Ke Xue: Xiaolan delivers goods to your door at the beginning

"What have you been meddling in all this time, you brat?" Shirley glanced at Mary, reached out and picked her up, tossing her aside. "Just stay quiet over there!"

Mary looked at Shirley speechlessly, then swayed over to Lin Xiaofeng's side.

It now appears that all three of them are connected to 'monkeys'.

Mr. Hino Tatsuo looks like a monkey, while Mr. Sarukawa Hisami and Mr. Mizue Shinji have characters related to 'monkey' in their names. He is still bothered by the 'Shen' that Lin Xiaofeng mentioned. Is it because he just thought of 'Shen Monkey', or is there another reason?

"By the way, Ran, what are you buying in Yuu City?" Inspector Megure asked Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki. "You were robbed by the Yuu Man in the second phase of Yuu City, right?"

"Ah, yes..." Ran Mouri said awkwardly, "We're here for the 527 lottery."

"Draw lots?" Inspector Megure looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

"It's the annual love fortune slip in Yu City," Sonoko Suzuki muttered somewhat embarrassedly, "a fortune slip that can bring good luck."

Ran Mouri took out her wallet and looked down to rummage through it. "I still have it in my wallet..."

Takagi Wataru's eyes lit up as he asked, "Is it true that you can get lucky? That love fortune slip..."

“Of course it’s true, I’ve heard it’s always been very effective,” Sonoko Suzuki affirmed seriously, then added with a hint of schadenfreude, “but it’s only for women!”

Megure Juzo glanced at Takagi Wataru, "Ahem!"

Takagi Wataru awkwardly touched his nose and didn't ask any further questions.

Ran Mouri looked down and rummaged through her wallet, but suddenly paused, took out a button, and hurriedly said to Inspector Megure, "Inspector Megure, this is very likely a button from Yuu's clothes!"

"What?!" Inspector Megure stared in surprise at the button in Ran Mouri's hand.

"I was in the second phase of the Yu-no-ichi market, trying to stop the Yu-no-o who stole Sonoko's bag," Ran Mouri hurriedly said. "He bumped into me and then ran away in a hurry. It's very likely that the button fell on the ground and we just happened to pick it up!"

“But maybe someone else dropped it on the ground a long time ago,” Sonoko Suzuki guessed.

"But if it's a button from the man of the Rooster, then that's a very important clue!" Inspector Megure looked at the three suspects with a serious expression. "If you have clothes with missing buttons, and the button on them matches this one, then it must be the man of the Rooster! We need to investigate your homes now, is that alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Hino Tatsuo hurriedly replied.

Hisami Sarukawa didn't object. "I'll just tell my mom."

Mizue Shinji smiled indifferently, "If this can clear my name, I have no problem with it."

Takagi Wataru immediately took a picture of the button in Mouri Ran's hand with his mobile phone and sent it to the other police officers, asking them to go to the three people's homes to investigate.

Mary glanced at the expressions of the three suspects and, finding no one seemed flustered, reached out and tugged at Lin Xiaofeng's sleeve.

Lin Xiaofeng squatted down with practiced ease, waiting for Mary to come closer.

Mary leaned close to Lin Xiaofeng's ear and whispered, "Brother Lin, why did you mention the character 'Shen' earlier? A monkey could also be 'ape,' right?"

Lin Xiaofeng noticed that Sera Masumi was also looking at them curiously, and then looked at Mizue Shinji, saying, "Even if we know who he is, we can't prove that he is Yu-no-Otoko."

"Why?" Sera Masumi bent down and leaned closer to the two of them, asking in confusion, "Didn't Ran find a button? If we can find the shirt that lost the button, that should be enough evidence, right?"

"Have you considered that the clothes with the missing button might not belong to these three people, but to the injured Mr. Masuko?" Lin Xiaofeng reminded him.

"But Ran didn't meet Mr. Masuko in the second phase of the City of the Rooster..." Sera Masumi paused, a look of surprise on her face, and asked in a low voice, "You mean, Mr. Masuko is the man of the Rooster?"

