Chapter 480: Apprentice

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

After listening to these words, Chen Shi was also a little surprised. However at this moment, Shen’s IQ had plummeted as if sperm had gone up to his brain. If he wanted to lie, he wouldn’t lie in such an unskilled manner. Furthermore, his expression wasn’t that of someone who was lying.

Chen Shi said, "Okay, I believe you... When I asked you that question yesterday, what did you mean by nodding your head and then shaking your head after that? Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?"

Shen's expression was one of embarrassment and he was hesitant to speak. Chen Shi said, "The things I promised will definitely be done, but you have to tell me the truth first."

"Brother, I’m not familiar with you. How do I know if you’ll do it or not?!"

Listening to his tone, Shen was likely to know the clues regarding this case. Chen Shi stood firm. "If you don’t talk, I won't let you enter this door."

Shen looked at Zhou, who was sitting in the room, before stomping his feet in anxiety. He sighed and shook his head. After weighing the pros and cons for a long time in his heart, he said, "Okay, okay, okay. l admit defeat. I didn’t expect you to be so tough. I’ll believe you once... Although I didn’t have any associates back then, there was someone in the prison who was particularly interested in my past. I talked to him a lot. In your words, I taught him criminal skills and recognized him as an apprentice!"

"So it was like that. I knew you were hiding something. What's that person's name?"

Shen hesitated. He knew that this was the last card in his hand and there was no other bartering chip to play after he told him. However, Chen Shi’s eyes were firm. He could only confess. "Zhang Xiao. He’s a fraudster. We met at the detention cell at the station. After I went to prison, we didn’t contact each other again.”

Chen Shi's expression loosened as he pushed the door behind him. "You should reunite with your partner. You only get two hours!"

Shen was overjoyed and said a lot of words of gratitude. Lin Dongxue also retreated. The "reunion" process was monitored by a video camera in its entirety. After all, the prison side was also afraid of something happening and had to take preventative measures even if the possibility was low.

Chen Shi called the bureau and checked the scammer named Zhang Xiao. He went to court last year, but because he revealed several of his associates, he was only sentenced to half a year.

Zhang Xiao in the photo was very similar to the suspect's sketch. The big stone weighing down on Chen Shi’s heart was lifted.

Lin Dongxue said, "This man used to be a scammer, but now he’s actually engaged in murder-for-wealth activities. The transformation is far too great."

Chen Shi said, "His rap sheet is terrible in all areas. Before, in order to reduce his sentence, he exposed his companions. He certainly can’t go back to scamming. These people can do anything for money. I’m actually not surprised.”

That afternoon, Lin Qiupu found Zhang Xiao’s current hiding place. The police rushed there, quietly tread upstairs, and opened his door, but the house was empty.

This was a temporarily rented apartment with a small area. Because the door and windows were closed, there was an unpleasant smell inside. Chen Shi found that there was a pot on the kitchen stove and there were leftover instant noodles in there. He examined the noodles. "He was here until last night."

Lin Qiupu put away his gun. "This kid should not know that he’s been exposed. He might come back. We should wait here for the rabbit!”

"I’ll stay." Chen Shi said.

Then, Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong also voluntarily stayed. Lin Qiupu told them to be careful. He also placed some more people around the area and notified the local police station to come over to assist. When Zhang Xiao appeared, he needed to be immediately arrested.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

All the bits and pieces from the room were taken by the police as evidence. The task of staying there to wait for the suspect was really boring. Chen Shi walked around the room, picked up the books on the shelf, and said with emotion, "This kid actually read a lot of books on how to be successful. They’re all highlighted. It seems like he really wants to get rich.”

Lin Dongxue said, "I’ve always doubted this kind of book. If success could be taught, wouldn't everyone succeed?"

Chen Shi argued, "You can’t say it like that. Understanding can be easy, but taking action is hard. Many people understand these principles, but they just can’t do it.”

Xu Xiaodong looked around the room. "Looking at the things in this house, you wouldn't think this was the house of a murderer."

Lin Dongxue responded, "This isn’t something that can be seen from the room. Some murderer’s rooms are full of world-famous novels in them!"

Chen Shi found a bottle of unopened Wuliangye[1] in the cupboard. However, the owner of the house gave off a feeling like he didn’t drink. He had only soft drinks in the refrigerator. Additionally, he also found supermarket-style stir-fried dishes in the refrigerator. From the receipt, it was a recent purchase.

He had a feeling that the owner was going to invite someone for food, but he wasn’t sure if the person who was coming to the house had anything to do with the case.

They waited until 3:00 in the afternoon. Xu Xiaodong was so bored that he fell asleep on the sofa. Chen Shi suggested, "Let’s go out for a walk!"

"What if the suspect returns?"

"Isn't Xiaodong here? And we won't go far. Just to the property managers office to have a look at the surveillance footage."

"Okay!"

The two went to the property manager’s office and asked to watch the latest surveillance footage. Lin Qiupu suddenly called and asked, "Who allowed you two to leave your post without permission?"

Chen Shi said, "I suggested it. It has nothing to do with Dongxue."

"Enough excuses. Head back soon!"

Chen Shi copied the footage for the last few days and then returned to the suspect’s residence with Lin Dongxue. Lin Qiupu came over from the bureau. "The results of the trace identification came out. The person who lives here is indeed Zhang Xiao. I also called and checked all of his bank cards. There’s one who was opened using his mum’s name. Over the recent months, he’s deposited over 700,000 into the card."

"Seven hundred thousand? Those two victims were robbed of 300,000 and 250,000. This indicates that there’s at least one other victim." Chen Shi said.

"But the money is already gone. It was transferred away yesterday!"

"What? Can you trace it?"

"Still checking."

Chen Shi looked around the room. "How was he alerted so quickly? This kid might have run away already."

Lin Dongxue said, "After someone called the police in that community, he might have been alerted... Brother, should we still stay here?"

Lin Qiupu was also unsure. After all, this was the suspect’s residence. He may still come back. Chen Shi said, "Don’t put all the eggs in one basket. If he ran away, we might still be able to catch him if we chase after him now. Xiaodong and I will guard here. If Zhang Xiao really comes back, we can handle him."

Xu Xiaodong cried with a sad face, "Why is it me again? I want to go home and feed the cat!"

Lin Qiupu gave implied permission. "You guys need to be careful there."

Chen Shi said, "By the way, I haven't finished investigating on the real estate agency side. I'll check it again. Maybe I can find another victim."

The other police officers left first while Chen Shi and Xu Xiaodong stayed. The two didn’t dare to turn on the lights. They could only sit on the sofa and play with their mobile phones. At night, they called for some takeaway food for dinner. In the middle of it, Chen Shi let Xu Xiaodong go home briefly before coming back to wait.

This work was boring, but fortunately, it wasn’t tiring. Chen Shi took it as a chance to rest.

At 9:00 in the evening, Xu Xiaodong was tired of playing with his mobile phone. "Brother Chen, I don’t think he’ll come back to this den."

"Don't make an assumption too early. Sometimes what you think won't happen will happen. The world is weird like that."

"Why haven't I encountered it before? I thought I’d fail my exams and I really failed my exams. I thought my girlfriend might break up with me and we really broke up. There have never been any surprises."

"If you have such accurate hunches, you should buy lottery tickets."

"I bought them, but I never won. I’m only ever accurate with my bad premonitions. It’s useless for good things..." Xu Xiaodong suddenly stopped talking because there was the sound of footsteps outside the door, which was particularly clear in the dead of night...

1. Alcohol brand that specializes in baijiu.