SFTD -Chapter 285 Red Underwear

Zhou Hai had no awareness of any of this. He hurriedly opened his email and, sure enough, Hu Nan had sent over the investigation report. It was a WPS document with tiny text, so he quickly got up and returned to his room to read it on the computer.

Half an hour later, despite the early summer weather, Zhou Hai felt chilled to the bone. The photos and reports were truly horrifying. He could no longer describe his emotions with words, and the deeply rooted influence of the Nanyang faction made his skin crawl.

If not for the appearance of that rabies-virus carrier donor in Southeast City and Yantai, who knew how much longer this case would have remained buried?

Hu Nan’s work was incredibly meticulous, fully reflecting a woman’s keen observational skills.

She had collected the DNA of all the missing persons, preparing to compare them with their families later. After all, the Nanyang faction had possessed enormous financial resources, and the investigation team had already requested approval from higher authorities to establish a special compensation fund for the affected families.

But the image of Wang Qiang instantly surfaced in Zhou Hai’s mind. The indifference in the boy’s eyes whenever family or relatives were mentioned was heartbreaking. What these children needed was far more than money, yet at present, compensation was the only thing this case could offer them.

Zhou Hai sighed softly, sat by the window, and lit a cigarette, letting the blazing sunlight scorch his body.

At the same time, he thought again of the methyl-high poisoning case. The killer was now lying low, and no one knew when he would strike again. Only if the murderer acted once more would Zhou Hai have a chance to understand him better—but that also meant more people would die.

For a moment, Zhou Hai felt utterly lost.

He had no idea how much time had passed before his phone rang. It buzzed across the coffee table, the sudden sound interrupting his thoughts.

Sure enough, he just wasn’t destined to live the life of a slacker.

He had only rested for a single morning before becoming restless again.

Picking up the phone, he saw it was Xu Biao calling.

“Haizi, you awake yet?”

“Just talk. How’s the progress?”

Xu Biao burst out laughing. “Asking like that makes me feel embarrassed. I was originally planning to exchange a few polite words first, make myself sound cultured.”

“If you don’t talk, I’m hanging up.”

“Hey hey hey, don’t be like that! Seriously, I was worried you hadn’t rested well, so I let you sleep longer. Come downstairs now. I’m already at the hotel entrance. Zhang Chao and the others dug up the evidence already and sent it to the conference room. This case is basically wrapped up. As for whether we investigate that old dismemberment case next or do something else, we need you to decide.”

Zhou Hai hung up, grabbed his things, and hurried downstairs. Sure enough, Xu Biao was already waiting outside the hotel entrance. The two of them headed straight back to the Mocheng City Criminal Police Unit.

As soon as they got upstairs, they saw Huang Zhongsheng and the others standing outside the door. Zhou Hai suddenly felt a little embarrassed. After all, while he had been off “slacking,” these people had been busy interrogating suspects and digging through crime scenes. Thinking about it now, it really was a little unfair.

When Huang Zhongsheng saw Zhou Hai arrive, he nodded at him.

“You’re here. You really need to take better care of your body. From now on, after you finish analyzing cases, profiling suspects, doing psychological sketches, and conducting autopsies, you should rest…”

Xu Biao instantly burst into laughter.

“Brother Huang, speak with your conscience! After doing all that, what kind of rest is left? And besides, who was it last night standing there with hands on his waist yelling at Xiao Wu—‘Since this is psychological warfare, I’ll get you an expert. Xiao Wu, go bring Director Zhou here for me!’”

Huang Zhongsheng paused, thinking for a moment, then turned around with a shocked expression toward Da Zhao and the others behind him.

“Huh? Did I really do that?”

Da Zhao stood nearby grinning foolishly and nodded vigorously.

“Yep yep, Boss really said that. Super domineering too. You totally had Director Liu’s style back then. Xiao Wu even tried to bring Forensic Doctor Zhou a chair, but Doctor Zhou refused.”

Xu Biao laughed so hard that the fat on his body shook violently. Huang Zhongsheng rolled his eyes at Da Zhao.

“You idiot!”

Standing on tiptoe, Xu Biao patted Da Zhao’s arm sympathetically.

“You really are the ultimate pig teammate. Didn’t understand your boss’s meaning at all, huh? He wanted to deny responsibility, got it?”

