Born with Luck

"Director, we've investigated with the power company and confirmed that Zhou Qi's home had a sudden spike in electricity usage the day before yesterday. That means the air conditioning was turned on just the day before, right before Lang Botu came to the police station," reported the team gathered around Zhang Yi'ang in the office the next day, presenting their latest findings.

According to Forensic Doctor Chen's analysis, Lang Botu's scheme was particularly vicious.

Zhou Qi's home had been renovated last year with smart air conditioning that could be controlled remotely via phone. It was likely Lang Botu learned this during their conversations. He probably visited Zhou Qi's home on November 5, killed her, took her phone and Lu Yibo's office keys, then murdered Lu Yibo that same night before sneaking into his office to steal some documents. At the same time, he installed surveillance in both Zhou Qi's home and Lu Yibo's office to monitor the police investigation.

On November 6, Lang Botu traveled to Beijing on business and returned to Three Rivers Estuary two days later. He deliberately used a virtual mobile number with a voice changer to call the police, reporting Lu Yibo's body's location. Once the police found the body, they naturally investigated his personal connections. If they discovered Zhou Qi was Lu Yibo's girlfriend, they would visit her home. Through the surveillance at her door, Lang Botu would see when someone arrived and remotely turn the air conditioning to its highest setting using her phone. Since this wasn't a criminal arrest, the police wouldn't break in immediately—they'd follow procedures like obtaining keys from relatives, and by the time they entered, the room would already be heated by the central air conditioning. If the police didn't find out about Zhou Qi's relationship with Lu Yibo, Lang Botu would have called again anonymously to lead them to her home.

So when summoned by the police, Lang Botu first used Zhou Qi's phone to turn on her air conditioning. At the station, he deliberately revealed that Zhou Qi was Lu Yibo's girlfriend, luring the police to investigate her home and discover the body in the heated room.

According to Lang Botu's original plan, once the police found Zhou Qi's body with the central air conditioning at maximum heat, the medical examiner would attribute the accelerated decomposition to the high environmental temperature, thus estimating a shorter time since death—meaning Zhou Qi would be presumed dead after Lu Yibo. Since Lang Botu had a solid alibi for the two days after Lu Yibo's death, even if the police investigated him, his alibi would clear him of suspicion.

Forensic Doctor Chen explained that if Lang Botu had turned on the air conditioning immediately after killing Zhou Qi, both the environment and the decomposition rate would have changed, making it harder to mislead an experienced examiner like him. Only by altering the environment just before the body's discovery—changing just one factor—could he effectively shorten the estimated time of death.

The scheme was exceptionally cunning, nearly tarnishing Forensic Doctor Chen's impeccable reputation. After piecing it together, he actually thanked Song Xing. Lang Botu had left the air conditioning on all night, but Song Xing turned it off before the autopsy, causing the results to show a longer time since death than actual—two wrongs making a right. Lang Botu's plan backfired, which was why he lost his temper and questioned Forensic Doctor Chen's expertise.

No one who questions Forensic Doctor Chen's professionalism ends up well—Lang Botu is the perfect example. See? He gave himself away, didn't he?Lang Botu's scheme had been uncovered, but the current problem was the lack of evidence—no physical proof whatsoever. Lang Botu adamantly denied any involvement in the murder case. How could they convict him? The police all knew he was the killer, but legally, there was no support for it.

At that moment, Li Qian pushed open the door and walked in excitedly, holding a transparent plastic bag containing a phone.

"Chief, we found Zhou Qi's phone. Lang Botu can be convicted now."

Zhang Yi'ang, leaning on his crutch, suddenly stood up. "That's fantastic!"

Everyone was puzzled about how Li Qian had managed to find Zhou Qi's phone.

Zhang Yi'ang took the bag and headed straight for the interrogation room, instructing his team to bring Lang Botu in for questioning again. At the same time, he ordered Song Xing to arrange two teams—one to go to Lang Botu's home and the other to his company—ready to conduct searches at his command.

