Grocery Store No.514

Looking at the instant noodles in front of him, Jiang Chengyan said with a smile, “Didn’t you say you were going to eat steak? Why did you bring me here for instant noodles?”

Su Ke stirred the noodles in the bowl, took a bite, and said, “I want to try the difference between the instant noodles here that make our Captain Jiang come to eat this every day.”

Jiang Chengyan subconsciously glanced in the direction of the cash register. But unfortunately, the person he was thinking of was not there during the day. He looked away in disappointment, but it happened to meet Su Ke’s gaze. He was a bit guilty, and said with a disguised smile, “there are many flavors of instant noodles here. Spicy, pickled, braised, and bone broth. So we can change the flavor daily and will not be repeated with the same one during a week.”

“You, come here less.” Su Ke looked at the cash register and the cashier who was working, “this girl looks around 20 years old. She looks pretty good and pure. She has a good figure too. 155 cm tall and weight 45kg. It’s not bad. What… it turns out that our Captain Jiang likes this type?”

Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but roll his eyes and retorted, “I like you like this, hurry up and eat your noodles. Look again, the little girl must think you are a hooligan.”

Su Ke blinked at Jiang Chengyan and said with a smile, “Is Captain Jiang confessing to me? I’ll take it seriously.”

“Watch your big head. Eat your noodles quickly.”

Su Ke stirred the noodles in the bowl and said half-truth, “That’s a pity, I thought I could talk about an office love with Captain Jiang.”

Jiang Chengyan was too lazy to pay attention to him and ate his noodle bowl quietly.

“That’s right, whenever you come here to eat noodles at night. This little girl has already gone home from work, so the goal of Captain Jiang is not her, but the night shift… that handsome little guy?”

Su Ke’s words made Jiang Chengyan choke, “cough, cough…”

Seeing that, Su Ke hurriedly pulled out a tissue for him, and said with amusement, “even if I guessed right, you do not have to be so excited, right?”

Jiang Chengyan took a sip of water to wash down his throat. He threatened, “Su Ke, if you say one more word, don’t eat this noodle, go back to your work!”

Su Ke was not afraid of threats at all, he teases, “Yo, Captain Jiang is so powerful, I’m so afraid.”

“Su Ke!!”

Seeing that Jiang Chengyan was showing signs of being angry, Su Ke hurriedly stopped and said with a smile, “Okay, okay. I won’t tease you anymore. Hurry up and eat, it will be cold in a while.”

Jiang Chengyan glared at him, and said softly, “thank you.”

Su Ke just wanted to speak,  but was interrupted by Jiang Chengyan, saying, “shut up and eat the noodles.”

Su Ke shook his head in amusement. He stopped talking and began to concentrate on eating noodles.

***

30 At nine o’clock in the morning on December 12, 2012, Jiang Chengyan once again organized a team meeting.

“The detailed autopsy report is already available. Now we’ll have a meeting to summarize the information we have.” Jiang Chengyan looked at Su Ke and said, “Su Ke, tell us about the autopsy result.”

“The deceased female, aged around 25 – 30 years old, 165 cm tall and weighed 60 kg. She was eight months pregnant during her lifetime. The cause of death was a failure of various organs due to excessive blood loss. The time of death was between 0:00 and 3:00 in the morning on 3rd December. The murder weapon is suspected to be a scalpel used for medical purposes. There were no struggle wounds or restraint wounds on the deceased’s body, indicating that the killer had given her anesthetic when removing the child. The opening in the abdomen of the deceased was flat, and the technique used to remove the child was professional and accurate, so I presume that the murderer was probably a surgeon with professional skills.”

Su Ke paused for a moment to let them digest the information, and then continued, “the deceased was so healthy in her life, free of disease, and the child in her belly was also healthy. If she had not been killed, I believe she would have been able to give birth without any problems.”

Everyone looked at each other, with a look of regret and pity in their eyes.

Jiang Chengyan calmly asked, “Are there any other discoveries besides these?”

“Yes. After dissection, I found that the deceased had plastic surgery during his lifetime, and more than once. Bone cutting, nose, double eyelids, and so on. She also had liposuction, breast augmentation, and buttocks. If she hadn’t been seen for six months, her family might not recognize her.”

Yao Min said strangely, “it’s too cruel. Is it still herself?”

