasses and chimed in, “Sui-jie, when it’s time to hang my photo on the wall, remember to pick one that shows more of my right profile. My right side is much more handsome!”

“Pfft.”

Hearing someone laugh at him, the man with glasses grew defensive. “It’s true! Hey, why don’t you believe me? I’m telling you, when I went on that blind date the other day, I just tilted my head slightly to the right, and wow, that female comrade smiled at me so tenderly…”

“…”

Xia Qiuyuan ignored the office banter. Taking advantage of this brief breathing room, she began to search for traces of the “original owner” on the desk.

There was a notebook embossed with the slogan “Science and Technology are the Primary Productive Forces.” The desktop was neat and tidy. In the top right corner sat a pen holder and a thermos. The thermos was chipped and dented, clearly having been used for a long time.

A large red calendar on the wall indicated the current date: Early Spring, 1980.

This was Lingnan. Lingnan didn’t have long winters; the weather began to warm as soon as the Start of Spring arrived. It wasn’t hot yet, but the humidity was stiflingly uncomfortable, which was why the ceiling fan was spinning. The combination of wind and moisture made the office feel like it had low-temperature air conditioning, so everyone was wearing jackets.

Xia Qiuyuan calmly opened “her” bag and found an old-fashioned police ID. A bright red official stamp was partially pressed over the photograph. Beneath it, the ink of a fountain pen confirmed the identity of this body’s owner.

The sister who had died young in her Great-Aunt’s diary—the woman who shared her name: Xia Qiuyuan.

The laughter in the office was cut short by the shrill ring of the telephone. Hou Ming tucked an unlit cigarette behind his ear and walked over to answer. His expression darkened almost instantly. He hummed a few affirmations of understanding before hanging up and turning to the room.

“A family in Xiatang Village had their pigs maliciously slaughtered. They’re calling it a revenge case. Pack up, let’s go check the situation. Sui Sui, Xiao Qiu, and Liang Guangqi, come with me. The rest of the team stay on standby.”

“Yes, sir!”

Seeing everyone rush out, Xia Qiuyuan quickly unscrewed her thermos to take a sip of water, grabbed her police cap and the handcuffs hanging on the wall, and followed.

The police vehicle was a domestic-made van—cheap and durable, but it smelled terrible. For someone like Xia Qiuyuan, who had a sensitive sense of smell, it was pure torture. Fortunately, Xiatang Village wasn’t far. Upon arrival, they saw a plainly dressed woman slumped on the ground, weeping uncontrollably, surrounded by a crowd of consoling neighbors.

The moment Xia Qiuyuan stepped out of the van, the wailing made her head throb. She couldn’t help but lean against the van door and gag.

Xia Sui, who was walking ahead of her, heard the sound and hurried back. She pulled a White Rabbit Cream Candy from her pocket and handed it over. “Eat this, it’ll help. These men smell awful—gasoline is bad enough, but they insist on smoking in the car too. It’s disgusting.”

Xia Sui looked disgusted. “It’s better now that they know to smoke outside, but the lingering smell is still hard to take. Oh, isn’t your sense of smell naturally sensitive? Do you want to try a mask? I saw the forensic doctors wearing them. If you can’t handle it, I’ll grab a few from them when we head back.”

Xia Qiuyuan unwrapped the candy, popped it into her mouth, and nodded obediently. “Let’s go. The Captain seemed to be looking at us just now.”

“Let him look. I’m this beautiful; I’m meant to be looked at,” Xia Sui quipped, though her feet moved toward the scene.

The woman on the ground was howling about her slaughtered pigs. “That god-forsaken bastard! They ripped out the intestines and internal organs and stuffed them into the pig’s mouth! Those pigs were meant for the New Year feast; I fed them better than I fed myself! That wicked wretch deserves to have children with no assholes!”

“Captain, Captain! You have to get justice for me! Those two pigs were worth a fortune! That murderous wretch!”

The old woman grabbed Hou Ming’s hand, putting her entire weight on him. If the man with glasses hadn’t been quick to steady him, the dignified Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team would have been dragged onto the dirt.

Hou Ming’s expression was grim. He shot a sharp look at Xia Sui, who was watching the scene play out.

After finally prying his hand away, Hou Ming told the old woman to lead the way. “Alright, Auntie. If you want us to catch the killer, you have to take us to the scene, right? Lead the way. Crying won’t solve anything now.”

As the only female officer originally on the team, Xia Sui’s role usually involved victim advocacy, door-to-door inquiries, and evidence collection. She managed to calm the woman down with a few choice words and helped her toward the house.

Xia Qiuyuan bit down on the milk candy and followed closely behind.

They wound through the village, passing through another family’s central hall and up a steep, muddy path without stone steps before finally reaching the woman’s home.

Before the door even opened, Xia Qiuyuan smelled blood.

It wasn’t pig blood. It was human.

Sure enough, the moment Hou Ming stepped into the courtyard, he shouted for Liang Guangqi to find the nearest neighbor with a landline to call for reinforcements.

“Those are human intestines! That’s not a pig at all!”