As Liao Quansheng finished speaking, Du Heng’s eyebrows raised, and he laughed, "Wow, I didn’t expect our Boss Liao to have such ideological awareness."

"Get lost." Liao Quansheng rolled his eyes at Du Heng. "Just because you’re a moral model, can’t we have some spiritual pursuits?"

"Not bad. If this works out, I’ll apply for a certificate of merit for you."

Liao Quansheng also laughed. "That’s something to consider."

After saying that, looking at the dishes already on the table, he beckoned Du Heng. "Pick up your chopsticks and try this fish. It’s definitely worth your visit."

Du Heng picked up his chopsticks. "Don’t sing such high praises. Just tell me, can this be done or not?"

Liao Quansheng put a piece of fish in his own bowl. "Give me some time to think about it. And as I just said, you shouldn’t do such a good thing alone. Our company has to get involved too.

"Let me discuss it with the others when I get back and come up with a plan. Then we can discuss it further. What do you think?"

"Deal," Du Heng agreed instantly.

Having Liao Quansheng’s company involved would definitely have more influence than if he did it alone, so he wouldn’t refuse such a good opportunity.

SLURP. Du Heng slowly chewed the fish in his mouth. "Not bad, you really are reliable this time. This fish tastes really good."

"Didn’t I tell you?" Liao Quansheng’s face was filled with smug satisfaction. "By the way, what about your girlfriend? Why didn’t you bring her along today?"

Du Heng picked up another piece of fish with his chopsticks. "Don’t mention her. She’s been promoted recently and has started to focus on her career. I haven’t seen her for a week."

Liao Quansheng chuckled. "They say being a Police Sister-in-law isn’t easy, and it seems being a police brother-in-law isn’t easy either."

Du Heng suddenly put down his chopsticks, sighed, and said, "I don’t care whether it’s easy for me or not; I just pray that she stays safe.

"Ugh, I don’t know what she’s been up to these days. There’s been no news at all."

Wu Shengnan, whom Du Heng was thinking about, wasn’t far from him at this moment. She was just a kilometer away, sitting dejectedly on a bench by the bank of the Yellow River, taking a break.

Beside her were the same young man and Hao Hongxia, the two rookies. However, both their faces were now etched with exhaustion.

"Leader Wu, should we change our approach? We’ve been tailing this suspect for a week now, and we’ve patrolled this road back and forth for three days.

"But so far, we don’t have any useful leads. Maybe we’ve really been looking in the wrong direction?"

The young man sat on the bench, his eyes vacant as he looked around aimlessly. He himself didn’t know what he was looking at.

Hao Hongxia was the same. She leaned against Wu Shengnan as if she had no bones, murmuring, "Nan, let’s rest for a day and then continue tailing him.

"I feel like my whole body is rank, and my hair has turned into greasy felt.

"Let’s go back, take a bath, get a good night’s sleep, and then continue tomorrow, alright?"

Wu Shengnan was also exhausted, but her eyes showed immense determination. "Let’s hold on a little longer. It’s been so long; I refuse to believe he won’t slip up at all. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"The cases handled by the other two teams have made significant progress, but we have seen no results on our end.

"Never mind whether we can justify our own efforts; we can’t even explain it to Leader Zhang."

The young man suddenly perked up a bit. He turned to Wu Shengnan and asked, "Leader Wu, is Leader Zhang doing any better?"

Wu Shengnan’s expression darkened. She said softly, "There’s been no improvement at all. He still can’t hear, and the signs of dementia are becoming more obvious. Leader Tao has lost his temper several times. He said if there’s still no effect, he’s preparing to send Leader Zhang to the Capital."

The young man sighed softly and fell silent, once again staring blankly ahead.

Wu Shengnan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Let’s go. We’ll follow him for one more night. If there’s still nothing, we’ll withdraw."

At this point, even Wu Shengnan felt there was no need to keep going. Perhaps, as the young man had suggested, their thinking had been wrong from the start.