Liu Ran smiled bitterly and said “Girl, are you focusing on the wrong thing? She’s such a neat person, we should be worried about how to identify her.”

Only then did Yao Min react and said, “Yes. Even her family may not be able to recognize her in this way. If no one reports her missing, how can we find her?”

Jiang Chengyan looked at Liu Ran, “did you find the missing person?”

Liu Ran shook his head, “There are those who meet the conditions, but the DNA comparison has failed. The identity of the deceased cannot be identified yet.”

Jiang Chengyan’s eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, “how?”

Su Ke smiled, “As I said just now, she has had breast augmentation surgery, and the prosthesis implanted in her body using a brand called GLD. I have checked the Internet before. This brand of prosthesis is expensive. Only large plastic surgery hospitals have it, and the prostheses are numbered. As long as you find this plastic surgery hospital, it is not difficult to find out her identity.”

Yao Min said excitedly, “Su Ke, you are amazing!”

Liu Ran also followed and echoed, “The girl is right, Su Ke is a big help to us!”

Jiang Chengyan smiled and said, “Su Ke, when the case is solved, I will buy the steak from that western restaurant.”

“Yo, that’s good, you’ve all heard it. In case your captain reneged, you guys will be the witness.”

“What do we get? We don’t do anything that doesn’t benefit us.”

“You guys are all mercenaries! Okay, stop it and continue the meeting.”

Jiang Chengyan looked at Li Tong and asked, “how’s the investigation at East Lake Park?”

“I asked the administrator of the fishing area of the East Lake Park. There was a net between the fishing area and other lake areas. Not to mention a body, even the slightly larger fish could not get through, so the body dumping place must be in the fishing area. It has been raining several times in a few days, so the traces there might be destroyed.”

“A blocked net? In other words, if the murderer wants to dump her body in the fishing area, they have to pass the only road, and there are surveillance cameras on that road.” Jiang Chengyan said thoughtfully, “One thing I can’t figure out, if the body is dumped there, it is more likely easier to be found than elsewhere. Why would the killer choose to dump the body there?”

Li Tong was stunned and immediately said, “yes, it’s obviously unreasonable.”

“All right, Li Tong and Zhang Liang go to a salvage team and borrow a wetsuit to check if there are any holes in that net.”

“Yes, captain.”

“The rest of you have one task at the moment, that is to run the plastic surgery hospital and make sure to confirm the identity of the deceased in the shortest possible time.”

Everyone responded in unison, “Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

There are more than 30 plastic surgery hospitals in the entire Huacheng City, and only ten plastic surgery hospitals are capable of using GLD brand prostheses.

After everyone ran all morning, Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min came to Lingmei Plastic Surgery Hospital.

They went straight to the front desk. The front desk lady greeted them warmly, “Hello, may I ask what you need?”

Jiang Chengyan took out his ID and revealed his identity, saying, “Hello, we are from the police. There is a case that we want you to cooperate with the investigation.”

The lady at the front desk said nervously, “Case? How can I help you?”

Yao Min looked at her nametag and smiled, “Your name is Chen Min, right, I’m Yao Min, we also have the same name. You don’t need to be nervous, we just visit normally. We will ask a few questions, please answer them truthfully.”

The lady at the front desk hesitated and said, “Then you can ask, I will tell the truth if I know.”

Yao Min took out a photo and asked, “Do you have this brand of implants for breast augmentation here?”

The receptionist took the photo and looked at it, and said with embarrassment, “I’m sorry, two police officers. I just came to work for a month, and I’m only in charge of the front desk work. I can’t answer this question.”

Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min looked at each other and said, “Is the director  here?”

“I don’t know. I am a small front desk, how can I know where the director is?”

Seeing Chen Min’s eyes flickering, Jiang Chengyan frowned slightly and said with a serious face, “It’s about a murder case, you’d better cooperate with us, or we will sue you for the crime of obstructing official duties.”

Chen Min’s face changed when he heard it, and he said quickly, “Two police officers, it’s not that I don’t cooperate, it’s that I really don’t know, so let me call our supervisor. She should know whether the director is in or not.” 

“Where is your department head’s office? Take us there.”

Seeing that Jiang Chengyan’s face was not good, Chen Min did not dare to push back any further and said in a low voice, “Then the two officers, come with me.”

