Shen Xin had just started working. He was still an intern, so his salary wasn't high.
However, his family was relatively well-off. His parents owned a small factory. The studio apartment he rented was decent—it was in the nearby Mile Apartment building and cost 2,200 a month.
If it weren't for his family's help, Shen Xin wouldn't have been able to afford it.
After he unlocked the door and went inside, Da Mei immediately leaped out of Shen Xin's arms.
Then, with a leisurely gait, she began to inspect the room.
It was a loft, a little over twenty square meters and nicely furnished, but since Shen Xin lived alone, it was a mess.
She wandered around in a circle, came back to pick up the big orange cat, and shot straight up to the second floor.
Shen Xin went upstairs to look and, sure enough, she had taken over his bed.
She certainly wasn't shy about making herself at home.
She meowed at Shen Xin twice, as if to say, 'I'm reasonably satisfied.'
Shen Xin was surprised to see that the icon above her head had jumped two bars all at once, reaching a total of 8.
'Looks like bringing her home to live with me was a huge step forward for our relationship.'
As a bachelor, Shen Xin didn't mind sharing his bed with a few cats. He made a mental note to take them to the vet for a check-up, deworming, and a bath later. Without even taking off his clothes, he flopped onto the bed and fell fast asleep.
When he woke up, it was already afternoon.
He turned his head and came face-to-face with Da Mei.
She meowed at him twice, displeased. The icon above her head had, at some point, dropped by one bar.
Shen Xin understood the look in her eyes. He had forgotten to get her food.
"Sorry, sorry."
He had cat food at home. Shen Xin found a bowl for Da Mei, filled it up, and poured some water. Only then did she begin to eat eagerly.
But the one bar of affection he'd lost didn't immediately come back.
Shen Xin didn't know what this affection meter was for—like what would happen if it filled up to 10 bars.
But from the looks of it, it was pretty easy to lose.
The real question was how to raise it.
Bringing her home, confirming the adoption, giving her a home—that had raised it two bars at once.
What else was there?
'Feeding her, or playing with her.'
Shen Xin rummaged through his cabinet and found a cat teaser wand that had come free with a bag of cat food.
He dangled it in front of Da Mei.
She glanced at it without a hint of reaction, her eyes seeming to say, 'How old do you think I am? You expect me to play with that?'
Shen Xin jiggled it again. Only then did Da Mei, with great reluctance, lift a paw and lazily bat at it once before retracting it. Her gaze seemed to say, 'I'm humoring you. That's enough.'
Shen Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'Looks like the usual methods won't work.'
'Or maybe every cat has a different personality, and I just haven't found what gets Da Mei excited.'
But since he'd brought her home, he would just have to try things out slowly.
Right now, Shen Xin just wanted to know what would happen when the icon's bars were full.
Da Mei had eaten, but Shen Xin's stomach was still empty.
Besides, it was already almost four in the afternoon.
Shen Xin took a quick shower, found some clothes on the sofa that didn't smell too bad to change into, and told Da Mei to be good while he was out before locking the door.
He went downstairs to one of the ground-floor shops for a bowl of ramen. Before he could even finish, Li Dongsheng sent him a message asking when he would arrive.
"On my way."
Shen Xin replied, then finished his noodles in a few quick bites and hurried to the police station.
When he arrived, everyone was in a meeting in the large office of the Criminal Investigation Team on the second floor.
Song Liang was there, too.
The captain of the Community Policing Unit, Dong Yueming, who was also Li Dongsheng's direct supervisor, was present as well.
Zhang Jian was in the middle of briefing them on the situation.
Shen Xin ducked down, trying to get to the seat next to Li Dongsheng.
Unexpectedly, Song Liang spotted him and waved him over with a smile, asking if he'd rested well.
"Reporting to my superior, sir, I'm well-rested!" Shen Xin snapped to attention.
Song Liang was amused by Shen Xin's reaction.
Just then, a middle-aged man sitting next to him suddenly spoke up. "Chief Song, this must be the rookie who found the suspect while looking for a stray cat."
Only then did Shen Xin notice the middle-aged man.