Lin Xiaofeng nodded, "If none of these three people are male born in the year of the Rooster, then no matter how much we investigate, it will be of no use."

"Why?" Mary suspected that Lin Xiaofeng had other clues, and quickly asked, "Why would Brother Lin think that way? Is Mr. Masuko, who was stabbed, a suspect?"

“I’m not familiar with him. Even if I’d seen him near the Beikacho apartment before, I wouldn’t have paid any attention,” Lin Xiaofeng said calmly. “But think about it carefully. The message he left behind, ‘Not a male tortoise, but a monkey’ and ‘Nine,’ indicates that he had some knowledge of the person who stabbed him. He should know the person’s name or some physical characteristic…”

Sera Masumi stroked her chin and continued, "If Mr. Masuko is the man of the rooster, then it's not surprising that he found certain documents in the stolen wallet and thus knew someone's name. Later, he arranged to meet that person here because of something, but he was stabbed by the other party. That's why he said, 'It's not the man of the rooster, but the monkey,' right?"

“That makes sense,” Mary said, also getting into the deductive mode. She glanced at Mizue Shinji over there. “Mr. Mizue was robbed. If Mr. Masuko, who was stabbed, is the real Yu-no-o, then we can find his name on the bankbook… But I still don’t understand why Brother Lin is so sure it’s ‘Shin’?”

Lin Xiaofeng looked at Mary, "I already said it was that voice."

“Is that so…” Mary said with her beady eyes, recalling, “Just now, when Mr. Mizue was about to take the convenience store receipt, his behavior was a bit strange. At first, he said that he had bought a bento box today and kept the receipt, but when he was about to take the receipt out of his pants pocket, his expression suddenly changed, and he said that the receipt was missing…”

“I remember Inspector Chiba saying that they only found a discarded mask and jacket in the restroom,” Sera Masumi said, looking at Mizue Shinji from afar. “This means that the person who stabbed Mr. Masuko didn’t change his pants. He rushed to the restroom after stabbing him, and his pants were probably soaked with sweat…”

"Is that why we can't take out that sweat-soaked receipt?" Mary pondered. "But maybe we're just prejudiced. Because we suspect Mr. Mizue, we find his behavior increasingly suspicious. After all, his name and appearance don't seem to have anything to do with Jiu, do they?"

“Masuko Shiro is a student preparing to retake the entrance exam for the Department of Literature at Tokyo University, so he should know about the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches,” Lin Xiaofeng continued, “The ten Heavenly Stems are Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui, and the twelve Earthly Branches are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. A year with both the ninth Heavenly Stem and the ninth Earthly Branch is called the ‘Renshin’ year. The Japanese reading of ‘Renshin’ is MIZUNOESARU…”

610. The harem is too large.

“MIZUNOE? Mizue?” Sera Masumi stared at Mizue Shinji in astonishment. “The same surname as Mr. Mizue!”

Mary was startled and immediately ran towards Inspector Megure.

There are ways to verify this reasoning.

First, let the police investigate the clothes in Masuko Shirou's house. If the missing button on any of the clothes matches the button Ran found, then it means that Masuko Shirou is the real ~ Yu-no-Otoko.

Afterwards, we can also confirm whether the other two suspects, besides Mizue Shinji, were robbed by the previous two Yu-no-ichi or Yu-no-o in the first two seasons. To prevent anyone from lying, we can also directly check the bag that Yu-no-o used to store the 'spoils'. If the other two were not robbed, then Masuko Shirou is unlikely to know the names of the other two, and the only culprit who stabbed Masuko Shirou is Mizue Shinji.

In addition, there's a group chat where someone calls out a phone number. If two people meet here, there should be some communication...

Lin Xiaofeng reached out and grabbed Mary, who was about to run away. "If Inspector Megure asks you about it, just say it was Makoto's deduction."

