Sun Lei’s words had proven prophetic. The purified water sample sent for testing by the Criminal Investigation Detachment contained deadly cyanide.
Someone had actually dared to court death by poisoning the water inside the police station.
The clues pointed clearly to the culprit. Qin Aimin had been caught in the restroom scrubbing the toilet.
The criminal investigators who burst in asked if he knew about the cyanide in the water dispenser. He showed no surprise and made no attempt to argue or deflect. He simply stared blankly and asked, “Is Yan Tuo the one who’s dead?”
In his mind, this group had no defenses whatsoever. The scheme wouldn’t be exposed unless someone collapsed after taking the bait.
The dose in that bucket was lethal with just one big gulp. But the moment someone suffered a reaction, the killing blow would be rendered useless.
He had never expected to wipe out the entire detachment. If there had been any other reliable way to exact revenge amid these armed officers, he never would have resorted to such a roll of the dice.
His most fervent hope, therefore, was that the one who fell would be Yan Tuo—the man who had fired that shot on the fateful night.
Bad luck if it was someone else. One life for one. And if two or three drank at the same time, all the better for him.
Qin Aimin’s composure crumbled the instant he laid eyes on Yan Tuo in the interrogation room. Refusing to believe it, he demanded, “Poisoning… attempted? No… no one drank it? How is that possible? How did you discover it?”
Yan Tuo replied flatly, “Pure chance. Heaven watches over us.”
Cao Yiman picked up from there. “Since you’ve admitted it, come clean about everything. Why did you do it? Where did the poison come from? How exactly did you carry out the crime? Any other poisonings elsewhere? Accomplices? Lay it all out, and you might get some leniency.”
Qin Aimin’s hopes shattered. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he wailed, “My… my Yansheng! Yan Tuo, how could you be so ruthless? You couldn’t even let him finish that one cigarette…”
So that was it—nothing but deliberate revenge.
Yan Tuo felt no emotional stirrings, only irritation at the misplaced grudge. “If you wanted me dead, you could have poisoned my cup. Why tamper with the water dispenser?”
Teetering on the edge of collapse, Qin Aimin shouted back, “You think I didn’t want to? Who knew what was up with that dimple-cheeked woman? She was fine the first couple of days, but lately, every time she cleaned your office, she’d watch me like a hawk. The second I stepped out, she’d lock your door. Every morning she’d whisk away your cup to make coffee. Sister Huang’s back tomorrow. Where the hell was I supposed to find an opening? Screw it—whoever drank it was going to eat it!”
“Thud!” Yan Tuo slammed his hand on the table, nearly snapping the pen he held.
He slowly reined in his fury and steadied his emotions. He and Cao Yiman stayed in the interrogation room for around an hour, after which the full story had come into crystal-clear focus.
This janitor, Qin Aimin, was the biological father of Zhang Yansheng—the man shot dead at Nanmen Pedestrian Street just days earlier. No one had known about the family tie because Zhang Yansheng’s mother despised his gambling habit. She had never married him, concealed her pregnancy, and wed another man instead.
Qin Aimin had only learned about his son when the boy was already in his teens. A lifelong bachelor steeped in an obsession with carrying on the family line, he had been overjoyed beyond measure.
Unfortunately, his son felt no affection for him. Qin Aimin had no choice but to swallow his pride time and again, crossing lines he never imagined. He had aided and abetted multiple crimes committed by Zhang Yansheng. At the root of it all was a promise: his son would continue the Qin bloodline and restore the family surname.
That finally explained Zhang Yansheng’s botched sex change surgery. He had gotten breast implants but kept his manhood, allowing him to assault victims as a man while masquerading as a woman to evade the law.
As for the motive behind the poisoning, it was straightforward enough. Qin Aimin had worked as a janitor at the city bureau for nearly two years, though previously assigned to a different building. After the incident, he had paid the original janitor to take sick leave and volunteered to fill in, successfully getting close to his target.
He had only intended to gather information about his son’s fate, but he kept overhearing team members praising Deputy Captain Yan’s decisive actions that night—”lighting a cigarette to take down the killer,” “half-second headshot.” Fury took hold. The more he dwelled on it, the more unhinged he became.
With his son gone, any hope of grandchildren vanished, and now a liver cancer diagnosis to top it off—he was a dead man walking. He might as well take someone with him, avenge his boy, and honor their father-son bond.
The city bureau water dispenser poisoning case wrapped up swiftly. What awaited Qin Aimin was not just his terminal illness but a criminal sentence starting at a minimum of ten years.
Beneath the farcical events lurked profound human malice—and a chilling aftershock that left the entire Criminal Investigation Detachment deep in horrified reflection.
Had it not been for the goldfinch’s warning or Yan Tuo’s razor-sharp instincts, if even one person had taken a sip from that seemingly innocuous bucket of water, the situation today would have spiraled into utter catastrophe.
Yan Tuo had been back in his office for just a few minutes when Sun Lei and several others crowded the doorway. The black travel mug guy called out loudly from the side, “Captain Yan, mind if we come in? We’re here to thank our lifesaver.”
Yan Tuo smiled faintly, waving it off with modest humility. “We’re all brothers here. No thanks needed. I just…”
He didn’t finish. The group had already squeezed over to the birdcage. Sun Lei elbowed the mug guy and corrected him in a whisper, “Lifesaver bird!”
Right—they had come for Tangyuan.
Yan Tuo cleared his throat, picked up his water cup intending to take a sip and mask his mild embarrassment, then paused and set it down. Instead, he grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water and chugged.
Several big gulps later, the pure, sweet liquid seemed to wash away the tension of the morning. He capped the bottle and glanced at the group by the cage. There they were, showering the pet bird with extravagant praise songs and offering open packages of snacks for it to pick from.
