"Kid, you’re pretty impressive, catching this criminal all by yourself," the man said from behind Lin Qiong.
Lin Qiong quickly turned around, looking at the man with confusion. "I didn’t catch him," she said.
"But you’re the only cop here. If you didn’t catch him, then who did?"
"Ah, you’re really stubborn, aren’t you?"
"Ah, I get it now, you don’t want others to know about you?" Lin Qiong suddenly realized, looking at the mysterious man with surprise.
"At least you’re not too dumb."
However, Lin Qiong shook her head repeatedly and said, "No, no, I can’t take credit for your work. If it was you who caught him, then it was you."
The man grinned and suddenly pointed behind Lin Qiong, shouting, "Watch out!"
Lin Qiong quickly turned around, but everything was calm; the thug was still lying there, spitting blood, without any ability to attack.
Looking back at the man, she found nobody behind her. Instant chills ran down Lin Qiong’s spine. She hadn’t noticed the man’s arrival, and when he left, she hadn’t noticed either. His skills were truly fearsome.
But now wasn’t the time to go after this man. She quickly phoned the Deputy Director to have him bring the criminal investigation team over.
Soon, two police cars arrived at the scene as if they’d flown there, and several detectives jumped out. Armed to the teeth and with guns in hand, they were all a bit dumbfounded when they saw Lin Qiong standing there and the criminal lying amidst a pile of bricks. What was going on? Had Lin Qiong apprehended this guy all by herself?
Later, the detectives pulled the thug out from the bricks and took him straight to the hospital. Lin Qiong also went to the criminal investigation department. After such an incident, she was sure to cooperate with their investigation.
Lin Qiong didn’t follow the man’s wishes. She recounted the whole event exactly as it happened. Meanwhile, the thug’s medical examination results came in; he had six broken ribs—that was the most direct damage, not counting being hit by bricks.
To break six ribs of such a physically fit thug with a single kick, it wasn’t just Lin Qiong who couldn’t do this, but even the detectives, who were getting increasingly anxious inside. It was known that even the best fighters in the squad couldn’t break six ribs with one kick. This man’s strength was too overwhelming.
The fact that such a formidable person existed was a matter of concern for the detective squad. If the man only did good deeds, that was one thing, but if he turned to evil, it could become a much more terrifying scenario. So they asked Lin Qiong to describe the man’s appearance and attempted to reconstruct his face with technology.
However, when Lin Qiong tried to recall, apart from knowing the man’s height and roughly describing his build, she found herself unexpectedly unable to describe the man’s face. Looking at the various features on the computer, she felt every one of them looked both similar and dissimilar. It was incredibly frustrating.
Naturally, the mysterious man was Li Yifei. He had followed Lin Qiong when she gave chase but altered his appearance before showing up. Such a skill was not something ordinary people could master. In some martial arts novels, this was called a Disguise Technique.
Li Yifei couldn’t really change his face at will, but he could alter his appearance considerably by moving his facial muscles. This incredibly ordinary appearance was something he was particularly good at. Its primary feature was that it was forgettable, preventing the police from tracking him down later.
Although it was for a good deed, Li Yifei still didn’t want the police’s attention. Even if his identity could prevent any suspicion from the police, if he was constantly asked for help in the future, he wouldn’t be free to do the things he wanted to do.
The next day, Li Yifei went to work at his company. Today, Xu Yingying didn’t seek him out, and Su Mengxin had no contact with him either, so his day was relatively relaxed.
When he got home in the evening, he felt that someone had moved into the vacant room on the right side. It seemed he had a new neighbor, but who could it be?
Li Yifei was not the type to knock on the door to see who it was just because there was a new neighbor. People in the city had become accustomed to not knowing their neighbors even on the same floor.
After finishing cooking, Li Yifei hadn’t started eating when there was a knock at the door. He went to open it and saw Lin Qiong, the policewoman.
"Officer Lin, what brings you here?" Li Yifei asked in surprise.
Lin Qiong, with a stern face, said, "I came to find out about a situation."
Li Yifei immediately said cheerfully, "Sure, sure, come on in. I just finished cooking; do you want to eat something?"
"No need," Lin Qiong shook her head and replied, "You can eat first. I’ll wait and ask you afterward."
"Thanks a lot, I’m really starving," said Li Yifei as he unceremoniously took a seat at the dining table and started wolfing down the food.
