National Forensic Doctor

The blazing sun was directly overhead, Liu Cheng ran drenched in sweat, showing no intention of stopping.

Having finished searching through one neighborhood, Liu Cheng didn’t even seem to want to get back in the car to enjoy the air conditioning. After glancing at the list, he said, "There are a few more in the adjacent neighborhood, and here they all bought seeds from the same flower shop."

"For a flower shop to sell edible sunflower seeds that’s pretty low," said Wei Cheng, who was younger and following behind him, sweating even more profusely, his training uniform soaked through.

Liu Cheng replied, "It’s also possible that the customer wanted ordinary sunflowers, to be able to pick and eat with their children. The seeds aren’t worth much, let’s not think everyone is so bad."

Wei Cheng glanced at Liu Cheng, "Liu Da, we’re out here to catch a serial killer."

Fan Wei, who was walking with them, gulped down half a bottle of water and poured the remaining half over his face, saying, "Liu Da means that the serial killer isn’t always bad; maybe they only reveal themselves when they kill, and the rest of the time they act like a good person. Besides, if a seed seller swindles a serial killer, in a way they’ve done a good deed, right?"

"With your muddle-headed persistence, there’s no hope for you to be good," gasped Wei Cheng, and then added, "Following your logic, people who buy these sunflower seeds might just want to plant them for fun, for their kids to eat. Are you saying that the serial killer has a child? And kills at home? Does that make sense?"

"We’re looking for an imitator this time," said Fan Wei. "A regular murderer with a normal kid, who takes the opportunity to kill someone while their child is at school, and then has to clean up before the wife and child come home. Doesn’t that sound like the life of a typical middle-aged man?"

"Living in a Beijing villa, planting sunflowers, raising a kid or two, occasionally killing someone, then framing the real serial killer, and also being afraid of the wife—truly the image of an ordinary Beijing resident," said Wei Cheng, who came from the countryside and hadn’t benefited at all from the property boom. He himself was the dividend, and his complaints were genuine and heartfelt.

On the contrary, Liu Cheng seemed the exact opposite, he had gotten married just as housing prices took off and was forced to take out a loan to buy a house, now his attitude was very calm, "These villas are all semi-detached types, they weren’t very expensive to begin with, and though they come with decently-sized yards, there’s a lot of unauthorized construction. The property management is not up to par."