Chapter 278 - 278 258 Cold-blooded and Heartless

Words : 1936 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

278: Chapter 258 Cold-blooded and Heartless 278: Chapter 258 Cold-blooded and Heartless Jiang Yuan clicked open his contacts, only to see two requests to add friends. One from someone named Languishing Daily, and the other from Fingerprint Analyst Li Rui. Jiang Yuan accepted both, and then asked Languishing Daily, “May I ask which unit you are with? Do you have an ID badge? Because this involves evidence.” Languishing Daily casually sent over an ID badge photo and added, “Haha, pretty cautious.” Jiang Yuan looked at it, and wow — Deputy Director Wan Baoming of the Changyang City Criminal Science and Technology Center. In terms of rank, this guy was on par with Liu Jinghui, just one step away from donning a white shirt, even higher up than Huang Qiangmin. Of course, officials from big cities generally outrank those from county towns just by default. Still, Jiang Yuan maintained his composure and said, “Hello, Director, I didn’t recognize you. One moment, please. I’ll send the information over the internal network.” “Alright, alright. No rush.” Languishing Daily replied with exceptional politeness. In a moment, Jiang Yuan sent the matched fingerprint data and other information to Wan Baoming via the internal network. The latter thanked him and then went silent. After a while, Languishing Daily’s avatar lit up again with messages coming in bursts: “Indeed, it’s a match.” “Amazing!” “Our forensic office has been working on this for a while but hadn’t made a match.” “The murder case is solved then. I really didn’t expect it, didn’t expect it at all. Wait a second, I’ll pass this on for them to go arrest the person. The district bureau below has been going crazy, dozens of people working on it for nearly a week now, and they’ve been pressuring me every day. I can’t believe it, you managed it so quickly.” “I noticed you when you came to the provincial hall for the fingerprint campaign, but I was caught up in a case and we didn’t meet. If you have time, you must let me know when you come to Changyang City.” Jiang Yuan didn’t want to keep the other party typing endlessly, so as soon as he saw the messages, he quickly wrote, “Okay, no need to mention it.” Languishing Daily: “It’s not flattery, you’re genuinely impressive.” “I’ll have Old Wang treat you to a meal.” “Kneel.gif” Then came several more bursts of messages. From his Document Analysis (LV3) ability, Jiang Yuan inferred that Wan Baoming was most likely a relatively young middle-aged man, in his mid-thirties. Older middle-aged men generally don’t like texting. If they use WeChat, they mostly prefer voice messages, and yet they often feel voice messages are too informal, so they mostly opt for calling. It’s those in their early thirties who have just entered middle age who are willing and able to send texts. Younger people are less likely to have reached the deputy director level and their tone would be different. Also, young people’s WeChat names are not like those of middle-aged people, who prefer plain text and tend to be contrived. Jiang Yuan silently used his Document Analysis ability to profile the leader, exchanged a few more messages with Wan Baoming, and then exited the private chat. Upon reopening the group chat, he saw that Wan Baoming had already started singing his praises: Languishing Daily: “Truly witnessed a master at work.” Languishing Daily: “I would rank Jiang Yuan in the TOP 3 for fingerprints in Shannan Province. The reason I don’t say number one is to avoid drawing envy.” Languishing Daily: “It’s absurd how a case our office struggled with for days was solved by Jiang Yuan in just a few hours, or maybe less. If it was a matter of minutes, that would be just too much.” Reading this, Jiang Yuan felt compelled to reply, so he carefully wrote: “Got lucky. I marked the feature points three times; it took a little over two hours.” The “Qinghe Skill Sharing Group”, which had some sparse conversations earlier, once again fell silent. Named the “Skill Sharing Group”, naturally, because the members had skills to share — forensic skills, fingerprint skills, toxicology skills, and so on. In other words, everyone was a technician, if not directly interconnected, they certainly knew a thing or two. Especially with something like fingerprints, which are very common and mainstream in police work. Not only do technicians do it, but ordinary detectives also perform the basic task of fingerprint comparison. To those with a bit of understanding, watching a master’s operation is quite interesting. Even when everyone is an expert in their own field, seeing someone else’s higher expertise in another arena can evoke quite a different mindset. Making a fingerprint match in two hours is like solving a murder case in two hours. And those two hours weren’t just bragging on Jiang Yuan’s part. Everyone in the group had been watching him work on the fingerprints. Such efficiency in cracking a case was, of course, extraordinarily abnormal for ordinary people. So much so that the group members were left questioning life in front of their computer screens. Fingerprint Analyst Li Rui: “Feels like all my previous work has been for nothing.” Conquering North and South: “Bro, did you hit the jackpot?” Fingerprint Analyst Li Rui: “Pay attention to context.” Conquering North and South: “It’s you who’s emoting at the wrong time.” The tech group was then activated. Jiang Yuan shook his head and put away his phone, continuing to work on the wall on the balcony. He had been on a business trip for the past few days, and it had