Yan Tuo made no move to stop them. The little one’s performance had more than earned such acclaim.
Come to think of it, this was his lifesaver bird too, wasn’t it?
He knew it was clever, but not this clever—spotting the problem in the water ahead of everyone and desperately sounding the alarm. Weren’t birds supposed to have keen hearing but poor senses of smell? Or was his own little white dumpling a special case?
His “son” had really made good. As a proud “father,” he felt a swell of satisfaction… Maybe he should try training the little guy like a police dog?
Bai Yiyi had no idea what schemes were brewing in his owner’s mind. Right now, he was surrounded by admirers and lost in a paradise of chips, spicy strips, and egg cookies.
The system chimed in with good news: “Fifty now, Yiyi. You’re almost at the passing line!”
Bai Yiyi was thrilled, of course, though the increase wasn’t quite as much as he’d hoped. Saving lives wasn’t worth more points?
The system offered a brief explanation. “It’s from the post-case satisfaction boost. The first time gives double value for that kind of sentiment. Repeats are just standard from here on.”
…Fine, whatever. You’re the system.
Bai Yiyi let it go. More than points, he was focused on Yan Tuo right now.
If he hadn’t stubbornly insisted on tagging along to work, if that janitor hadn’t slipped up because he was a bird…
He didn’t dare imagine it. His heart suddenly ached fiercely.
From here on out, while he stayed by Yan Tuo’s side, he’d have to keep an even closer watch. The man’s job came with inevitable dangers, but as an unassuming bird, no one would suspect him. He could help from the shadows, right?
Sigh. Having such an outstanding owner had its downsides. He was supposed to be a pampered pet bird, so how had he suddenly developed the worries of an old dad?
Bai Yiyi munched on snacks, lost in his jumbled thoughts. The crowd around him gradually dispersed without him noticing. Then a shadow fell over the front of the cage.
It was his owner, standing by the cage and extending a hand toward him. “Lifesaver bird, thanks for today. Come on, let me give you a hug.”
Kisses, cuddles, held up high?
Whimper. So… so tempting.
But hadn’t he resolved to avoid physical contact, lest he tumble deeper into the straight-guy whirlpool? That morning neck-hug had been a momentary lapse from fear. Now, in broad daylight with no excuse, how could he just dive into the man’s palm?
Ah, too embarrassing.
Perhaps sensing his hesitation, Yan Tuo crooked a finger invitingly. “Tangyuan. Come on.”
Bai Yiyi tormented himself between longing and dread, unable to decide. A knock at the door saved him just in time.
As Yan Tuo turned, Bai Yiyi got a clear look at the visitor: a young officer he had never seen before, leading a massive German shepherd on a tight leash.
“Captain Yan, you wanted to see me?”
“Yeah, you heard about the water dispenser poisoning? Take Whirlwind and patrol the whole bureau, just to be safe.”
“Got it. Should I start with your office?”
The two exchanged a few quick words, but Bai Yiyi barely paid attention. His focus was entirely on that German shepherd.
Call it professional aspiration, but a police dog had always been his dream canine crush. This one, though, was far too enormous and intimidating for his current self.
Especially with its jaws perpetually agape, tongue lolling, drool dripping as it sniffed around everywhere—before planting itself squarely in front of the birdcage and staring right at him. It looked every bit the monster ready to swallow him in one bite.
Bai Yiyi shrank back into his nest in fear. The system piped up reassuringly. “It won’t bite you. Don’t be scared.”
Bai Yiyi shot back, “How do you know? What if it does? That huge mouth—one chomp, and no one could save me in time.”
The system said, “Of course I know. It was thinking: ‘What the hell is there to be afraid of? You’re all fur and no meat. I’ve got a bone stuck between my teeth that hurts like hell—I can’t even be bothered to chew you up.’”
???
Bai Yiyi had no idea how to respond to this police dog that swore like a sailor and referred to itself with such arrogant bravado. He could only blurt out his question. “You can actually tell what it’s thinking?”
The system answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I exist as brainwaves, after all. If I can read your thoughts, of course I can read other creatures’ too. Right now, though, my energy is low, so my range is limited to no more than ten meters.”
“Holy crap!” Bai Yiyi cried in astonishment. “Why didn’t you mention this function sooner? Doesn’t that mean I can read anyone’s mind? No—any creature’s?”
The system’s childish voice took on a aggrieved tone. “But you never asked me! You only wanted to know about golden fingers, shops, exchange items, and stuff like that. I can’t do any of those things.”
Bai Yiyi was left speechless. It was his own mistake—the system clearly had no clue what a “golden finger” even meant. Calming himself with a deep breath, he pressed on. “Can you talk to them directly in their minds, then?”
“I can,” the system replied, “but it costs energy. I don’t recommend using it too often. What if it affects my growth? How are you going to get your human body back?”
With that reassurance—and no fear of being devoured—Bai Yiyi poked his head out of his nest and fluttered closer to the upright stick beside the dog.
A closer look revealed the truth: the German shepherd’s wide-open mouth showed clear signs of swelling and redness between its left teeth. Yet the creature’s temperament must have been remarkably patient; even with such intense pain, it had stuck to its duties without a fuss, and its handler hadn’t noticed a thing.
Sympathy welled up in Bai Yiyi. He sent a mental request to the system. “Let’s help it out. Maybe it’ll even unlock a new way to earn points? Tell it I’ll take a look, and to stand nice and still.”
The system agreed without hesitation. Bai Yiyi flew out of the cage and landed on the edge of the table, steeling himself to face that yawning maw lined with razor-sharp fangs.
~~~
