Different People Receive Different Treatment

"Detective Lin... Detective Lin, are you there?" the woman called out.

Lin Xiaosu came down from the second floor, "Is something wrong?"

"Thump!" The woman knelt on the ground, "Detective Lin, please, hurry and help me find my son, my son is missing..."

"Ma'am, please get up!" Lin Xiaosu suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

The woman was in tears, "My son didn't come home last night. I thought he went to his grandmother's house. I called my mom and found out he didn't go. I reported it to the police last night, and they searched all night but couldn't find him... I heard that Detective Lin is the best at finding people, so I rushed here to find you! Detective Lin, please, help me this once. I know your fee, it's fine, I'll pay! Here's a 10,000 yuan deposit..."

Miao Ruolan stood stunned at the doorway.

This time it was her real son!

In this rainy weather, could he be found?

If he could be found, the police had already searched all night...

"Take the money first!" Lin Xiaosu said, "Let me see a photo of your son!"

The woman fumbled and stuffed the money into her bag, then took out her phone and showed Lin Xiaosu her son's photo.

He was about ten years old, a bit thin. In the photo, he was with some classmates. The classmates' faces were full of youthful vigor and happy smiles, but he was hiding in a corner, biting his finger, his envious eyes looking at his classmates, showing his embarrassment of wanting to join in but not daring to.

Right, his clothes were very old.

"He disappeared after leaving school yesterday, is that right?" Lin Xiaosu asked.

"Yes!"

"Before leaving yesterday, did anything special happen?"

"Before leaving yesterday, he... he said the school was buying new uniforms and asked me for 270 yuan. I didn't have money on me at the time, so I said a few things to him. These old uniforms are still wearable, why buy new ones? He went to school with tears in his eyes..."

Miao Ruolan's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the child was hit hard by something? And thus went down a wrong path?

"Take me to the school gate!"

At the gate of Fengcheng Second Primary School, Lin Xiaosu traced the scene of yesterday's dismissal and saw the child.

The child left the school gate alone and walked towards Yishui Bund.

Most of the Bund had been beautifully renovated, but no matter how beautiful a park was, there were always some dark corners. The child walked into this scar, going further and further.

"He came here? This is the shortcut to my mother's house, but why didn't my mother..." The woman felt both heartache and fear.

She knew some children had strong self-esteem, and the poorer they were, the more self-esteem they had. Everyone bought new uniforms, but he didn't. His classmates mocked him. If the child couldn't handle it and jumped into the river, please don't.

Mom was wrong, Mom shouldn't have complained, Mom shouldn't have put the family's difficulties in front of you. Mom only prays that you don't do anything foolish...

Lin Xiaosu, who was ahead, suddenly stopped and looked down into a deep ditch. In the ditch, tall grass grew, and beneath the grass, a boy lay quietly. His face was pale, and it was the missing boy.

Miao Ruolan's heart leaped, "Here!"

She jumped into the ditch, over two meters high. As soon as she landed, the wind blew from above, and the woman also jumped down, letting out a heart-wrenching cry: "Huai'er!"

Miao Ruolan's trembling finger reached for the child's nose, "He's still breathing!"

The mother suddenly reached out, hugged the child, and cried out repeatedly.

The child did not respond, and his breathing was faint.

Lin Xiaosu also got into the ditch and placed his finger on the child's leg. With a slight lift, his lower leg was red, swollen, and burning hot.

"He was bitten by a snake!" Lin Xiaosu said, "Take him to the hospital immediately!"

"Let's go!"

Miao Ruolan leaped up, holding the child, and went straight up the ditch. This was the first time she had shown her skills.

Lin Xiaosu reached out, grabbed the mother who had gone completely limp below, and pulled her up.

The group quickly rushed to the hospital.

In the emergency room, the doctor acted quickly. About ten minutes later, the doctor came out with a smile on his face, "Fortunately, you came early. If you had been half an hour later, he really wouldn't have been saved!"

"Huai'er... Huai'er... he's alright?" the mother trembled.

"Don't worry, he fainted from the snake venom, plus the cold and hunger. The antidote is now working, and he's already awake..."

The mother rushed to the emergency room. Just as she reached the door, she turned back. She knelt before Lin Xiaosu and held out the 10,000 yuan, "Detective Lin, thank you for saving my Huai'er's life. I only have 10,000 yuan on me. The remaining 20,000, I... I will definitely bring it to the detective agency tomorrow."

The doctors and nurses were all stunned.

Detective?

What an obscure word...

A reward of 30,000 yuan, this reward was quite attractive.

"Forget the money, it was just a small effort, no need to talk about money..." Lin Xiaosu helped her up, put the 10,000 yuan back into her bag, and turned to leave.

The sun was setting.

The Yishui flowed, reflecting the light.

The streets were sparsely populated, and the commercial district's lights were beginning to come on.

A black car stopped outside the detective agency. A beautiful woman opened the car door and walked into the detective agency.

It was Zhou Mei.

As soon as Zhou Mei entered the detective agency, she accepted the tea Miao Ruolan handed her, looked at Lin Xiaosu, and smiled, "You've been open for two days, and I've heard two versions of your pricing. Both are pretty mind-blowing."