Once Lang Botu was seated, Zhang Yi'ang immediately pulled out the evidence bag and smirked at him. "Lang Botu, take a good look. Whose phone is this?"

Lang Botu stared at the phone for a few seconds, his face instantly paling. "This... this can't be."

"Why not? Before we summoned you yesterday, you turned off Zhou Qi's phone and threw it away at your company. We searched everywhere, and in the end, your company's janitor found it and handed it over."

Lang Botu clenched his teeth, his expression strange. "So that's what happened."

"Now, tell us—where did you hide the other murder weapons, like the blades and such?"

Lang Botu thought for a few seconds before answering, "They're all in my home garage, dismantled and tossed aside."

A collective cheer erupted from both the interrogation room and the monitoring room. The case was finally solved!

"You finally confessed. That wasn't easy," Zhang Yi'ang laughed heartily. "Actually, I tricked you. This isn't Zhou Qi's phone at all. After confirming the model Zhou Qi used, I borrowed a secondhand one."

Everyone was stunned, silently marveling at the chief's brilliance—he had outright tricked Lang Botu into confessing.

Before the excitement could settle, Lang Botu also burst into laughter. "Actually, I tricked you too. There are no murder weapons in my garage. I didn't kill anyone. Go ahead and search all you want."

Everyone froze again, staring wide-eyed at the chief. How were they going to handle this now? Lang Botu knew they had deceived him, making it even harder to extract where the evidence was hidden.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yi'ang continued laughing. "I never expected this trick to make you confess everything. I was just testing you to confirm a conclusion of mine."

Lang Botu paused for a few seconds, suddenly overcome with a terrible premonition. His face darkened, and he swallowed hard before slowly asking, "What conclusion were you trying to confirm?"

"Before summoning you to the police station the day before yesterday, my people were all over your company. You turned off Zhou Qi's phone before coming here, meaning the phone was still in your company at the time. After that, you were at the station and never had a chance to leave. So I wondered—where could the phone be? One possibility was that you threw it into a trash bin at the company, and it got taken away with the garbage. But when I said the janitor found it, you said it was impossible. That leaves only one possibility—the phone is still hidden somewhere in your company! Once we confirm that, no matter how small the phone is, with enough manpower and time, we will definitely find it in your company!"After hearing these words, Lang Botu's face turned ashen, his spirit utterly crushed. Within seconds, his body went completely limp, slumping weakly against the interrogation chair, the light gone from his eyes.

"Now I'll give you a chance. If you cooperate and tell us where you hid the phone, saving us the trouble of searching, then after you're sent to prison, I'll make sure the guards treat you decently. But if you keep playing tough and force us to turn your company upside down to find it, well... I don’t need to spell it out, do I? All these officers working overtime—must be exhausting, right? How about we arrange for you to share a cell with a bunch of rapists? A delicate young master like you should be quite popular, don’t you think?"

At this, Lang Botu began trembling uncontrollably, his voice shaking as he stammered, "The phone... the phone is hidden in the air vent above the deputy director's office next door. The weapon... the weapon was a blade mounted on a modified panel. I threw it all into the river—the one north of my house. I’ll cooperate and help you find it."

Zhang Yi'ang let out a light chuckle and immediately called the officers stationed outside Lang Botu’s company, instructing them to search the air vent in the deputy director’s office. Just five minutes later, good news arrived—Zhou Qi’s phone had been found. With both the confession and physical evidence secured, Lang Botu had no chance of escape now.

All the detectives erupted in cheers. This back-and-forth game of deception—bluffing, being bluffed, and then turning the tables—was nothing short of a textbook example of interrogation technique! Everyone was utterly awed by Director Zhang’s mastery of criminal investigation.

Finally relaxed, Zhang Yi'ang smiled at Lang Botu. "From here on out, cooperate during the interrogation, and you’ll suffer less. No need to lecture you on policy—you know what’s best for yourself."

"Wait—" Lang Botu weakly lifted his head, stopping him, his voice filled with resentment. "My plan was flawless. Why? Why did you suspect me from the start, even without any evidence? Why were you so fixated on me?"