He hadn't seen him before.
He looked about the same age as Li Dongsheng, with dark, rough skin.
He had a square jaw and an ordinary face.
He was wearing a navy blue, collared, short-sleeved shirt, the fabric of which was a bit faded. He had a powerful presence, like a leader, but his attire was somewhat casual.
"That's him." Song Liang nodded with a smile and gestured for Shen Xin to sit down and listen.
Shen Xin sat down next to Li Dongsheng and curiously asked who the middle-aged man was.
Besides him, there were other unfamiliar faces in the room.
"That's Chen Chao, the deputy captain of the sub-bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade. He's here to guide the investigation," Li Dongsheng explained.
Shen Xin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Our case reached the sub-bureau?"
"What did you expect?"
Li Dongsheng snorted. "It's a cross-jurisdictional case involving a mobile gang that stole 162 e-bikes with a total value of nearly 700,000 yuan. It also involves a cross-city network for fencing the stolen goods. You think that's a small case?"
This already qualified as a major theft case based on the amount of money involved.
"Oh," Shen Xin said, then added, "So now that the case is solved, who gets the credit? Us or the sub-bureau?"
Fan Jie was already in custody, so the case was basically solved. Having someone come down to "guide the investigation" at this stage felt a lot like they were just swooping in to take the credit.
"You kid, is that something you should be worrying about?" Li Dongsheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He chided, "Don't worry, no one can steal the credit that belongs to us. Now be quiet and listen carefully."
Shen Xin nodded.
Zhang Jian was apparently explaining the organizational structure of the theft ring.
Fan Jie was the leader. He organized a group of people to steal the e-bikes, dismantle their GPS systems, and then reflash their software.
At the same time, another group worked with Fan Jie, responsible for fencing the stolen goods.
They sold them in the towns and counties of neighboring cities—areas with lax oversight.
"There's one more person."
Zhang Jian tapped the top of the whiteboard.
Above Fan Jie's photo, there was another person.
But there was only a question mark, no photo or name.
"According to Fan Jie's confession, he went through this guy, Li Hao." Zhang Jian pointed to a photo below. "And through him, he got to know someone with the Penguin ID 'Ruthless Man of Few Words' and bought hacking software from him."
'Whoa!'
Shen Xin grinned. 'That's one hell of a screen name.'
Shen Xin also knew about the hacking software Zhang Jian mentioned.
Yesterday, at Fan Jie's den, Shen Xin had seen the tools this gang used to steal smart e-bikes.
It was a custom circuit board, about the size of a credit card.
You just had to hold this thing against the screen of a smart e-bike like the Model Six, and it would automatically connect via Bluetooth and unlock the vehicle in ten seconds.
Pure high-tech.
At the time, Shen Xin had found it strange. How could a brute like Fan Jie, the kind of guy who'd name his dog "Million," get his hands on such high-tech stuff?
Now he knew—he'd bought it.
Zhang Jian continued, "Fan Jie confessed that he spent 200,000 yuan to buy the exclusive rights to use it in Nanjiang City."
"They always communicated via Penguin ID, and the other party was also responsible for subsequent software updates. Of course, we investigated the Penguin ID. The real-name verification is linked to a 67-year-old man in our city, so we can basically assume it's an account that was purchased online."
"Fan Jie has never met this 'Ruthless Man of Few Words,' but he did provide an address: 113 Xianghong Village."
"So, how did he get this address? Li Hao learned it the first time he bought the software from 'Ruthless Man of Few Words.' But Li Hao never met the person either. He just followed instructions, went to this address, and retrieved the hacking module from the mailbox by the door."
"Later, the custom PCB boards Fan Jie had someone make kept having problems, and the decoding kept failing. He contacted 'Ruthless Man of Few Words' again to get him to modify the hacking tool. The hand-off location was also this same address, 113 Xianghong Village."
"And this was on May 21st, over half a month ago. So, we can't be sure if this person is still living there or if they've moved. We'll have to go and see for ourselves later."
Hearing this, Shen Xin finally understood: there was an operation planned for that night.