"Oh?" Lin Xiaosu's gaze shifted from a book in front of him.

"Yesterday, someone was looking for a fake son, and you went all out to charge real money. You could actually charge thirty thousand yuan for that! Today, someone was looking for their real son, and you had real gold and silver delivered to your hands, but you did it for free!" Zhou Mei said, "Buddy, is your pricing system based on whatever you feel like?"

Lin Xiaosu sighed deeply, "Do you think I wanted to do it for free? The problem is, they couldn't even afford the 270 yuan for the school uniform the child needed. How could I have the nerve to squeeze them dry?"

"Knowing you felt embarrassed and still retained a shred of conscience, that's not bad..." Zhou Mei's eyes darted slightly. "It seems that if I need you to do something in the future, I won't have to worry about the money. I helped you get your license, and I helped you rent your place. You wouldn't have the nerve to charge me either..."

Lin Xiaosu's eyes slowly widened. "Don't try that with me! We have our own separate dealings. The license and the storefront were exchanged for my help last time. From now on, when you come to me for cases, continuing the fine tradition of your provincial department leaders, it's ten thousand yuan to start!"

"You ungrateful wretch, I was just praising you for not forgetting your original intentions and for being pure-hearted."

"If you're going to blackmail me, at least pick a different word. I'm a businessman, and you're talking to me about original intentions? My original intention, my mom knows, is to make money..."

While they were bickering, Miao Ruolan was amused on the side...

Zhou Mei also noticed her amusement and glanced at her. "Stop laughing. The way he does things is making things difficult for you! How will you set prices for cases in the future? There are no standards at all."

That was true. If the leader had no standards, the subordinates would be at a loss. Lin Xiaosu's pricing was all about being imaginative and doing whatever he pleased. How could Miao Ruolan do business like that?

Lin Xiaosu took over. "On the contrary, I'm giving Ruolan the freedom to soar. I do as I please, and naturally, she can too. From now on, when you take cases, Ruolan, you can set any price you want. If you like the client, it's free. If you don't like them, squeeze them dry!"

Miao Ruolan was stunned. "Is that true? I'm telling you, I'm very clumsy. Sometimes I don't understand people's jokes..."

The three of them were around the same age. Sitting together in the evening, they chatted and became more relaxed.

Late into the night, Zhou Mei finally got up. Lin Xiaosu and Miao Ruolan saw her to the door. Before getting into her car, Zhou Mei lightly hooked her finger, and Lin Xiaosu leaned closer.

A wisp of fragrance from Zhou Mei blew into his ear. "Be careful. Watch out for anyone who might make a move against you!"

Then, she got into the car and left.

Lin Xiaosu's gaze swept across the street ahead before he returned to the detective agency.

It was late, the door was closed and locked from the inside.

Going up to the second floor, Miao Ruolan entered his room. "What Zhou Mei said about watching out for someone making a move against you, who was she referring to?"

Zhou Mei hooking her finger to summon Lin Xiaosu looked quite intimate. If Miao Ruolan were his girlfriend, she would probably interrogate him thoroughly at this moment. What did she whisper in your ear?

But Miao Ruolan was a descendant of Ancient Martial Arts, with extraordinary senses, and she had clearly heard the words.

Lin Xiaosu said, "She's probably referring to those drug dealers and the people behind them."

"I investigated. The person who lost the package back then was Huang San. After he was arrested by the police, six others were also apprehended. I never imagined that such a large-scale drug trafficking group existed in such a small place as Fengcheng."

"Fengcheng may be small, but it connects three rivers!" Lin Xiaosu said, "There are indications that this is a drug distribution hub in the central region."

Miao Ruolan gazed out the window. "Do we need to get involved?"

Lin Xiaosu said, "Who would want to get involved with such a dirty organization if they didn't have to? But sometimes, the tree wants to remain still, but the wind doesn't stop. If we don't deal with them, they'll see us as a thorn in our side. It's time to remove this tumor!"

"Okay! Is there anything I need to do?" Miao Ruolan asked.

"For now, we'll continue to take cases, investigate cases, and wait for an opportunity..."

Miao Ruolan went out, and the door closed.

Lin Xiaosu sat cross-legged, entering his standard nightly routine.

He was practicing.

It was strange, but when he used to review his studies, he always felt like he needed a whip from behind to pick up a book.

But now, with no one forcing him, he was actually studying diligently.

Perhaps it was because practicing martial arts gave him more passion than studying.

Since unlocking the Spring Return Skill, he hadn't missed a single day, meditating and cultivating every day.

This Spring Return Skill was different from ordinary martial arts. The routes for circulating true qi in ordinary martial arts were fixed. Daily meditation was dry and boring, and it only trained the strength of the true qi.

But the true qi routes for the Spring Return Skill were not fixed.

Every day, you could try a new method, letting the true qi follow a brand-new path. This was like opening a blind box in a game. You wouldn't know what changes would occur when you opened this path. Even the founding ancestor didn't know, because the meridians in the human body are almost infinite, and the combinations are even more so.

Lin Xiaosu had tried one path, which was the original setting of the founding ancestor.