Indeed, why had Director Zhang been so certain about Lang Botu from the very beginning? Even when others had differing opinions, he remained unshaken in his belief that Lang Botu was the killer. Was it because of Lang Botu’s words in the recording? Did Director Zhang seize the opportunity for personal revenge and accidentally stumble upon the truth?

Zhang Yi'ang smiled faintly, sat back down, and calmly met his gaze. "Because of your own cleverness."

"My... my own cleverness?" Lang Botu stared at him blankly.

"After Lu Yibo’s death, I saw two photos in his office drawer. Combined with some past investigations, I quickly figured out your motive."

"You... you knew my motive?"Zhang Yi'ang sighed, "Many parents don't know how to treat their children equally, leading to countless tragedies. Take your family for example—your parents always favored you, the younger son, even naming the factory after you, calling it Auto instead of Awon. After your father passed away, your mother transferred the entire factory to your name, leaving nothing for your elder brother. He had no choice but to leave and go into business with Zhou Rong. But you didn’t cherish what you had—you mismanaged it, squandered resources, and within a few years, the factory was on the verge of collapse. Then, an employee reported you for fraudulently claiming state tax refunds. Not only were you fined, but the police also arrested you—it was Ye Jian himself who arrested you at the time. Later, the factory was sold off, and your brother Lang Bowen and Zhou Rong took over, putting the business back on track while cutting you out completely. After you got out of prison, you realized it was all a setup. Your brother Lang Bowen had conspired with Zhou Rong, Ye Jian, and Lu Yibo to take back the factory that your parents had left solely to you. Of course, you were furious, but on the surface, you had to act grateful to your brother. From then on, you could only live under his shadow, keeping your head down. Watching his and Zhou Rong’s business grow bigger and bigger only deepened your resentment, so you began plotting revenge. Zhou Rong was out of your league, so you had to start with the easiest target. The easiest to kill was Ye Jian—despite being a detective, he always worked alone. At a dinner gathering, you secretly slipped him a note, probably with something that piqued his interest, luring him to the lakeside where you killed him. After killing him, you waited for a long time—the police didn’t even question you. Feeling more confident, you went on to kill Lu Yibo and Zhou Qi. As for Lang Bowen, he’s currently missing—but who knows? Maybe you’ve already killed him too."

"What are you saying?" Lang Botu straightened up.

Zhang Yi'ang spread his hands. "That’s just speculation. Without finding his body, I can’t say for sure. The best time to kill him would’ve been when Zhou Rong was in trouble—we’d have suspected he fled to avoid prosecution. I have to admit, you played it smart. Especially the way you deliberately staged the crime scene at Zhou Qi’s house, almost misleading us about the time of death and giving yourself an alibi. But your luck ran out when you crossed paths with me. Your biggest mistake was writing my name at Ye Jian’s crime scene, trying to frame me."

"I wrote your name at Ye Jian’s crime scene?" Lang Botu’s eyes widened.

"Yeah, and you shouldn’t have left those two old group photos after killing Ye Jian and Lu Yibo—that was overkill. It’s a common criminal psychology—the thrill of revenge, the satisfaction of finally settling old scores. But it was completely unnecessary. You’re highly intelligent, and your scheme was well-crafted, but all high-IQ criminals share one fatal flaw—they can’t resist showing off during the crime."

"I... I left two group photos?"

Zhang Yi'ang gave him a puzzled look. "Didn’t you?"

"What... What are you talking about? That’s not what happened at all!" Lang Botu’s face flushed with anger as he shouted, "Don’t you know about the anonymous letter?"

"Anonymous letter?"

"Ye Jian wrote an anonymous letter to Gao Dong, accusing Zhou Rong of killing Lu Zheng to silence him!"Zhang Yi'ang suddenly recalled the reason he had come to Three Rivers Estuary—was Ye Jian the anonymous informant? He asked hesitantly, "Was that letter written by Ye Jian?"

