CYCGS 12

Chapter – 12

Brainwave

Sun Lei’s words had been prophetic—the purified water sent for testing by the Criminal Investigation Detachment contained a lethal dose of cyanide.

Someone had actually been suicidal enough to attempt poisoning inside a police station.

The trail of evidence was crystal clear. When the suspect, Qin Aimin, was apprehended in the restroom, he was in the middle of cleaning a toilet.

When the criminal investigators who burst in asked if he knew anything about the cyanide in the water dispenser, he showed no surprise and made no attempt to deny it. He just asked blankly: “Is Yan Tuo dead?”

In his mind, since these people had been caught completely off guard, the only way the plot would be exposed was if someone had already collapsed from poisoning.

The dose he’d put in the water barrel was such that even one big gulp would be almost certainly fatal. But once someone showed symptoms, this lethal move was essentially blown.

He hadn’t actually expected to take out an entire squad with this. If he’d had any other way to safely exact revenge among these heavily armed detectives, he wouldn’t have resorted to such a hit-or-miss method.

So his most desperate wish was that the person who fell was Yan Tuo—the one who’d fired the shot that night.

If luck wasn’t on his side and it was someone else, so be it. He’d pay with his own life in return. If two or three people drank it at once, then he’d consider it a bonus.

Qin Aimin’s calm composure crumbled the moment he saw Yan Tuo in the interrogation room. He couldn’t believe it and demanded: “The poisoning… failed? No… nobody drank it? How is that possible… Then how did you find out?”

Yan Tuo said flatly: “Coincidence, I suppose. The heavens have eyes.”

Beside him, Cao Yiman added: “Since you’ve already confessed, you might as well come clean about everything. Why did you do it? Where did you get the poison? How did you carry out the crime? Have you poisoned anywhere else? Do you have accomplices? Spill it all—it’ll work in your favor for leniency.”

Qin Aimin was utterly devastated. Tears and snot exploded as he wailed: “My… my Yansheng! Yan Tuo, how could you be so ruthless? Even if you’d just let him finish that cigarette…”

So that was it. Just revenge out of spite.

Yan Tuo felt no stir in his heart, but he was somewhat indignant at the misplaced anger: “Since you wanted me dead, just put it in my cup. Why put it in the water dispenser?”

Qin Aimin was already on the verge of a breakdown, complaining loudly: “You think I didn’t want to? Who knows what’s up with that dimpled woman. The first day or two were fine, but these past few days, whenever I go to clean your office, she insists on watching me like a hawk. The moment I step out, she locks the door. And every morning, she takes your cup away to make coffee. Tomorrow, Sister Huang is coming back, so I… I didn’t have any chance left! Anyway, whoever drank it—tough luck for them!”

*Bang.* Yan Tuo slammed his hand on the table, nearly snapping the pen in his grip.

He slowly suppressed his anger, got his emotions under control, and spent about an hour with Cao Yiman in the interrogation room. By then, the whole story was crystal clear.

This cleaner, Qin Aimin, was the biological father of Zhang Yansheng—the one who’d been shot dead a few days earlier on Nanmen Pedestrian Street. The reason their family connection was completely unknown was that Zhang Yansheng’s mother had despised Qin Aimin’s gambling habit, so she never married him. She hid her pregnancy and married someone else instead.

Qin Aimin only found out he had a son when Zhang Yansheng was already over ten years old. Having never married and carrying a deep-seated obsession with carrying on the family line, he was absolutely overjoyed.

Unfortunately, this son had no affection for him whatsoever. So he had no choice but to repeatedly abandon his dignity and cross every line, letting himself be ordered around. In many of Zhang Yansheng’s crimes, Qin Aimin had been an accomplice. Ultimately, it all came down to Zhang Yansheng promising to continue the Qin family line and restore the Qin surname.

With that, the mystery of why Zhang Yansheng’s gender reassignment surgery had only included breast augmentation and not removal of male organs—allowing him to assault victims as a man while disguising himself as a woman to roam free—was finally solved.

