The last working day of the old year was also Hu Xing's last day working in the criminal investigation team.
Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve. She will accompany her mother to her maternal grandfather's manor to celebrate the New Year, and then, amidst the warm and friendly conversation of the Xia Family elders, she will take over the family business that they have arranged for her.
She had attended such occasions many times, but she never imagined that when it came to her own, she would feel so much melancholy and helplessness.
The shopping mall was a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to her.
She was familiar with the faces of all the high-ranking officials and social elites in Wuzhong and even Shenzhou. She had called them uncles, aunts, and cousins since she was a child, treating them like family. Their children were her peers, mostly young talents from prestigious universities, who spent their days playing golf, driving supercars, and talking about deals worth hundreds of millions. They had absolutely no interaction with her, yet they all treated her as one of their own. The women called her "sister" and the men either pursued her passionately or pretended to be her confidante.
What was unfamiliar to her was that she had never actually run a business before, and she was completely unaccustomed to the deceit and backstabbing in the business world. Even though her mother often took her to various business occasions and witnessed them negotiating, signing contracts, cutting ribbons, and holding celebratory banquets, she was like a student daydreaming in class, completely unaware of what the teacher was talking about, seemingly forgetting that she would eventually face a major exam.
She disliked those insincere social interactions where two and a half sentences out of three were insincere and only half were genuine pleasantries.
In fact, her personality isn't suited for working in the criminal investigation team. Although she has the demure side of a well-bred young lady, she's also straightforward and speaks her mind easily, thinking things through superficially and acting impulsively. However, criminal investigation requires meticulous logical thinking. A case often requires unraveling the mystery step by step, grasping every suspicious clue, and meticulously planning and organizing the operation. One also needs to be tight-lipped, otherwise it's too easy for information to leak out.
For example, in Ma Fuqing's case, if it weren't for Qingmu, she might have gotten herself into trouble. Shi Dazhuang praised her half and criticized her the whole time, which was actually a way of both disciplining and protecting her. But that's just her personality; she can't change it. So later, Shi Dazhuang never dared to send her on missions alone again.
Every time she went to ask for a mission, Captain Shi would say, "Please spare me. Director Xu from the Provincial Department called me. If anything happens to you, you'll be fired. If you like solving cases, stay in the team and study the case files. Use the skills you learned from Qingmu to help me investigate cases. Don't meddle in arrest missions unless you change your surname!"
Hu Xing had no choice but to accept it. Even if she changed her surname, she couldn't sever her ties with the Xia Family.
Later, her main job at the bureau was assisting in the interrogation of prisoners. Since Qingmu left, no one had been able to guide her on her questions about lucid dreaming. Fortunately, she already had a foundation and was quite talented. She explored step by step and had become proficient in hypnosis and dream induction techniques. However, she was not as relaxed as Qingmu. Some criminal suspects had particularly strong psychological defenses and very strong willpower, making it very difficult for her to guide them to reveal their motives and the process of their crimes in their dreams.
She could have joined the pre-trial team, then received training at the provincial department, and pursued a career path as a pre-trial expert—a very good development path. However, Shi Dazhuang suddenly prevented her from participating in the review of the He-book case.
She asked why. Shi Dazhuang said, "All trial processes are recorded. If you don't want to be a guinea pig, don't touch these things in the future. I've witnessed Qingmu's abilities; even he has to be extremely careful. I can guess how deep the water is. Don't wade in; you'll not only drown yourself but also drag your master down with you."
Although Hu Xing felt that Shi Dazhuang was exaggerating, she did not object. When Qingmu left, he did tell her to be careful and not to easily reveal her special abilities, except to regularly observe whether Elder Xia and other close relatives of the Xia Family had been parasitized.
Without fieldwork, case hearings, or case analysis—which wasn't her forte—she became completely idle in the team.
When she applied to police academy, she didn't think too much about it; she just wanted to carry on her father's legacy and become a good police officer. It wasn't until she joined the police force that she realized how difficult it truly is to be a good police officer! Especially for someone like her, it's even harder!
Although she had long realized that she couldn't be a good police officer, much less a hero like her father, she still enjoyed working in the criminal investigation team. At least the people and things there were pure; most people thought about how to solve cases every day, rather than how to scheme against others.
When they're silent, they're incredibly silent, preferring to remain quiet rather than utter empty platitudes; when they're talkative, they're incredibly talkative, you couldn't shut them up even if you tapped their head. You think they're naive? You'd be wrong! When fighting criminals, their acting is superb, spouting slang and constantly leaving people bewildered.
Hu Xing couldn't help but laugh when she recalled the scene of Shi Dazhuang deliberately crashing into the suspect's car and arguing with the suspect like a shrew. That was their Captain Shi! He had walked through hail of bullets and crawled through piles of corpses, he was ruthless when he scolded people, and he even dared to slam his Captain Shi on the desk of the city bureau chief!
However, she was going to leave the team regardless.
Her mother gave her an ultimatum: she could refuse to take over the family business, but she had to leave the criminal investigation team. If she really wanted to be a police officer, she could be transferred to the provincial department to work in an administrative position. With her family's background and her father's connections in the public security system, it wouldn't take more than a few years for her to smoothly transition from section chief to division chief. As for whether she would be promoted to the provincial level, that was a matter for later.
Hu Xing knew that her mother was serious this time.
After much deliberation, she decided that rather than working in the provincial government, constantly fawning over high-ranking officials, it would be better to go home. In business, at least she had family support; at worst, she could be a hands-off manager. But the officialdom was a different story—once you enter the gates of a powerful family, it's like entering a deep, dark sea; which prince ever truly finds freedom?
Moreover, she also felt indebted to her mother.
After her father's sacrifice, her mother single-handedly supported the family. She could have remarried; as Xia Wenyuan's daughter, with her looks and education, countless wealthy young men would have lined up to marry her. But she chose to stay in the Hu Family to take care of her in-laws. To avoid being looked down upon, she painstakingly managed the business, running the company meticulously and making it grow bigger and bigger. Although it couldn't compare to behemoths like Changzhou and Huanyu, it was still a very respectable branch of the Xia Family.
Hu Xing is the only son in the Hu Family. If she doesn't inherit the family business, her mother will always feel like she's wasted half her life.
As she packed her things, her colleagues came over to say goodbye. She responded to each of them with a smile, occasionally cracking a joke. She could have left after packing, but she was a little reluctant to leave and wanted to finish her last half-day shift.
Her colleagues went about their business, and she sat in her office with nothing to do. So she went to the archives to retrieve some old case files, wanting to review the cases she had been involved in, as a final bit of remembrance, knowing she probably wouldn't have such an opportunity again.
The first case file was the headless female corpse case in Majia Creek. This was the first complete case she personally participated in, and also the most bizarre case she encountered during her time as a police officer.
She recalled the entire process of solving the case and couldn't help but feel a little sentimental. The case had several twists and turns, and the truth only came to light when Qingmu and Shi Dazhuang returned from Southern Yunnan. Ma Fuqing's methods of murdering his wife and framing her were textbook examples of crime. But without Qingmu, this villain might still be at large!
The only thing she still couldn't understand was how this guy had found Qingmu in the first place. Looking back, it was clear he went with a purpose. His initial panic and naiveté were all an act; he hoped Qingmu and the police would uncover the truth about his mother and brother's murder in Majia Creek. But Qingmu wasn't a famous detective, and how did he know Qingmu could enter dreams, or that a policewoman would happen to be visiting Qingmu's studio that day?
Hu Xing was deep in thought when the phone rang at the downstairs reception desk, " Officer Hu, someone named Bi Shenghua is looking for you downstairs."