Lang Botu shouted angrily, "Of course it was Ye Jian who wrote it! Lu Zheng was tailing Luo Ziyue and uncovered his connection with Zhou Rong. Zhou Rong had Lu Zheng killed and his body dumped in the river. Ye Jian suspected Lu Zheng's disappearance was linked to Zhou Rong, so he secretly investigated. He even managed to turn Lu Yibo against them and wrote an anonymous letter to Gao Dong."

"How did you know about this letter?" Zhang Yi'ang knew the letter had been given to Gao Dong. Zhou Weidong had no knowledge of its existence, let alone Zhou Rong and his associates.

"Because I found a bug in my brother's car!" Lang Botu said coldly. "I investigated privately and concluded that the most likely suspect with the means to do this was Lu Yibo. So I confronted him directly. Under my pressure, he admitted that Ye Jian had asked him to cooperate in investigating Zhou Rong, urging him to break ties to avoid sinking deeper. He also said Ye Jian had written an anonymous letter to Gao Dong, who would send someone to investigate. That's why I deliberately left Ye Jian a note during dinner that day, hinting, 'I know the answers you seek,' and lured him to the riverbank to silence him. Even after being stabbed multiple times in the car, he didn't die immediately—he jumped into the river and swam away. I watched from afar as he reached the opposite bank and died. The area was all mud, so I didn't dare approach and leave footprints. I never got close to him—how could I have left a note?"

Zhang Yi'ang froze as everything suddenly became clear. Ye Jian had been a good man. Realizing the letter had been exposed and that he was being silenced, he deliberately pulled out the Hydrotherapy Club card to alert the police—urging them to find Lu Yibo quickly. He wrote Zhang Yi'ang's name with an exclamation mark to signal that Zhang Yi'ang was the informant they were looking for, entrusting the rest to him. In his final moments, despite unbearable pain, Ye Jian had painstakingly left two clues—yet Zhang Yi'ang had failed to decipher either.

Lang Botu glared at him furiously and continued, "After Ye Jian was killed, Lu Yibo must have known I was responsible, but he didn't dare speak up. I'd been observing him and Zhou Qi for a while—they were always ticking time bombs. When Zhou Rong's USB drive was stolen, my brother left Three Rivers Estuary preemptively, fearing he'd be implicated if things went south. I killed Zhou Qi and Lu Yibo, then took and destroyed some of his company's private financial records to tie up loose ends. Everything you've said is nonsense! In my youth, I was reckless and squandered my parents' life savings. My brother saved the factory—I could only be grateful! I killed to protect him, not out of resentment! And my parents treated us equally—the factory was given to me because my brother didn't want it. He took money to start his own business. The factory's name, Auto, has nothing to do with my name. 'Auto' means 'car' in English—isn't it perfectly normal for an auto parts factory?"

An interrogator slammed the table and barked, "Nonsense! The English word for car is 'Car.' Did you think we police don't know English?"

Lang Botu let out a cold chuckle. Another interrogator quietly corrected his colleague, "Auto does mean car."Zhang Yi'ang coughed lightly and asked, "Then why were there photos with dates you wrote in both Ye Jian's home and Lu Yibo's office? Why did your expression change drastically when you saw those two photos?"

Lang Botu roared, "We all have copies of these photos! It's normal for Ye Jian to keep one at home, and how would I know why Lu Yibo kept his in the office? I wrote the dates because we later realized no time was marked for the memorial day, and since my handwriting is good, they asked me to label them. What's wrong with that? I panicked because I thought you'd discovered the real relationship between us and figured out my motive for the crime! Who knew you actually knew nothing—absolutely nothing—yet still managed to interrogate the truth out of me! I—" With a pfft , Lang Botu actually spat out a mouthful of blood.

The police officers behind the surveillance monitors were all stunned.

If they had correctly interpreted Ye Jian's hints from the beginning, they wouldn't have investigated the Hydrotherapy Club. Without investigating the club, they wouldn't have uncovered Zheng Yongbing, wouldn't have found Liu Bei at his home, and wouldn't have caused Liu Bei to flee. If Liu Bei hadn't fled, he wouldn't have risked stealing the Chime Bells, and the entire subsequent chain of events would have been rewritten.