Sera Masumi was taken aback, her crescent-shaped eyes widening as she said, "Are you trying to dump the interrogation on me again? But I still have other investigations to handle..."

Mary looked at the two of them speechlessly, "Do we need to wait for you two to discuss it?"

“Then I will take the statement in my name,” Lin Xiaofeng conceded.

Who told Zhenchun to be so busy?

“No, I’ll go,” Sera Masumi smiled. “This kind of statement shouldn’t be in a rush. I’ll go to the Metropolitan Police Department to make the statement after the case is completed.”

“If all else fails, just say you called the Doctor,” Shirley said calmly as she peeked into the discussion group from the side, under Mary’s surprised gaze. “Anyway, we encountered a case a couple of days ago where someone was murdered in their home, and the Doctor ‘resolved’ it, didn’t he? When he has to give a statement, just ask him to explain the reasoning behind the case.”

Mary: "..."

Even if the PhD student isn't here, he still has to be assigned tasks?

"Don't bother the doctor, let's just say it in the name of Zhen Chun," Lin Xiaofeng decided.

Mary glanced at Sera Masumi, and seeing that Sera Masumi didn't object, she reluctantly ran towards Inspector Megure.

Sera Masumi sensed something was off and looked at Lin Xiaofeng with suspicion. "Am I taking advantage of you too much?"

"Really?" Lin Xiaofeng's gaze was calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

“Your boyfriend has committed multiple crimes, and he’s currently under intense scrutiny,” Shirai Makoto stared at Lin Xiaofeng without looking away. “If the case is solved in my name, although I’ll need to spend time giving statements, the police might mention me when they release the case details, and then there will be reports about me… It was the same with the pet theft case before. Even though you solved the case, everyone thought I did it. I always feel like I’m taking advantage of you…”

“Anyway, I don’t need fame to convince clients, and I hate taking statements,” Lin Xiaofeng calmly looked back at Sera Masumi. “You take my statement, and the fame is yours. It’s fair, isn’t it?”

This incident is perfect for Makoto to use to boost her fame.

Currently, the case is attracting a lot of attention, and solving it can bring considerable fame.

Robbers target ordinary people, which makes people worry that they or their families are being targeted. If someone can catch a man born in the year of the Rooster, it will give people a sense of security and reliability.

The fact that no one died is also a good factor. Frankly speaking, if a detective only solves murder cases, the public will feel that such a detective is too high-end and not suitable for cases that are not related to murder. In the detective industry, the proportion of cases involving murder or potential murder is not large. More often, cases involve investigating extramarital affairs, stalking, or internal moles in companies. Of course, there are also many cases involving finding cats and dogs. Detectives who are "close to everyday life" are more likely to receive a sufficient number of cases that are not too dangerous.

Furthermore, Yi doesn't want to genuinely take on dangerous or complicated cases, like murder cases or other similar incidents. He prefers that Yi obediently investigate everyday cases instead.

"Is it fair...?" Sera Masumi looked at Lin Xiaofeng in confusion. There was some truth to it, but she still felt that Mr. Lin was fooling her.

“It would be a waste to give this opportunity to become famous to me and the doctor,” Lin Xiaofeng continued to deceive with a straight face. “We don’t need to make money with the fame of solving cases. It’s better to give it to you to use. Once you make money, you can cover my food and drink expenses at the firm.”

Sera Masumi nodded quickly, "Of course, no problem."

Shirley: "..."

It was indeed a win-win situation, and she even believed what Xiao Feng said. However, she still felt that Xiao Feng was deliberately helping Zhen Chun boost her fame...

An hour later, Inspector Megure received the investigation results.

Police found a shirt with a missing button at Shiro Masuko's house. The other buttons on that shirt matched the one Ran Mouri had found, proving that Shiro Masuko was indeed the man of the rooster.

The name 'Monkey and Nine' is related to the name of Mizue Shinji, and since Mizue Shinji was robbed by Yu-no-o, he became the prime suspect in stabbing Masuko Shirou.