Under Chen Min’s guidance, the two came to the director’s office on the fifth floor.  Chen Min knocked in front of the door. There was a quick answer from inside. Chen Min opened the door and then walked in while Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min followed behind.

“Chen Min, do you have something to do with me? Who are they?” The man sitting in the director’s office was unexpectedly young, looking only in his early thirties.

“Director, they are police officers.”

Jiang Chengyan took out his ID, “Hello, we are from the Criminal Investigation Team, and I came here to ask you to cooperate with us in investigating a case.”

The man looked at Jiang Chengyan’s ID. He nodded and said, “You two have a seat over there.”

“Director, then I’ll go back to work first.”

The man responded, Chen Min turned around and left the office, and closed the door.

Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min came to the sofa to receive a guest and sat down with the man followed closely, and asked with a frown, “How do the two police officers want me to cooperate?”

Yao Min glanced at the man’s name tag before pulling out a picture, handing it to him then asked, “Director Wu, right? Has your hospital ever used this brand of prosthesis?”

Wu Zheng took the photo to look at it. “This is a prosthesis of the GLD brand. Our hospital is indeed using it. Is there any problem?”

“This brand of prosthesis has a number on it. I want you to help us check on it. Who is the owner of this numbered prosthesis?”

Wu Zheng said with some difficulty, “I’m afraid this is not convenient. There is a confidentiality agreement between our hospital and the customer. We cannot disclose any information about the customer. Otherwise, if we breach the contract, we will need to pay a large amount of penalty fee.”

“Director Wu, you don’t need to worry about this issue. Our police station also has regulations, but we can’t disclose the information involved in the case, otherwise, it will be considered a violation of discipline.”

“This is not only the problem of penalty fee but also the reputation of our hospital. Once the information is leaked, it will bring us immeasurable losses…”

Jiang Chengyan interrupted Wu Zheng and said, “The owner of this prosthesis is dead.”

“Dead?”

A surprised look flashed across Wu Zheng’s face, and he said, “how could this be?”

“The reason why we are here is for this murder case. We hope that director Wu can cooperate.”

Wu Zheng hesitated for a while and said, “Since it is a matter of human life, I will make an exception. But please keep it a secret from the public. After all, it is not easy for a plastic surgery hospital to establish a good reputation.”

“Then the two of you wait a moment, I’ll go get the information.” Wu Zheng got up and walked out of the office.

Yao Min smiled and said, “I saw that Chen Min was secretive before, and I thought there was something wrong with this hospital. Now it seems that I was paranoid. The director is really a director, and doing things better than ordinary people.”

Jiang Chengyan asked jokingly, “What… is this little girl sprouting in spring¹?”

Yao Min was startled and then said, “I didn’t think about that at first, but after the captain reminded me, I immediately felt pretty good. Looking at his appearance, he is only in his early thirties. Although he is not handsome, he is very attractive and has a good figure. The most important thing is that he can sit in the director position at such a young age, enough to show his ability. Indeed a good target for love.”

“Thank you for the compliment, officer.” Wu Zheng pushed open the door and walked in, holding two folders in his hand, he said with a polite smile, “But I’m going to disappoint the officer, I’m already married.”

Yao Min’s face was flushed with embarrassment. She said hesitantly, “Well, I’m just joking. Director Wu, don’t take it seriously.”

Jiang Chengyan snickered, and Yao Min glared at him. He quickly changed the subject, “director Wu, these are the materials related to the registration of the use of GLD?”

Wu Zheng nodded, and handed the material in his hand to Jiang Chengyan, “Although we are not the largest plastic surgery hospital in Huacheng, we are confident that the various equipment in the hospital will not lose to any plastic surgery hospital. There is an endless stream of people who come to our hospital for plastic surgery. However, the prosthesis of the GLD brand is expensive and most people can’t afford it. Our hospital also adopts the method of pre-ordering to place orders. These are all the data that have ordered GLD in the past two years.”

“Thank you, Director Wu.” Jiang Chengyan said without raising his head, “Yao Min, bring the photo.”

Yao Min handed the photo to Jiang Chengyan, and he memorized the number on the photo and compared it page by page.

“Captain, give me the other one.”

Jiang Chengyan handed over the documents and warned, “Look carefully.”

“Understand,”

Seeing this, Wu Zheng got up and came to the desk, took out a document, and looked at it. The office was quiet, and only the sound of paper being flipped could be heard.

