Animal Detective

The day after the interrogation was suspended, Shen Xin spent the morning at the Lishan Branch organizing case files.

Solving a case was a brain-racking, gut-wrenching experience, but once it was solved, writing the various reports and records was just as painful.

As he was writing, someone entered the room.

"Director Kang."

Seeing who it was, Shen Xin quickly stood up to greet him.

It was Kang Ying, the director of the Lishan Branch.

He was in his fifties, wore glasses, had graying temples, and a gentle demeanor. He was also holding a plastic water cup.

It was said that he loved drinking tea and was never seen without his water cup.

Because of this habit and his temperament, his colleagues at the Lishan Branch jokingly called him Teacher Kang.

"Sit, sit." He waved his hand with a chuckle, his tone making him sound even more like a teacher.

It wasn’t anything serious; he just came by to check in and offer some words of encouragement.

He said that Shen Xin had worked hard on the case, helping the Lishan Branch solve a two-year-old cold case.

And it wasn’t just any cold case; it was a homicide.

Among cold cases, assault and theft were more common. Homicides were rare, but no matter how few, they were still homicides, and the nature of the crime was different.

He was really just making small talk. After sitting for a while and offering a few words of praise, he got up to leave.

Before he left, he inevitably invited Shen Xin and his team of four for a good meal to celebrate solving the case.

Shen Xin saw him to the door, and just as he was about to say something more, his phone rang.

After seeing Kang Ying off, he took out his phone, looked at the screen, and immediately sighed.

"The Oceanarium?" Ding Yuwei, who was nearby, immediately asked.

Shen Xin nodded and answered the call.

Just as he expected, Yuexiao was on a hunger strike again.

"I’m heading out first, you guys carry on here," Shen Xin said before hurrying to the Oceanarium.

He couldn’t help but get a headache on the way there.

Shen Xin had never thought that high affection could be such a burden.

The main problem was that Yuexiao was a dolphin.

If he were a cat, a dog, or even a donkey, Shen Xin wouldn’t be worried.

He could just raise it until it got old, no big deal.

But how was he supposed to raise a dolphin? He couldn’t afford it.

As he neared the Oceanarium, the traffic came to a standstill.

Today was the third day of the May Day holiday.

The Oceanarium and the zoo were popular attractions in Nanjiang, and this was peak entry time.

It was a good thing Shen Xin was driving a police car, or he wouldn’t have been able to get in at all.

Chen Sili was already waiting at the main entrance. His eyes lit up when he saw Shen Xin, and he hurried over to greet him.

Seeing how anxious he was, Shen Xin asked, "Did he get into another fight?"

Chen Sili nodded quickly.

Yuexiao was clingy. When he missed Shen Xin, he would refuse to eat and start fights instead.

He’d take on two opponents at once, and even though he knew he couldn’t win, he’d fight them anyway.

By the time he reached the Dolphin Hall, Wang Hui was in the water with other colleagues, trying to separate the three dolphins.

Zhou Xianyong was there too. When he saw Shen Xin, he quickly came over to meet him.

And with a dolphin’s hearing, it probably heard Shen Xin’s familiar voice the moment he walked in.

With a cheerful cry, Yuexiao immediately abandoned Yuebao and Xingbao and swam over to greet him.

He shot straight onto the poolside, lifted his head, and called out excitedly to Shen Xin.

"I’m here, I’m here. Settle down."

Shen Xin went to him, and Yuexiao immediately lunged forward, rubbing all over him.

[Like]

Shen Xin shook his head to himself and quickly tried to soothe the dolphin.

It was strange.

Before, the affection level was like opening a blind box every day; whatever he managed to build up one day would inevitably drop by the next.

But now that it had reached stage three, it stubbornly refused to drop.

Zhou Xianyong waved for the others to leave, then walked over and said with a wry smile, "Officer Shen, I really didn’t expect that after just a few days with you, Yuexiao would become so attached that he can’t be without you."

If Shen Xin weren’t a police officer, he would have paid whatever it took to keep him on as a Tamer.

The moment they made contact, Shen Xin saw an image from Yuexiao’s mind.

"Hey, what are you thinking!"

Shen Xin irritably tapped him on the head.