Da Zhao looked at Xu Biao, then at his own boss, and shook his head. Thinking about this kind of thing was far too mentally exhausting.

After all, at 190 centimeters tall, just pumping blood up to his brain already consumed enormous amounts of energy. Apparently, not much nutrition had been left over for intelligence—it had all gone into his limbs.

Zhou Hai poked Xu Biao, who was blocking the doorway.

“Alright, stop bullying Da Zhao. Let’s go inside and talk.”

Xu Biao raised a hand and shoved aside the tower-like Da Zhao.

“Hurry up and move. Let’s get in there and talk. Look at the time already—lunch is going to be ruined again.”

“I ate breakfast at ten. Not hungry.”

Hearing Zhou Hai’s words, Xu Biao immediately looked aggrieved.

“Don’t do this! You were sleeping so soundly this morning that I didn’t wake you. We’re supposed to take care of each other. Lunch absolutely cannot be skipped.”

Huang Zhongsheng smacked Xu Biao across the back.

“You brat, you should really lose weight. All you think about is food every day. How are you supposed to slim down like that? If you gain any more weight, squatting down will become difficult. How are you going to do trace evidence work then?!”

Without hesitation, Xu Biao immediately performed several fancy squats right there in the doorway—single-leg bends, deep squats, all kinds of movements. His motions were surprisingly quick and agile. After standing back up and adjusting his pants, he lifted his chin proudly toward Da Zhao.

“Don’t look down on me because I’m fat. My agility is right here. Even as a fat guy, I’m a lightweight, graceful fat guy. Ordinary people can’t do this! Hey, big guy, wanna try?”

After speaking, Xu Biao even wiggled his eyebrows provocatively at Da Zhao.

Zhou Hai lowered his gaze slightly. It was honestly painful to watch. Xu Biao clowning around like this was probably just a way for everyone to relax. The past few days had been exhausting, and everyone’s nerves had been stretched tight. Rarely did they get a chance to joke around.

Da Zhao looked unconvinced and shrugged off Huang Zhongsheng’s arm.

“Oh come on, I don’t believe it! I’m way lighter than you. How could I be less agile? Kid, watch this!”

Copying Xu Biao’s posture, he stretched both arms level with his shoulders, spread his legs apart, and rapidly squatted down.

The moment he dropped into the squat, a loud rrrip echoed through the hallway.

As if he had stepped on a landmine, Da Zhao instantly jumped into the air.

Unfortunately, because he was so tall, the jump sent him smashing directly into the doorframe with another loud bang. Just hearing it made everyone’s heads hurt.

One hand clutching his head and the other covering his butt, Da Zhao shouted angrily:

“Ahhh! Xu Biao, you cheated! Just you wait!”

Zhou Hai sighed. This Da Zhao really was all brawn and very little brains. Reaching out, he patted his shoulder.

Da Zhao had been about to shake off whoever grabbed him, but when he saw it was Zhou Hai, he immediately quieted down.

Offending a forensic doctor was basically asking for trouble—especially Forensic Doctor Zhou. Even their own boss treated Zhou Hai politely, so Da Zhao had even less courage to complain. Still, he shot several resentful glances toward Xu Biao.

Xu Biao knew perfectly well that this was a silent accusation, but he truly hadn’t done anything.

“Don’t go crying to my Haizi with that expression. Splitting your pants happened because you squatted down, and smashing your head into the doorframe happened because you jumped. Just an accident, an accident!”

Zhou Hai waved toward a nearby officer and borrowed a police jacket from him. He tied it around Da Zhao’s waist, barely managing to cover the flash of bright red revealed through the ripped crotch of his uniform pants.

Cough cough.

A rough-looking grown man actually wearing such vividly red underwear—it was impossible to describe the emotional shock of the sight. Zhou Hai couldn’t help shaking his head.

“Da Zhao, go find a clothing shop and get it sewn up first. Xu Biao was only joking with you.”

Da Zhao nodded helplessly.

“I’ll go change into another pair in the car—I’ve got spare pants there. You guys aren’t allowed to secretly start the meeting without me! Otherwise I’ll just stand here like this and disgust all of you. We’ll hold the meeting exactly like this!”

Xu Biao immediately chimed in from behind him.

“Relax, we’ll wait for you. Nobody wants to look at your butt anyway, even for free.”