Old-fashioned Soup

Qin Jin took Alessa directly to the police station. Just as they parked, he received a call from Constantine:

"Qin," Constantine's voice was husky and smoky, "we're friends, aren't we?"

The guy started off in that tone, which meant he had something to say. Qin Jin was very direct: "Get to the point."

"Hmm. Is that so?" Constantine lowered his voice slightly:

"I got a clear answer. He wants $150,000 for that big thing, but I don't have that much money. You see..."

"How much do you want?" Qin Jin answered readily. Since it was something he had already promised, there was no need to hesitate.

"110,000!" Constanze replied just as decisively.

Qin Jin was silent for a moment, then asked curiously, "I remember, last time each of us... had about 40,000, right?"

"Yes, it's this 40,000." Constantin stated clearly, "I'll have to borrow the rest from you."

"So, besides this money, you don't have a single penny!" Qin Jin was somewhat amused and exasperated. He didn't know how Constantine had ended up in this situation. Although he wasn't short of money, having to come up with so much at once...

"I have the 45,000 from last time, plus the others, I estimate it's over 50,000, but..." He thought for a moment:

"I can't come up with the other 50,000 right now. If you really need it, you'll have to wait a while."

Qin Jin's money is kept in some rather unusual places, not in banks, but in safe houses he found himself. Unfortunately, none of them are in Los Angeles, and he doesn't have any on hand at the moment.

"How about this?" Constantine, who had probably already thought it through, directly offered the follow-up:

"Come with me tonight, I'll put in a good word and see if we can get our hands on that guy while we can still owe him the rest... You know, there are more and more dark creatures around these days, it'll be safer to get it first."

It seems that Dante's reputation is somewhat problematic. They couldn't agree on an extension, and are now using me as a scapegoat. This kind of thing—

Qin Jin's mind raced, and a brilliant idea instantly took shape.

"We're friends, helping out once is no problem." Qin Jin's voice became unusually sincere.

"However, shouldn't friends help each other? I help you once, and you help me once, it's a fair exchange."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, and Constantine clearly sensed a trap: "...What do you want me to do?"

Qin Jin quickly recited an address and a name:

"Today I took Alessa to her college interview. There's a female teacher in the third grade, she's under forty, her name is Kate, she's 168 cm tall, has golden brown hair, wears frameless glasses, and her attitude isn't very good. I need your help to resolve this."

"What?" Constantine's voice was filled with absurdity. "What do you want me to do? Exorcise her?"

"No," Qin Jin grinned like a fox, "Go and date her. You have a week. Use your charm to satisfy her unmet needs and make her one of your own!"

"Fuck!...Qin! You're almost forty, your demands are way too high!"

Constantine's voice was full of resistance: "Why? Just because of her bad attitude?"

"I need her to give Alessa special treatment, but it seems that Teacher Kate doesn't like that..." Qin explained using Chinese slang.

"Besides, you're in your forties, which is the perfect age for a nourishing soup, don't you understand? In Eastern terms, it's called a slow-cooked, nourishing soup. How do you know you won't like it if you haven't tried it? Besides, you know about Alessa's situation... Just do it for her sake, give it a try!"

On the other end of the phone came Constantine's violent coughing from the smoke and a series of low curses:

"Qin! You're making things difficult for me! I..."

"Not going?" Qin Jin immediately switched to a chilling tone, carrying a blatant threat:

"Friendship is gone, money is gone, you're on your own tonight!"

"...Shit!"

Constantine cursed again on the other end, his voice filled with resigned dejection:

"OK! OK, alright? One week... I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee I'll succeed! Also, nine o'clock tonight, at the midnight bar you came to last time, I'll be waiting for you outside!"

"make a deal!"

Qin Jin was in a great mood. "See you tonight. Oh, and Alessa's coming too. She likes places like this, and she'd be even happier if she could kill some people."

In the rearview mirror, Alessa nodded repeatedly, her excitement evident.

Upon arriving at the homicide and major crimes department, Qin Jin was immediately informed that Frank was waiting for him, so he had no choice but to take Alessa to the second team's office.

The office is now empty. Everyone's personal belongings have been packed into boxes, waiting for their families to come and collect and confirm them in the next couple of days.

The files and records have been taken away and, as Director Edward instructed, distributed evenly among the other groups.

Upon arriving at the supervisor's office, Frank gestured for him to sit down, then went straight to the point and announced yesterday's decisions:

"Qin, it's been decided. The Second Group will be retained but reorganized into the 'Second Special Investigation Group.' You, as a trainee detective, will be fully responsible for all cases that are initially determined to involve supernatural or unusual phenomena or are difficult to explain using existing criminal investigation methods."