Seeing what Yuexiao was thinking was like watching a movie.

’The key thing is, you’re a male!’

When food was brought for Yuexiao, he would only eat if Shen Xin was there, and he kept looking at Shen Xin even while eating.

[Don’t go]

Then Shen Xin saw another image of the dolphin ramming into him vigorously.

Shen Xin shuddered inwardly. The term "ocean hooligan" was no exaggeration.

Seeing that Zhou Xianyong wasn’t in a hurry to leave, Shen Xin steeled himself and asked, "Manager Zhou, do you sell these dolphins?"

Zhou Xianyong was taken aback, his expression turning odd. "Officer Shen, you’re not thinking of buying... Yuexiao, are you?"

Shen Xin quickly shook his head. ’I’m just asking,’ he thought.

Zhou Xianyong pointed to the dolphin pool in front of them and said, "Officer Shen, do you know how much this one pool costs to build?"

"Heating, circulation, filtration—several systems. The pool alone costs several million to build."

"Then there’s daily maintenance, constant temperature control, saltwater changes... the annual cost is almost equivalent to rebuilding the entire pool."

"And that’s just the basics. There’s also daily food and drink, professional care..."

He counted on his fingers, listing one expense after another.

Shen Xin’s scalp tingled as he listened. He quickly stopped him, saying, "Manager Zhou, I was just asking."

His dad didn’t bat an eye at raising a pet that cost ten thousand yuan, but a whole dolphin would surely bankrupt him.

Buying one to take home was clearly unrealistic.

Not only could he not afford it, but the state wouldn’t permit him to own one either.

After all, they were a Class II protected species.

But constantly going on hunger strikes and fighting with Xingbao and the others wasn’t a solution either.

Over time, it would lead to problems.

Shen Xin figured there was only one solution: find a way to lower the affection level.

He had to shift Yuexiao’s attention to other dolphins.

Judging from the images in the dolphin’s mind, Shen Xin felt its feelings for him weren’t just pure affection and intimacy.

It was treating him as a mate. It was horny.

"Manager Zhou, after Hua Zi died, have you considered buying another female dolphin?" Shen Xin asked.

Three old bachelors cooped up in one place—how frustrating must that be.

Zhou Xianyong immediately shook his head, pursed his lips, and said, "They’re expensive."

Very few dolphins in domestic oceanariums are bred in captivity. Ninety-nine percent of them are wild adults purchased from abroad.

The purchase price for a single one is typically over a million yuan.

And that’s just the cost of buying the dolphin. The subsequent costs of care and training for an additional dolphin would also skyrocket.

And to the audience, there’s not much difference between a three-dolphin show and a four-dolphin show. It all looks the same to them.

Zhou Xianyong said, "Forget buying one, we’re actually planning to sell one."

Shen Xin was stunned. "Sell one?"

Zhou Xianyong nodded. "Our profits haven’t been great, so the company was thinking of selling off some animals. And with that guy, Xiaoli, getting arrested by you all... you have no idea how hard it is to find a suitable Tamer."

"We’ll just keep two, enough for the show. I heard the deal is almost finalized."

"You know that big theme park opening in the New District, over by Fangquan Street? They’re also building an indoor oceanarium, so we plan to sell to them."

"They bought three dolphins, two females and one male. I heard the male is having a bit of trouble keeping up, so they’re looking to buy another one."

"It’s more convenient for them to buy a trained one from us than to go out and buy a new one, especially since they’re about to open. They heard we were looking to sell, so they contacted us."

Shen Xin knew about that large theme park. It was rumored to be opening during the summer vacation.

This was perfect.

They have a surplus of female energy over there, so buying a male would be perfect to balance things out.

Yuexiao was clearly just lonely.

"Then you should sell Yuexiao! He’s incredibly smart. He can perform any trick you ask of him now," Shen Xin urged.

Yuexiao had been affected by Shen Xin’s talent and had definitely become smarter. Performing and interacting would be effortless for him.

Besides, if he was sold to the New District, it would be more convenient for Shen Xin to visit him later.

It was quite a long way from the city bureau to Lishan.

Zhou Xianyong said, "I’d like to, but the key is that we don’t get to make the decision. They get to choose."