Mizue Shinji initially tried to deny it, but when Masuko Shirou woke up in the hospital and was questioned by the police with the button evidence, he panicked and blurted out the truth. This included how he wore the Fire Man mask to commit robbery due to the pressure of repeating his studies, how he discovered that Mizue Shinji had embezzled company funds from the stolen wallet, and how he arranged to meet Mizue Shinji here to extort him but was instead stabbed instead...

With Shiro Masuko's testimony, Shinji Mizue had no more excuses and dejectedly followed Inspector Megure into the police car.

Before leaving, Inspector Megure expressed his gratitude to Sera Masumi and inquired why she had asked Mary to relay the message, and whether she was feeling unwell.

Sera Masumi laughed it off, but as she left the shrine, Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki kept pulling her aside and talking to her.

"Shinju, you're really amazing!" Ran Mouri exclaimed with a smile.

“Yes, yes,” Sonoko Suzuki laughed heartily, “As expected of our Tokyo Women’s Team’s number one detective!”

"The... the number one detective?" Sera Masumi was shocked by such an exaggerated statement.

“Of course, you know, I, Sonoko, am known as the Queen of Deduction! But this time I didn’t think of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches at all, so you’re definitely a bit better than me,” Sonoko Suzuki said, raising her hand to touch her chin with a puzzled look. “But it’s strange, it seems like I haven’t had any inspiration for deduction in a long time.”

Mary followed beside her, inwardly chuckling to herself.

That's for sure, because he didn't even have time to keep up with Lin Xiaofeng's pace.

However, he used to be able to analyze Lin Xiaofeng's way of solving cases, but this time he couldn't understand it at all... Could it be that Lin Xiaofeng is still growing?

At this rate, when will he ever catch up with Lin Xiaofeng...?

Sherry and Lin Xiaofeng walked behind, and seeing Sera Masumi's somewhat embarrassed reaction, they looked up and asked softly, "Is this really okay?"

Lin Xiaofeng looked down at Shirley.

“Sometimes carrying honors beyond one’s capabilities can bring distress and trouble,” Sherry said to Sera Masumi with a mature air. “She must feel pressured, right? She doesn’t seem like the kind of person who is willing to rely on others. She has been working hard for a dream in her heart, trying to get closer to the person in her dream.”

· ······Requesting flowers· ····

“She has never met her father and lost her mother at a very young age, so it’s inevitable that she would want to live independently,” Lin Xiaofeng said calmly. “Sometimes, that habit can be a little unpleasant.”

Think about it, when Zhenchun injured her wrist, she preferred to clumsily cook in the kitchen rather than ask anyone for help. When Zhenchun was frightened by the song "The Scarecrow" and needed to go to the bathroom, she preferred to pace back and forth in the living room rather than think of calling someone to bother her.

He knows this, but what about other times? When encountering minor troubles, does Zhen Chun also immediately think of handling it herself instead of calling him for help?

That's right, Zhenchun had developed this habit since childhood. Whether it was an investigation or something else, she always chose to handle it herself. But when he thought of Zhenchun clumsily holding the spatula, he felt both amused and a little heartbroken.

It was a feeling that made him very unhappy, reminding him of that day when Xiaozhenchun was the beginning of the fate that led to this habit, and he only said a few words before turning around, getting into the car, and leaving Xiaozhenchun to face the most painful and difficult moment alone.

..... .... ...

Ultimately, Zhenchun's unwillingness to rely on anyone stems from the subconscious belief that "everyone else will leave, and only I will remain in the end." This subconscious belief also implicitly places him within the scope of "others."

This is something that displeases him, and things that displease him should be eliminated. He also has time to build up his reputation and make Zhen Chun accept him as the 'first female detective' with his help.

"Displeased?" Shirley couldn't quite understand Lin Xiaofeng's convoluted thought process. "Do you want to be relied upon?"