Was the root of all this because both hints left by Ye Jian before his death had been misinterpreted?

But their initial assumptions had been wrong from the start—even their entire investigative direction was flawed, and mistakes had occurred during the autopsy. So how, despite being wrong at every step, had they still managed to catch this meticulously planned, high-intellect criminal?

All eyes turned awkwardly toward Zhang Yi'ang.

Zhang Yi'ang let out a hearty laugh, his expression unshaken as he calmly asked, "So, did you commit the murder alone, or was it under Zhou Rong or Lang Bowen's orders?"

"Of course I did it alone! Those two knew nothing about it. Zhou Rong was as close as brothers with Ye Jian—even if he knew Ye Jian was investigating him, he wouldn't have acted against him. And I couldn't let my brother know about silencing a witness. He's always looked out for me since we were kids—he'd definitely oppose it. I had to handle these troubles for him myself."

"Don't take all the blame yourself. I don't believe you'd dare do this without Lang Bowen's approval."

"I did it alone."

"I'll have to interrogate him to confirm that. Where is he?"

"He's..."

"Where?"

"I don't know where he is."

Several officers chuckled. The fleeting expression on Lang Botu's face clearly showed he knew Lang Bowen's whereabouts. Now that they were certain he had that information, extracting it during interrogation was only a matter of time.

Zhang Yi'ang exhaled lightly and shook his head. "Everything I just said to you was only to get you to say this one line. Did you really think I didn't understand Ye Jian's hints? Don't make me laugh!"

He smirked disdainfully, and the officers in the monitoring room all looked at him curiously.

"When Ye Jian's incident happened, I quickly realized he was the whistleblower. But as an outsider investigating Zhou Rong, my biggest concern was whether there were people loyal to Zhou Rong within the police force. This case involved Lu Zheng's murder and connections to certain leaders in the Public Security Department—I couldn't even trust my closest colleagues completely. Ah, no one knew the bitterness in my heart back then." His gaze turned complicated as he glanced at the surveillance monitor. Though they knew he couldn't see them, everyone in the monitoring room nodded emphatically, expressing their understanding of Chief Zhang's inner turmoil. Li Qian even whispered silently, "I actually understand you," her eyes reddening."At that time, I had to investigate covertly while ensuring no one knew what I'd discovered. I had to play the fool, sometimes even deliberately going along with mistakes. But in my heart, I knew exactly how the investigation should proceed. It hasn't been easy getting all these cases to where they are now!"

The detectives all nodded in shared understanding—it truly hadn't been easy.

"Fortunately, we've worked these cases together, fought side by side. After so many battles, I'm filled with gratitude to see that every one of you brothers is upright, every one an outstanding detective!"

In the monitoring room, the officers instinctively clenched their fists together. These words warmed their hearts!

"I made up an entirely different version of the crime story on the spot just to provoke you, to force you to tell the truth! I was worried you might not take the bait, but who knew you'd fall for it so easily? This battle of wits ended far too quickly—it's almost disappointing."

"You... everything you just said was made up?" Lang Botu swallowed hard, but the tightness in his chest only grew worse.

"Of course. Only a fool would believe such a ridiculous story—and yet, you did."

The detectives in the surveillance room finally breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out everything just now had been fabricated by Director Zhang. Such a story was something "only a fool would believe," and they had almost fallen for it too. They laughed at themselves for briefly playing the fool. Director Zhang's interrogation techniques were truly unfathomable—with just a few words, he had not only uncovered Lang Bowen's whereabouts but also made Lang Botu so furious he spat blood. It was truly masterful.

"You..." Lang Botu suppressed his internal injuries. "How exactly did you suspect me?"

"Well..." Zhang Yi'ang smiled mysteriously and pointed to his head. "Instinct—a detective's instinct!"

Everyone froze in place. A few seconds later, Zhang Yi'ang stood up, pushed open the door, and walked away leisurely, hands behind his back—not even needing his cane anymore. He left behind only a retreating figure, as if two words were written across his back out of thin air— Great Detective .