If that was the case, Shen Xin felt even more confident.

With Yuexiao’s current intelligence, there was no training he couldn’t complete.

Even math.

Some dolphins can do math—addition and subtraction within ten. A few oceanariums in the country have shows like that.

It’s an absolutely high-end trick, much more impressive than having them push a person on a surfboard.

With Yuexiao’s current intelligence, it would be a piece of cake.

Shen Xin was about to say he could teach Yuexiao some math, but the words died on his lips, and he quickly swallowed them.

If he taught Yuexiao, the Oceanarium would never sell him. They would definitely keep him as a star attraction.

Shen Xin changed his tune and tried to persuade him, "Manager Zhou, think about it. Yuexiao causing trouble all day isn’t a sustainable situation."

"Look, Yuebao and Xingbao don’t cause trouble. The two of them get along so well. Yuexiao is the one who doesn’t fit in. If you’re not going to sell him, who else would you sell?"

Zhou Xianyong didn’t know why Shen Xin was so concerned about this, but he had to admit that Shen Xin had a point.

Yuexiao really didn’t fit in well.

Their own plan was also to sell Yuexiao.

But it still depended on what the buyers thought.

After chatting a bit more, Zhou Xianyong couldn’t resist asking Shen Xin about Li Fusen’s situation.

Shen Xin simply told him not to ask too many questions, saying it was a case of individual actions and wouldn’t affect their Oceanarium.

For the Oceanarium, the only good news was probably that they no longer had to worry about compensating Lin Zenghui’s family.

Lin Zenghui’s death was a homicide. He had come to the Dolphin Hall on his own time after work and drowned, so it had little to do with the Oceanarium.

As for how to lower Yuexiao’s affection level, Shen Xin had a plan for that too.

He would "cheat" right in front of him by playing with Xingbao and Yuebao.

As expected, Yuexiao got jealous.

He tried to block the path between Shen Xin and the other dolphins while also trying to drive Xingbao and the others away.

Unfortunately, after all that effort, the affection level didn’t drop. It actually went up.

It left Shen Xin completely unable to understand what Yuexiao was thinking.

’Could it be that the more it hurts, the deeper the love?’

Shen Xin had lunch at the Oceanarium’s cafeteria and only left after the dolphin show was over.

On the way back, Shen Xin thought it over and over. He still felt that Yuexiao being sold to the facility in Fangquan was the best possible outcome.

With a female dolphin to keep him company, he would probably be much better off.

Just as he was thinking this, Shen Xin’s phone rang.

It was an unknown number from Suihar.

Surprised, Shen Xin quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road and answered.

He only had one number from Suihar in his contacts: Lakshen, the man who had picked out and taken Tianxiong.

But he had Lakshen on WeChat and they often messaged about Tianxiong’s condition. If there was anything to report, a WeChat message would have been enough.

And Shen Xin had just realized that he hadn’t heard from Lakshen in about a week.

They were both busy, so Shen Xin hadn’t had a chance to ask.

He answered the call, and a man’s voice came through, asking if he was Officer Shen Xin.

"Hello, I am."

The caller’s name was Liao Lei, one of Lakshen’s subordinates.

Shen Xin knew Lakshen was from the Huergan Border Police Station in Wugai Banner, Xingle Alliance, Suihar.

He was the station chief.

The station was said to be just over a hundred kilometers from the border.

In a big city, over a hundred kilometers would be a huge distance, but on the grasslands, it was nothing.

His station was in a pastoral region where 13 officers were responsible for an area of over a thousand square kilometers.

In contrast, the entire Nanjiang City, excluding Donglin and Ji Port, was only half that size.

The first time Lakshen had told him about the size of their jurisdiction, Shen Xin had been utterly shocked.

How could they possibly manage such a huge area?

Lakshen had said it was manageable, explaining that their jurisdiction only contained a few "gachas," or villages, with a total population of less than two thousand people.

Aside from its size, there really weren’t many people to manage.

After the pleasantries, Liao Lei finally stammered, "Officer Shen, there’s something... I don’t know how to say this."

"Chief Lakshen had an accident. He’s been injured and hospitalized... and Tianxiong is missing."

’Injured?’

Shen Xin’s heart leaped in shock.