“Captain, I found it!” Yao Min’s excited voice was very loud in the quiet office.

“Where is it, let me see.” Jiang Chengyan put down the document in his hand and looked at it.

Yao Min pointed to one of the numbers and said with a smile, “Captain, look, this number is the same as the number on the photo. The owner’s name is Shen Xin.”

Jiang Chengyan checked it carefully, it was indeed the same as the number on the photo, he got up and walked towards Wu Zheng, saying, “Director Wu, the serial number has been found. Please help me find Shen Xin’s information.”

Wu Zheng glanced at the information, turned on the computer, and started searching, “wait.”

It didn’t take long for Wu Zheng to find Shen Xin’s information, “I found it, you guys take a look.”

Jiang Chengyan looked at the information on the computer, which recorded Shen Xin’s basic information in detail, as well as all the cosmetic surgery she had done.

“Director Wu, please print a copy of her information. I will take it back to the bureau.”

Wu Zheng cooperated and printed out a copy of Shen Xin’s information and gave it to Jiang Chengyan.

Jiang Chengyan put the information away and said with a smile, “I’m really bothering Director Wu this time.”

“You’re welcome, it’s every citizen’s duty to cooperate with the police. It’s the right thing to do.”

Jiang Chengyan had no plans to leave yet, and continued to ask, “Director Wu, who is responsible for Shen Xin’s cosmetic surgery?”

Wu Zheng seemed a little surprised, but he quickly returned to normal, “the information is in all there, because she has done a lot of plastic surgery, and there is more than one doctor who operated on her, but most of them are from me.”

Jiang Chengyan nodded, ” When was the last time she came to the hospital?”

“Around March this year? I can’t remember the exact date, but the information I gave you has a medical record. You just need to look at it to find out.”

“Okay, then we won’t Disturb Director Wu any longer. Goodbye.” Jiang Chengyan extended his hand politely.

Wu Zheng reached out to shake his hand and said with a smile, “Then two police officers,  take care…”

Jiang Chengyan walked to the door and suddenly turned around and said, “Oh right. Director Wu, maybe we will come to visit in the future, and I hope you don’t mind.”

“If I can help you two, I will try my best.”

Jiang Chengyan smiled, opened the door, and walked out, followed by Yao Min. The two did not stop and went directly back to the police station. With the victim’s information, their work was carried out more purposefully. After reassigning the task, Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min left the police station again and went to Shen Xin’s home to visit the victims’ families. They were busy until the evening before returning to the police station.

At eight o’clock in the evening, the bell rang softly, and Jiang Chengyan appeared in the grocery store on time.

“Hua’an, I’m here. I’m so tired.” Jiang Chengyan walked straight to the cashier, with a coquettish sound in his tone that he hadn’t noticed.

Ling Hua’an hooked up his lips, took the thermos bucket out, and handed it to him, saying, “Is the case going well?”

Jiang Chengyan casually took the thermos bucket and put it aside, his eyes fell on Ling Hua’n’s hand. Aware of Jiang Chengyan’s gaze, Ling Hua’an took the initiative to spread out his hand and said, “Look.”

Jiang Chengyan’s face was hot, but he still looked at Ling Hua’an’s hand carefully. After confirming that he was not injured, he picked up the thermos bucket and helped him to sit in front of the glass window.

“Hua’an, actually I can order takeout, you don’t have to make it for me every day.” Although he said that, every time he was busy, he could eat Ling Hua’an’s food. Jiang Chengyan’s heart will feel sweetness, with indescribable satisfaction.

Ling Hua’an could naturally sense Jiang Chengyan’s duplicity, and said, “Then I will bring the food to Sun Ming tomorrow.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Chengyan and Sun Ming almost spoke in unison.

“Captain Jiang, I’ve been coveting the boss’s craftsmanship for a long time. If you don’t want to eat it, you can give me a discount.” After working in the grocery store for more than a month, Sun Ming also noticed the difference between Ling Hua’an and Jiang Chengyan. Although he also had some expectations for Ling Hua’an, he quickly straightened his position between them. It’s just that Jiang Chengyan’s emotional intelligence is really a concern, he is worried for Ling Hua’an.

Although Jiang Chengyan felt a little embarrassed, but in order to fight for his own welfare, he couldn’t care less and said, “Who said not to eat, I’m just worried about Hua’an getting hurt.”

