"...Toast to success, we won’t rest until our goals are met... someday."

After cleaning the office and serving tea to Yang Sen and Old Bai, it was precisely nine o’clock when Old Bai’s operatic voice echoed from outside the door.

"Morning, Brother Yang, Brother Bai!"

"Morning, Lu!"

"Come on, Lu, try some of the sugar dumplings your sister-in-law made today."

As Old Bai entered, he casually carried a thermal box and took out a sugar dumpling.

This thing is almost extinct, right?

Lu Chuan had only eaten sugar dumplings his mom made when he was little. Basically, it’s just steamed buns with some sugar inside.

But because the sugar melts into the buns after steaming at high temperature, they taste incredibly delicious.

"Thank you, Brother Bai, give my regards to sister-in-law."

A delightful day starts with eating a sugar dumpling.

After the last massacre case, the Criminal Investigation Team had been relatively idle, with no significant cases to handle.

Without any cases, more theoretical studies were scheduled.

There were more meetings, too.

"It’s half past ten..."

Yang Sen looked up at the clock on the wall. If the morning meeting dragged on till now, it meant there was nothing urgent to worry about.

"How about we go out for lunch later? It’s been a while since we had spicy hot pot."

Old Bai checked his phone. As it was close to the end of the morning shift, lunchtime plans were worth considering.

"Sounds good to me."

Lu Chuan nodded, "Agreed!"

"Great, then it’s happily settled..."

"Settled what?"

As the three were chatting, the door to the Crime Scene Investigation office was pushed open.

"Brother Qiang?"

Lu Chuan turned around and saw it was Ren Qiang!

"Old Ren? Aren’t you supposed to be resting at home? Why’d you come to the team?"

Ren Qiang was discharged last week and was supposed to recuperate at home for two months before returning to work.

"What rest? I stayed home for a week and almost fell sick from boredom."

"Lu, give me a smoke quick!"

Ren Qiang had really had enough at home. A week without smoking, without drinking, just watching TV and playing on his phone.

It was fun for the first couple of days, but after a week, Ren Qiang couldn’t even look at his phone without feeling nauseous.

Most importantly, he couldn’t smoke at home. His wife’s sense of smell was sharp—she’d hammer him at the slightest trace of smoke after work.

Ren Qiang feared that his fractures hadn’t healed yet and getting hammered by his wife would kill him, so he bounced over and took a cab to the unit this morning.

Lu Chuan handed him a cigarette and lit it with a flick.

"Brother Qiang, did the doctor approve smoking?"

"What’s not to approve? I’m just on some anti-inflammatory meds; nobody said anything about smoking bans."

He blissfully finished one cigarette, "Give me another."

"I heard you guys solved a massacre case a few days ago?"

Lu Chuan, Yang Sen, and Old Bai started telling Ren Qiang about the cases the team had cracked recently.

Actually, there wasn’t much to it. There was a major case involving a family of four that drew top attention, but it was solved quickly.

There were also some minor cases, and Action Teams Four and Five were following up on them.

Recently, Action Teams One and Two weren’t too busy either and were in a rest phase.

"Did you not return to Team Two?"

Old Bai realized that Ren Qiang hadn’t gone to his own Team Two and came to the Crime Scene Investigation office instead.

"Why go to Team Two when they don’t even have Chungwa?"

Well... he wasn’t wrong.

"Old Ren? How come you’re here?"

In a bit, Liu Guodong returned to the office after the morning meeting.

"What’s up, aren’t I welcome?"

"Haha, of course, you’re welcome. How’s your recovery going?"

"Not bad, just a bit inconvenient for movements. It’s tough being cooped up at home, so I came to the unit for a change."

"Let’s not eat at the canteen for lunch. Old Bai wants to have spicy hot pot; what do you think about me treating?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Guodong shook his head, "I’m afraid we can’t today."

"Why, is spicy hot pot beneath you?"

"It’s not about the hot pot. Just before the morning meeting ended, we got a report of a homicide."

Ren Qiang: "..."

Yang Sen turned pale. Just a moment ago, he remarked that with the meeting lasting until 10:30, there should be nothing much happening, but a homicide came up right away.

"What case?"

"Details are unclear for now. The crime scene is at a construction site, with two people dead."

Liu Guodong turned to Lu Chuan, "Get ready, we’re heading out."

"Old Ren..."

"Don’t worry about me; I can take a cab home later."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean sure or not? I came here by myself in a cab, so of course, I can go back the same way. Don’t worry about me, just hurry to the scene."

Liu Guodong nodded and headed straight downstairs.

Number 36, North River Road.

By the time Lu Chuan and others arrived, local police officers were already there maintaining order.

"What’s the situation?"

The North River Road Police Station Chief, Chen Guijun, not very tall and slightly plump, usually had a kind face, but now it was solemn as he reported to Captain Qin. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Captain Qin, we got the report this morning at 10:23."

"The report said someone at the construction site had food poisoning, and by the time we arrived, two people were already dead."

Food poisoning?

Number 36, North River Road, is a building construction site, with a large and complex staff situation and high turnover.

Such a scene is what police dread encountering the most.

"Where are the victims?"

"The two deceased were workers doing rebar work on the top floor."

Chen Guijun pointed upstairs. The building was almost topped off, more than thirty stories high.

"The paramedics from 120 have already been here and confirmed the two upstairs were dead. To preserve the scene, we haven’t let them move the bodies. Others showing symptoms have been sent to the hospital."

"What kind of symptoms?"

"Abdominal pain, vomiting, and some with breathing difficulties—a variety of symptoms."

While Qin Yong was understanding the situation, Lu Chuan, Liu Guodong, and other investigation team members had already headed upstairs for an examination.

Since the building was still under construction, they had to take the construction elevator.

It was Lu Chuan’s first time on a construction elevator. He’d only seen them from outside construction sites—a very rudimentary, open-sided metal box lifted by a hoist.

As they ascended, the outside wind howled, and the elevator car clattered noisily.

"This thing... is it safe?"

It was also Yang Sen’s first time on such a shaky construction elevator, making him a bit nervous.

From thirty-something stories high, if it were to fall...

Assisting Liu Guodong and the others was a construction site supervisor named Wang Fengjun, around thirty years old, with dark skin, a crookedly donned hard hat hiding his forehead.

"Officer, rest assured, these are all certified by the special inspection agency. We use them frequently, it’s perfectly safe."

Bang!

Just as he finished, the car seemed to hit something, making a loud noise.

"It’s fine, it’s definitely fine."

In a state of worry until after about ten minutes of bumping up and down, everyone finally reached the top floor.

"Officer, we’re here. The people are up ahead, being watched by other workers on the floor."