Frank's voice carried an undeniable weariness and determination:

"This was specially approved by Chief Edward, and both Deputy Chiefs Logan and Thomas support it. For the sake of the Canyon Precinct, and even for the entire Los Angeles Police Department in the future, so that we don't have to pay the same price as Will and his team when dealing with similar cases, you are the most suitable. This is an order."

A tremendous sense of absurdity and resistance welled up in Qin Jin's heart.

He just wanted to be a low-key, unassuming police officer, slowly paving the way for Alessa and himself, rather than standing in the spotlight dealing with these messy things that might expose his identity!

He tried to argue: "Supervisor, I'm too inexperienced, I lack experience..."

"Your experience is indeed limited, so you're currently just an intern detective, not a team leader!"

Frank interrupted him abruptly, staring intently at him:

"As for experience... well, Qin, tell me, besides you, who else has experience dealing with these things? I heard that you discovered yesterday that Willie and Herman were infected with the corpse poison. If it weren't for you, we might have lost them as well."

Qin Jin was speechless. Frank had blocked all his escape routes with orders and a sense of righteousness; refusing would only seem suspicious. He could only suppress his helplessness and say, "Understood, Supervisor."

"These past few days, we've been waiting for the families of our colleagues from Group Two to come and collect their personal belongings. There are also some other things that need to be arranged by several groups. You don't have anything to do for the time being, so you can start organizing your manpower..."

He picked up the documents, preparing to assign subordinates to Qin Jin:

"All teams have expressed their willingness to support your work, and Logan also said that the detective department can mobilize manpower..."

"Manager Frank!" Qin Jin interrupted immediately, his tone unusually firm, "Please hold off on manpower for now!"

Frank frowned. "Hmm? Why? Right now, that's exactly when you need people."

"Supernatural cases are a new field, with completely different dangers and investigative methods," Qin Jin clearly stated his reasoning.

"I need time to screen personnel and find more suitable officers to work with. Unsuitable people will not only be of no benefit, but may even hinder me..."

He demonstrated exceptional professionalism, which enhanced the persuasiveness of his argument.

"Jack and I are working very efficiently right now. Once I find the right person, I will submit an application, regardless of the department, and then I will ask my supervisor to help me coordinate and resolve the issue."

Frank frowned in thought. Qin Jin's reasoning wasn't without merit, and he finally nodded.

"Okay. You have full authority over staffing; just let me know when you need more. But remember, when a case comes up, don't delay!"

"clear!"

Qin Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to temporarily stop the person from interfering; he didn't want to expose his secret.

"Go ahead, give yourself a few days off first," Frank waved his hand.

Qin Jin felt as if he had been granted a pardon and got up to leave.

As soon as I reached the entrance to the second group's area, I heard a suppressed gasp and murmur of discussion coming from inside.

"...Wrong, first get shot, then cut off, it's written wrong."

Qin Jin walked to the door and saw Bruce, the group leader, and two or three other group members surrounding Alessa. In front of her was a photograph from a dossier, and she was pointing to the description on it with her little finger—

Judging from her words, she must have noticed the errors in the case file from the photos.

Bruce pointed to the wound in the photo, his voice filled with disbelief:

"Little guy, what makes you think you were shot first, and not that your artery was severed first?"

Alessa's grey-blue eyes showed little emotion, but her voice was flat yet unusually resolute:

"Too little bleeding! This person has high blood pressure. Cut him first; the blood sprayed far, but it's not enough now..."

She pointed to the width of the blood splatter in the photo, her tone calm but certain:

"Heart, shot, stopped pumping blood, not enough pressure."

Her descriptions were concise and chilling, hitting the core of the ambiguity in the forensic report and the investigators' judgments with a precision that was chilling!

Bruce gasped, exchanging bewildered glances with Sherry and the others.

How could a seven or eight-year-old girl possibly understand these things? And she speaks of them with such... professionalism and detachment?

"Hi everyone!"

Qin Jin greeted everyone at the door, then casually strolled in with a smile, a helpless expression on his face.

"I'm sorry! Our father was a sheriff his whole life, and he taught Alessa and me a lot, so..." He shrugged, his expression calm and indifferent.

"Don't take some things too seriously."

Bruce looked at Qin Jin, then at Alessa whose eyes were as cold as ice. Considering Qin Jin's background, he reluctantly accepted the explanation and gave a dry laugh.

"As expected of a family of police officers, hahaha... Impressive, your father is truly remarkable!"

The others quickly echoed, but their gazes toward Aresa were noticeably different.

Qin Jin thanked them repeatedly and left almost immediately with Alessa.

"I'll leave this to you all."