been rather exhausting. He had grown reluctant to look at the groups on his phone that seemed like work groups. As the sun set and he grew a bit hungry, Jiang Yuan finally opened his phone again and saw that his old man from Jiang Fuzhen had left a message— along with some uncles and brothers from the same village, they had gone out to collect rent. The Jiang Village People rented out houses not only for residential living but also to companies or individual businesses. Collecting rent was easy when it was easy, with money being transferred into accounts on schedule without needing to ask. But when it wasn’t easy to collect, they had to go together as a group to deal with it. On such matters, the Jiang Village People were always extremely united. However, this also meant Jiang Yuan would have to have dinner by himself that night. After some thought, Jiang Yuan simply lit the small barbecue grill on the terrace, boiled a few pieces of cooked meat, and used a low flame to grill them slowly. This method of grilling cooked meat as opposed to raw had a different flavor. Once the meat was grilled, he set out a recliner and lit a coil of mosquito repellent. Then there was a buzz of vibration from Jiang Yuan’s phone, and it was a money transfer from Jiang Fuzhen. Ever since Jiang Yuan had started working, the frequency and amounts of Jiang Fuzhen’s money transfers had quietly increased, filled with Jiang Fuzhen’s worries, praise, and trust for Jiang Yuan. Considering the time, it should be when everyone was gathering to ask for rent or had successfully collected it. At that moment, they were probably comparing the rent they received from relatives and friends. Jiang Fuzhen’s transfer amount would certainly be seen by everyone. Needless to say, Jiang Fuzhen would certainly show off a bit. After all, in Jiang Village, there were not many young people whom an old father could trust enough to transfer large amounts of money to. The next day was another day of wall-building. With the flower bed on the terrace completed, Jiang Yuan moved on to a few vacant rental properties to help with wall-building and room partitioning work. The majority of those renting were factories and workers, with different factories and workers having different living requirements. Some could tolerate bunk beds in multi-person rooms, while others needed single rooms. Jiang Fuzhen used to entrust such houses to relatives to manage, but now that Jiang Yuan was free, he took on the work himself. He indulged himself during his vacation. On his way home, Jiang Yuan was surprised to find someone waiting for him downstairs. “Jiang Yuan,” the visitor greeted him with a big smile, and upon seeing him covered in dust, he asked, “Were you out digging up bodies?” “I was building walls,” Jiang Yuan said. “You’re spending your holiday quite unusually,” the visitor chuckled and gestured to himself, adding, “I’m Wan Baoming, we talked yesterday.” “Right, are there problems with the fingerprints?” Jiang Yuan’s mind first went to the fingerprint match from yesterday. “No, no, the fingerprints are fine. The suspect has been arrested and confessed. Old Wang is still busy with the case and hasn’t had time to come by. To be honest, I couldn’t sleep tossing and turning at home.” Wan Baoming said with emotion, “Solving a murder case in two hours, now that I think about it, my whole body feels tingly.” “Just happened to be the right place at the right time,” said Jiang Yuan. “That’s definitely one way to put it...” Wan Baoming didn’t dwell on it and shifted the topic, “I have another fingerprint I would like you to look at.” He didn’t even need to ask; Jiang Yuan had already guessed what this was about. Those coming to him weren’t looking to solve cases; they certainly couldn’t be here to borrow money. “Let’s go to the room and look at it,” Jiang Yuan offered, leading Wan Baoming upstairs to the study to examine the fingerprint he’d brought. The fingerprint was spotty and unclear, seemingly not in the best condition. “Another murder case?” Jiang Yuan asked casually while examining it. Wan Baoming nodded gravely, “It’s a case from last year that you might have heard of. Someone was pushed off a rooftop, and this fingerprint was lifted from the victim’s clothes. The police have identified several suspects but haven’t matched the print, and it’s turned into a deadlock...” “It’s from Changyang City,” Jiang Yuan murmured. “Yes.” “There’s a slight issue with it here...” Jiang Yuan finished looking at the fingerprint and gave Wan Baoming a glance. Wan Baoming’s heart skipped a beat: “You can’t do it either? I have indeed consulted with several experts on this case. It’s quite complicated...” “That’s not what I meant.” Jiang Yuan waved his hand, “You need to give my superior a heads-up, after all, I’m a government employee.” “Oh, that’s no problem,” Wan Baoming immediately relaxed and smiled, “I’ll call Captain Huang then, I’m actually quite familiar with him.” “Okay. Once Captain Huang agrees, I’ll get to work,” Jiang Yuan said with an embarrassed smile, lowering his head like a down-to-earth wall-builder. Wan Baoming swiftly took out his phone and called Huang Qiangmin. Within a few words, Wan Baoming’s hands trembled. He quickly stood up, found a corner to lean against, pressed his left hand over his right, and said in a low voice, “Captain Huang, you’re asking for too much. It’s too harsh.” “If you don’t want it, others will. Jiang Yuan’s time is limited, you might want to reconsider...” Huang Qiangmin’s voice was cold and merciless.

Chapter 278 - 278 258 Cold-blooded and Heartless

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