As for why he turned to poisoning, it was simple: he’d already been working as a cleaner at the municipal bureau for nearly two years, but previously he hadn’t been assigned to the Criminal Investigation Detachment’s building. After the incident, he paid the original cleaner to take leave and go home, then volunteered to cover for a few days, successfully getting close to his target.

Originally, he’d just wanted to gather information and see what would happen to his son’s remains. But he kept overhearing team members praising Deputy Captain Yan’s decisive actions that night—things like “putting out the threat with a shot” and “neutralized in half a second.” That got his blood boiling, and the more he thought about it, the more resentful he became.

His son was gone, his hope for descendants was gone, and he’d just been diagnosed with liver cancer. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well take someone down with him—at least that would count as avenging his son and fulfilling their father-son bond.

The poisoning case at the municipal bureau’s water dispenser was quickly wrapped up. What awaited Qin Aimin wasn’t just a terminal illness, but a criminal sentence starting at ten years.

Beneath this farce-like scene lay deep human malice—and a chilling, lingering fear that made the entire Criminal Investigation Detachment shudder to think about.

If it hadn’t been for that little canary’s warning—or Yan Tuo’s exceptionally sharp intuition—if anyone had taken even one sip from that seemingly ordinary barrel of water, today’s situation would have been utterly unmanageable.

Yan Tuo had barely been back in his office for a few minutes when a group of people, led by Sun Lei, crowded at the door. The black-mug-wielding male colleague called out loudly: “Captain Yan, we’re coming in? We want to thank our savior.”

Yan Tuo smiled slightly and humbly said, “We’re all brothers here—no need for thanks. I was just—”

Before he could finish, the crowd had already swarmed around the birdcage. Sun Lei elbowed the guy beside her and corrected him in a low voice: “It’s our savior *bird*!”

Right. They were here for Tangyuan.

Yan Tuo cleared his throat, picked up his water cup to wet his throat and cover up a little embarrassment, paused, then set it down again. He grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water from the side and started gulping it down.

A few big swallows later, the anxious tension of the morning seemed washed away by the pure, sweet water. After capping the bottle, Yan Tuo glanced at the people around the cage. They were pulling out every stop, showering his pet bird with extravagant praise and opening all kinds of snacks for him to choose from.

Yan Tuo didn’t stop them. He let them go wild—because the little guy’s performance truly deserved such accolades.

Speaking of which, this was also his *own* savior bird, wasn’t it?

He’d known the bird was smart, but he’d never imagined it could be this smart—to detect a problem with the water before any human did, and to desperately warn him. Weren’t birds supposed to have great hearing but poor sense of smell? Or was his little white ball just a special case?

His son had done well. This old dad was proud… Should he try training the little guy like a police dog?

Bai Yiyi had no idea what his owner was scheming. Right now, he was surrounded by the crowd, lost in a sea of crispy noodles, spicy sticks, and egg biscuits.

The system timely delivered good news: “50 points, Yiyi! Almost at the passing line!”

Bai Yiyi was happy too, of course, but the increase wasn’t as big as he’d expected. He’d saved lives—surely that was worth a few extra points?

The system explained roughly: “These are all satisfaction gains from the sense of achievement after solving a case. For the same type of feeling, only the first time gets a doubled bonus. Repeats just give the regular amount.”

…Fine, you’re the system, you call the shots.

Bai Yiyi stopped agonizing over it. Compared to points, what mattered more to him right now was Yan Tuo.

If he hadn’t stubbornly insisted on following him to and from work—if that cleaner hadn’t slipped up because he was just a bird—then…

He didn’t dare picture it. His heart suddenly ached terribly.

It seemed that for the days ahead, he’d need to keep an even closer watch. His dream man’s profession meant danger was inevitable. Since no one would suspect a bird, he should be able to help out in the shadows quite a bit.

Ah, it was a problem when his owner was too capable. He was supposed to be just a spoiled little bird baby—how did he suddenly end up with the worried mindset of an old dad?