Although the dinner Li Yifei made tonight was simple, for someone who appreciated good food like him, even simple dishes could taste quite delicious. Lin Qiong hadn’t had dinner yet, and at the smell of the food, her stomach couldn’t help but growl a few times.
"Officer Lin, aren’t you hungry? Come have some," Li Yifei offered right away.
"No, thank you," Lin Qiong declined immediately, having never really liked this fellow, Li Yifei.
While eating, Li Yifei continued, "Well, forget it then. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough for me if you did eat."
Lin Qiong’s face darkened. The way this guy talked was truly exasperating. And with the tantalizing smell wafting in the air, she only felt hungrier. What bothered her most was that this guy ate like a woman, slowly and deliberately, which was excruciating for Lin Qiong.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Li Yifei finished eating, relieving Lin Qiong from this torture. Only once he came over and sat down on the sofa did Lin Qiong start to grill him, "Where were you last night between nine and ten o’clock?"
Li Yifei looked at Lin Qiong, puzzled, and asked, "Officer Lin, I’m not involved in some case, am I?"
"Cut the crap and just answer the question," Lin Qiong said with a straight face.
Lamenting his bad luck, Li Yifei said, "I really am unlucky. Thankfully, I didn’t do anything wrong... I went to the bar after eight last night to have a few drinks. After a while, I saw you. I wanted to say hi, but you stopped someone, and then you and another guy... got knocked out. After that, you chased after him."
Lin Qiong had checked the bar’s surveillance footage today and saw Li Yifei there, even noticed him approaching her, which was why she’d sought him out.
"Did you go to the bar just to drink?" Lin Qiong stared intently into Li Yifei’s eyes, which were windows to the soul, believing she would be able to tell if he was lying.
Indeed, Li Yifei’s gaze wavered at that moment, prompting Lin Qiong to say with a stern look, "Tell the truth."
Li Yifei grimaced and let out a dry chuckle, then said, "You know what a bar is like. I just wanted to hunt for beauty. When I saw Officer Lin there, I was quite puzzled. I thought you had similar interests, so... I wanted to hit on you."
"What?" Lin Qiong’s eyes widened at once, feeling an urge to strangle him on the spot.
"Officer Lin, don’t be mad. I realized later that you were on a mission and didn’t bother you, but... that guy was really tough. He took you both down in no time. When you went after him, I got worried and ran out too, but by the time I got outside, you were both gone. I was really afraid he’d dealt with you, but I’m glad you’re okay now. That puts my mind at ease," Li Yifei said, patting his chest.
As Lin Qiong listened to Li Yifei going on about how she was knocked down, it left her feeling quite depressed. Everything he said matched up with what was on the surveillance footage, so she no longer suspected him. However, seeing Li Yifei’s feigned concern still made her break out in a cold sweat. With a stern face, she said, "Thanks for your concern. Did you notice any other suspicious people in the bar? Like, did anyone else run out after me?"
Asking this question made Lin Qiong slightly nervous. She wanted to find the mysterious man, yet despite scouring through all the footage, his trace was nowhere to be found. His build was somewhat similar to Li Yifei’s, but she couldn’t believe that Li Yifei would have such strong skills. Putting aside the different appearances, she remembered when she mistook Li Yifei for a thief and knew well that he wasn’t very formidable.
So she hoped Li Yifei had seen the man or could provide some useful information.
"I wasn’t paying attention. I was only interested in watching you," Li Yifei replied.
His response dashed Lin Qiong’s hopes, and she said irritably, "Why would you want to watch me?"
Li Yifei chuckled and said, "For the show, of course. I wanted to see how you... catch a crook."
Seeing Li Yifei’s insincere appearance, Lin Qiong felt provoked and said, "Did you want to see how I get beaten by crooks?"
Li Yifei laughed nervously and said, "Of course not. I hold no grudge against the police. You’re our community officer, and I was just showing a bit of concern."
Getting to her feet, Lin Qiong snorted, and after casting a glance around Li Yifei’s place, she said, "There’s no one else living here?"
"No one, it’s just me living here alone."
"Hmm, I don’t care if you have someone over for a night, but if you’re going to have someone stay here long-term, you must register them with me," Lin Qiong reminded.
"I understand, I will definitely cooperate with Officer Lin’s work," Li Yifei assured.