Yan Qing hadn’t given Hulu’s words a second thought — until she heard Shi Ting’s voice and turned around.

“Mentor, Captain Shi says there’s a question about a previous case he’d like to ask you,” Hulu called out at full volume. “I need to pop over to the technical division next door — there’s some material I need to pick up. Probably won’t be back for quite a while.”

After Hulu pulled the door shut, Shi Ting walked over to Yan Qing.

“What question did the captain have?” Yan Qing removed her gloves and pushed a body into the refrigeration cabinet.

Shi Ting handed over a file. “The higher-ups have issued directives for all branch precincts to excavate and address longstanding cold cases — the goal is to have no backlog of unsolved cases, especially homicides.”

“I know about that,” Yan Qing said. “Detective Fan had all the cold case files pulled out a while back.”

“You’ve heard of the Qianhu Tower homicide?” Shi Ting looked toward Yan Qing, his gaze deep and searching. “The case originally didn’t fall under our Pujiang Branch’s jurisdiction, but now that the Qianhu District has been incorporated into Pujiang’s administrative area, the case has also been transferred to us.”

Upon hearing “Qianhu Tower,” Yan Qing’s expression visibly shifted, her demeanor becoming unmistakably uneasy.

“I came to you because I wanted to hear your perspective,” Shi Ting said. “After all, this case involves you — and sooner or later, you’ll have to face it.”

Yan Qing was silent for a moment before sighing. “You’re right — it has to be faced. Running from it does no good.”

“I’m going to help you solve it.”

Those words of quiet conviction struck a chord in Yan Qing. She looked up and found herself meeting Shi Ting’s steady gaze, where beneath the stillness of his eyes, something resolute shimmered.

She stared at him, momentarily lost for words.

After a long pause, she slowly shook her head. “It’s been twenty years. The Qianhu side has been pursuing it continuously, and there still hasn’t been a single solid lead.”

“How much do you still remember of what happened?”

“Nothing at all.” Yan Qing smiled with quiet helplessness. “I was six years old at the time. At that age, some things should be possible to recall, but everything before I turned six is completely gone. Even looking at photos of them now — I find them like strangers. I sometimes wonder: were they truly my parents? If so, why can’t I remember them?”

Shi Ting said: “Twenty years ago, a homicide occurred in a residential building in Qianhu Tower. A husband and wife were brutally killed in their home. The subsequent investigation determined that the couple were members of a drug trafficking organization. The case was ultimately classified as a gang-on-gang killing. The investigation never ceased, but without any eyewitnesses and with the perpetrator leaving behind no trace, the case has remained stalled for two decades.”

Yan Qing listened to Shi Ting speak of events from twenty years ago, and found her mood unexpectedly calm.

She had assumed she would dread having this subject raised — yet hearing it from his lips, she was nowhere near as agitated as she had imagined she’d be.

Perhaps it was just as he had said moments ago: what must be faced has to be faced, and evasion solves nothing.

Yan Qing continued on from where Shi Ting had left off: “The victims were a couple. The man was named Yan Xueli, the woman Yu Miao. They had one daughter, named Yan Qing. Investigation confirmed that Yan Xueli and Yu Miao were members of a drug trafficking ring, holding positions of considerable importance within the organization. Substantial quantities of narcotics and cash were seized at the scene. Downstream buyers who were later apprehended also testified that their suppliers were Yan Xueli and his wife. The couple were stabbed to death in their home — Yan Xueli was struck seventy-two times, his body left nearly unrecognizable; Yu Miao was struck thirty-four times, her face destroyed. Fortunately, their daughter had been hidden by the couple inside the drawer of a large bed and survived.”

“They found you inside the drawer?”

“I believe so.” Yan Qing gently touched her temple. “I can’t remember anymore — I read all of this in the case file myself.”

“As a forensic pathologist, what do you think accounts for your memory loss?”

“That’s difficult to say. Medical science offers many explanations for amnesia — it could be the result of severe psychological trauma, or it could be selective forgetting. At such a young age, losing one’s memory under those circumstances is not unusual.”

“Do you believe your parents were criminals?”

Yan Qing looked up at Shi Ting. This was a question everyone at the precinct had avoided — no one had ever raised it in her presence. They knew the nature of what her parents had been involved in, and they had always tiptoed around it carefully.

But no one had ever asked her: do you believe your parents were criminals?

“Instructor Yan, there is an old saying: ‘The dragon begets the dragon, the phoenix begets the phoenix, and the rat’s son is born to dig holes.’ Put in modern scientific terms, this is genetics — a rigorous discipline. If your parents were truly irredeemable criminals, why is Instructor Yan herself so upright and principled, so full of a sense of responsibility? Even if exceptions exist, from the perspective of genetics, we should at least maintain some doubt.” Shi Ting asked earnestly: “Don’t you think so?”

Yan Qing stared at him, and a faint sting of emotion welled up in her eyes — accompanied, more than anything, by the feeling of having a belief long buried inside her finally acknowledged by someone.

She had often wondered: were her parents truly criminals? Were they truly so guilty of heinous wrongs? This question had long haunted her. Yet in the face of what seemed like ironclad facts, she had been forced to accept it — even her uncle had silently acquiesced to that verdict.

Because her parents were criminals, a permanent black mark had been stamped on her file. As long as that mark remained, she could not be promoted, could not advance in rank — no matter how qualified she was, no matter how far above the requirements, she could never receive a proper title.

When her mentor retired, he told her that his greatest regret was being unable to clear her name. But those were the rules — and under strict institutional rules, ability alone, however exceptional, could change nothing.

Strictly speaking, she should never have been permitted to enter law enforcement at all. It was her uncle who had called in every favor he had to secure a place for her.

In the beginning, she had complained, had resented the unfairness of fate. But over time she had grown gradually numb, and advancement had come to matter less. What mattered was facing each body before her and untangling the injustices locked within.

“Are you willing to look into this with me?” Shi Ting fixed her with a burning gaze. “Whether or not they were criminals, the responsibility of law enforcement is to find every perpetrator — to let no one continue to evade justice, to rid society of crime, and to protect the safety and lives of the people.”

“Yes.” The pile of cold ash buried in Yan Qing’s heart suddenly flickered into a tiny living flame at Shi Ting’s words. “I’m willing to find the killer with you and bring them to justice.”

Shi Ting extended his hand. “Here’s to our alliance.”

Yan Qing paused for a moment, but then reached out and shook it naturally: “Looking forward to working together.”