Chapter 91

If I hadn’t taken the stairs, there wouldn’t be so much trouble!

Feng Yi thought to himself: Today really isn’t a good day to go out!

What’s going on with all these things happening one after another!

The person who stopped Feng Yi was also a plainclothes police officer, about the same age as Feng Yi, named Liu Dun.

"There’s no need to be nervous, just a casual chat," Liu Dun said.

Feng Yi looked at a nearby restaurant and pointed to it, saying, "Will it take long? If so, let’s go there, we can eat while we talk, I’m really hungry."

Liu Dun hesitated.

"Xiao Liu!"

A middle-aged police officer in plain clothes came over.

"What’s going on?"

"Captain Wei, it’s like this…"

Liu Dun explained Feng Yi’s request.

The middle-aged police officer glanced at Feng Yi, "Is he the one who was in the stairwell just now?"

Feng Yi was surprised: They checked the surveillance so quickly!

Could they be investigating a major case? A criminal gang or something?

Why the hell did I take the stairs and run into this!

While Feng Yi was regretting it, the two officers had already agreed.

"Let’s go there, and we can bring some food for the others later," the middle-aged police officer said.

The two followed Feng Yi to the restaurant, watching as he ordered a lot of food.

"You order what you want, no need to worry about us," the plainclothes police officer surnamed Wei said.

Feng Yi: "I’m not worrying about you."

The two: "…"

Feng Yi booked a private room.

It was past mealtime, but because it was near the hospital, there were still quite a few people, though not as many as during peak hours.

After entering the private room, Feng Yi took off his mask.

The two plainclothes police officers looked at Feng Yi’s face.

This face and build don’t fit a thief, too conspicuous!

The dishes came quickly, one after another, and the rice was served in a large bowl.

"Would you like some?" Feng Yi asked the two sitting across from him.

"No, thank you," Liu Dun replied.

"Juice?"

"We brought water, thank you."

Since that was the case, Feng Yi didn’t insist, knowing that too much persuasion might make them suspect he was nervous or trying to bribe them.

Liu Dun was about to start asking questions but hesitated when he saw how fast Feng Yi was eating.

This guy must be really hungry!

Feng Yi finished half a bowl of rice, feeling a bit less hungry, drank a glass of water, and said, "What do you want to ask?"

"Finish eating first, we can talk after," Liu Dun said.

The police officer surnamed Wei didn’t rush to ask questions but observed Feng Yi’s behavior, especially his hands.

Feng Yi poured himself another glass of water, "No need. Ask away."

I’ll eat somewhere else after you’re done asking!

It’s hard to eat freely with someone watching.

Liu Dun looked at Captain Wei, who nodded, and then asked, "When you were coming down the stairs from the hospital just now, you bumped into an elderly man, do you remember?"

Feng Yi: "Correction, he bumped into me, not the other way around."

"Did you know he did it on purpose?"

"Of course, he bumped into me so obviously and tried to put a bottle of medicine in my pocket. I didn’t know what the medicine was, so I put it back."

Since they had already checked the surveillance, they must know all this, so Feng Yi had no reason to lie.

"What does that person do?" Feng Yi asked.

"He stole medicine from hospital patients. The medicine was quite expensive. We checked the hospital’s surveillance and found that the elderly man was a major suspect. He was very alert and tried to transfer the medicine bottle when going upstairs."

Liu Dun’s explanation was simple, but Feng Yi guessed that with so many police officers in the hospital, they were likely after more than just one person, probably a theft gang.

The old man was just one of them.

Feng Yi had heard of thefts in hospitals before. With most payments now cashless, stealing cash was rare, but thefts of valuables, expensive medicines, and sensitive drugs still occurred frequently.

The two officers in front of him were dressed inconspicuously, especially the one surnamed Wei, who looked like a construction worker in his cheap jacket and makeup. This was probably his cover for today’s mission.

Feng Yi remembered his acting teacher once saying that you can’t judge a person by their clothes, but a good actor can fool you with their eyes.

This Captain Wei was clearly an experienced "actor," able to seamlessly switch between different roles. His gaze was sharp as he looked at Feng Yi.

Regardless of what these "actors" were playing today, Feng Yi knew it had little to do with him, so he felt relieved.

The surveillance in the stairwell didn’t prove much; he just needed to show that he had no connection to the old man.

When the old man bumped into him, Feng Yi thought the old man was trying to steal cash from his pocket.

For convenience, Feng Yi often carried some cash, as card or electronic payments left a record, while cash could minimize such traces.

"What do you do for a living?" Liu Dun asked.

"Currently, I’m a freelancer," Feng Yi said.

A freelancer, indeed!

He could catch rats, appraise furs, help with salvaging objects, and even find part-time work with a scientific expedition team. Wherever there was a need, as long as the pay was good, he could do it.

"Is your work unstable?" Liu Dun asked again.

"Relatively stable, I guess."

"Why were you at the hospital?"

"I was dropping off a client."

Feng Yi answered cooperatively.

Since they had already checked the surveillance, they would eventually find out about Mr. Zou too.

"You have a tough job, eating so late," Liu Dun said.

"Can’t help it, gotta earn a living," Feng Yi replied.

The silent police officer surnamed Wei suddenly spoke up, "Your hand speed is impressive. You managed to put the medicine bottle back without the experienced thief noticing. Can you tell us more about your job?"

