Chapter 211: The Idle Mr. Ma (2/2)

Officer Ma smiled at the policemen and pulled out some snacks from his plastic bag. ”It’s my first time here so I brought you some specialties from Nanjiang City. It’s but a small token to show my respect!”

The smile on Officer Lu's face turned into a frown. ”Consultant Song, what do you mean by asking an old man to take over the case? You’re deliberately doing this so I can’t make any contributions!”

Since he had torn off his mask of diplomacy, I rudely shouted, ”Yes!”

His face turned red with anger. ”What are you trying to do? You’re not a even member of the police force. Why won’t you let me take credit? Do you think it’s easy to get a murder case in this small county?”

I was completely unwilling to help such an officer climb up the rungs of the bureau but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I said, ”I’m a selfish man! With the thousands of yuan I get from my bonus for solving the case, I can buy the skins I like on League of Legends!”

”You-you-you fu-” Officer Lu pointed at me, face red as a tomato. His lips mouthed the word, “fuck,” but he refrained from cursing out loud.

”If you want credit, then solve the case yourself. I already shared many clues yesterday. If you solve the case before I do, then the credit goes to you. We would never rob you of that. But don’t complain if we solve it first!” I said.

”I certainly don't believe you. When I catch the murderer, you’ll definitely take credit. Even if the city bureau sent an ordinary officer, his position would still be greater than a small county captain. The superior oppresses his subordinates–do you think I don’t know this trick?”

The man used his despicable mind to understand how us upright folk thought, going so far as to confuse us with corrupt officers mixed up with dirty officials.

”Officer Ma, what’s your rank?” I asked.

”I used to be a superintendent, but I’ve retired.”

I continued, ”A retired Superintendent, a consultant with no real authority, and an intern coroner–there aren’t any high-ranking officials who can oppress you. You can investigate the case without any worry.”

Officer Lu cast a doubtful glance at Bingxin and asked, ”Her father is the director. If you take away my credit, who am I supposed to complain to?”

”Believe it or not, if I wanted to do that, would I give you a heads up? Here’s a piece of advice–if you want credit, use your own abilities. You’re not going to solve anything with talk alone.” I turned to Bingxin and said, ”Come on, let's continue with our investigation.”

”Shouldn’t we continue with the autopsy?” asked Bingxin.

”There’s no need,” I assured.

At this point, I realized that Officer Ma wasn’t walking with us. When I turned around, I saw him talking to Officer Lu briefly before he came up to us. ”Officer Ma, what did you say to him?”

”I told him young people shouldn’t be so eager to get a name for themselves. It’s most important to do your job well,” he explained.

I almost burst out laughing. Officer Ma was truly a sincere, warm-hearted man. ”Xiao Song, I’ve got some criticisms for you too!” exclaimed the man.

”Oh? What did I do?” I wondered out loud.

”You mentioned that you would buy gaming skins with your bonus. Indulging in online video games is very bad for you. It’s been said on television that this can be a sort of mental drug. Many young people who lose themselves to this addiction eventually become lazy and destroy their own future,” he lectured.

I blushed with shame. That was merely an excuse I had simply made up casually. I quickly “repented,” saying, ”I’ll never play video games again. If I do, I’ll chop my hands off!”

”There’s no need to punish yourself like this. Bingxin, you should also watch over your boyfriend and remind him to spend less time on video games.”

I was about to explain that we weren’t in a relationship but Bingxin was already a step ahead. ”Uncle Ma, Song Yang-gege isn’t my boyfriend,” she said.

”Oh!”

Smiling sweetly, she grabbed my arm and announced, ”To tell you the truth, I’m pregnant with his child. We’ve already secretly obtained a marriage license!”

Previous ChapterNext Chapte