Bai Yiyi munched on snacks, his mind wandering aimlessly, when the crowd around him gradually dispersed. Without noticing, a shadow suddenly fell before him.

It was his owner, who’d walked up to the cage and reached out his hand: “Savior bird, thank you for today. Come here, let me hold you.”

Hugs and cuddles and lifting him up high?

Mmm… so… so tempting.

But hadn’t he already decided to avoid physical contact, so he wouldn’t fall deeper into the straight-guy vortex? The neck-nuzzling this morning had only been an involuntary reflex from lingering fear. Now that there was no excuse, and it was broad daylight besides—how could he bring himself to willingly hop into his owner’s palm?

Ah, too embarrassing.

His owner seemed to notice his hesitation. With a slight curl of his fingers, he urged gently: “Tangyuan, come on.”

Bai Yiyi was torturing himself between anticipation and fear, unable to make up his mind, when a knock on the door rescued him just in time.

After his owner turned around, Bai Yiyi got a clear look at the visitor—a young officer he’d never seen before, tightly holding the leash of a tall, imposing German Shepherd.

“Captain Yan, you called for me?”

“Yeah. You’ve heard about the water dispenser poisoning case, right? Take Xuanfeng for a walk around the entire bureau, just to be safe.”

“Yes, sir. Then I’ll start with your office.”

The two exchanged a few brief words, but Bai Yiyi wasn’t really paying attention. His mind was completely absorbed by that German Shepherd.

How to put it—because of his career aspirations, police dogs were practically his dream canines. But this one, at this moment, was far too huge and formidable for him.

Especially since the creature kept its mouth wide open, tongue lolling and drool dripping, sniffing around before stopping right in front of the birdcage and staring at him like some monster ready to gobble him up in one bite.

Bai Yiyi shrank back into his nest in fear, but the system spoke up reassuringly: “He won’t bite you. Don’t be scared.”

Bai Yiyi retorted: “How do you know? What if he does? With a mouth that big, one chomp and nobody could save me in time.”

The system: “Of course I know. Just now, he was thinking: ‘Scared of what? All feathers, no meat. I’ve got a bone splinter stuck in my teeth, hurts like hell—I can’t even be bothered to open my mouth for you.'”

???

Bai Yiyi didn’t know how to react to this people’s police dog who cursed like a sailor and called himself “old man,” but he did ask: “You can read his mind?”

The system stated matter-of-factly: “I exist in the form of brainwaves. I can know what you’re thinking, so of course I can know what other living beings are thinking too. It’s just that right now, with insufficient energy, my effective range is at most 10 meters.”

Bai Yiyi exclaimed: “Whoa! Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? That means I can know what anyone’s thinking? No—any living creature?”

The system’s little-kid voice was aggrieved: “But you never asked. You only asked about cheats and store-exchange items and stuff—of course I couldn’t do those.”

Bai Yiyi was speechless. Fine, that one was on him—the system probably had no idea what “cheats” meant. Taking a breath, he continued: “Then can you speak to them in their minds?”

The system: “Yes, but it costs energy. I don’t recommend using it too frequently, in case it affects my development and you can’t return to human form later.”

Bai Yiyi had a good grasp of the situation now. Since there was no danger of being eaten, he crawled out of his nest and flew onto the perch, moving a little closer.

Taking a closer look, he saw that on the left side of the German Shepherd’s wide-open mouth, the gap between a couple of teeth was indeed red and swollen. But the dog had such a good temper—despite the severe toothache, it still behaved properly and kept working, so much so that its handler hadn’t even noticed anything wrong.

Bai Yiyi thought it over, feeling a bit sorry for the dog, and made a mental request to the system: “Let’s help him out. Maybe this will open up a new way to earn points? Tell him I’ll take a look for him, and to stand still and not move.”

The system agreed readily. Bai Yiyi flew out of the cage, landed on the desk, and bravely faced that massive, fang-filled maw.