"In short, my phone is always on. If she encounters a case she can't solve, I won't hesitate to spend a little more time helping her. I can't guarantee I can solve the case, but at least I can help her sort things out," Lin Xiaofeng reached out and touched Shirley's head, a deep and dark glint flashing in his purple eyes as he looked ahead. "This is not a bad thing for me or for her."

Even when he was carrying out organizational tasks, he could still find time to help Zhen Chun sort out the clues in the case when she asked for help.

Cases are not usually in a rush to be solved; he can always find time within an hour or two.

On the other hand, he also gets a reassuring guarantee that he can feel at ease—that Zhen Chun will have to pay a certain price for leaving him.

Even if he disdains threatening with 'loss of reputation' and would rather send a coffin directly, even if that day really comes, Zhen Chun might not care about reputation, but he just wants to leave himself something as a backup plan.

Take his younger sister, Shirley, for example. She's not someone who cares about money or status, but if she betrays him, he has other ways to make her suffer terribly. Whether he does it or not is one thing, whether he has the means to do it is another.

Only those who have a "way" are qualified to choose whether or not to do something.

Moreover, having a backup plan can give people a lot of peace of mind.

Shirley thought for a moment, still not quite understanding what Lin Xiaofeng meant by "good for both me and her," automatically interpreting it as "a man's desire to be needed." She decided to ask directly, "You like Zhen Chun, right? Then why don't you just tell her?"

"My harem is too large; there's no rush," Lin Xiaofeng shrugged.

611. Peeping at Sulli taking a bath

Shirley wore dark gray cargo pants, a white T-shirt, and a loose gray-green cargo jacket. Her hair was styled in a slightly messy manner, and a black rope and white bone flute hung from her neck, dangling from her white T-shirt. Combined with her somewhat masculine standing posture, she looked like a big boy at the forefront of fashion.

Beside her, Sera Masumi was dressed in athletic pants and a jacket, her short black hair looking a bit messy. Her posture was as relaxed as Sherry's, and she smiled, revealing her canine teeth, as she talked to Sherry and another person, exuding the sunny vibe of a sporty young man.

As for the person standing next to the two, he was about the same height as Sera Masumi. His dark green hooded jacket had a large white English letter 'X' printed on the front and back. The zipper was halfway up, and the hood was pulled up and put on his head. The brim of the hood covered most of his face, making him look mysterious and deep. However, when the red Lexus SC drove up, Suzuki Sonoko's smiling face was revealed under the brim of her hood as she looked up. Instantly, all of her coolness vanished.

Lin Xiaofeng parked the car in front of the three of them, rolled down the window, and glanced at them. "Are Sonoko and Sera going too?"

“Yeah…” Shirley looked a little guilty at the two people beside her, realizing she hadn’t told Lin Xiaofeng beforehand. “When they came back from school, they passed by here and saw me waiting at the door. I was dressed like a boy, so they greeted me and asked why I was dressed like that. I felt I shouldn’t hide this from my friends, so I just told them…”

"Sonoko and I are really curious about what a maid pub is like, so we wanted to go check it out together." Sera Masumi followed Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, smiling as she clasped her hands together in front of her, her face full of earnestness. "Detective Hayashi wouldn't mind taking us along, would he? Please, please!"

Lin Xiaofeng thought it was a good thing for someone to keep Shirley company, so he turned his head to the back seat and said, "There are two empty seats. If you want to go, just get in the car."

"Thank you so much for taking us along!" Sera Masumi smiled broadly, her eyes crinkling as she opened the back door and got in. Her goodwill towards Lin Xiaofeng surged once more. "Detective Lin, you're much easier to talk to than I expected! But you're really calm, aren't you? I thought you'd be shocked to see us dressed like this..."

“Yeah,” Sonoko Suzuki said, getting into the back seat with a speechless expression. “Although I didn’t have high hopes that you would be surprised to see this, I was still looking forward to it. But you didn’t react at all. You could have at least said something to praise us!”

Shirley sat in the front seat, and as soon as she closed the car door, she took out her sunglasses and put them on. She leaned back casually in her seat and said, "Don't you think we look like three very handsome boys?"