With Wu Shengnan’s words, the other two forced themselves to rally their spirits. They stood up and headed towards the parking area.

However, the young man and Hao Hongxia walked forward like zombies. Only Wu Shengnan remained focused, observing the riverside path they had walked countless times before.

As they walked back to the bend in the shaded path, Wu Shengnan suddenly stopped. She stared at the nearby locations where the crimes had occurred, looking lost in thought.

Who was it that dared to commit two crimes in three days at the same location, without fear of getting caught?

Trees, the path, the benches, and a mentally unstable scavenger—aside from these, there was no other information. In these three days, the three of them had almost turned the place inside out.

The trees here were dense, and the bright sunlight could only sprinkle a few specks of light, leaving the path feeling rather cold.

Perhaps it was psychological, but Hao Hongxia, who had been listless, suddenly shivered. The coolness, mixed with a hint of an eerie chill, woke her up instantly.

Hao Hongxia shivered gently and looked around, but found nothing.

"Nan, let’s go. There’s nothing here, and we’ve already questioned that garbage collector several times," Hao Hongxia said, not wanting to stay any longer and quickly urging Wu Shengnan to leave.

Wu Shengnan sighed but said nothing, preparing to leave.

However, as she was about to turn and go, her eye suddenly caught something out of place.

"HMM..."

She quickly retracted the step she had just taken, her eyes flashing brightly as she stared intently at the discordant detail.

Wu Shengnan’s sudden movement made the young man and Hao Hongxia instantly nervous. They followed her gaze but saw nothing, even after looking for a long time.

"Nan, what’s wrong?"

"Leader Wu, did you find something?"

Wu Shengnan’s eyes were fixed on the scavenger sleeping on the bench in the grassy area. Hearing their questions, she lowered her voice and said, "Look at that person’s face. What’s on it?"

The young man and Hao Hongxia looked at the scavenger again. They saw a piece of black cloth covering the face of the scavenger sleeping on the bench.

Although it was black, they were close enough to see clearly that the black cloth was very dirty.

What’s so interesting about a dirty rag? Hao Hongxia frowned.

But Wu Shengnan continued to whisper, "Look at the material."

The young man looked again, but he still looked completely baffled.

This time, however, Hao Hongxia’s eyes widened. After careful examination, she also whispered, "Nan, it’s lace, and it has cutout patterns."

Her eyes suddenly brightened. "Nan, are you saying...?"

"Let’s secure him first," Wu Shengnan ordered.

Although the young man was still confused and didn’t know what the two women were talking about, upon hearing Wu Shengnan’s words, he immediately stepped in front of them and began to move towards the scavenger on the bench.

Just as the scavenger began to react, the young man had already grabbed his arm, which was dangling off the side of the bench. As the scavenger tried to struggle, the young man yanked him to the ground, twisted his arm, and pinned him underneath.

Once Wu Shengnan saw the scavenger was subdued, she immediately picked up the piece of cloth.

However, when she picked it up, it still just looked like a piece of cloth, albeit made of a strange material.

While restraining the scavenger beneath him, the young man looked puzzled at Wu Shengnan and the cloth in her hand. He didn’t understand what the two women had discovered.

But when Wu Shengnan took both ends of the cloth and folded them together, the young man’s expression instantly changed.

Feeling the scavenger under him begin to struggle again, he immediately barked, "Stay down! Police business!"

As Wu Shengnan shaped the cloth into what looked like a pair of underwear, Hao Hongxia had already snatched the small bag the scavenger was carrying. Reaching inside, she pulled out three or four pairs of colorful but very dirty underwear. Though stained and soiled, a single glance was enough for everyone to see they were women’s underwear.

A week of no progress, and the clue was right here all along, inside this filthy bag! Wu Shengnan felt slightly dizzy for a moment.

"Speak! Where did you get these?" After the brief spell of dizziness passed, Wu Shengnan immediately began to interrogate him on the spot.