I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 106: Chapter 104: Getting a Haircut, the Murderer Is Caught

The seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Su Miaoyi came to the City Police Department to sign her contract. After she signed it, she even got her own workstation.

However, when there were no cases, she didn’t have to be there all the time.

Su Miaoyi was very satisfied with her arrangement.

She sat at her workstation until quitting time, then went to Lu Zhishen’s portrait studio.

She was planning on swiping a couple of bags of snacks on her way home.

Lu Zhishen was sharpening a pencil.

Su Miaoyi sat on the sofa, grabbed a cookie, and started eating. ”Not getting off work?”

”I’ll head back after I finish sharpening this pencil.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. Seeing how his hair was falling in his eyes, she felt the urge to pin it all back with a clip. ”Why don’t you get a haircut?”

”Do you have a hairstylist you’d recommend?” Lu Zhishen asked.

”Nope,” Su Miaoyi said. ”The last time I got a haircut, they did a terrible job. I’m never going back to that place.”

Lu Zhishen glanced up at her. ”Your hairstyle looks great.”

”I cut it myself,” Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen stopped sharpening his pencil and looked at her.

”What is it?” Su Miaoyi asked, opening a jelly pouch.

’I’ll just grab a bag of cookies and another jelly pouch in a bit.’

”Why don’t you cut my hair, then,” Lu Zhishen said suddenly.

”Huh?” Su Miaoyi stared at him.

Lu Zhishen glanced at the jelly pouch in her hand. ”You ate my cookies, so you can’t refuse.”

”This isn’t a cookie,” Su Miaoyi said, trying to crumple the cookie wrapper to hide the evidence.

Lu Zhishen said, ”I saw you.”

Su Miaoyi: ”...”

Lu Zhishen got up and went over to the bookshelf.

Su Miaoyi watched as he found a pair of scissors and a comb, then walked back.

”You really want me to cut it?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”Just cut it like yours,” Lu Zhishen said, handing her the scissors and comb.

He went to get a stool and sat down.

Su Miaoyi looked at the round top of his head. ”You’re not supposed to cut your hair during the first month of the lunar calendar.”

”I don’t have a maternal uncle,” Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi: ”...”

’The way I do my hair... I just looked it up online. You tie all your hair together, then one snip and you’re done.’

Su Miaoyi found another excuse. ”This is your office.”

”This is my studio,” Lu Zhishen said. ”Besides, it’s already after hours.”

Su Miaoyi stood up and gave him a small hair tie.

”What for?” Lu Zhishen asked.

”Tie all your hair up, right here at your hairline,” Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen looked up at her, starting to doubt her skills.

At that moment, their roles suddenly reversed.

Lu Zhishen didn’t want the haircut anymore.

Su Miaoyi started to pitch her technique. ”This is how I cut my own hair. And it’s super fast. Done in a minute.”

Lu Zhishen looked at her.

”Trust me,” Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen started tying up his hair.

Su Miaoyi leaned against the desk, watching him.

”What are you two doing?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked, walking in from outside.

Lu Zhishen glanced at him. ”Becoming sworn brothers.”

Su Miaoyi chuckled. Lu Zhishen’s posture did look a bit like he was taking an oath of brotherhood.

Zhuang Yanzheng’s gaze fell on the scissors in her hand. ”Oho, so today your special identity is Teacher Tony.”

”No congratulations for you. I regret to inform you that you’re today’s second customer. The haircut is three thousand yuan,” Su Miaoyi said, twirling the scissors in her hand.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”That’s extortion. Zhishen, you should just cut it yourself. I’m taking this one to the interrogation room.”

”Wait until she’s done cutting my hair before you decide whether to charge her,” Lu Zhishen said coolly.

”When I’m done, you’ll see me as a beacon of light in this world,” Su Miaoyi said. ”The light that governs hairstyles.”

Zhuang Yanzheng let out a laugh.

Lu Zhishen asked, ”Did you come over for something?”

”Nope,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”My car’s in the shop. My driver dropped me off this morning. You can give me a ride home later since it’s on your way.”

To avoid any stray hairs getting trapped, Lu Zhishen combed all his hair forward and tied it up.

”Why not just have your driver pick you up?” Su Miaoyi asked, looking at Lu Zhishen’s hair.

”My driver’s too busy. Busier than I am,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

The hair at the back of Lu Zhishen’s head wasn’t very long, so when he pulled it all forward, it didn’t tie up neatly and was left rather loose.

But it didn’t matter.

Su Miaoyi made the cut without a moment’s hesitation.

It was the first time Zhuang Yanzheng had ever seen someone cut hair like that.

After the snip, Su Miaoyi took off the hair tie and had Lu Zhishen fluff his hair back into place himself.

Lu Zhishen looked at her.

Su Miaoyi admired her handiwork, then said, ”Hmm... It’s pretty cold out. How about I get you a hat?”

Zhuang Yanzheng was laughing on the sidelines.

Lu Zhishen: ”...”

Su Miaoyi looked at his hair.

Lu Zhishen said, ”Take her to the interrogation room.”

Su Miaoyi chuckled as well. ”How could I, the god who governs hairstyles, ever mess up? It’s absolutely perfect.”

Lu Zhishen got up and took a look in the mirror.

It actually looked great.

Just as he was about to say something...

Zhuang Yanzheng’s phone rang.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen both looked at him.

They listened as he grunted a few ”uh-huhs” before hanging up.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”We got a public tip on Yao Ying’s location. I’m going to check it out.”

”I’m going too,” Su Miaoyi said.

”You wait here,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”I’ll take a few people with me.”

”Okay,” Su Miaoyi agreed.

Ever since the wanted notice was issued, they had received a few calls over the past couple of days.

But whenever they went to check, it was never her.

Just people who looked similar.

...

Almost an hour later, Zhuang Yanzheng and his team returned.

Su Miaoyi saw that they had brought someone back with them.

They took her directly into an interrogation room.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen went to the observation window outside the room.

It was the person from the portrait, but she was a bit heavier than in the sketch and heavier than the person Su Miaoyi had seen in her vision.

She also looked much more lively.

There was a light in her eyes, which were no longer numb and dull.

A technician collected a blood sample for DNA comparison.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, ”Name.”

”Yao Ying.”

”Age.”

”Thirty-two,” Yao Ying answered.

”Your real name,” Zhuang Yanzheng asked again. ”We can’t find you in the system.”

”It is Yao Ying.”

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”You’re sitting here because we’ve already traced everything back to you. Are you still going to deny it?!”

She didn’t speak.

Zhuang Yanzheng continued, ”We’ve already taken your blood; your DNA will be extracted soon. We have all the DNA information from the original case—Ma Yan’s and Zhu He’s. Are you still going to hide the truth?!”

Yao Ying looked at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng stared back at her.

After a pause, Yao Ying said, ”The case happened five years ago, and you’re only tracking me down now. You really are a bunch of incompetents.”

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned.

Yao Ying went on, ”But I don’t really blame you for this case. Who would ever suspect a dead person? Someone who’s been dead for ten years.”

She let out a dry laugh. ”Thinking about it that way, you all are actually quite impressive. I was already dead, and you still managed to find me.”

”But why is it that human traffickers can run so rampant, and you can never catch them?”

...