"Oh, I have a part-time job catching snakes," Feng Yi said calmly.

"Catching snakes?" The two were surprised. They hadn’t expected this.

"You can’t catch snakes without quick hands."

Liu Dun was curious, "How much do you charge for catching a snake?"

"Money isn’t the main thing. I value the points I earn," Feng Yi said.

When Liu Dun and the other officer heard "money isn’t the main thing," they thought Feng Yi was boasting, but when they heard the second part, their expressions changed.

"Points related to the Sixth Database?"

"Yes."

"Can you prove it?"

"Sure."

Feng Yi took out his ID, "You can check it in your system, it should show up."

Liu Dun noted down Feng Yi’s ID number and sent it to a colleague for verification.

The result came back quickly.

Over 1000 points!

He had even participated in an important scientific expedition recently!

The information, including a photo of Feng Yi, was genuine and couldn’t be faked.

If he was indeed a skilled snake catcher, his psychological resilience and reaction speed would far exceed the average person, which explained the surveillance footage from the stairwell.

He really did have that kind of speed and ability!

Captain Wei’s attitude softened, and after a few more questions, he got up to leave. They still had a mission at the hospital and couldn’t stay too long.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Liu Dun said, then added, "If we find a snake, can we call you to catch it?"

There weren’t many snakes around, and the police force had few trained snake catchers.

Feng Yi replied, "Sure, as long as the money and points are right."

Liu Dun was speechless.

Money could be requested, but points were hard to come by, especially not as generously as in scientific research projects.

After the two officers left, Feng Yi let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He finished his meal and ordered a pot of tea to calm down.

Outside the restaurant, Feng Yi planned to call a taxi but decided to take the subway instead.

His current weight would make too much noise in a car.

…

On the other side, before leaving, Liu Dun packed a few meals to bring to the technical team working overtime at the hospital.

"Can you show me the surveillance footage from the stairwell?"

Liu Dun had only received some photos and hadn’t seen the full video.

Captain Wei, who was about to leave, stayed to watch as well.

A technician brought up the surveillance footage, "You really need to see this! It’s amazing!"

In the video, the old man carried a bag of apples and deliberately bumped into Feng Yi, then fell dramatically.

Liu Dun: "Too exaggerated! He bounced so far from just a bump."

The technician: "That’s not the point, keep watching."

A bit later.

Liu Dun: "The old man secretly put the medicine bottle in Feng Yi’s pocket when he was being helped up, I guessed that part."

After watching the video once through.

Liu Dun looked puzzled, "Feng Yi picked up the apples and handed them over… so he found the medicine bottle and put it back in the old man’s pocket when handing over the apples? I can’t see that in the surveillance!"

Captain Wei shook his head, "Not then. Rewind, slow it down… slower… slower… there, Liu Dun, don’t blink, right here!"

Liu Dun widened his eyes and leaned closer to the screen.

A moment later.

"Wow! That hand speed!!"

Through the slow-motion, they could see Feng Yi’s actions clearly.

When the old man was being helped up, he transferred the medicine bottle to Feng Yi’s pocket, but Feng Yi immediately returned it!

"Probably feeling pretty smug at that moment!"

"His hand speed would probably stun a snake before it even realizes it’s caught!" Liu Dun said.

"What about catching snakes?" the technician asked.

"That’s the guy in the video, Feng Yi, a professional snake catcher who has worked with scientific expeditions."

"Hearing you say that, I remember someone…"

The screen showed Feng Yi wearing a mask, turned sideways.

The technician, too eager to eat, pulled up another photo for comparison.

"Yue Mountain Snake Brother!"

Liu Dun took a deep breath, "What did I miss!"

Captain Wei was also surprised.

They remembered Yue Mountain Snake Brother well. The Yue Mountain Green Dragon incident, though far from their area, had a significant impact.

After the appearance of the Green Dragon in Yue Mountain, the number of visitors to Rongcheng increased dramatically, increasing their workload, with some days of continuous overtime.

Of course, the Green Dragon incident also brought benefits, such as increased funding and equipment upgrades.

Liu Dun: "This is the guy who single-handedly raised Rongcheng’s housing prices!"

Captain Wei: "Only the area near Yue Mountain saw a significant increase, the rest of Rongcheng didn’t change much."

Liu Dun: "We just had dinner with him!"

Captain Wei: "He ate, we watched."

Liu Dun: "Can I go back and ask him a few more questions to confirm?"

Captain Wei: "This is unrelated to the case! Don’t chase stars during work hours!"

Captain Wei wasn’t particularly starstruck by Yue Mountain Snake Brother, but his suspicion of Feng Yi was largely gone.

Feng Yi was very likely Yue Mountain Snake Brother.

If he really wanted to make money, he had many other ways, not by stealing in a hospital.

…

Feng Yi had no idea his "Yue Mountain Snake Brother" identity was almost exposed.

He took the subway to the parking lot and drove home. The driver’s seat had been flattened by his weight.

He received a text message that the commercial electronic scale he ordered had arrived.

The scale at home couldn’t measure his current weight anymore, but the trend over the past few days showed it was still increasing.

Feng Yi had to order a larger scale.

A bigger platform, with a 300kg capacity.

"It should be enough."