The policeman tidying up the case files looked up and saw him, shaking his head. "No, she's been acting delirious all night."
Su Kangxi asked, "Did she take drugs?"
"We tested her. No illegal substances were found."
Su Kangxi asked in surprise, "Then why aren't you interrogating her? Is she mentally unstable?"
The investigating officer picked up the case file, patted his shoulder, and said, "It's common for criminals to feign madness after committing a crime. Don't worry, the interrogation will continue. Her resistance to confessing tonight suggests she's the killer. We'll compare the evidence first. Besides, the brothers are exhausted after staying up all night with her."
"Alright, I trust your work." Su Kangxi grabbed his colleagues and said, "You've all worked hard all night. I'll treat you to breakfast."
"Captain Su is too kind," several investigating officers chuckled.
Su Kangxi hooked his arm around one of them. "What are you being polite for? Just say what you want to eat."
The colleagues didn't hold back, laughing and walking out of the police station with him. One of them asked, "Captain Su, where's your beautiful girlfriend? We haven't seen her waiting for you after work these days."
The other colleagues burst into laughter. Su Kangxi said sheepishly, "She's gone back to Dechuan."
"So she's a girl from Dechuan. The environment there really suits people," someone praised Yanan. "She's beautiful and has a fiery personality. You two are a perfect match, Captain Su."
Su Kangxi didn't explain much, smiling and patting the person. "Stop teasing me. You should find someone too. The chief said our bureau can't be full of bachelors; it's not good for our mental and physical health during work. He might even organize a matchmaking event for us."
The male colleagues couldn't hide their excitement, each flexing their muscles, thinking about how to present themselves at the matchmaking event.
A female colleague sidled over and asked, "Captain Su, I'm single too. Doesn't the chief care about us women? We work overtime day and night. My previous boyfriend broke up with me."
Su Kangxi laughed and stepped back, gesturing for the single men to stand in front of her. "Take your pick. Tell the chief if you fancy anyone, and he'll help you get them."
The female colleague scoffed and laughed, "None of these guys. I don't want them."
The chief happened to walk in for work and, hearing them mention him, asked, "What's going on? Why are you talking about me? Who can't you get that I have to personally go and catch them?"
Everyone was amused and burst into laughter again.
Su Kangxi quickly said with a smile, "Nothing, nothing. We were just joking."
"Are you all done with your work?" the chief asked sternly.
They immediately stopped laughing. The chief then asked, "How is the interrogation going for Huo Jin's murder case, which we initially thought was an accident?"
The officer in charge replied, "We haven't gotten much from the suspect yet, but we've collected her fingerprints for comparison."
The chief instructed, "This case must be taken seriously. It involves two major families in our city. The deceased is from the Huo family, and the suspect is from the Shu family. This is no trivial matter. The higher-ups want us not only to investigate thoroughly but also to dig into any possible revenge motives and whether there are any economic implications."
"Yes, understood," the officers responsible for the case immediately responded.
The chief nodded. "Are you all about to get off duty?"
"No," Su Kangxi quickly said. "Everyone worked all night and is about to go out for breakfast."
"Go ahead. Work is important, but so is your health. Make sure to eat a good breakfast," the chief waved them off and went to his office.
Su Kangxi took everyone to a nice dim sum restaurant. While they were eating, they couldn't help but talk about Huo Jin's case, all finding it a case with unexpected twists and turns.
No one believed Shu Yan had mental problems. If she was the killer, it proved her meticulous planning and cruel methods, almost allowing her to escape legal retribution.
Su Kangxi listened, a hidden worry growing in her heart. If this Shu Yan was faking her madness, the Shu family's influence could very well help her get acquitted by claiming she was mentally ill.
This was something neither she, Susu, nor Qin Tianyi had anticipated. They had been focused on finding evidence that Huo Jin's death was not accidental.
But now, even if they found the evidence, if Shu Yan could establish herself as mentally ill, the law would be powerless against her.
...
Shu Zhongze had learned of the murder case Shu Yan was involved in and had tried to contact Huo Liangcheng multiple times, but the other party either refused to answer or hung up directly.
This morning, he tried contacting someone from the Huo family using his private phone again, but no one was willing to answer his calls.
The director of the group's technology department knocked on his door. He asked irritably, "What is it?"
"Mr. Shu, Huo's company just contacted me. They want to acquire a technology transfer that's about to expire. Should we negotiate with them? If they raise the price, what's our bottom line?" the technology director asked for instructions.
Huo Liangcheng didn't even give him a chance to explain, assuming it wasn't a misunderstanding?
Seeing his silence, the technology director asked again.
He immediately became angry. "Negotiate what? It's useless no matter how high a price we offer! What are you guys in the technology department for? Don't you know how to develop this technology yourselves?"
The technology director, startled by what had happened, said fearfully, "Mr. Shu, you forgot, Huo's company has already patented this technology. Even if we develop it, it would be infringement, and we couldn't use it openly."
"Then use your brains! Think of a technology that doesn't infringe on patents and can replace it. Do I need to teach you this?" Shu Zhongze reprimanded the technology director harshly.
The technology director's forehead broke out in a sweat. "Yes, Mr. Shu, but this will take time. Once Huo's company reclaims the patent when it expires, our project will have to halt..."
"Get out! You don't need to tell me that. Gather everyone in the technology department to brainstorm countermeasures! If you can't come up with anything, none of you need to work here anymore!" Shu Zhongze pointed at the technology director, his demeanor imposing.
The technology director could only repeatedly say "yes." But as soon as he left his office, he looked dejected. Developing a replacement technology in a short period was easier said than done. It seemed he had to prepare to resign.
He stood by the door for only a few seconds before hearing Shu Zhongze still shouting angrily for his secretary.
The secretary sitting by the door cautiously walked in. Shu Zhongze roared, "Find all project documents related to Huo's company and call the financial director!"
The secretary didn't dare to utter a sound and quickly followed the instructions.
Shu Zhongze angrily knocked over the teacup on his desk. He had to quickly have the finance department calculate the losses Shu Corporation would incur if they completely broke ties with the Huo family.
At this point, he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario and devise countermeasures.