Sun Ming said jokingly, “Captain Jiang, you love our boss so much.”

Jiang Chengyan’s face became hot, he glanced at Ling Hua’an with a guilty conscience, and said, “We are friends. Of course, I will… feel bad for him when he is injured.”

Jiang Chengyan’s voice became smaller and smaller, and in the end, he could hear it clearly by himself.

Ling Hua’an couldn’t help but smile bitterly in his heart, when will this fool be able to open his mind and stop embarrassing himself. ” Eat quickly. The fish I made today will be fishy when it gets cold.” 

Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, but he was a little annoyed. He opened the thermos bucket and the scent of the food came out. That little annoyance was dissipated in an instant and he ate with satisfaction. Having eaten and drunk enough, Jiang Chengyan got up to clean the dish. After that, he chatted with Ling Hua’an again, then went back to the police station.

Wang Lei appeared in Ling Hua’an’s sight. He came to the cashier, smiled, and said, “Laoban, I’m back.”

“How? Has the identity of the deceased been identified?”

Wang Lei replied, “The deceased’s name is Shen Xin. He is 26 years old this year. He has a superior family background. She is typically a Bai Fumei². But she is also quite miserable. I heard from Captain Jiang that Shen Xin’s parents are abroad all year round. She has been living with her housekeeper. Her parents are typical people who only know how to give money, but have no time.”

Ling Hua’an nodded, “Shen Xin is missing, does her parents know?”

“Not long ago, Shen Xin’s previous housekeeper resigned and she got a new one. The new housekeeper doesn’t know much about Shen Xin. Shen Xin herself often doesn’t come home for a few days. So even if Shen Xin goes missing, the housekeeper doesn’t notice anything wrong. Not to mention notifying her parents.”

“Since there is no report of disappearance, how did the people at the police station find out Shen Xin’s identity?”

“It’s the forensic doctor who gives a lead to find Chen Xin’s identity.  When he did the autopsy, he found that Shen Xin was a plastic surgery maniac. In her whole body, she cut her bones and padded her nose…”

The chill wind suddenly rose in the store, interrupting Wang Lei’s words, Wang Lei then remembered that Shen Xin in the bell could hear him. He swallowed his saliva fearfully, “The forensic doctor found the number in the prosthesis of Shen Xin’s chest. After discovering the serial number, Captain Jiang ran all over the plastic surgery hospital in Huacheng, and finally found out her identity.”

Ling Hua’an tapped the bell in his pocket, and the sudden gust of chill wind disappeared without a sound. Then he asked faintly, “The name Shen Xin, are you familiar with it?”

Shen Xin was silent for a moment and said, “familiar.”

Hearing her tone was not right, Ling Hua’an asked bluntly, “did you remember something?”

“Just some fragment images of me wearing my school uniform and being bullied.”

Ling Hua’an reiterated, “Shen Xin, no matter what you think of, tell me the truth, understand?”

Shen Xin responded, “Okay.”

Ling Hua’an took out his cell phone, intending to call Yan Yu, but hung up again the moment the number was dialed

“Laoban, why did you hang up? “

“It’s midnight, Yan Yu should have fallen asleep. I will call him tomorrow.”

“So, am I still guarding the police station tomorrow? “

“No, go to Shen Xin’s house and see if you can find some clues.”

Wang Lei said with difficulty, “But I am a ghost, can not touch anything, how to find clues?”

Ling Hua’an took out a paper talisman from his pocket and then handed it to Wang Lei. He whispered a spell in his ear, saying, “Put the paper talisman close to your body and recite the spell silently when you use it. It can help you temporarily have an entity. But you have to remember that ordinary people who have the entity can also see it. And you must not be discovered, understand?”

Wang Lei happily took the paper talisman, “Laoban, how long is the time limit of the paper talisman?”

“One hour should be enough for you to look for clues at Shen Xin’s house.”

“Okay. Laoban, you can rest assured. I’ll look for clues carefully.”

The night passed quickly. At seven o’clock sharp, the female clerk took over the shift, and Yan Yu walked in with her. Ling Hua’an got into Yan Yu’s car. The two did not go home but went to the villa area where Shen Xin’s house is located.

~~~

1. to emerge amorous feelings/stirrings of love ↺
2. 白富美 – Literally “Fair, rich, and beautiful” ↺